How many times have you cried out in despair when your top pick in the Fantasy Football pool goes down with a season-ending injury in the first week – leaving you playing a futile game of catch-up the rest of the year?
Now you can buy fantasy sports pool insurance, and it is an offer that has taken off for Henry Olszewsky, the vice-president of Intermarket Insurance who runs FantasySportsInsurance.com.
“We came up with the idea when Tom Brady got injured in 2008,” says Olszewsky, who says that many fantasy pool owners drafted Brady high that year following his numerous SuperBowl visits and through-the-roof passing statistics – only to see their sizeable investments to enter their respective fantasy leagues disappear as their chances of winning dwindled to almost zero. “There are some people who are in pools for $50 or $60, but we’ve paid out claims for as much as $1,500.”
For a fee of 10 per cent of the costs of entering a league, FantasySportsInsurance.com insures a roster’s top player(s). However, injured players or those with a high risk of getting injured aren’t available for insurance. (continued.)
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Last year, Olszewsky estimates his company insured 2,000 policies for fantasy sports investments, with the majority of policies covering investments between $300 and $500. Policyholders are paid the full sum of their investment if an insured player gets injured and misses nine or more games.
The fantasy sports industry is valued at approximately $1.2 billion, according to IBISWorld, a market research firm, with more than 270 businesses collecting money from fantasy dream teams managed by armchair experts.
“Fantasy pools are big business these days,” Olszewsky told InsuranceBusiness.ca. “There are some pools valued at $10,000 or $20,000 out there.”
Another man jumping on the fantasy sports coverage bandwagon is Tim Kenny, the co-owner of Aran Insurance, with his newly-launched website FantasyPlayerProtect.com.
Unlike Olszewsky’s coverage which is based on a percentage, Kenny offers flat rates from $12 to $18 a player, but has the same payout stipulation of nine or more games for an injured player. (continued.)
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Kenny says his site has received more than 50,000 hits since mid-August, with several thousand registering as users.
Since launch in mid-August, Kenny says their site has received more than 50,000 hits, with several thousands of people registering as users.
For Olszewsky, his coverage only extends to most of the 48 contiguous United States.
“Interest has been growing, and it is a success, but of course we would like more people to be aware and use the product,” he says. “I don’t see us expanding into Canada at this point, as we are committed right now to the U.S. market.”
