A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– Yahoo! Sports, whose fantasy football game draws the most participants of any online outlet, has announced that it will provide its StatTracker, live-scoring feature for free this year. In the past, it had been part of the pay commissioner package and offered for purchase to any user.

– Football stat producer SportsDataHub.com is stepping out of its beta phase in preparation for the coming season.

– FanDuel officially launched in late July its short-window, head-to-head fantasy competitions. Customers can select new teams with each new set of games in football or baseball season and directly challenge another person for that day. The games are also available via Twitter and Facebook. Users can also make wagers on their competitions, up to the $25 cap.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– According to comScore’s numbers, Fantasy Sports Ventures’ Fantasy Players Network enjoyed the Web’s second-largest increase in unique visitors from November to December. The network welcomed 79 percent more such visitors in the final month of 2008.

– Pro Tour Fantasy Golf and Portable Golf Solutions have partnered up to allow charitable organizations to present fantasy golf competitions.

– Poochie Bennish answered those questions from his wife by winning the 2008 World Championship of Fantasy Football.

– CNET’s Don Reisinger spotlights four out-of-the-mainstream Web sources for the stat-obsessed fan: Sports Data Hub, SportsGenie, Sports Reference and StatSheet.

– SoCalTech.com interviews Jose daVeiga, co-founder and CEO of KlickSports. The company operates contests focused on in-game questions for fans to answer.

– Roto Times’ Brian Polking will take The Intimidator, Jeff Gordon, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Burton and … Fonty Flock?

Here are all of the finalists for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s 2008 Industry Recognition Awards. Only FSTA members are eligible to win, and the membership selects the winners (in bold below) from the final candidates.

Commissioner Product
CBSSports.com Commissioner
ESPN Fantasy League Manager
Fanball.com Football Commissioner
Fantrax
MyFantasyLeague.com (FB)
RealTime Fantasy Sports (FB)

Draft-Style Tool
CBSSports.com Live Draft Room
Mock Draft Central

Draft-Style Contest
CBSSports.com Free Fantasy Football
FanaticFantasyFootball.com LLC (FB)
Fanball Draft and Play MLB (NFL, NBA, NHL, NASCAR
Head2Head The Draft 2008
PASPN.Net Mock GM Offseason & Real-time Fantasy Basketball
U-Sports (College FB, BB)

Salary Cap Contest
Fanball Challenge Games
Head2Head Salary Cap Football
PASPN.Net Mock GM Offseason & Real-time Fantasy Basketball
Sports Buff Salary Cap Style Football

Live Event or Contest
AOL Sports (FB)
ESPN Fantasy Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (FB)
FLW Fantasy Fishing

Unique Contest
Alma Mater Football League
ESPN Streak for the Cash
FLW Fantasy Fishing
Head2Head Match Play Madness
PASPN.Net Mock GM Offseason & Real-time Fantasy Basketball
Pay The Fan Fantasy Sports (FB,Racing)

Innovation
CBSSports.com User Generated Player Updates
ESPN Streak for the Cash
Accuscore.com GMC Fantasy Scout
LeagueSafe.com
Rosterdilemma.com

Draft Kit
CBSSports.com Fantasy Football Downloadable Draft Kit
The Huddle Fantasy Football Draft Kit
ESPN Fantasy Football/Baseball Draft Kit
RotoExperts
RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit
KFFL.com’s Fantasy Football Draft Guide

Draft Assistance Tool
CBSSports.com Mock Drafts
Draft Dynamix Draft Analyzer
Mock Draft Central
RotoLab, DraftLab, HoopLab

Print Ad
CBSSports.com FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY
Fantrax
Fanball - Gatefold (4 Page) Ad in Fantasy Football Index & Fanball Cheat Sheets
LeagueSafe.com
MyFantasyLeague.com
RotoWire 2008 Fantasy Football print ad
U-Sports (College FB, BB)

Magazine
Athlon/Grogan’s Fantasy Football Analyst
Baseball HQ - Baseball Forecaster
CBSSports.com FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY
ESPN The Magazine Fantasy Football Draft Guide (FB)
Fanball Fantasy Football Draft Issue
RotoWire 2008 Fantasy Baseball Guide
Rotoworld/NBC Sports (FB, Baseball)

New Website or Site Update
AOL Sports (FB) Fanhouse
CBSSports.com College Fantasy Football
FantasySportsBusiness.com
FantasySportsGirl.com
LeagueSafe.com
One Season Fantasy sports stock market
RotoExperts
Sports Data Hub

Specialty Products or Services
BlogTalkRadio: The Fantasy Sports Channel (FB,BB,Baseball,H)
FantasyDispute.com
Fantasy Trophies LLC
LeagueSafe.com
Sports Data Hub
Titlecraft Inc.

Online Content Service
BaseballHQ.com
CBSSports.com Fantasy News Site
ESPN Insider Answer Guys
Fanball - Owner’s Edge NFL
The Huddle Fantasy Football Service
KFFL Hot off the Wire
RotoWire.com
Rotoworld/NBC Sports (All Sports)

Blog
AOL Sports (FB)
ESPN Stephania Bell’s Injury Blog (FB)
Fanball - Godfather of Fantasy Sports Blog
The Fantasy Baseball Sherpa’s Blog
Fantasy Football Sherpa’s Blog
RotoWire’s blog area, also called RotoSynthesis
Sporting News Fantasy Source Blitz blog (FB)
William Del Pilar’s Locker Room Buzz

Podcast
BlogTalkRadio: The Fantasy Sports Channel (FB,BB,Baseball,H)
CBSSports.com FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY(FB)
ESPN Fantasy Focus Baseball
ESPN Fantasy Focus Football
FantasySportsGirl.com
RotoExperts.com Start em and Sit em Sunday

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association will dole out its annual industry awards later this month at its winter business conference. Among the categories to be recognized is Specialty Products or Services — which will honor “the member company with the best combination of service, high quality products and innovation.” Voting ends Monday, Jan. 5, and the finalists are as follows:

• Blog Talk Radio: Fantasy Sports Channel
• FantasyDispute.com
• Fantasy Trophies
• LeagueSafe.com
• Sports Data Hub
• Titlecraft