FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2023
Contact: Will Mossa
(608) 296-9198 – media@thefsga.org
Kevin Austin and Mike Hall elected to Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame
Induction ceremony to take place June 13 at
Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association’s Summer Conference in Cleveland
MIDDLETON, Wis. – The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA) announced today the election of Kevin Austin and Mike Hall to the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame.
Austin launched MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL) in 1995 as a simple website to keep track of his personal fantasy football league. Soon after, he teamed with Hall – who had developed his own Fantasy Football League Manager (FFLM) that was made available in 1993 on Shareware, AOL and Compuserve – and their combined efforts turned MFL into the award-winning, league management system that is still thriving today.
Innovation, remaining nimble and maintaining a loyal customer base were hallmarks of the Austin-Hall duo. The pair introduced many advanced league options to the industry including: alternatives for dynasty leagues and keepers; salary caps; player contracts; the ability to trade future draft picks; IDP flexibility; and support for online salary cap leagues. They were always eager to take suggestions from league commissioners and turn them into new features. Best Ball lineups, Victory Point scoring, doubleheader matchups and adjustable playoff brackets are just a few that are mainstream features now, but were revolutionary at the time.
Sadly, Austin died unexpectedly in 2015 at age 47. But Hall continued to help grow the business by staying true to the company’s original vision of giving commissioners the ability to customize their leagues and create tools such as ADP analysis and waiver and trade recommendations via MFL’s Open Developer’s API.
“Kevin was a loving husband and father to his family, and a treasured friend and co-worker,” said Hall. “He was also an extremely talented entrepreneur and innovator in the fantasy sports industry, and I can’t think of a more deserving recipient to be inducted into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame. He would have been thrilled with this recognition and it’s an honor for both of us to be recognized in this way.”
“I could not stop my tears of happiness,” added Kevin’s wife, Kim Austin, after learning of the Hall of Fame news. “Our daughters were just 14 and 17 at the time of Kevin’s death. Their memory of his job was basically that he did something with fantasy football, and had a table at our school’s annual ‘Career Day’ where he’d try to embarrass his girls. I’m so happy for them to see how much their dad was respected by his peers, and what a difference he made in the fantasy football industry. [The induction] is such an incredible gift to our family. And I know he would be so humbled and honored to accept it. Thanks to the FSGA, Kevin’s legacy will live on. We’ll all keep saying his name and Kevin will live on.”
FSGA Chair Brandon Loeschner said, “After bettering our industry for so many years with their customer-first ingenuity and approach, it’s fitting that Kevin and Mike go into the Hall of Fame together. MFL continues to be an industry leader and a shining example of doing things the right way.” Loeschner also thanked the Hall of Fame Committee, chaired once again by Yahoo’s Daniel Haight.
Hall and Austin become the 24th and 25th members of the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame, joining previous honorees Ian Allan, Greg Ambrosius, John Benson, Matthew Berry, Joe Bryant, Paul Charchian, Cliff Charpentier, Steve Cohen, Glenn Colton, John Dewan, John Hunt, Bill James, Emil Kadlec, Lawr Michaels, Daniel Okrent, Peter Pezaris, Rob Phythian, Peter Schoenke, Ron Shandler, Glen Waggoner, Charlie Wiegert, Bill Winkenbach and Rick Wolf.
The induction ceremony will take place June 13 at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland as part of the FSGA Summer Conference. Register for the conference at 2023 FSGA Summer Conference. A complete agenda of the event can be found at the same location.
About FSGA
The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association is the only national organization representing the interests of fantasy sports and gaming companies. We are the voice for nearly 60 million fantasy sports players in the United States and Canada, and for the companies that provide services, news, information and competition to support these growing industries. Our members are sports and gaming enthusiasts, with companies that range from small startups to large media corporations. Our mission is to provide our members with essential research and data, networking opportunities and collective action to help them reach their potential. For more information, visit https://thefsga.org.