Many years ago, people thought that ESPN was crazy for broadcasting the World Series of Poker, and we all know how well that turned out for them. Now, Versus is hoping that same kind of magic will work with the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF). The WCOFF has been around for many years, and has become the premier high stakes fantasy football league.

The first episode aired on Thursday, October 15, but you can check out the first episode by checking out WCOFF TV. The show is well done, and surprisingly intriguing. For the fantasy industry, this is a breakthrough opportunity to make the game even more popular. Combine this show with FX’s new show The League, which is a sitcom built around a fantasy football league, these are great opportunities of watching fantasy football as entertainment.

Will it take off? Only time will tell. In the mean time, check out the video online, and let me know what you think.

Just when they thought they were done with Draft Analyzer, it draws them back in! Draft Analyzer just announced the private beta launch of its Lineup Analyzer for fantasy players. Fantasy football players can use the Lineup Analyzer to determine on who to start on a week-to-week basis.

This is a big move for Draft Analyzer. Historically, Draft Analyzer has only been used by fantasy players during the preseason, and then has stepped aside. Now, Draft Analyzer is looking to sell a new product to existing consumer base of fantasy fanatics. I would not be surprised to see Lineup Analyzer as an add-on product to purchasers of the Draft Analyzer for the 2010 fantasy football season. Lineup Analyzer goes into direct competition of Fantasy Football Starters and a number of other weekly prediction tools.

How well does it work? Pretty well. The tool loaded my roster from Draft Analyzer, and then I was able to adjust it for moves I have made since the draft. I looked at the dashboard and noticed a very strong matchup for Leon Washington of which I was not aware. As a result, Washington is now in my lineup. Easy and simple to understand. I like.

Currently, Lineup Analyzer is available only to Draft Analyzer customers. If you are not a Draft Analyzer customer, you can still buy one at a reduced rate of $19.95, which will also instantly get you access to the Lineup Analyzer.

On Sunday morning, two fantasy owners in my league felt inspired to make a last minute move. Both moves ended up being significant moves, yet neither had the impact that they should have.

The first owner Brian decided that Miles Austin was worth a shot in his lineup. His alternative was a forgettable (in fact, I have already forgotten) third-string receiver that probably wouldn’t score much anyway. With his team struggling for points, it could not turn out to be a bad move. 250 yards, two touchdowns, and 37 fantasy points later, Austin proved he was worth that last second audible.

The second owner was myself. With Kyle Orton, Matt Cassel, and Derek Anderson as my quarterback options, I decided to chance it with my most recent free agent acquisition (Derek Anderson) since he had a good game the week before, and he no longer had Braylon Edwards to drop passes for him. 23 yards, one interception, and -1 fantasy point later, Anderson was a total bust. Had I started no one, I would have been better improved my team, to say nothing to Orton and Cassel’s matching 20-point performances.

Now Brian’s move was a stroke of genius, which he promptly followed with a blunder of epic proportions–he never actually activated Austin. When he made the free agent acquistion, Austin was added to his bench, where he sat all day long. Somehow, he still managed to win his game. Despite my own idiocracy, I also managed to win my game, as Austin Collie and Michael Turner came up big for me, making up for my fumbling the quarterback selection.

The morale of the story is simple, you never know what you are going to get, but make sure to set your lineup!

I just spoke with Jason Pliml of Mock Draft Central, and he told me that Mock Draft Central is officially on the market. Mock Draft Central has carved out a very strong niche for itself as THE place to go to for fantasy football / baseball / basketball / everything mock drafts. The site has a loyal following of dedicated fantasy players in the tens of thousands of users.

For interested buyers, the sale process is simple – Mock Draft Central will be placed up for auction on October 30, 2009 with a starting bid of $195,000. The auction will held on eBay.com with a tentative end date of November 12, 2009.

Mock Draft Central is a profitable company that sustains itself through subscription, licensing, and advertising revenue.

Pliml started Mock Draft Central in 2001 as a means to improve his own fantasy baseball drafting skills. Mock Draft Central has since grown to be the leader in mock drafts and powers a number of other fantasy sites’ drafts.

While Pliml’s role with the company is to be determined, it is more than likely that Manager of Operations Geoff Stein will stay on after Mock Draft Central is purchased.

Mock Draft Central is willing to provide company details, including financial, traffic, advertising metrics, etc to parties with a bona-fide interest, and you can contact MDC at (616) 363-6306.

Jason, Geoff, and Mock Draft Central provide one of the highest-quality services on the web, and whoever acquires them will definitely be picking up a valuable asset.

From the “I couldn’t make this up if I tried” category, you can now get weekly fantasy football sleeper picks from three bikini-clad beauties in a hot tub. Hot Tub Sleeper Picks is a new video series offering fantasy advice.

Hot Tub Sleeper Picks is clearly tailoring to the mostly male fantasy football audience, and some find them offensive and/or chauvinistic. The videos are well produced, and the fantasy advice is backed up with rationale. Again, no one will watch for the fantasy advice alone.

Below is the Week 5 Sleeper Picks video, where the ladies nailed one of their three sleeper picks, after going two for three the week before.

