(iDAD) -- The TV is tuned to ESPN. 

The laptop’s out too—for easy access to more scores and for player research.

It’s a typical night in the Hopson household.

Coy Hopson, the dad, and his two sons, Travis, 12, and Tucker, 10, have become immersed in the world of sports.  More to the point:  Fantasy sports.

In fantasy sports you become a team owner, draft your own players and compete among friends, co-workers and, thanks to the internet, even strangers weekly.  You get points when your player makes points. There’s fantasy football, baseball, hockey, golf, Nascar and a host of others.  And besides being a whole lot of fun, it’s become a great way to bond with your son or daughter.

BONDING DURING BALLGAMES

The Hopson boys’ interest in fantasy sports began quite by accident.  Coy had to go to a “draft.”  He and the other “owners” of the league got together to pick players.  His kids came along for the outing. 

“My wife was working and I had them tagging along,” remembers Coy.  His kids watched. Got interested.  Yada, yada, yada, now they’re hooked.

Travis has several teams he “owns” with some input from Dad.  Tucker has a couple too.

“We talk about it constantly,” says Coy. Travis in particular has gotten so good at picking players and monitoring injury reports, “I ask his advice.  He knows more about it than I do.”

Besides the fun of watching sports, Coy says it has brought him closer to his kids.  “They’ll call me in the room and say, ‘Dad, Dad come look at this!”

FRIENDLY FAMILY COMPETITION

Jon Millman watched sports with his father as a youngster.  Now, all grown up, he enjoys challenging him in fantasy sports.  “It’s a competitive thing.  Competing against your dad is fun.” 

While he watches the games from his home on Long Island, NY, he says he frequently picks up the phone and calls his father who’s thousands of miles away in California.  Though they’re physically far apart, fantasy sports keeps them close and makes them feel close.

Millman’s love for the sport led to the creation of Fantasy Football Champs, a fantasy football research site for players who want to win. He says he has many dads who contact him.

“We get a lot of email along the lines of ‘I’m playing against my son what do I need to do to beat him,” says Millman.  He says he also receives emails from father/son teams who’ve joined forces.

Just a decade ago, there were just thousands of men who played fantasy sports. Now, Millman estimates, there are 15-million people who play fantasy sports in the United States.  Since 2001, he says he’s had more than a million visitors to his site.

On the web, virtually every major online sports site offers fantasy sports:  ESPN, CBS Sports, and The Sporting News.  Some charge for the right to play. Others are free.  Most allow you to join alone or offer you the option to start your own league.  And, as interactiveDAD.com discovered, some sites are easier than others to navigate (see comparison chart).

Some consider fantasy sports legalized gambling. Full disclosure:  Many of the football sites offer jackpots to winners.  The free sites cost nothing and take the gambling out of the game (unless you form your own league through those sites and offer a jackpot.)

Coy Hopson says fantasy sports have won him a great relationship with his boys.  His oldest, Travis, is busy reading about injury reports and preparing to have his own team in his father’s office league.  He hopes to win—with a little help from dad no doubt.