When Travis McCoy presented at the FSTA summer conference last June, he focused primarily on the nine states dragging their feet on allowing fantasy sports payouts. Now he’ll try to effect change on that front and look out while also looking out for fantasy’s interests on the federal level.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association announced this week that it has hired McCoy — who runs Washington, D.C., lobbying firm McCoy Lobbying — as its chief lobbyist and political consultant.

“Despite widespread fantasy sports play throughout America, the pastime remains misunderstood, and often incorrectly categorized as gambling,” FSTA president Paul Charchian said in the media release. “McCoy Lobbying works with federal and state legislators to ensure that fantasy play remains protected and legal to as many Americans as possible. He brings great value to fantasy companies and the 27 million Americans that participate.”

McCoy, whom the FSTA hired a few months ago, will work with federal and state legislators to try to further fantasy sports interests at both levels.

“He will work alongside legislators to create laws that will foster growth in the fantasy sports industry and will pay particular attention to the gaming laws that affect fantasy businesses,” the FSTA release stated.

McCoy previously worked for Rep. John Boehner for two years when Boehner was the House minority leader and also spent two years under Sen. Fred Thompson. McCoy also worked as a deputy finance director for a senate campaign in Louisiana, the state that most visibly dealt with the issue of legalizing fantasy payouts back in the spring.

The move comes at a particularly interesting time, as senate majority leader Harry Reid is said to be pushing a bill that will alter the laws governing online poker. One would not expect the pursuit to legalize poker to affect the already-legal status of fantasy games, but it can’t hurt to have someone representing our interests on a potentially changing landscape.

FSB.com will check in with McCoy and the FSTA leadership for any further details on plans for new lobbying position.

Name: John Tuvey

Nickname: 2V or just Tuv (pronounced Toov, hence the 2V); I had friends in college who didn’t even know my first name, and even my wife calls me Tuv

Job title(s): Senior NFL Analyst at The Huddle

Full-time in fantasy? Yes, since 1999-and I have no desire to go back

Age: John Smoltz and I will turn 42 on the same day this May

Education: Appropriately, I have a BS degree in Management with a minor in Communications from St. John’s University (the Division III football power located in central Minnesota, not the New York alma mater of Chris Mullin)

Family status: Married for almost 15 years to Mary, the most patient woman in the entire world. We have four wonderful kids: Mariah, 11; Elliott, 9; Amanda, 7; and Rebecca, 5.

Favorite fantasy sport to play: It’s still football, though I must admit the year I tried NASCAR was surprisingly enjoyable. I think I’ve played just about every fantasy sport out there; we even came up with Fantasy Nielsen Ratings to occupy our time during the baseball strike in the mid-’90s.

Favorite sport to watch: Football at any level. I’ve stopped at a junior high game while driving home and just watched, but Saturday afternoons at the Nature Bowl at St. John’s are the best — a little slice of heaven. Or a Sunday in the old office, with 10 flat-screen TVs all hooked up to the Sunday Ticket.

Favorite team (any sport): The Minnesota Vikings keep breaking my heart-not re-signing Matt Birk was just the latest kick to the store-but I keep coming back for more.

All-time favorite athlete: There are so many; Tony Oliva and Julius Erving were my childhood idols, Anthony Munoz was my favorite lineman, and Eddie George is my favorite football player

Years playing fantasy: The upcoming football season will be my 22nd of playing, and I have three leagues (two football, one baseball) that are at or beyond 20 years of existence.

I got my start in the fantasy industry when: I wrote a letter to Paul Charchian, who at that time was the publisher of Fantasy Football Weekly magazine. In that letter I compared my skills to Randy Moss and John Randle, and he was impressed enough that he brought me in on Sundays to help with the magazine. After about a month he hired me full-time.

Since then, my fantasy résumé includes: I worked my way up from associate editor to executive editor as Fantasy Football Weekly became Fanball. That gig included providing content for AOL and Yahoo as well as Fanball. In my final year there I was a finalist for the FSWA’s Fantasy Football Writer of the Year. I’ve also co-hosted (with Paul Charchian and Bo Mitchell) Fantasy Football Weekly on KFAN, the local sports talk radio station, for the past four years and make regular appearances on stations from Hawaii to Lawrence, Kan., to Tampa to St. Cloud, Minn. — and even an occasional appearance on Fox Sports Radio. Additionally, I’ve written stuff for Fantasy Football Champs, Fantasy Football Trader, Draft Stock, and the Minnesota Vikings’ website. Last spring I signed on with The Huddle as Senior NFL Analyst, and I’ve been with them ever since. Or was this the spot where I was supposed to list all the league titles I’ve won?

Three questions

1) What was your involvement/experience with fantasy writing before joining Fanball?

Before the turn of the century there wasn’t nearly as much fantasy coverage out there. My fantasy writing was pretty much limited to pithy weekly updates in the newsletters I did for the baseball and football leagues I was commissioner of. I had to quickly learn the difference between writing about a close-knit group who all knew each other and writing for a much larger audience who was more interested in finding out how to win their own leagues.

2) How did your association with The Huddle come about, and how does your role there differ from what you did in the past?

In 2007, I had invited David Dorey from The Huddle to participate in a mock auction we were publishing in our magazine, and at the FSTA convention in Las Vegas that August I made sure to introduce myself. I also met Whitney Walters out there; he was one of the FSTA folks making sure it all ran smoothly, and I was there to speak on a panel as well as mingle. So just a few months later, when Fanball moved its offices and revamped its staff (and I didn’t feel ready to return to the corporate world) I was able to draw on that networking and contacted Whitney and David about joining The Huddle team. As luck would have it, they were in the market for a writer and familiar with my stuff, so it turned out to be a great fit.

