Anyone who has watched professional sports on TV or visited a sports-centric website has seen the ads and can tell you that fantasy sports are huge right now. Companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings have taken what used to be a low-stakes competition among family and friends and turned it into a multi-billion dollar industry.
Today, more than 50 million people play fantasy sports, according to the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association. That represents a fifth of all American adults, and the website OppU says people spend an average of $131 on their fantasy football draft and then devote 6.9 hours a week managing their team.
That’s a lot of time and effort, as Mitch McMahon could tell you.
“I enjoyed playing fantasy football for years,” the Ada resident says. “But it became very time-consuming. It almost became like a part-time job.”
To solve that problem, he helped launch GridCard four years ago and has been playing with family and friends ever since. Now, he is inviting members of the community to join this free fantasy sports league and engage in a little friendly competition between neighbors.
Basics of GridCard
GridCard was built off a fantasy football system devised by Mitch about 20 years ago. “We took the most exciting sportsbook bet—the parlay card—and blended it into the weekly fantasy sports format to produce something akin to fantasy football but much easier to play,” he explains.
Once he retired from teaching, Mitch decided to take his version of fantasy sports to the next level. He partnered with Under the Mountain Software to create GridCard – an online version that is free for everyone.
Each week, participants log into the site to make picks across three “games.” For the two main games, they can select 9 matchups and assign a confidence score to each pick. Matchups include selecting the winner of specific games or selecting how many points will be scored.
Making it easy to play was foremost on Mitch’s mind when creating the program. Not everyone wants to spend hours researching stats to be in a fantasy league. Those who don’t want to manually place “bets” can use an AutoPick feature to make selections for them.
“The coolest aspect of the game is the AutoPick which allows you to get in the game in 3-4 seconds,” Mitch says. Because there are over twenty “bets” placed each week and each “bet” is a 50-50 proposition, AutoPick produces as many winners as handpicked GridCards.
“Even if you don’t know the difference between a touchback and a touchdown, you can compete and win,” Mitch explains. Despite the term “bet,” it’s important to note that there is no gambling at the site.
Each Thursday at noon, a new GridCard is released comprised of nationally-televised games for the following week. Players pick the winners and weight their picks 1-9. Or use the AutoPick to make the process easy.
“I really see the GridCard as an alternative to all the casino gambling we see advertised everywhere,” Mitch says. “It’s good clean fun for the whole family.”
How to Sign Up for the Free Fantasy Football League
GridCard is already up and running for anyone who wants to start right now. There is no cost, and recent matchups have included a mix of baseball and pre-season football games.
However, with football season right around the corner, Mitch is ready to launch a Team Fantasy Football League and is inviting everyone to take on him and the ProGrid Tour this fall.
We’ll have a team for Lowell’s First Look, and you are encouraged to create your own team with friends and family. Maybe you’ll be the Keiser’s Breakfast Club or the New Union Friday Night Crew. Whether you recruit a bunch of moms from school or the guys you play pickleball with each week, gather together some friends and join us in a little friendly competition.
And don’t worry if you don’t have anyone who can create a team with you. Simply sign up and email the GridCard Commissioner – aka Mitch – to be placed on a team with an opening.
Every Saturday morning, we will post the latest GridCard rankings here on Lowell’s First Look along with a reminder to go make your picks.
Sign up and play for free at www.gridcard.club and then email Mitch at [email protected] to register your teammates for the inaugural Team Fantasy Football League. Mitch is also the person to contact with any questions or concerns.
See you on the gridiron…er, the GridCard!
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