Why fundraisers should embrace fantasy football

With millions taking part each week and a growing online community, fantasy football offers charities an intriguing new group to consider for their gaming for good fundraising activities.

 

The growth in fantasy football, where players set up teams and hope Premier League stars can earn them points each week, has certainly been enormous in recent years.

 

During the 2024/25 campaign the main game, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) attracted 10.8 million fantasy managers, more than a ten-fold increase on 2006/7 when one million took part.

 

The community of fantasy football managers and content creators on YouTube, podcasts, and social media has grown over this period. Increasingly these highly engaged players are keen to harness the game to help good causes.

 

Already tens of thousands of pounds have been raised through livestream marathons, sponsored leagues, and events such as a charity football match involving fantasy football content creators and managers.

 

Here we look at some of the activity that has already been taking place in gaming for good’s newest community.

 

 

“SoccerAid for the FPL community”

 

For the last three years a “north v south” charity football match has been staged, where FPL managers from the North of England take on a team of Southern managers.

 

This takes place between the two areas in Birmingham. Also involved is fantasy football YouTube channel and podcast PlanetFPL which livestreams the event.

 

Interest in the event has grown substantially, so much so that 2024’s event was staged at West Bromwich Albion’s 26,000 capacity Hawthorns ground.

 

Over its three years a total of £20,000 has been raised for the event’s chosen charity Street Child United, which runs programmes to support street connected children globally.

 

Co-organiser of the event Benny Blanco describes this charity football match as “essentially SoccerAid but for the FPL community”.

 

“The money we raised was staggering and beyond our wildest expectations so knowing that some of the most underprivileged members of society will realise the benefits of those donations makes me feel very proud,” he adds.

 

 

Street Child United’s Head of Fundraising Gianni Butticè, who is also a fantasy football content creator, says the event was important for the small charity as it “only has seven staff members and relies heavily on volunteers and key supporters” for its work and fundraising.

 

 

FPL 10K and other fundraising

 

Another charitable fantasy football manager is Leah Burrows, who is known among the FPL community on social media as FPL-LB. She played in last year’s women’s north v south charity match and organises running fundraising events among fantasy football managers.

 

This includes April 2024’s FPL Top 10K event for Mental Health UK, which raised £750. She explains that while held in Bristol there is a virtual option “to ensure it was accessible to all”.

 

Around 40 fantasy football managers took part last year in the event, which has benefited from promotion from fantasy football content creators. The follow up event is scheduled for 29 March 2025.

 

Other fundraising includes the Fantasy Football Scout website donating revenue through Super Chats from its YouTube channel to Street Child United.

 

Meanwhile, in October 2024, fantasy football content creator Holly Shand raised £1,300 for Cancer Research UK in October after staging a five-hour live stream.

 

 

Fantasy football’s gaming for good potential

 

Blanco believes more growth is on the horizon for gaming for good within fantasy football. “It would be a huge opportunity missed if we, as a fantasy community that continues to grow, don’t push on and achieve even more,” he says. “The fantasy football is a community generally built on kindness and empathy, by positive people, so I’m excited by what the future holds and hopefully more charities can benefit from the collective goodwill that exists.”

 

Butticè is similarly optimistic. “With over ten million managers, a huge pool of FPL content creators with large followings and lots of creative minds willing to do good, I hope to encourage many more to support our work,” he says.

 

Burrows also believes charity link ups within fantasy football will continue to grow, particularly around good causes supporting mental health. “I am passionate about energising the community to be more active, which is good for mental health, and more supportive of causes which we can all relate to,” she says. “Mental health for me is the most relatable – especially as it affects the demographic who play fantasy football probably more than other groups, young males commonly.”

 

She adds: “I think there is huge scope for those with influence to really drive engagement with charity fundraising within the FPL community…The numbers involved are huge and if everyone could donate £1 that would be incredible - the potential is definitely there.”

 

Another to predict a strong future for gaming for good in fantasy football is Fantasy Football Scout’s general manager Sam Bonfield. “There are so many fantastic opportunities to raise money for charity”, says Bonfield, who in September 2024 completed the Cancer Research Shine Walk. She took part after her uncle was diagnosed with cancer and describes how “the fantasy football community came together to support me” for the event.

 

She believes that repeats of events such as the north v south charity match are “a fantastic way to support charities close to our hearts”.