At the Huddle I get to focus exclusively on football, which I think is a real plus-both for me and for the readers. Whitney and David have me spearheading The Huddle’s draft coverage, something I had just started dabbling in toward the end of my Fanball tenure. With dynasty leagues becoming more prevalent, I feel that’s a real plus for The Huddle. I also have more of an opportunity to get into the forums and talk to people, which has been incredibly helpful because The Huddle has set the bar high with its longtime users and I need to make sure I’m meeting those expectations. And of course, Whitney and David are both great to work with; through the magic of e-mail and messenger, I have a couple great football minds to converse with — not that my wife isn’t a great football mind!

3) What do you absolutely have to have with you at any football draft?

I’ve just started bringing a MacBook to drafts and auctions the past couple years, but I still find myself falling back on a handmade (OK, Mac-made and printed) cheat sheet and an old-fashioned tabloid-size grid so I can track every team, every player. By the time my drafts and auctions roll around I know the players inside and out, but I still need to keep tabs on who’s going where and for what price; without that information, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Oh, and for the record: auctions blow drafts out of the water.

Bonus: You say that your favorite food is your own homemade potato sausage. What in the world goes into the casing for that (other than potatoes)? Doesn’t the lack of unidentified animal innards take some of the fun out of sausage?

My grandpa ran a butcher shop for many years, and my uncle worked with him and then took it over before retiring last year. Among their many award-winning homemade products was a potato sausage, the recipe of which is a family secret-though you’re absolutely correct, it does include real potatoes. Before I was tied up with watching and writing about football every weekend during the fall, I used to go out and help process deer during hunting season-and I can assure you that peeking behind the curtain has done nothing to diminish my enjoyment of any of those products. In fact, running the grinder was pretty fun!

OK, so it sounds like potato sausage does have meat then, right?

Beef and pork. And real potatoes and onions. And a combination of secret spices that maybe only one or two people on this planet know… and I’m not one of them.

Phew.

Pretty much any time an employee parts with a company, it’s at least significant for someone. In this case, though, the split is significant for an industry.

Charlie Wiegert, a founder of CDM Fantasy Sports nearly 20 years ago, will officially part ways with Fanball on Tuesday.

“Charlie’s impact on the industry is hard to overstate,” said Paul Charchian, another industry veteran and president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. “His 20-plus years of effort have helped define pay game contests. He’s supported the industry through work on the FSTA, sponsorships of industry events, and helping countless employees.”

After 17 years in newspaper ad sales — much of which was also spent competing in fantasy leagues — Wiegert helped found CDM Fantasy Sports in 1991. That company quickly became a leading games operator, running fantasy contests for media partners and other sports outlets. CDM was acquired in August 2006 by FUN Technologies, by then also the parent company of Fanball.

“I have really enjoyed the past 19 years in this industry, and look forward to having some time off,” Wiegert told FSB.com. “I do not have any plans for the future yet, but do plan on staying active in the industry, still writing my blog — godfatheroffantasysports.com — and remaining as treasurer of the FSTA.”

Of course, the most impactful segment of Wiegert’s career came in the courtroom. That was where his company — in CBC v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media — assured fantasy operators everywhere the right to use player names and statistics in their games without having to pay rights fees to the leagues involved.

“Winning the lawsuit with MLBAM/MLBPA was the highlight of my career, and knowing that fantasy sports games will remain in the hands of game operators instead of the leagues is very satisfying,” Wiegert said. “Most fantasy sports players do not realize that the games they play and love would have been changed and/or eliminated without a positive decision.”

Charchian added: “CDM’s successful battle with MLBAM saved the industry from monopoly by the leagues.”

We here at FSB.com wish Charlie the best of luck in whatever he decides to do next.

More: Jeff Thomas shares thoughts on Wiegert’s impact on the fantasy sports industry.

(Note: Although Charchian co-founded Fanball, he has no affiliation with the company at this point.)

All this week, CNBC sports business maven Darren Rovell is focusing a series of reports on the emerging fantasy sports industry.

Although the first few videos aren’t likely to present much new information to anyone who has been tracking this industry closely, it is still interesting at least to get the more mainstream business perspective of fantasy sports. The quick take: We still have some work to do to be broadly accepted as a serious business segment.

TV talking heads will often provide less-than-ideal examples, but if you watch the video below beyond the soundbyte from FSTA president Paul Charchian, you’ll hear Power Lunch co-host Tyler Mathisen say, “Shakegian? Was that his name? … They have a trade association now?”

Yup, “they” have a trade association now … and have for more than 10 years, actually.

Video No. 2 repeats some of the industry dollar figures laid out the first time around, but it also presents some interesting information. For one thing, 20 percent of fantasy content sites reportedly follow subscription models at this point (though I’m not sure if that number includes those with free and pay levels).

Perhaps more interestingly (depending on your priorities), Hooters says it expects to host more than 25,000 fantasy football drafts this year. According to the company’s website — which I swear I only visited for work purposes — the chain has 455 restaurants in 44 states, which averages out to nearly 55 drafts per location. With that kind of projection (no matter how truthful it might be), it’s no wonder Hooters offers a dedicated URL for draft-party reservations, as well as a free draft kit (with draftboard, cheat sheets, etc.) and a fantasy-centric game-piece gimmick that includes a Super Bowl trip.

Hooters is merely another example of sports-bar type settings realizing the power of the fantasy sports consumer and pursuing us players. Even if Tyler Mathisen doesn’t get it, those paying a bit more attention do.

We’ll have more as we see further Rovell fantasy videos (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Here’s the aforementioned second one …