Yep, no more “Florida QB” or “Boise State RB” – a mainstream media outlet has finally stepped up with individual player names for fantasy college football.

CBS Sports debuted its new offering on Tuesday to the delight of many while making others wonder what took so long. As I have wondered aloud often, how can the #3 most popular spectator sport in the nation not even exist in fantasy popularity?

It has to do with access to information, and despite the excellent work done by U-Sports.com over the last 13 years and PreProSports.com up to this year everyone knows it wasn’t going to explode until a major media entity got behind the project.

That day is now.

NCAA response has been what you would expect…disconnected:

National Collegiate Athletic Association spokesman Bob Williams says that the NCAA did send a letter to CBS informing them that their bylaws were being violated by using player likenesses in the game. But he adds that because of the added exposure fantasy sports can bring the student-athlete, the NCAA does not intend to stand in the way of the fantasy game for now. [Wall Street Journal]

I imagine that Kim Jong Il will acquiesce like this in the face of social innovation once his rule in North Korea is deemed irrelevant. How Tim Tebow‘s name in a fantasy page versus the USA Today is different is beyond my logical comprehension but the NCAA has finally yielded to the public domain of information. Bylaws exist to protect against promotion and professionalism of the athlete and only oversees member institutions, not the media.

Credit here has to go to the folks at CDM who took on the Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) group to set the precedent that sports leagues do not own their player likenesses nor their statistics. Public figures get no such protection under the First Amendment. It is not a large leap to see how the NCAA chose not invest in the fight anymore.

From the CBS Press Release:

While CBSSports.com first launched College Fantasy Football in 2005, the 2008 version of the game marks an important point in the evolution of the product as for the first time individual player names will be used. Prior to this season, CBSSports.com College Fantasy Football used school names and positions, such as “FLORIDA QB” and “MICHIGAN RB” in lieu of actual player names.

“As the leader in the fantasy sports business, we’re constantly looking for ways to distinguish our service from the competition. Offering a product surrounding the immensely popular sport of college football is yet another example of this goal,” said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CBSSports.com. “We believe combining fantasy sports and college football will give fans and alumni yet another reason to get involved in the sport, increasing the popularity of college football much in the same way fantasy sports has affected professional football.”

Just a reminder that we have been around since 2005 with nothing but individual player names. I hope I do not sound bitter since this is a landmark day for our site and the industry in general. I have never been comfortable with big business getting in the way of the fans enjoying the game, and that was the modus operandi for fantasy sports until this June when the Supreme Court dismissed the MLBAM appeal. Glad you all could join us.

I liken this news to the phenomenon of Starbucks opening up a coffee shop in a town where only locally owned stores existed before – everyone’s sales go up because the Starbucks legitimizes the existence of all the others. Some might think that the CBS news will choke us, I choose to believe that it validates our core principle that this market is underserved and needs solid independent advice and insight for its players (wanna bet that SEC players will be ranked highly at CBS despite our research?). Not a lot of independent sites do what we do on this level of depth, and I am excited that we have prospered artistically and persevered financially to see this day.

Now it is up to us (and U-sports.com and others) to take advantage of it, to play it as it lies. And folks, CBS just put it in the middle of the fairway.

To the early adopters, we raise our smartphones high to the sky to salute you. To those new to fantasy college football, we welcome you as if we were tailgating at the Grove and you have the prettiest sundress in the crowd.

Related posts:

1. FCB Top 25 for CBSSports.com Blogpoll – showing the O face
2. Fantasy College Football Invitational: Expert League Draft Results
3. Fantasy College Football Dynasties: 2005-7
4. FCB College Football Top 25
5. Top 13 fantasy college football games for 2008

Tags: manifesto