Website offers $100,000 to fantasy football champ
By Stephen Dorman sdorman@theacorn.com

Fantasy football season has officially arrived.

While traditional headtohead or point-based scoring leagues continue to gain mainstream popularity, the folks at RotoHog.com are offering something a little less conventional for its users this season.

The online company cofounded by David Wu, a longtime Thousand Oaks resident who now resides in Simi Valley, has launched its inaugural fantasy football campaign.

RotoHog owners build teams through a free-for-all draft. Unlike standard fantasy football leagues, there is no set order of selection.

Once the season starts, RotoHog utilizes a global marketplace to determine NFL players' values, which are in a constant state of flux. An NFL player is released into the system once for every 12 fantasy teams that are signed up, Wu said.

On the RotoHog trading floor, players are bought and sold like stocks. Trading players is not allowed, and each team must adhere to a $300 salary cap with no roster size limitations.

Earlier this year, RotoHog launched a similar game for fantasy baseball. Wu said his company has made a few adjustments since transitioning to football, but the overall concept remains intact.

"We learned a lot from baseball," Wu said. "We've had a lot of feedback and really learned how everything works. The core, the spirit of the game, it remains the same."

According to Wu, the supplyand-demand system being utilized by his company allows for a fastpaced style of play that is difficult to match in standard scoring leagues.

"People love it," he said. "Some spend hours on the website."

RotoHog owners will have an opportunity to play for big-time cash in the free Marshall Faulk League, where the grand prize is $100,000.

Faulk, the legendary running back and perennial fantasy stud during his playing days with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams, is not only the face of the league; he's a team owner and part of the global competition.

"RotoHog.com has taken something everybody loves and made fantasy sports even more fun to play," said Faulk during a taped interview. "Anybody can get in on the action and showcase their skills, but you have to beat me to win the $100,000. Do you think you're game?"

In addition to the first-place prize, RotoHog is also awarding cash to every owner who finishes in the top 100 of the Marshall Faulk League. A secondplace finish nets $25,000, while a 75thplace result earns $175. Weekly prizes will also be given away during the season.

Furthermore, RotoHog will reward owners who refer a team that finishes in the money. The prize for referring the top finisher is $50,000.

"We want more people to join," Wu said. "If the person you refer is in the top 10, you're going to be very interested in how they're doing."

For an added twist, RotoHog users can also join bar, radio station or private leagues. Owners in a custom league can enter the same team into the Marshall Faulk League.

Area bars that are participating include the Lamplighter in Camarillo, the Dry Gulch Ranch Saloon and Sunset Ranch & Beach Bar near Malibu, Take Five in Newbury Park, PC's Bar & Grille and Season Ticket in Simi Valley, PJ's Sports Pub in Thousand Oaks and Vinesse in Westlake Village.

KLAC 570AM in Los Angeles has a radio league available for its listeners.

In the future, Wu said he'd like to see his company set up leagues for businesses throughout the nation.

"Fantasy football, and fantasy sports in general, can be a powerful teambuilding tool in corporate America," Wu said. "Companies that set up private leagues for fantasy football, their workers are tight-knit; they work well together and often have a lot of things in common.

"In the past there was concern that fantasy sports did the opposite- created a lack of production. Now researchers are finding it to be a tool that some managers are using to build teams at work."

Wu invites any company who's interested in forming a league to reach out to RotoHog.

"We want all the companies to contact us," he said. "We could set up a 10,000 person Amgen league right now. It could really help improve a business' environment and culture, everything."