Company offers insurance coverage for fantasy league owners

Fantasy Sports Insurance Inc. offers a policy that ‘returns your financial investment in your fantasy league, should your key player(s) suffer a ‘season changing’ injury.’

By Mark Medina Los Angeles Times August 27, 2009

An agonizing image of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady clutching his left knee repeatedly flashes on the screen.

Next to the picture, the question is posed.

“Are you protected?”

You would think Brady doesn’t have health insurance. But this isn’t about Brady. His off-season surgery went fine.

This is about you, the fantasy football player. CNBC calculated Brady’s injury last season shifted $150 million in fantasy league winnings. So Fantasy Sports Insurance Inc. is putting an end to that, offering a policy that “returns your financial investment in your fantasy league, should your key player(s) suffer a ‘season changing’ injury,” according to their website, www.fantasysportsinsurance.com.

Henry Olszewski, one of two brokers who crafted the idea, told CNBC that the brokerage has sold nearly 400 policies, underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.

“The nightmare scenario is the guy who loses his player and either starts trading away his team or sits idle,” Olszewski told CNBC. “That affects the entire league. If that guy has insurance, he’s playing with the house money and that guy has more motivation to see what he can do to be competitive.”