The mother of all fantasy seasons is upon us. For the uninitiated, the “mother of all fantasy seasons” – at least in the States – is focused on the NFL, and more than a few welcome league organization and drafts well before training camps join them.
The tech-savvy owner is likely to be joined in holy matrimony to a device that resides in the hand rather than a desk or lap, making improved mobile offerings from fantasy league hosts more critical than ever. If you’re constructing your nerdy plans for the coming NFL season around technological ties to fantasy roster, we figured you might appreciate a helping hand.
For 2013, the commissioners considering mobile features and benefits will find capable options from a group of four service providers. We also found a few items off the beaten path worthy of download. Let’s review.
ESPN Fantasy Football
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (Updated June 28, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 3.5 (Updated July 12, 2013)
The fantasy offerings at the Worldwide Leader have taken a substantial step forward since Matthew Berry took the section over, and this season the mobile offerings are as powerful as anything we’ve seen to date. For the first time ever, iOS users can host and participate in draft, including traditional “snake” drafts as well as auction drafts. They host a full menu of mock drafts and your can draft your true team as well, via iPhone an iPad.
Roster management is superior with simple grab/move functionality. Live scoring and matchup scoreboards are there all season long. Team owners have full access to message boards, player news and injury reports are attached to your players and available via one-touch access, and the full menu of roster transactions (including trades) are available.
It’s the Cadillac of the mobile fantasy football experience. It might be fair to dock the brand a few points for the Android effort – capable, yet lacking some of the key features mentioned above (and, based on recent comments, struggles on some Android devices) – but the overall effort is head-and-shoulders and (with drafts) pushing new expectations.
Yahoo! Fantasy Football
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome Extension
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (June 4, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 4.4 (Updated May 31, 2013)
Yahoo has long been a home for fantasy heads on the net, and their established form rings true again thru the 2013 mobile portals. It’s easy on the eyes and intuitive in performance, but the Yahoo downfall against the Four-Letter Network is summed in one event: the draft. When it comes to the season before the season, Yahoo owners must go without mobile options and insure they find the desk/laptop. The descriptions via iTunes notes “Commissioner Tools” are also available only through traditional access (a truth for ESPN as well), but it fails to mention one other minor downfall: access to trades and waiver wire options for owners.
However, you might give Yahoo the edge if you’re working via Android, where trades are available while enhanced access to Yahoo! Sports media coverage (video highlights, stats, etc) is robust. You’ll also find a new Watch List feature, allowing owners to track news filtered to their specifications.
Add access via Google Chrome Extension and it might be fair to suggest the mobile battle is where lines are definitively drawn between the top dogs: ESPN is your best option if you carry iOS, while Yahoo is the play for those carrying Android devices.
NFL Fantasy Football 2013
Available on: iPhone, Android
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (May 29, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 3.1 (July 10, 2013)
The league responsible for the production of fantasy football was one of the last online entities to embrace it. The NFL has been behind the traditional media brands in covering, serving and hosting fantasy football for many years, but this year’s effort – both on the web and on tablets/phones – closes the gap.
Owners will not enjoy access to live drafts via the NFL.com app, but all of the features beyond that event are in tow. Full roster management application, transactions and trades, live scoring, news aggregation enhanced with video, and push notifications to track it all: the NFL has covered the list of benefits owners appreciate in a mobile platform, and they didn’t stop there.
This year’s mobile iOS app also offers access to other NFL.com fantasy games such as the Perfect Challenge (a survivor/elimination-style fantasy game), the Weekly Pick ‘Em and more. Any game you’re playing via NFL.com can be accessed via mobile… at least if you’re pushing Apple. Android users are finding the app struggles on larger Galaxy devices according to recent comments in the Google Play store, and the full-range access to all games isn’t there. Still, this is a tremendous leap forward for fantasy heads looking to pledge allegiance to the emblem.
CBS Sports Fantasy Football & News
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (Updated July 1, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 3.9 (Updated July 15, 2013)
Not to be outdone, CBS Sports has served fantasy owners for more than a few years and they continue to push improved mobile offerings as well. To be up front and forward, it would be fair to note these apps are MUCH more focused on engaging users with CBS Sports content. Their coverage takes the wheel and the games are riding shotgun, not only on mobile platforms but also through web portals… but there are definitive pleasures in utilizing this app for your teams.
More than anything, CBS Sports excels in offering live statistical tracking. Check out the screen shots via iTunes and note the GameTracker images of in-game stat tracking and you’ll see what we’re talking about. You’ll also note the enhanced features CBS has brought to the mobile table for the first time in 2013, including some progressive applications fantasy owners may appreciate more than they might expect.
