Want to get a little football action when you have a few minutes to kill? Well, Quick Hit football just released its new trailer for its new browser-based football game. Previously, when Quick Hit was known as Play Hard Sports, it focused on the development of simple, broad appeal fantasy games.

The new Quick Hit Football game strays away from fantasy and is a web-based Madden-style football game. The biggest difference with Quick Hit’s game is that players have the perspective of the coach, not of a player, and are focused on building their franchise. Further, in-game coaching assistance from Bill Cowher will be available for users.

You can take a look for yourself below:

While it is a departure from fantasy sports, it seems that Quick Hit has definitely hit on a niche in which it can excel, and use to build a business. By the way, it is a free game to play, which is sure to draw in some extra attention.

Additional Information

• Quick Hit Game Trailer
• Quick Hit Signs NFL Star, Raises $8 Million For Rich Flash-Based Football Game

Want to rub elbows with all of the movers and shakers of the fantasy industry? Pack your bags and head to Chicago! The Fantasy Sports Trade Association is hosting its 2009 Summer FSTA Business Conference and Research Symposium. The conference officially runs from June 18 and 19, but as always, will be preceded by a fantasy football experts draft the night before.

The FSTA conference agenda features a rundown of the latest industry statistics, a discussion on fantasy sports legal matters, and a few sessions focused on fantasy start-ups. The most interesting part of the conference agenda is the Elevator Pitch competition. New fantasy businesses are invited to compete for $20,000 of advertising time on Dish Network. Marketing dollars are always a little hard to come by for any fantasy company, so this competition offers a chance for one lucky company to get some much-needed air time.

To attend this conference you will have to fork over a registration fee–$449 for FSTA members, or $599 for non-FSTA members. While it is definitely a lot to pay, if you have not attended in the past, it is a solid investment to get familiar with the industry and is great opportunity to network for those looking to get into the fantasy sports industry.

Putting the Stink into Stinkball Fantasy Football?Anyone can predict that Adrian Peterson is going to have a good game, but who can predict what players are going to absolutely stink it up? Enter Stinkball. About a month ago, Real McCoy Fantasy Football officially launched Stinkball Fantasy Football. The concept is to put together as bad a fantasy football team as you can. The worse your players perform, the better you do. If your stud (err, dud?) running back only gets two carries for two yards and actually manages to fumble the ball, you are going to have a great day.

Stinkball is attempting a paradigm shift for the fantasy football player looking for a new challenge. Is picking duds harder than picking studs? Personally, I like to think that Stinkball appeals to the George Costanzas of the fantasy football world. Those fantasy players who realize that their every instinct is wrong, so why not just do the opposite of it. Perhaps, your fantasy football league’s perpetual cellar dwellers will have finally find something they are good at.

This is definitely not a new concept, but perhaps the first site solely dedicated to it. At the end of the day, all Stinkball has really done is change the scoring system. My biggest concern is the negative connotation to the game. Will fantasy players have as much fun rooting for their players to do poorly, and their opponents to have a good game. In some sense, this amounts to watching a movie and rooting for the bad guys. It’s like rooting for the prison guards in The Longest Yard, or the Yankees in Major League. Once players play Stinkball once and get their novelty laugh out of it, will they keep coming back?

Additional Coverage
New Fantasy Sports Website, Stinkball.com, Gives Fantasy Football Fanatics an Innovative Challenge (Press Release)

Quietly in the night yesterday, Fantasy Ethos published its very first article. A small piece about Fantasy Sports Blips, but a giant leap for Fantasy Ethos. After taking a sabbatical from the fantasy sports industry in order to keep my perspective fresh, I am happy to announce the launch of Fantasy Ethos. The goal of this site is for fantasy players and fantasy sports professionals to learn and discuss about the fantasy sports world. From the fantasy sports business to its unique culture, from industry news to some lighthearted fantasy humor, and even fantasy sports jobs and videos, there is a lot occurring on a daily basis in the fantasy industry.

Fantasy Ethos is built on the premise that there is a better way to operate in the fantasy sports world. If you leave our site a little smarter, a little more knowledgeable, then we are doing our job, and that kind of quality is what will bring people back to our site.

Fantasy Ethos is going to try a lot of different things. Some will work, some will not. For all of them, we see the reader as our partner, and any feedback you can provide as immensely valuable. Feel free to use the contact page or email me personally at derrick@fantasyethos.com.

Why Ethos?

When trying to create a memorable name for the site, the name Ethos just made the most sense. Originally suggested to us by a friend, the word is short, memorable, and really gets at the core of what we are doing here. The ethos of a society refers to the norms, the standards, or the essence of a culture. Fantasy Ethos aims to capture just that–the heart of the fantasy sports world and the fantasy player.

Secondly, ethos also bring to mind the notion as to how we should conduct ourselves. Ethos is the root in which ‘ethics’ is based. Fantasy Ethos conducts itself in the highest of professional manners. We will not stoop to a low level. No mud-slinging here. No thinly-disguised self-promotion. If there is a high road to be taken, that is where Fantasy Ethos will be. If you ever feel that we are not being honest and conducting ourselves with the highest of ethical standards, please let me know.

The fantasy world is big and is in constant motion–please join us while we examine it.

Sincerely,

Derrick Eckardt
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
derrick@fantasyethos.com