Fantasy Sports Writers Association

FSWA logo

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) is an organization that represents journalists in the United States who cover fantasy sports.[1] It was founded in 2004.[1] This includes those who cover fantasy football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and golf, as well as other fantasy contests. According to its website, the organization's mission is to "be a voice for writers in the arena of fantasy sports. Moreover, the organization, through its executive staff and board of directors, will strive to promote and acknowledge the hard work and dedication shown by fantasy sports writers throughout the industry." Mike Beacom serves as the President of the FSWA. Andy Behrens was elected the new FSWA president in 2014 and will take office on February 1, 2015.

History

The FSWA was founded in 2004 by Ryan Houston (president), Emil Kadlec (vice president), Bob Harris (secretary) and Kirk Bouyelas (treasurer), to serve as a community for working fantasy sports writers. One of the primary reasons for forming was to give writers an opportunity to network with other writers and find work, and to create a legitimate annual awards process. Mike Beacom joined the Executive Committee a few months later to serve as chairman. In 2006, Bouyelas replaced Houston as president; two years later, in January 2008, Beacom replaced Bouyelas.

Leadership

The FSWA's current leadership includes Beacom (president), Kadlec (vice president), and Perry Missner (treasurer). The Chairman and Secretary positions are currently open. Harris and Matthew Berry serve as advisors. The Executive Committee's primary function is to serve the group's 400+ members, coordinate member events, and to help young industry writers advance their careers.

The FSWA Board of Directors consists of 15 industry leaders. No more than one person per company can serve on the Board. The Board's primary function is to provide the Executive Committee with ideas and assist in advancing the mission of the FSWA.

Writing Awards

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association seeks to recognize writers in the field,[1] has been providing awards since 2004 to honor the industry's best writers. The awards are typically presented each January at a meeting of the organization in Las Vegas. Many of the winners come from sites and publications dedicated to fantasy sports, such as DraftSharks and RotoWire, while others come from general-purpose sports entities such as The Sporting News, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, and others. Some winners, such as Daniel Dobish of RotoExperts, are full-time fantasy sports writers;[2] some, such as Brad Evans of Yahoo! Sports, are general sports writers who cover fantasy in part;[3] and others, such as Jesse Siegel of RotoWire, hold full-time jobs in unrelated professions and write about fantasy sports as a side activity.[4]

The following tables provide past award winners:

Several members of the industry have been nominated for and won multiple awards. The leaders - by individual and media outlet - are listed below:

Hall of Fame

In 2010, the FSWA established a Hall of Fame to honor fantasy sports writers, publishers, and editors "who possess a distinguished body of work and/or those who have helped to advance the careers of others in the fantasy sports industry." [7]

The classes of writers inducted into the Hall of Fame are below.

Class of 2010
Greg Ambrosius
Matthew Berry
Scott Engel
Eric Karabell
Gregg Kellogg
Class of 2011
David Dodds
Brandon Funston
Emil Kadlec
Nate Ravitz
Peter Schoenke
Ron Shandler
Class of 2012
Ryan R. Bonini
Tristan H. Cockcroft
William Del Pilar
Michael Fabiano
Dan Grogan
Bob Harris
James Quintong
Class of 2013
Glenn Waggoner
John Hansen

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Growing fantasy sports scene is big business". The Business Review. May 28, 2007. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  2. ↑ "About the author: Daniel Dobish, Staff Writer". RotoExperts. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Brad Evans (YahooNoise)". Twitter. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  4. ↑ Clark, Preston (February 12, 2013). "The Lawyer as Sports Writer". TheLawInsider.com.
  5. ↑ "2012 FSWA Writing Awards". Fantasy Sports Writers Association. Retrieved February 7, 2013. Affiliations are seen at "2012 FSWA Writing Awards Finalists". Fantasy Sports Writers Association. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ Schauf, Matt (January 28, 2009). "CBS, Sporting News Take Multiple FSWA Trophies". Fantasy Sports Business (World Sports Technology Inc.). Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  7. ↑ "FSWA Hall of Fame". Fantasy Sports Writers Association. Retrieved April 10, 2013.

External links