Fantasy Football: The Ultimate Business School?
(As some readers may know, Finstock Capital hosts a fantasy football league each year for clients and colleagues who are into that sort of thing (god help them) with the prize being a donation by Finstock to the winner's favourite charity. If you would like to join the league please do get in touch!)
Let’s face it: most of us aren’t going to be running Fortune 500 companies anytime soon. But what if I told you that the key to business success could be found in the cutthroat world of… Premier League Fantasy Football? That’s right. Those hours spent agonizing over whether to captain Erling Haaland or risk starting that wildcard midfielder who got one assist back in 2017 aren’t just mindless fun—they’re actually molding you into a savvy business mogul. Sort of.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Business School, where every transfer is a negotiation, every matchweek a boardroom showdown, and every point scored a dividend payout. Strap in, because we’re about to explore how managing a fantasy football team can teach you the ropes of good business practices—with a few laughs along the way.
1. Strategic Planning: AKA “Don’t Blow Your Budget on Mo Salah”
The first rule of Fantasy Football is that you can’t have everyone. Much like in business, resources are limited. You’ve got £100 million to spend, and, just like a startup CEO deciding between hiring a social media guru or a CTO, you need to allocate your funds wisely. Do you splurge on Mohamed Salah, leaving yourself with just enough for a second-choice goalkeeper and a left-back from Luton? Or do you spread the wealth across the team?
In business, as in fantasy football, it’s all about strategy. You need to balance your portfolio—or in this case, your squad—to ensure you’re not left penniless when your star striker inevitably gets injured in Gameweek 2. Learning to manage a budget, assess risk, and invest in undervalued assets (that £4.5 million defender with a knack for headers) is great practice for any budding entrepreneur.
2. Data Analysis: “Why Studying xG is Like Reading a Balance Sheet”
Have you ever spent an evening pouring over expected goals (xG) stats, trying to determine if that one forward who hasn’t scored in three games is due for a goal spree? Congratulations, you’ve just dabbled in data analysis, one of the hottest skills in business today.
Business leaders use data to make informed decisions, much like you use heat maps and form guides to figure out whether Marcus Rashford is worth a transfer. In both arenas, numbers tell a story—if you know how to read them. Tracking player performance and predicting future outcomes based on past data is eerily similar to forecasting business trends. And just like in business, sometimes you make the perfect call, and sometimes, well, you bench Bukayo Saka the week he scores a hat-trick.
3. Leadership and Team Management: “Dealing with Your Star Player’s ‘Hamstring Injury’”
Managing a Fantasy Football team is a lot like managing a business team. Sure, your fantasy team doesn’t talk back (though you might still shout at them through the screen), but the principles are the same. You’ve got to motivate your players (by picking them, obviously), handle unexpected crises (like when your top scorer decides to take up synchronized swimming instead of playing football), and make tough decisions about who stays and who gets transferred out.
When Harry Kane suddenly decides he’s more interested in an NFL career, your leadership skills are put to the test. Do you stick by him in the hopes he’ll rediscover his form, or do you transfer him out and invest in that up-and-coming striker from Brentford? It’s all about managing people—or pixels on a screen, in this case—but the lessons about leadership and decision-making are real.
4. Negotiation Skills: “The Art of Trading Your Fifth Midfielder”
Let’s talk about transfers, the lifeblood of any Fantasy Football season. Negotiation is key in both business and fantasy football. Whether you’re trying to negotiate a trade with a fellow manager in your mini-league or trying to decide if it’s worth selling off your only premium defender to afford that in-form striker, every move requires careful consideration and negotiation skills.
In the business world, you might negotiate deals, partnerships, or salaries. In Fantasy Football, you negotiate with yourself (and sometimes the FPL gods) over whether it’s worth taking a -4 point hit to bring in a player who just scored a hat-trick but has a terrible run of fixtures ahead. The stakes might be lower, but the skills you’re honing—compromise, strategy, and a bit of psychological warfare—are transferable.
5. Market Research: “Why Owning the Template Team Isn’t Always Bad”
You wouldn’t launch a product without first checking out the competition, right? The same goes for Fantasy Football. Before finalizing your team, you need to do some serious market research. Who’s everyone else captaining this week? Which players are must-haves, and which differentials are people ignoring?
Market research in business helps you understand what customers want, what competitors are doing, and where the opportunities lie. In Fantasy Football, it’s all about figuring out which players are under the radar and which are essential to stay competitive. And just like in business, sometimes you need to follow the crowd (owning Haaland, for example), while other times, you strike out on your own and hope your contrarian pick pays off.
6. Risk Management: “Avoiding the Triple-Captain Debacle”
Risk is a part of life, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Fantasy Football. Every week, you make decisions that could either lead to glory or disaster. Triple-captaining a player during a Double Gameweek sounds like a no-brainer—until he gets injured five minutes into the first match.
Managing risk in Fantasy Football is a perfect microcosm of managing risk in business. You weigh the pros and cons, consider the worst-case scenarios, and sometimes take a calculated gamble. The key is not to put all your eggs in one basket (or all your captaincy chips on an injury-prone striker). And when things go south, as they sometimes do, it’s all about how you recover.
7. Long-Term Vision: “Planning for the Future (AKA Gameweek 38)”
Successful businesses don’t just think about the next quarter—they plan for the future. The same goes for Fantasy Football. Sure, getting a big haul in Gameweek 1 is great, but it’s the managers who think long-term who usually come out on top. Who’s got the best fixtures after Christmas? Who’s due back from injury just in time for a run of easy games?
In business, long-term vision means considering market trends, consumer needs, and sustainable growth. In Fantasy Football, it’s about planning your transfers to coincide with fixture swings, anticipating rotation risks, and ensuring your team is set up for the end-of-season sprint. It’s all about playing the long game—because nobody remembers who was top of the league in October if they’re 300 points behind by May.
Conclusion: “From Fantasy to Fortune 500”
So there you have it: a crash course in business through the lens of Fantasy Football. Next time someone tells you that obsessing over your fantasy team is a waste of time, remind them that you’re actually honing skills in strategic planning, data analysis, leadership, negotiation, market research, risk management, and long-term vision. And who knows? Maybe one day, those skills will translate into the boardroom—though hopefully, your CEO isn’t benched with a hamstring injury right before the annual shareholders’ meeting.
Until then, keep making those transfers, and remember: whether it’s fantasy football or business, success is all about playing the game—and having a bit of fun while you’re at it.