Iowa ranks #1 among U.S. states in the percentage of adults who play fantasy sports, according to new data from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA). Thirty-four percent of adult Iowans play fantasy football, nudging out my home state of Washington by one percent.

You can view the complete breakout of fantasy sports participation by state in the graphic below (click the image to enlarge it):

2017 State-by-State Heatmap

Of course, these stats from the FSTA show the percentage of adults who play fantasy sports. If the stats were based on total players by state, then the #1 ranking would surely go to California, based on California’s status as the most-populated state in the U.S. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau).

I’m a proud member of the FSTA. Fortunately, one does not need to be good at fantasy sports to join the FSTA.

Fantasy Football: The 24-Year Losing Streak

The FSTA was a valuable resource while I researched my book, “Fantasy Football: The 24-Year Losing Streak.” The book follows a fantasy football underachiever (yours truly) through a quarter-century of bad drafts, dumb trades and a revolving roster of regret.

Along the way there are interviews with colorful characters including: a professor of fantasy football; a CEO whose company is disrupting the NFL injury reporting process; plus the “Magnificent 5” elite fantasy champs.

If you enjoy geeking out on fantasy data like I do, then you might enjoy the book’s reporting on why we play fantasy sports, and why “they” avoid fantasy sports entirely. You might also find value in the charts and tables for avoiding catastrophic fantasy mistakes.

“Fantasy Football” The 24-Year Losing Streak” is a best seller on Amazon. So don’t let anyone tell you that losing gets your nowhere. Get your copy here.

Speaking of data, here are a few of my favorite fantasy sports factoids:

  • 59.3 million: That’s the number of people who play fantasy sports in the U.S. and Canada (Source: FSTA).
  • $72.2 billion: Annual revenue generated by the fantasy sports industry (Source: FSTA).
  • 74%: The percentage of fantasy players who said they started enjoying themselves “immediately” the first time they tried fantasy sports. (Source: Brody Ruihley).
  • 68%: The percentage of fantasy players who kick in funds to purchase a loser trophy for their league’s last-place team. (Source: FSTA).
  • George Blanda: Blanda was the #1 pick in the first-ever fantasy football draft. The pick was a disaster. ( Source: ESPN) The “Blanda Blunder” is a classic fantasy mistake that is familiar to nearly everyone who plays fantasy football. It’s a topic I cover in painful, first-person detail in my book.

Fantasy Football The 24-Year Losing Streak Cover

If you’d like to read the eBook “Fantasy Football: The 24-Year Losing Streak,” please click here to buy it on Amazon.

Thank you!