Vault: Are Fantasy Football Leagues Getting Out Of Control?

Summary

The Bert Show — "Vault: Are Fantasy Football Leagues Getting Out Of Control?"

Episode Date: February 25, 2026
Host & Cast: Bert, Kristin, Abby, Cassie, Tommy & the Bert Show Cast

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Episode Overview

This episode explores whether fantasy football leagues are taking over people's lives — at work and at home — and if the obsession is getting out of control. The hosts and listeners share personal anecdotes about the time, energy, and even the money poured into fantasy football. The discussion touches on workplace productivity, relationship dynamics, and the broader cultural phenomenon of fantasy leagues.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Scope of Fantasy Football Obsession

• CNN Segment Start (02:01): The hosts begin by referencing a CNN piece claiming nearly 37 million Americans manage fantasy football teams, potentially impacting workplace productivity.

• Workplace Productivity Concerns (03:08): CNN reports people spend about an hour per week managing their fantasy teams while on the clock. Hosts immediately contest this, suggesting much more time is actually spent.

  "Anybody that I have ever met, anybody that I have ever known that is in one of these fantasy leagues puts in way more time than one hour a week."
  — Radio Host (03:13)

2. Honesty About Time Commitment

• On-the-Job Check-Ins (03:36): Real-life examples of coworkers checking fantasy leagues during work hours.

• Fantasy Football Becomes a Lifestyle (04:24): It’s not just about "spare time." People check scores, make trades, and obsess over stats at work, at home, and especially on Sundays.

  "It becomes like a competition because it's a league with your friends. So it's like, you want to beat your friends. So you're already—you're checking up on it every two seconds, especially on Sundays."
  — Caller Megan (04:24)

3. Draft Process and Team Building

• Draft Time Investment (04:44): Draft events can range from quick online selections to intricate, in-person, multi-hour affairs.

• "Smack Boards" & Banter (05:08): Leagues encourage camaraderie and banter, fueling rivalries and fun within the group.

  "We have like a little board, like when you do your draft, there's like a little smack board...No, we all picked our players live."
  — Caller Megan (05:08)

4. Relationship Impact and Family Strain

• Comparisons to Gaming Addiction (05:31): The phenomenon is likened to other "addictions," with references to World of Warcraft and relationship strain.

• Spouses Sound Off (06:08, 09:22): Multiple callers reveal frustration with partners devoting "a part time job" amount of hours—sometimes 15–20 hours per week!—to fantasy football.

  "My husband has a part time job with fantasy football. He's in two leagues...He probably spends about 15 to 20 hours a week between the two of them."
  — Caller Haley (06:11)

  "I was a huge football fan...But he has made me hate football season because that is all he does...Sunday is like football day...It should be, but it is ridiculous."
  — Caller Megan (09:22)

5. Explanation of How Fantasy Football Works (06:38)

• How a Fantasy Team Works: A simple breakdown for listeners not familiar with fantasy leagues.

  • Players are selected from teams across the NFL.
  • Points are accrued based on actual game performance segments (touchdowns, yards, etc.).
  • Both offensive players and "team defenses" are picked.

  "You outfit a team using players available that are in the entire league and then by monitoring their statistics throughout the year, you have better performing and worse performing teams."
  — Fantasy Football Expert (06:47)

6. Stakes: Big Money, Big Parties

• High-Stakes Leagues (08:09):

  • Some leagues have significant buy-ins and payouts (e.g., $250 entry, $100 per paycheck, grand prize up to $20,000–$25,000).
  • Meticulously organized—sometimes with accountants, draft parties, and even interest earned from holding fees.

• Just for Fun vs. Serious Money: Other groups play solely for bragging rights, showing the wide range of league cultures.

  "They use the interest that the money earns in the bank account from the year before to fund their draft party...the whole thing's catered and everybody drinks for free."
  — Fantasy Football Expert (08:47)

7. Real-Life Consequences at Work

• Work Duties vs. Fantasy Drafts (10:24):

  • A caller tells the story of his boss shirking job responsibilities to focus on fantasy drafts, even delegating tasks to employees.

  "My boss...he doesn't only have one. He's got like three different teams. And so...he got caught up and he ended up sending me to Gainesville to go drop off some frames to get painted...He was trying to get me in on it so he could justify doing it, too."
  — Caller Josh (10:28–10:57)

8. Social Commentary and Parallels

• Comparison to “Geeky” Fandoms (11:18):

  • Callers and hosts note the hypocrisy of fantasy football devotees mocking other passionate hobbyists, like video gamers or cosplayers.
  • Ultimately, it's all just a different flavor of obsession.

