Image description
    The other day, Joe Montana was joking on ESPN's "Mike and Mike In The Morning" about how football was the most popular sport in the United States, and second was fantasy football. While that might not be entirely accurate, more and more people are drafting teams in fantasy leagues in hopes of winning against their friends or even strangers around the world.

    With popularity at an all-time high, the question needs to be asked: are people drawn to it more for healthy competition, or is money becoming a driving force for more and more people who feel they know a lot about the sport?

    It’s an interesting thing to look at because there are so many ways to play fantasy football. For some, getting in a league with friends makes things competitive enough. Even without money on the line, people want to earn bragging rights and beat up on their friends. At the same time, many of these leagues also will throw money into the pot. The question becomes "what is the ultimate motivator?"

    The truth is, there probably isn’t that one answer for every fantasy football player. Perhaps that is the reason it is popular. Don’t want to pay money to play? You don’t have to. Don’t have any friends who want to play in your league? Not a problem. There are thousands of public leagues to participate in. People love options, and besides the football aspect of things, fantasy football can be very different in league settings, sizes and overall makeup.

    Money is always going to be a motivating factor for a lot of people around the world. One only has to look at the action in Las Vegas or online betting sites every Sunday to see that many sports fans like to try and make money on the sport as well. Fantasy football can go in a similar direction or can be played merely for the proverbial "love of the game."

    Regardless of whether you play for money or end up just playing for pride, the big winner at the end of the day is the NFL. After all, every owner is going to not only pay attention to their favorite team’s game, but they are also going to check out the individuals on their fantasy football team. The game of fantasy football fits nicely into the subculture of the NFL no matter how you play.

    This guest article was provided by www.fanduel.com, a great site to play daily fantasy football games for cash.