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

– Fantazzle is offering customizable high-stakes fantasy football leagues as part of the SUPERDRAFT event in Las Vegas. Buy-in levels range from $1,000 to $10,000, with customizable league rules and sizes (anywhere from eight to 14 teams). Each level includes at least an 85 percent payout rate to winners.

– We had former Chiefs and Jets kicker Nick Lowery on the RapidDraft.com Fantasy Lunch, our BlogTalkRadio show on Thursday. Although it was enough for us that Lowery — an obviously bright guy and now professional public speaker — was engaging and entertaining, the part that really made it worth a post here came deep into his interview. That was when the veteran of 18 NFL seasons said, “Fantasy football is the best thing that ever happened to football.”

– The Hazean is keeping polls open through Saturday to determine your favorite fantasy football team name for July. I voted for “Stafford Infection” among the 10 options, though I find the leader quite clever in its use of all four Steelers quarterbacks.

– Just like it did for baseball season, RotoWire is offering its fantasy football draft kit as an iPhone app. Among the features is a function that provides player recommendations when you check off the guys who have already been drafted by others.

– FFChamps.com has reached an agreement with Boston-based WEEI.com to offer the former’s fantasy football draft kit through the website for the popular sports talk station.

– Jene Bramel of Footballguys.com takes a turn in the NYTimes.com Fifth Down blog to tell fantasy football folks why they should be playing with individual defensive players and refutes the common arguments against doing so.

– I recently took part in one of eight “Pros vs. Joes” drafts put on by the folks at the Fantasy Football Players Championship, which pits six fantasy players against six fantasy site representatives in each league. Those who didn’t participate can pick the winners for a shot at free 2011 FFPC entries. (Find my squad here — League 5 — and keep in mind that tight ends get 1.5 points per reception and it’s an optimal-scoring format, where you don’t have to set your lineup.)

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A recent headline from the Washington Post website seems a bit misleading: “Despite magazine industry downturn, NFL, college football and fantasy football previews are thriving.”

The article opens by seeming to offer the proliferation in number of fantasy (and non-fantasy) football preview magazines as evidence of that thriving market. That, though, was followed by the truly good news: that second quarter 2010 presented the first time in nine quarters that the magazine industry saw gains in total pages and advertising revenue.

That, of course, followed big losses the previous two years — including the folding of more than 36 publications.

Specific to the football arena, Fantasy Football Index reportedly saw circulation drop 9 percent from 2008 to 2009 (24 percent from 2007 to 2009).

On the other hand, Lindy’s reportedly has seen gains in sales of its NFL preview magazine, and the article passes along word from Sporting News that its annuals still turn a profit.

So which is it? Are things bleak for magazine producers or is this a solid market segment whose target audience is so devoted to the games — or too lazy to compile its own draft lists — that the support will continue on? At best, the truth sure seems to lie somewhere between “thriving” and dying.

Last summer, Nando Di Fino wrote up this report in The Wall Street Journal in which RotoWire’s Chris Liss concedes that his company’s fantasy football preview magazine probably would not turn a profit and that it wasn’t really expected to. More than a moneymaker, the magazine serves as a big shiny ad — positioning the RotoWire name in front of potential customers and providing a strong business front for potential partners.

That report relayed the anecdote of CBS Sports doing away with its print preview mag in favor of an electronic version — not something you do with a profitable product — and Sporting News reporting a 19 percent dip in fantasy football yearbook sales from 2007 to 2008.

We’re sure there are some print publications that continue to make money, and as Lindy Davis pointed out in the Washington Post story, there are factors that make it easier for sports annuals to survive.

“A lot of magazines have been giving their product away for years to get the ad dollars,” the Lindy’s publisher told the Post. “Twelve issues for 12 bucks, and we’re charging eight bucks for one. So we’re charging top dollar, that’s one thing. And there’s just an incredible passion for sports in America. Good economy, bad economy, it doesn’t affect it. And sports can sometimes be a refuge in bad times.”

The slashes in print ad spending and saturation of the market makes it a tough time to make your money with a magazine, though, even one that caters to the devoted fantasy audience.