  "I love how these are the very people that made fun of the World of Warcraft people...Guess what? You're not any different."
  — Caller Diana (11:18)

  "You make fun of people for dressing up and doing geeky things...Let's see, that's what you do. Put your face paint on and you skip work to do this. So it's the same thing."
  — Caller Diana (11:23)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• [03:13] Radio Host:

  "Anybody that I have ever met, anybody that I have ever known that is in one of these fantasy leagues puts in way more time than one hour a week."

• [04:24] Caller Megan:

  "It becomes like a competition because it's a league with your friends. So it's like you want to beat your friends. So you're already—you're checking up on it every two seconds, especially on Sundays."

• [06:11] Caller Haley:

  "My husband has a part time job with fantasy football. He's in two leagues...He probably spends about 15 to 20 hours a week between the two of them."

• [08:47] Fantasy Football Expert:

  "They use the interest that the money earns in the bank account from the year before to fund their draft party...the whole thing's catered and everybody drinks for free."

• [11:18–11:23] Caller Diana:

  "I love how these are the very people that made fun of the World of Warcraft people...Guess what? You're not any different...You make fun of people for dressing up and doing geeky things...That's what you do. Put your face paint on and you skip work to do this. So it's the same thing."

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Notable Timestamps

• 02:01 – Start of segment; CNN claims on fantasy football’s workplace impact.
• 03:08 – Hosts react: more than one hour a week is spent on fantasy football, not less.
• 04:44 – The drafting process: how involved and social it can be.
• 06:11 – Listener calls: partners detail the impact on home life and relationships.
• 06:38 – Simple fantasy football explanation for newbies.
• 08:09 – High-stakes leagues and big money described.
• 09:22 – Spouses explain how fantasy football has changed their enjoyment of the sport.
• 10:24 – Work responsibilities get sidelined for fantasy football.
• 11:18 – The “fantasy football is no different from other fandoms” revelation.

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Tone & Takeaways

The Bert Show crew and callers approach the topic with humor and exasperation. The tone is lively, occasionally incredulous, and friendly. The send-up of fantasy football’s intensity is affectionate but also a warning: for many, it really has become a lifestyle bordering on obsession, affecting relationships and work-life balance.

Overall Message:
Fantasy football can be a fun, bonding experience for many, but it’s easy for enthusiasm to spill over into obsession—with surprising impacts on work, relationships, and daily routines. And, ultimately, fandom is fandom—no one’s hobby is more “normal” than another!

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Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Radio Host]

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[Fantasy Football Expert]

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[Mike]

The Burt Show.

[Radio Host]

Okay, I'm gonna begin to play a segment for you that aired on CNN yesterday.

[Caller Diana]

Mm.

[Radio Host]

If this segment, as you're listening to it, pertains to somebody in studio, go ahead and raise your hand when you know if it pertains to you or not.

[Caller Megan]

Okay?

[Radio Host]

Okay. And we'll see whose hands. We'll see whose hand goes up first. Okay.

[Caller Megan]

I'm trying to see the eye contact.

[Caller Haley]

So, football season getting underway and that could mean your company's productivity is about to drop. Nearly 30, 37 million people manage fantasy football teams, according to a recent.

[Radio Host]

There's a hand. Well, there's a hand now.

[Caller Megan]

What do you know?

[Radio Host]

Whose hand just went up?

[Caller Megan]

Oh, mine.

[Narrator]

It did.

[Caller Megan]

I don't do it at work.

[Narrator]

Well.

[Radio Host]

Well, Jeff saw you working on your thing yesterday. That's right.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Oh, well, I mean, she might not have been working on it. She might have just been checking.

[Caller Megan]

I was checking to see how badly I lost.

[Radio Host]

Addictive. Listen to the rest of this study

[Caller Haley]

from a Chicago based employment research firm. Those people spend nearly one hour of paid time every week crafting and trading players.

[Radio Host]

Okay, stop right there for a second and I'll ask for an. For some honest people to call. Anybody that I have ever met, anybody that I have ever known that is in one of these fantasy leagues puts in way more time than one hour a week. Like they're suggesting on cnn.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Well, they're saying it's one hour of paid time, so they're probably like averaging it out and everything.

[Caller Diana]

But one hour a week at work?

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Cause I saw Wendy and I only saw it for a second, but it was. Is it through espn?

[Caller Megan]

Espn.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

So she was on like espn and I don't think she was making any trades or stuff, but I mean, I used to work with guys who would have folders that professional sports recruiters would be jealous of.

[Radio Host]

Like, I'm assuming. I think Adam Baum is in probably a couple these things. Dylan, when he worked here, he was hardcore. Like nothing at this radio station got done for eight months.

[Caller Megan]

They're all in my league.