While you can’t draft your CBS Sports fantasy team via mobile, you can enjoy unique insight and coverage of your potential targets via the Draft Companion. You’ll also find Video Advice on players, projected stats and scoring-specific rankings, and news filtered via your specifications. Again, the content is on parade… CBS has found a unique way of leveraging that approach to empower mobile fantasy users, and we appreciate the new approach to the business enough to suggest you might carry it even if you DO NOT run teams/leagues via CBS. All the other basic features are onboard if you do… but the integrated and functional access to information is outstanding (on Android or iOS).
Consider your needs and desires for the fantasy season ahead and you should find a good match (or mix) from the mobile market to keep you and your league satisfied.
In researching those mobile apps designed for league management, we found a few items addressing a variety of the other wish-list items for fantasy football tech head… and we figured you might appreciate those as well.
Footballguys Fantasy Football Draft GM 2013
Available on: iPhone, iPad
Cost: $2.99
iTunes Rating: 4+ (Updated July 17, 2013)
This crew has provided online NFL geeks with stellar support since the days of draft prep via the magazines living on the shelf (instead of iTunes or Play). Recognizing the opportunity to integrate their historical strength with digital media, this app shines for iOS users seeking comfort during the draft. (To confirm your likely suspicion… NO, this app is not designed for league management. It’s strictly a tool for your draft.)
Customized cheat sheets, real-time draft tracking and prediction, scoring applications to adjust for your unique league rules, adjustable rankings to mix your gut with the latest expert predictions, extensive news and analysis… it’s all here and available at a reasonable price.
(To warn, (a) android users are left without as the FBG app sticks to news and hasn’t been updated in years, and (b) we have no personal experience or reflections to offer on performance, though comments in iTunes are positive.)
RotoWire Fantasy Football Draft Kit 2013
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android
Cost: $4.99 iOS, $2.99 Android
iTunes Rating: 4+ (July 1, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 1.0 (Updated July 16, 2013)
Draft Kits are a fantasy football tradition and typically offered – in a wide variety of forms and compositions – by all of the trusted geek sources and many others. Few are as thorough as RotoWire and none are as functional… unless your running Android (a running and understandably annoying theme in this sector). This group has been a leader in player news for fantasy geeks for a long time and their expertise in this area is obvious.
In search of similar offerings of value for the Google loyalists, we’d point back to the Worldwide Leader or Yahoo. Their content teams are tremendous (it’s simply more difficult to find them via the mobile apps).
Fantasy Football Draft Advisor 2013
Available on: iOS
Cost: $44.99
App Store Rating: 4+ (Updated July 12, 2013)
If you enjoy quality programming (and forgive a lacking interface to get it), this may be the most powerful piece of software available for nerd nation (that’s a compliment, btw… probably should have stipulated that long ago).
Loaded with powerful integration applications and functionality, Draft Advisory serves up real-time predictive analysis during the draft. Utilizing an elaborate system of variables and customers inputs (adjustable league scoring, multiple player ranking systems that can be built by the user or imported from various sources, and personal “bias” via on-the-fly adjustments to all inputs), this platform produces predictions for ALL draft selections… all the while offering advice and insight to the user.
If you’ve ever drafted with this tool in hand, you know… it’s unbelievable, empowering and addictive. If you prefer advice from others, it’s easy to find… at the top of the iTunes “Top Paid Apps” for Sports (consider the price tag and that should impress).
(Quick admission: this isn’t a mobile app… at all. To be frank, we would list THIS piece of software as our primary motivation to mount up with the MacBook, and that’s mobile. Thus we justify the mention!)
Rotoworld Fantasy News
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (May 6, 2013)
Google Play Rating: 4.0 (July 11, 2011)
This will be quick. Player news is as critical to roto gratification as any contribution available during the season. No one does that one elent better than Rotoworld. A member of the NBC Sports team, this crew has one unique feature we cannot recommend enough: Watch List. Simply add the players to wish to track to your list (easy to do with one-button adds available on player pages) and you’ll receive news second it becomes available (via email, text, push notification… your choice).
FantasyAlarm Fantasy Football Lineup Optimizer
Available on: iPhone, iPad, Android
Cost: Free
iTunes Rating: 4+ (Updated July 2, 2013)
Google Play Rating: No Rating (Updated July 8, 2013)
This app offers similar benefit compare to the Rotoworld with one major difference: you can integrate the use of that knowledge directly to your lineup and adjust your roster as needed, all within the same app. FA is a fairly young company but they have done an excellent job in providing quality news for fantasy owners. This app bridges the gap between that information and your actions.
(Be warned, while FA integrates with many of the league management systems, there are several it cannot serve. Research before you download.)