No sport is too small or unimportant to have not its own fantasy league. ProMotoFan is offering its own fantasy supercross game for its readers centered around this weekend’s US Open. Remember, the point of fantasy sports is too have fun with your friends and/or increase your interest in a particular. ProMotoFan allows motorcross fans the opportunity to do both of these. To make things even more interesting, ProMotoFan is offering a $500 top prize.

While it is too late to enter this contest (it locked out last night), look for ProMotoFan to keep offering fantasy games for its readers, since it is a real simple way to keep users engaged. I love seeing small niche fantasy games like this one. It is just like the early day of fantasy, where fans of the sport cannot get enough, so they created a new way to enjoy it, and are willing to do the hardwork to make it happen. This is fantasy at its core.

Fut11.com plans to launch itself in the near future. While it is getting ready to launch, it is looking for a few good logo ideas. In fact, it is currently hosting a logo contest for the a fantasy soccer logo. The designer of the winning logo will in a prize of $295.

All I can tell you about Fut11.com is that the domain was registered on September 3, 2009, and the company is based on Portugal. The name is short and sweet, and makes sense for the product.

I do like the idea of making you logo a public contest, because it helps generate some pre-launch buzz for the site. Personally, I like the logo on the left.

Good luck to all designers!

Next January, you can stay at home and shovel snow, or you can take a trip to Las Vegas for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s (FSTA) winter conference. The 2010 Winter FSTA Business Conference and Research Symposium will be held on January 26-27, 2010 at The Palms in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, there is no agenda currently available. Based on previous conferences, expect new market data, a panel or two on emerging trends (technology, customer, or perhaps social), demonstrations from new fantasy companies, and a ton of networking.

FSTA conferences are a great value for anyone new to the industry and wants to learn more about actually running a fantasy business. With the heads of Yahoo! Fantasy, ESPN Fantasy, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and Fanball, it is a Who’s Who and a great opportunity to learn.

Early registration for FSTA members is $349, while non-members pay $499. These rates are available through December 17 and will increase afterwards.

If you were not paying attention, you might not notice that Fanball founder Paul Charchian is quietly and slowly building himself a brand new fantasy sports empire. Charch, as he is affectionatly referred to in the industry, was at the helm of Fanball for 15 years before leaving after it was acquired by CDM Sports.

You will not find a site right now that looks like the second coming of Fanball, but once you take a look at all of the little pieces, a fuller picture begins to emerge.

Charch’s first public venture after leaving Fanball was the launch of LeagueSafe. LeagueSafe is a great niche free site that allows fantasy players to easily manage league finances, collect league fees, and distribute prizes. It is a great and unique tool for fantasy players, but it is just one tool.

Next, Charch built and runs fantasy football game for Best Buy–Best Buy Fantasy–this year. It is a simple player free pick’em game where fantasy players compete against a celebrity of the week (this week it’s the All-American Rejects), and can win some neat prizes. Charch and Best Buy are both Minnesota based, so the two of them working together was just a natural fit. Now, Charch is building a platform for fantasy games. Hmm, this is getting a little more interesting.

Next up, Charch is writing regular weekly fantasy football content, which you can read at Fantasy Victory. Writing weekly fantasy content is probably one of the hardest and most tidiest things to do the industry. As the season progresses, it becomes a challenge to sound fresh and original. Doing this for fun is akin to getting your eyelashes plucked for fun. Maybe he does enjoy eyelash plucking, or maybe he is keeping his writing skills sharp.

When I asked Charch to comment on my hunch, he said, “I’m a long way from an empire at this point, but I think we’re headed in the right direction. Trying to build things that make sense for us.” He is definitely doing lots of little things with a much bigger picture in mind.

To recap, Charch is running fantasy games, is creating backend fantasy software, is producing regular fantasy content, and is developing a tool that gives him access to thousands of the high-end fantasy players (those that need a tool to manage league finances). If all of these items do not evolve into a full-service fantasy sports site, I would be shocked. Moreover, the industry would lose out as there is definitely room for a new independent fantasy site that will provide quality content and games for fantasy players. Charch is one of those guys who knows how to do it.

Bill Simmons grew his reputation online due to his ability to empathize with the sports fan. Now, within his Week 4 NFL Picks, he has connected with the fantasy football fan:

By the way, can someone start a support group for everyone who took LaDainian Tomlinson over Chris Johnson in a 2009 fantasy draft? I made that move in my East Coast draft; now I just want to sit in a room on Tuesday nights with other depressed fantasy owners as we shake our heads at one another, feel sad and watch video clips of Norv Turner saying that LDT is feeling better but he still might need another week before he’s ready to come back.

(FYI: I continue to hate fantasy football and wonder why I participate in something that gives me a 90 percent chance of being angry and feeling bad about myself. This is fun? It’s fun to watch your first-round pick standing sullenly on the sidelines every week as his backup whom you forgot to pick as a handcuff is putting up points? That’s fun? REALLY? THAT’S FUN? I’M HAVING FUN? #$^@ YOU, TOMLINSON! #$^@ YOU! #$^@ YOU! OK, I feel a little better.)

Struggling with fantasy football has always been an issue for the Sports Guy, as he even tried to reform it a couple of seasons ago with his new fantasy rules.

Good luck this season, Sports Guy. One day the fantasy gods will bless with you with a team that is so invincible that it will be the spitting image of the 2007 NFL AFC Champion Patriots.