PRESS RELEASE: Ian Allan Elected to Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame

By Will Mossa,    FSGA In the News, FSGA Press Releases, Industry News, Member News, News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2018
Contact: Aaron Manogue
(608) 310-7547 – media@thefsga.org

Ian Allan Elected to Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) announced that Ian Allan has been elected to the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions to the fantasy sports industry over the past three-plus decades. Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987 and remains at the helm of the publication and its digital platforms, including www.fantasyindex.com.

“Ian Allan’s Fantasy Football Index is the gold standard for fantasy football magazines,” said FSTA President Paul Charchian. “Ian writes virtually every word of each issue, and it’s very possible that he’s the most-read person in the history of the industry. I’m delighted we’re able to formally recognize Ian as one of the industry’s most impactful figures.”

Allan and fellow Univ. of Washington student Bruce Taylor launched Index as a class project in 1987. And, all these years later, he remains at the top of his game. An exhaustive researcher, Allan may be the only person in the country that has watched at least some of every preseason football game played since the early 1990s.

Index popularized the concept of a player rankings “Cheat Sheet,” something that is now ubiquitous. Allan also pioneered data-driven fantasy football analysis, creating proprietary databases of arcane-but-relevant measures of fantasy performance. Seeking to blend art and science, he mixed hot-take news, eyeball-test observations gleaned from game tape and forward-looking projections based on imposing amounts of raw data.

Allan is also a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. He’s appeared on hundreds of radio shows and was a panelist on the first nationally televised fantasy football show.

“It’s an honor, and I’m humbled,” said Allan. “I’ve met a lot of great people in this strange industry over the last 30 years – talented people trying to tap into the fantasy community in different ways – and for them to reach out and say that they respect the work we’ve done really means a lot.”

Allan was selected by the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame Election Committee, a 15-member panel comprised of Fantasy Sports Hall of Famers, members of the FSTA Board of Directors, FSTA members and fantasy sports writers, analysts and hosts.

He becomes the 20th member of the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame joining previous honorees Greg Ambrosius, John Benson, Matthew Berry, Paul Charchian, Cliff Charpentier, Steve Cohen, Glenn Colton, John Dewan, John Hunt, Bill James, Daniel Okrent, Peter Pezaris, Rob Phythian, Peter Schoenke, Ron Shandler, Glen Waggoner, Charlie Wiegert, Bill Winkenbach and Rick Wolf.

Induction ceremonies will take place June 20 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, the site of the FSTA Summer Conference. Register for the conference at https://fstaconference.com/. A complete agenda of the event can be found at https://fstaconference.com/agenda/. Then celebrate Allan’s induction by joining him and other industry insiders at the conference’s After Party that night at McKinney Roe from 7-10 p.m.

About FSTA
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association represents the fantasy sports industry with over 150 member companies ranging from small startups to large media corporations. As the voice of the industry since 1998, the FSTA has been the leader in providing demographic data, annual conferences and collective action to ensure unfettered growth. For more information, visit https://www.thefsga.org.