[Radio Host]

They're playing the same, same songs over and over and over again. I mean, I want to know how much time you guys are really spending on your Fantasy Football Leagues. 404,741q100. The course of any given week at work, by the way.

[Caller Diana]

Right.

[Radio Host]

Not in your spare time. Or maybe that's even.

[Caller Diana]

Well, I think work is more.

[Radio Host]

Well because you're taking time away from family also.

[Caller Diana]

Yeah.

[Radio Host]

If you're on those at home, I guess both.

[Caller Megan]

Yeah. Because you want to know your updates and you really like. It becomes like a competition because it's a league with your friends. So it's like you want to beat your friends. So you're already. You're checking up on it every two seconds, especially on Sundays. You should See how many times people on Sunday on their.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Let me ask you this question. When you had to pick your team, how long did that take you?

[Caller Megan]

Oh, our draft wasn't that long. It was probably about an hour.

[Radio Host]

There are some that are more intricate than others. There are some that you can go online and you just sign up and they pick your players for you.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Yeah.

[Radio Host]

Then there are others that, I mean, you got to know to pick a running back first and a quarterback second. And your defense, you don't get picked until the 12th round.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

That's, I mean, like, so was yours because the friends are more casually into it. So you didn't have to prepare for your draft at all.

[Caller Megan]

No, everybody was into it. So we were all like talking smack on. We have like a little board, like when you do your draft, there's like a little smack board where you can just like, why'd you pick that guy? Why'd you pick that guy? No, we all picked our players live. There's two people who are probably not there to pick their players. So they were on auto draft, so they got whoever was next in their predetermined draft. So, no, we are picking players from the side.

[Radio Host]

I'm assuming some of these calls are going to sound a lot like the World of Warcraft calls we took a while ago where breakups were happening in relationships. They demanded, you know, your wife or your husband demanded that you, you never play again because you are taking too much time away from the family wives. Checking the history on your browser to make sure you're not at CBS Sportsline or ESPN.com.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

what movie was it where the guy got busted going to his baseball draft?

[Radio Host]

Oh, that was Knocked Up.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Knocked up where she thought he was cheating on him and instead she was hanging out in a guy's living room.

[Caller Diana]

Right. That was funny.

[Radio Host]

Diana, good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller Haley]

Hey, how are you?

[Radio Host]

Good. How are you?

[Caller Haley]

Good, I think. My husband has a part time job with fantasy football. He's in two leagues. One's a keeper league. Do you know what that is? They keep most of their players from the season before and one's a regular league where they draft and he probably spends about 15 to 20 hours a week between the two of them.

[Caller Diana]

15.

[Radio Host]

That is a part time job right there.

[Caller Haley]

Oh, it drives me crazy. He sits on his laptop every night and that's all he does.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

And for the. And for the people who don't. Because some people. This might be a foreign language, but the way a fantasy league works is you pick an assortment of play.

[Radio Host]

You.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

You outfit a team using players available that are in the entire league and then by monitoring their statistics throughout the year, you have better performing and worse performing teams. So you could have running a running back from the Falcons and you could have a quarterback from the Chargers and you could have, you know, defensive of players from one team, offensive players from another team and all over the place. And you. So you're creating. So when you're checking the stats, it's not like you just go and see how the Falcons did.

[Radio Host]

No, you're seeing like you got to

[Fantasy Football Expert]

see how your quarterbacks.

[Caller Diana]

There are individual stats by each Sunday up. Sure. I mean, because I've never played like

[Radio Host]

you get like if one player scores a couple of touchdowns and you get a certain amount of points for that. Okay. If your defense, you know, it's just. There's a whole bunch of.

[Caller Megan]

Your defense loses points if they give up like points. So if they get a field goal.

[Caller Diana]

So there's players. So each player statistics even on the, you know, defensive side.

[Radio Host]

Well, defense, no, but offense, you pick the team's defense. So you would pick the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense.

[Caller Diana]

So your defense all the same team. Okay.

[Radio Host]

I'm just curious.

[Caller Haley]

It changes the way you watch the game because you're not rooting for a team when you're watching two teams play. You're rooting for people.

[Radio Host]

How many of your host stake in this fantasy football league is there? Thousands of dollars.

[Caller Haley]

Not his. Maybe like 600 in each league. Maybe is what you'll win.

[Radio Host]

How much for your.

[Caller Diana]

We just play for fun bragging rights.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Yeah, I know somebody who's in one where the way they get into. They do football every year. They only do football and they do. It's a fee. Like you pay 250 bucks to get in and then like $100 every paycheck throughout the year. And like the grand prize is 20 grand or something like that. 25 grand. I mean they have an accountant, like somebody who works and it's all in one company. So somebody who works in the finance department has volunteered to be the accountant for this draft. So they collect all the money, keep it all in the bank account, blah, blah, blah the inch.

