Fantasy sports industry looks to continue feeding the beast in the face of mounting criticism

This past summer at a Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference attended by ESPN, NBA, and other sports organizations, Business Insider reports that these groups have all committed to establishing “more fantasy-friendly steps” to increase awareness and accessibility of fantasy sports. This comes in the shadow of growing criticism for daily fantasy sports, such as the recent allegations of insider trading between employees of DraftKings and FanDuel, and if it’s actually cloaked as a new form of online gambling.

What is lacking in detail from the FSTA conference is how these organizations plan to support fantasy sports further. As a fantasy sports fan, I hope these plans will be more thoughtful and creative than what has occurred recently with DraftKings and ESPN. Beyond the absolute flurry of advertisements during sports broadcasts, this partnership appears to be costing ESPN’s Matthew Barry’s credibility as a sports journalist, as he has started to come under fire as more of a pitch-man for DraftKings than a credible fantasy sports writer.