A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– MLB Advanced Media announced this week a deal with STATS that makes the latter the “official real-time data licensor” for MLBAM statistics and information. It’s a multi-year deal that extends to baseball’s minor leagues. It can be tough to really understand just what this kind of deal means, but federal courts have told us in recent years that stats exist in the public domain. Ultimately, then, such a distribution agreement would seem to cover only the “official” MLB stats. Anyone attending or watching a game, though, can compile the same numbers.

– Recent FSB.com profile subject got a writeup from The Wall Street Journal’s Nando Di Fino this week, in which he suggested that American fantasy-game providers could learn from the site’s graphical model.

– As part of its in-season Weekly Lineup Challenge, FantasyFootballStarters.com has donated $1,000 to NFL-sposored charity Play It Smart on behalf of winner Alan LaFollette.

– Socaltech.com reports that NASCAR.com has contracted with Rotohog to produce a stock-market style game for this season.

– This AP story purports to be about rising female participation in fantasy, but it’s actually just a fun read about a few women who like to challenge the men in their leagues and their lives. (Let’s just hope that the Kansas University alum who fancies former Jayhawks for her fantasy hoops team has at least tended to get Paul Pierce.)

– If you can lead the field in “stable earnings” through April 17 in this new fantasy horse-racing game, you can win a trip to this year’s Kentucky Derby.

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Mock Draft Central’s Geoff Stein came in fourth in last month’s vote to fill three vacancies on the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s board of directors, but that won’t keep him from joining the group.

Jeff Coruccini of Fantasy Football Starters has stepped away from his position to tend to outside commitments, leaving the first alternate to take his spot and serve on the conference committee.

Stein said he’s “excited” to take on that task and wants to make the events a bit more welcoming for folks who might not be as connected in the industry.

“One area, I feel where they’ve lacked in the past is creating a warm atmosphere for first-time attendees and less established members,” Stein told FSB.com. “Those conference rooms can be pretty intimidating places, and it isn’t an easy thing to just walk up to someone from an ‘established’ site and start a conversation — especially when you’re the new kid on the block.”

Stein also said that he’d like to see the conference deliver a bit more value for smaller companies just starting to make their way in fantasy.

“As a member of the board, I want to give a voice to the smaller sites,” Stein said. “Through my work at Mock Draft Central, I’ve had the chance to deal with all sites — from the guy writing a blog in his mom’s basement, to the big boys like ESPN, Yahoo and CBS.

“Whenever I’ve talked to the smaller sites about the FSTA, they’ve shown little-to-no interest, and I think that needs to change as I feel the association has the chance to offer them quite a bit — and vice versa.”

The next FSTA conference will take place in June in Chicago.

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– “iLove College Football 2008,” from Fandora’s Box and supported by PA SportsTicker and The Sports Xchange, promises to help iPhone users track the scores and fantasy stats every Saturday.

– FantasyFootballStarters.com will now stream its weekly radio show, “The Red Zone,” live via its website.

– A report by online-ad tracking company PubMatic says that prices for display ads hit their lowest level in the third quarter, continuing a downward trend through the year.

– The Chicago Tribune reminds us that the sports calendar is packed right now, and seeks perspective from people with varying viewpoints.

– This blogger has six reasons that you should be playing fantasy basketball.

– NCAA athlete graduation rates are at an all-time high and outpacing the rates of non-athlete students. (Unfortunately, that’s all bound to turn around by next year’s report now that fantasy college football is killing amateurism.)

– John Madden will miss his first week of NFL action since 1980 this Sunday, as he takes a one-week rest offered by Dick Ebersol. Cris Collinsworth will fill in on Sunday night.

– Former 49er defensive back Merton Hanks just might beat you in fantasy football. He could definitely wiggle his neck better in celebration of doing so.