My foray into fantasy sports.

• Author: Ringo, Kyle
• Position: SPORT BIZ - Kyle Ringo shares his experience on fantasy sports - Column

WHEN I WAS A KID FIRST FALLING IN LOVE WITH SPORTS, I SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS IN THE BACK YARD PRETENDING I WAS ONE OF MY favorite players for the Denver Broncos or Chicago Cubs.

Last fall, I kept harkening back to those days as I con ducted some personal research on the world of playing daily fantasy sports on the Internet. Instead of pretending to be wide receiver Rick Upchurch or shortstop Ivan de Jesus making diving catches, I was now the guy in the suit in the luxury box, peering down on the talent I had assembled, hoping for big returns.

If nothing else, I learned this much: It's scary how easily one can fritter away hours trying to assemble the winning team.

The fantasy sports industry and the websites that make games available have exploded in recent years. Fantasy Sports Trade Association research indicates approximately 500,000 people were playing fantasy sports in the U.S. in 1988. In 2014, that number had grown to 41.5 million.

The FSTA also reports that the average fantasy sports player spends 8.67 hours per week managing his or her teams. It's only logical to believe that a significant percentage of that is done on 9-to-5 company time, leading to massive amounts of lost productivity in our economy.

In fact, last summer a Chicago-based consulting group estimated that fantasy football alone leads to $13 billion in lost productivity. That obviously doesn't include other fantasy sports or another massive sports distraction--the men's NCAA basketball tournament in March. And plenty of people play fantasy baseball, basketball, hockey, golf and NASCAR.

Fantasy sports basically work like this: You're the owner who assembles a team of real players in the NFL, NBA, MLB or whatever sport through a draft or auction with other owners in your league. Each week you pick a team from your roster and play them against another owner hoping your players score more points in their real games than your opponent's.

There are many variations on the rules from league to league, but fantasy scoring is essentially based on the actual statistics produced in real-life games.

While most fantasy sports players or "owners partake in leagues that take a whole season to determine winners and losers, more and more people are trying sites like FanDuel and Draft Kings in which there is no season-long commitment. You can join a one-day league for as little as a dollar or as much as several thousand dollars. You pick your team from players...