Fantasy football, a statistics-based competition enabling ordinary fans to become owners and general managers of their own teams, was invented in 1962 by Bill “Wink” Winkenbach, a minority owner for the Oakland Raiders. Winkenbach dreamed up the idea along with another team employee and an Oakland sports reporter at a New York City hotel during a Raiders’ road trip. In August 1963, the first draft of the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL), was held in Winkenbach's home, with the first pick being George Blanda. AFL or NFL players could be selected, and points were awarded for touchdowns and field goals. In the late 1960s, the first public fantasy league was established at an Oakland bar. By the late 1980s more than a million people played fantasy football, and that number has skyrocketed to tens of millions today. The Internet and smartphones made joining and organizing leagues easier, while satellite TV packages allow fans to watch more of their players live. But above all, fantasy football – which has become a multi-billion dollar industry and has greatly intensified fan interest – has altered the way millions of people watch the sport as individual players and less high-profile games are often followed as religiously as one’s hometown team.