News > U.S. students turn Congress into a fantasy sports league
October 25, 2006
Content taken from Reuters:
Politics has become a game for a group of California college students who have launched an online video game, "Fantasy Congress," in the lead-up to next month's U.S. congressional elections.The game, officially launched on Monday, is a new spin on the popular online fantasy sports games where players chose a team of real-life players and tally points based on their statistical performance.
In "Fantasy Congress," found at http://www.fantasycongress.us/fc/, a player drafts a team of actual U.S. lawmakers and then competes against other teams.
Andrew Lee, a senior at Claremont McKenna College in the greater Los Angeles area and one of the game's creators, said lawmakers were ranked based on the progress of their proposed legislation, picking up points on its journey to possibly getting passed into law.
Lee said he hoped the game would inspire people to pay as much attention to politics as they do to sports.
"If people cared about politics as much as they care about sports, we'd have a better democracy," said Lee, who described himself as "obsessed with politics."
"Congress needs to know that young people are watching them, just as they watch sports teams and athletes."
In the countdown to the November 7 elections, "Fantasy Congress" has started to pick up momentum, attracting about 6,000 participants from a number of U.S. states as well as overseas.