[Caller Diana]

This is how much money stingy I am.

[Radio Host]

Hell no.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

This is how much money that fantasy football thing. Right. They use the interest that the money earns in the bank account from the year before to fund their draft party, which is held at like, you know, like in the back room of Dantana's. And the whole thing's catered and Everybody drinks for free.

[Radio Host]

It's big. It's big.

[Caller Diana]

I appreciate a theme party.

[Radio Host]

Hey, Megan. Megan. Hold on one sec. For me. Okay?

[Caller Haley]

Okay, hold on.

[Radio Host]

Hey, Josh.

[Caller Josh]

Yes, sir.

[Radio Host]

Don't go anywhere. You're gonna be my final call. Okay.

[Caller Haley]

Alrighty.

[Radio Host]

Hey, Megan.

[Caller Haley]

Hey. How are y'? All?

[Radio Host]

Good, how are you?

[Caller Megan]

I'm good.

[Caller Haley]

My husband and his friends wait all year long for their draft. They get together, they have this huge barbecue. They get drunk, they have their draft. They each have their own folders. My husband gets magazine after magazine in the mail the month before. He always has his draft thing up at his computer at work. It's the huge. This huge thing. And I was a huge football fan. Still am. Go dogs. But he has made me hate football season because that is all he does. We have a two year old and I swear, Sunday is like football day. And it should be, but it is ridiculous.

[Radio Host]

Do you think he's spending more time, honestly, at work? Is he spending more time working or is he spending more time?

[Caller Haley]

Well, he's a very hard worker. But yeah, I mean, he definitely. It's more than one hour, you know, a day. It's a lot. The draft means everything. So, you know, and they're. It's ridiculous, their draft. It's silly.

[Radio Host]

Yeah. I mean, people go really over the top on it. Hey, Josh, go ahead, listen to this.

[Caller Josh]

What's going on, man?

[Radio Host]

You tell us, man. Where are you heading?

[Caller Josh]

I'm actually on my way to Gainesville. My. My boss, he does that whole fantasy football thing, and he doesn't only have one. He's got like three different teams. And so this morning he was doing that and he got caught up and he ended up sending me to Gainesville to go drop off some. Some frames to get painted. And so I'm on my way up there right now as he's doing that as we speak. And he tried to actually get me to do it yesterday. He was trying to, I guess, draft me to fancy football. He was, like, trying to tell me how much fun it was and everything.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

If he gets you involved, then who's gonna do his job?

[Caller Josh]

Well, he's actually the owner of the company, so I don't think he really has to do anything, but he just sends us off. It's really funny, though. It cracks me up.

[Radio Host]

So stuff that he would normally be doing, he's sending you out to do so he can stay and do his draft and. And do his fantasy football?

[Caller Josh]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Radio Host]

That's how bad it gets. That's the boss.

[Caller Diana]

And I love how these are the very people that made fun of the World of Warcraft people.

[Radio Host]

Right?

[Caller Diana]

But guess what? You're not. You're not any different.

[Radio Host]

It's different. It's force.

[Caller Diana]

It's not any different. Like you make fun of people for dressing up and doing geeky things. Well, let's see, that's what you do. Put your face paint on and you skip work to do this. So it's the same thing.

[Radio Host]

And we're all complaining we don't have enough time. But there we are, super poking each other on Facebook and spending seven hours in the day. I know. I don't know how they do it.

[Fantasy Football Expert]

Hold on. What are you looking at, Wendy?

[Caller Megan]

I was looking at the new AFL Week 1. Yeah, they write up how we all

[Caller Diana]

did

[Mike]

the Birch show.

[Narrator]

We're lost. I'm gonna pull over and ask that man for directions.

[Radio Host]

Hi there.

[Narrator]

We're looking to get to the campground.

[Mike]

Well, you're gonna take a left at the old oak tree end of this here road. No, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out.

[Narrator]

How are you getting a signal out here?

[Mike]

T Mobile and US Cellular decided to merge. So the network out here is huge. We're getting the same great signal as the city and. And saving a boatload with all the benefits. Oh, and a five year price guarantee. Okay, here's those directions.

[Narrator]

Actually, can you point us in the direction of a T Mobile store?

[T Mobile Announcer]

America's best network just got bigger. Switch to T Mobile today and get built in benefits the other guys leave out. Plus our five year price guarantee. And now T Mobile is available in US Cellular stores. Best mobile network based on analysis by Ooglyn Speed test intelligence data at 2H 2025. Bigger network. The combination of T Mobile's and US cellular network footprints will enhance the T Mobile network's coverage price guarantee on talk, text and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply. See t mobile.com for details.