FSB.com would love to hear some facts from any of our readers who are still plugging away on the print side, so contact us at matt.schauf@worldfantasygames.com to share.

It’s been about two weeks since the Sirius XM fantasy sports channel hit the air, but a week from now will be the launch bash — centered on a football draft, of course.

The Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square will play host Wednesday to a daylong event featuring live broadcasts by multiple Sirius XM shows and a 12-man fantasy football draft with a field populated by station personalities — a list that includes Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

“We’re assembling intriguing personalities from sports, talk, comedy and music in one place for an unprecedented event in the world of fantasy sports and we’re thrilled to share it with our subscribers,” Scott Greenstein, Sirius XM’s president and chief content officer, said in the media release.

Joining Jones Drew will be:

• Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, a former New York city sports talk radio host who now fronts his on satellite channel
• Steve Phillips, former Mets GM and ESPN analyst
• Jeremy Roenick, former NHL star
• Gary Dell’Abate, “BabaBooey” to anyone who would care
• Jay Thomas, an actor and Sirius host
• John Hansen of FantasyGuru.com
• Kyle Elfrink of Fanball
• Scott Engel of RotoExperts
• Chris Liss of RotoWire
• Scott Ferrall, who hosts a show on Howard Stern’s Sirius channel
• Rich Davis, Ryan Sampson, Stanley T. and Nicole, who host Morning Mash Up on Sirius XM’s Hits 1

Where this draft differs, of course, from the typical celebrity draft is that it includes several real fantasy industry veterans. It’ll be interesting to see who among the non-fantasy pros can hold their own and if anyone, say, drafts Brett Favre at the top of Round 2.

The draft itself will broadcast live at 1 p.m. on both the fantasy channel and Sirius NFL radio, following a lead-in show by Adam Schein and former Raiders (and about 13 other NFL teams) quarterback Rich Gannon. The overall event will begin at 10 a.m.

If you take nothing else from this, it’s at least obvious that Sirius XM isn’t merely putting some fantasy stuff out there to fill a station. The company seems to realize that this is a strong market and one that deserved more attention than it might have previously been giving it (at least beyond previous shows by Hansen and the RotoWire crew).

The lineup began with the addition of RotoWire back in March, but it wasn’t until today that SIRIUS XM officially announced its complete new fantasy sports channel.

“We’ve created a unique destination for fantasy sports fans,” president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein said in the press release. “Our listeners get live play-by-play … that allows them to follow all their fantasy players or teams in real time. Now they have a dedicated fantasy sports channel that they can tune into 24 hours a day.”

The channel — 147 on XM, 211 on SIRIUS — features a list of prominent fantasy companies and veteran writers. Perhaps more interesting, though, is that the lineup will include some current and former athletes and a former general manager.

Starting in August, Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is scheduled to host a Friday night fantasy football show (7 to 9 p.m.). Jones-Drew has clearly been a leader among athletes in “getting” fantasy, going so far as to say his infamous kneel down against the Jets last year cost his own fantasy team a victory. (Related: What will his coach have to say, though?)

Before that, former Mets general manager and ESPN analyst Steve Phillips will begin co-hosting a fantasy baseball show (with Jeff Rickard) weeknights from 8 to 11. In addition, basketball season will bring a weekly show for that sport, featuring former NBA guard Dennis Scott as an analyst and fantasy industry veteran Scott Engel as host. Hockey season will bring Jeremy Roenick as a host for a fantasy hockey show. Engel will also host a weekly fantasy golf show with Golf.com founder Alex Miceli.

“To complement the in-depth and informative fantasy talk from the industry’s experts, listeners will hear from all kinds of personalities, from actors and musicians in addition to current and former athletes, all with real fantasy sports knowledge,” Greenstein said in the release. “We will present a daily listening experience that is informative, and always engaging and entertaining.”

In addition to the daily (weekdays) RotoWire show — and previously reported slots for Fanball and Fantasy Pros 911 — the SIRIUS XM fantasy lineup will include a football show featuring FantasyGuru.com’s John Hansen and Scout.com’s Adam Caplan, a RotoExperts show during morning drive time and a Friday night entry from The Fantasy Consultant (Nathan Zegura).

Check out the full announced lineup here.