You can now download the introduction and first chapter of Family Fantasy Sports’ Book of Champions. This is a great example of creating content for your customers that appeals to them and knowing why they are your customers. Family Fantasy Sports is one of the most unique fantasy sports sites out there as it caters to those seeking a much more family friendly version of fantasy sports.

The nature of Family Fantasy Sports’ business is that it creates a safe online environment for families to play fantasy sports together. As part of that, it has established a very strong connection with its customers where it helps parents figure out how to engage their children with fantasy sports (and life). By publishing this Book of Champions, it has created another product to endear itself to its customers.

Family Fantasy Sports could have built some new features for its game, but that would have been a waste of time. It realizes that its users are not using the site because it is a great fantasy sports platform, but because its users are parents that are looking for a way to get involved with their children.

The moral of the story: Know your audience.

Family Fantasy Sports tweeted yesterday asking “Which Brady Bunch cast member would be the best at fantasy football? U can include Alice and Sam.” It caught my attention, and I thought I would take a shot at the question. Head to the bottom of the article if you cannot wait for my reply.

First, who it could not be.
Judging by the fact that Sam could not figure out for all those years that Alice was interested in him, I know that Sam was not too perceptive. His ability to anticipate breakout stars and players past their prime would be his downfall in fantasy football. He is the guy who would draft Amani Toomer to be his second wide receiver.

Next, Mike and Carol Brady. As the adults, some would consider them the front runners. However, their inability to say no the kids and consequently would trade away their best players to the kids. While this may mean they are loving parents, it will be their fantasy football downfall.

Bobby Brady was the biggest football fan out of the all Bradys. Remember when he played catch with Joe Namath in the backyard, that was awesome. Unfortunately, Bobby’s homerism would hurt him in his draft as he would pass on guys like Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr in order to draft his beloved Namath.

When it comes to Marcia, you have to wonder if she would even play fantasy football. It just does not seem like something that would be on her radar. Between combing her hair and writing letters to Davy Jones, I do not think she would even enter a league. Honestly, I think she might actually be the best fantasy football player of the bunch if she chose to play.

Contenders for the title
Greg, as the groovy big brother, exudes tons of confidence that he is good at just about anything he does. As it turns out, he probably would be good at fantasy football. Unfortunately, as his attention seemed to turn from one fad to another each week, Greg would quickly disappear from league activity, and would not make a move after Week 3.

Peter has all the tools to be a great fantasy football player. He gets sports and he is pretty smart. But, he has one big issue: teenage girls. He is simply not going to be able to put the time in to focus on his team, because his attention will be on how to get some groovy baby to go the next dance with him.

Alice is perpetual fantasy football playoff threat. She knows how to run a house, so assembling a potent offense should be a walk in the park for her. Unfortunately, she always seems to avoid taking risks (see: Sam), and would never take a chance on a guy about to breakout. Her fantasy teams would be solid, but never championship caliber.

Cindy Brady might be the best instinctive fantasy football player in the whole bunch. You knew how whenever she suspected something, she shied away and protected Kitty Carryall. That sixth sense would protect her from picking up duds or making bad deals. With a few more years, she may emerge as the best in the fantasy football player in the bunch.

The Best Brady Bunch Fantasy Football Player is…
Jan. Why is she the best Brady at fantasy football? She has glasses, she has to be smart, right? How about because of her keen (albeit, obsessive) observation skills, such as noticing that everything is about Marcia! Marcia! Marcia! Her obsessiveness will help guide her to fantasy football victory–she’ll have no friends–but, she will be the fantasy football champion.

What do you think of my analysis, and who would you pick?

Note: I have not included Cousin Oliver, because let’s face it, he was only on the show because Cindy and Bobby were no longer cute and cuddly. I bet his last name is not even Brady.

A friend recently asked me if fantasy sports were safe for her son to play. Simply, the answer is yes, but the answer is definitely not that cut and dry, as there are some benefits and issues that parents should know about before letting their children play fantasy football or any other fantasy sport.

First of all, there are a number of benefits. Fantasy sports is all about numbers. As kids become active in fantasy sports, they quickly learn how to translate raw stats into meaningful fantasy statistics. This can range from determining Johan Santana’s earned run average for the day to figuring out how many fantasy points LaDainian Tomlinson’s monster day generated. In fact, there are even a series of math textbooks that play on the strong connection between fantasy sports and mathematics. Second, playing and winning fantasy football and other fantasy sports involves a serious amount of strategy, negotiation, and compromise. In other words, kids are going to have to think about how to win. Developing critical thinking skills in a fun way is another definite plus.

Now, there are issues with children playing fantasy sports online. Of course, there is always an online safety and privacy concern, so hopefully if your kids play online, they are supervised. Also, if kids are playing in public leagues or even leagues amongst their friends, expect some of the team names to be tasteless and trash talking to occur on league message boards. If your son is in a league with other nine-year olds, then the messages are probably going to be fairly benign. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled.

There are some fantasy sports leagues specifically designed for children and families. Currently, there are two fantasy football games and only one company that tailors themselves specifically to kids and families. Launched in 2008, and now in its second season of offering family-friendly fantasy football game, Family Fantasy Sports is still the only site that is creating fantasy sports games specifically for kids and their parents. Family Fantasy Sports has developed a game that the whole family can play together. Plus, players can win part of a $40,000 prize pool towards college. Another option is SIKids.com Fantasy Football, which is a simple salary cap game that kids can play with their friends or against the rest of the world.

Like anything, fantasy football for kids has some issues, but nothing that a little supervision and playing at the right places cannot solve.