Larry Schechter – The History of Fantasy Sports

The Journey of My Mother's Son

In this episode of the Journey of My Mother’s Son podcast, I talk with Larry Schechter.

Larry is the author of the 2014 Amazon bestseller “Winning Fantasy Baseball.” He has been called one of the best fantasy baseball players in the world. Larry was a two-time winner of the CDM Sports national salary cap contest, defeating 7,500 teams in 2002 and 6,000 teams in 2005. He has competed in the two most prestigious expert’s leagues, winning the USA Today-sponsored LABR league three times and the Tout Wars experts league six times. One of his keys to success in fantasy baseball is attention to detail. He used that ability in researching, conducting interviews, and writing his most recent book, “The History of Fantasy Sports.”

It’s not written as a boring research paper, but rather tells the stories of the entrepreneurs who created an industry that has gone worldwide. More than 50 million men and women in the USA play fantasy sports. 200 million play fantasy Cricket in India. There’s never been a book like this and it’s getting rave reviews.

Fantasy sports have become a cultural phenomenon, where five nuns in a convent co-manage a football team, where a plumber and the CEO of a major company sit next to each other at a draft table talking like they’re best buddies. It brings together co-workers, parents and their children, and keeps college friends in touch for years after graduation.

Fantasy sports have become as ingrained in American culture as baseball and apple pie. And they have spread worldwide. There are versions of these games for football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, cricket, bull riding, bass fishing, Iditarod and many more. It is one of the most popular forms of entertainment today.

But the millions who play mostly have no idea about the people and events that created this phenomenon. The History of Fantasy Sports provides the first complete telling of how we got from the spontaneous ideas for games years ago, to the multi-billion-dollar industry of today.

Larry spent 18 months researching and interviewing dozens of key players, pioneers, and entrepreneurs to uncover their stories. This reader-friendly book is ready to take its place alongside some of the best in sports history. You will be entertained and inspired by these stories of humble beginnings turned into multi-million-dollar enterprises. Schechter does a great job of capturing the passion, obsession, and love of the game behind these businesses.

Larry is now retired and lives in Florida. You can follow him on X @LarrySchechter.

To pick up a copy of Larry’s newest book, check it out on Amazon.