Some people say drugs and alcohol are some of the most addictive things we encounter in our world today. Those people have obviously never played fantasy football, a game that attracts an almost cultish following. People from across the country gather on websites like ESPN and Yahoo Sports to battle it out for a fantasy football championship.

Arguably, the most attractive facet of fantasy football is the fact that everyone can play it. It doesn’t exclude or prevent anyone from competing and it is free on most websites where you can create a league and play. You don’t have to be a 6’5,” 250 pound human to play, you can be a 5’6″ guy with allergies that doesn’t like to leave the house. You don’t have to be Bill Belichick in a hoodie or any other coach on a sideline. You can do it all from the comfort of your home on your computer. Literally anyone can win (if they’re good).

Also, fantasy football attracts so many people because it is a great way to get together with and spend time with your friends. Many will gather together on Sundays with their friends and opponents at each other’s houses, a friendly yet competitive ritual. Nearly everyone in the populous has a competitive side to them, and fantasy football let’s you bring that competitive edge out against your friends, family, and even people you don’t know if you choose to enter a random or larger league.

On top of all the great reasons already stated that people play fantasy football, another reason people will play is the reward. If you’re in certain leagues, the thrill of victory at the end of the fantasy season playoffs can come as not just a league trophy, but in cash value. So if you’re a fantasy genius, it’s not a particularly strenuous way to make money. If you play fantasy football for the love of the game though, nothing beats winning a trophy and getting to brag to your friends about it for the whole next year.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that fantasy football, like real football, is unpredictable. This is because fantasy football is not an independent game, it is a game that depends on real life, and how actual people perform against each other. You can have the perfect draft in the history of fantasy football, but if two of your starters end up on injured reserve, all of a sudden you could end up last in the league. It’s a game of strategy as well as luck, and sometimes you just can’t beat bad luck with strategy. It brings a certain reality to fantasy football that you can’t get from playing a video game.

The game is so popular in America that a whole television show was dedicated to it. “The League” on FXX was a very popular show centered around a fantasy football league and aired for seven seasons. The humor is obviously heightened to a point where the characters are unrealistic at times, but the one aspect that you can see in their league and regular people playing, is how dedicated to it some people can be. I’ve had people tell me they set their lineups during their actual jobs before, which is crazy but I honestly understand where they’re coming from. Fantasy football can become addictive, between setting a lineup and watching your scores. The fact of the matter is, when you don’t play or coach a sport competitively anymore, it’s about as close as you can get to finding that feeling again.