& Co: Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football has been keeping tertiary student Jabu Mungai entertained and connected to his friends during lockdown. The game, which is played via a virtual phone app has been fuelling the passion of many football fans and has been a big part of how Mungai has invested his time throughout lockdown.

Mungai made it clear how Fantasy Football has helped him throughout Covid, saying

“I think it’s another way to connect with friends. It gives me something to do, and football isn’t predictable, so it makes things interesting.”

He mentioned that it enables him to stay engaged with one of his passions and he thrives off the competitive aspect “It’s exhilarating to be able to say that I’m better than my mates at the game; the rivalry keeps it entertaining.”

The mobile app works in a very simple way, beginning with each user being given a £100-million budget to build a virtual team of 15 premier league football players. Each week, the football players gain points based on how well they perform in real life. Essentially, it allows fans, such as Jabu, to be able to strategise and keep up to date with the weekly games, at the same time as connecting with friends.

Mungai emphasises that the creation of this app has brought the football community together, stating, “It keeps you more engaged in the real world of football, and you are more inclined to watch the live games each weekend.”

Multiple lockdowns throughout New Zealand have put a halt to being able to meet in person to watch the Premier League teams play, therefore having this app as a point of connection is very valuable.

Mungai appreciates the strategic side of the application, and firmly believes that there is a good balance between online and real-life content on it. He says, “They do a good job as there is the ‘scout’ option which are professional players and analysts, who critique each footballer and help the users of the app to build their teams each week.”

Being able to learn about how to effectively build a team and analyse the players’ performance throughout the week is a great skill to develop, whilst also being able to strategize to gain the best results.

Mungai, coming from a heavily influenced background of football in Kenya accentuated how the Fantasy Football app is beneficial for the sport. He concluded this interview by saying, “it encourages fan engagement in the premier league, giving the sport more depth and being able to be more involved per week even just being a casual fan. It allows you to delve into the world as a real-life manager, which would admittedly be rather stressful.”

The creation of this application is something that allows people to be engaged in their passion for football. Mungai made it clear how he felt privileged to be able to use this app, as back home in Kenya he was not fortunate enough to have access to these types of applications.