Regardless of how FX’s “The League” chooses to treat fantasy football (or not) in its episodes, I’ve come to the realization that the show itself might be a good testament to the strength of our industry after all.

I have to admit that when I saw “League” co-creator Jackie Marcus Schafer listed as the keynote speaker for the upcoming FSTA winter conference, my initial reaction was along the lines of: “Cool, maybe someone can ask her why they’re not interested in fantasy football.”

After I actually put a bit more thought into it, though, the stated subject of Schafer’s address — “the creation of their program and Hollywood’s perception of the fantasy sports industry — brought me to the new realization.

I was excited at the outset about a program that planned to center on (or at least heavily involve) fantasy football in its subject matter and was disappointed to see football get short shrift in the first two episodes (which is how far I made it before quitting the show). Perhaps, however, it’s just that short shrift that displays fantasy’s growing clout.

Here’s a new sitcom entering what has always been an extremely competitive market (TV) that doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to prove yourself. The show creators decided that fantasy football was the way to sell their platform, to hook a potential audience. The material has proved that they have no real message to convey on the fantasy front, so one has to assume that those folks simply believed drilling into the fantasy well could foster broadcast success.

Now, we’ve increasingly seen in recent times where companies create and/or partner with fantasy games online to engage potential customers and encourage Web traffic, and we’ve witnessed too many instances of non-fantasy contests claiming to be fantasy to entice participants. Having a television show trying to position itself by calling out to fantasy players, however, seems to be another step up the leverage ladder. If the show succeeds, perhaps we’ll see others from the entertainment industry trying to tap in.

We’ll see what Schafer has found out about fantasy’s standing (and perhaps understanding) in Hollywood, but from here the rise simply looks continuous.

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– The Fantasy Sports Trade Association has announced the agenda for its upcoming winter conference, including a featured appearance from half of the husband-wife creative team behind “The League.”

– We tie our fantasy fortunes to the performances of football players, anglers, bull riders and “American Idol” contestants. Why not take a crack at predicting global performance with “fantasy geopolitics“? If there’s one thing the worldwide recession showed us, it’s that we can’t do much worse than the folks actually in charge of this stuff.

– “Sundays of Our Lives” touts itself as a fantasy football comedy soap opera for the Web. Will it be funny? Will it be stupid? Will it at least pay more attention to the football than “The League” does? We’ll see when the first episode debuts. Until then, here’s the trailer.

– Athlon acquired college fantasy games producer U-Sports earlier this year, and the combined outlet is now live with its first season of fantasy college basketball. Although U-Sports was a pay site on its own, the Athlon version of the game is free.

– Juliann Haynes checks in on the SportsJudge blog with Part 1 of her argument for why women should play, or at least support their significant others in playing, fantasy sports.

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.

– Ladd Biro of the Dallas Morning News takes a look back at what his draft board should have looked like from the fifth spot in a 10-team, “standard”-scoring fantasy football league.

– Vince Mullins of FantasyCollegeBlitz.com and some of his industry peers are into the playoff portion of their pro-am tournament that will donate $400 to a charity chosen by the winner. Don’t look now, but the “amateurs” make up more than 80 percent of the six-team playoff field.

– This year’s top finishers in SportsBuff.com fantasy baseball headed to Vegas before the MLB playoffs to enjoy the spoils and pick their post-season teams. Here’s a look at the strategy they took into the draft and the regular-season salary-cap game.

– The Fantasy Football Librarian wants to find out in November who her readers like to go to for their fantasy advice. (No one would hold it against you if you felt compelled to vote for this guy in the “start/sit” category.)

– Here’s another reviewer who didn’t like FX’s new comedy “The League” and wishes it had taken its fantasy football a bit more seriously.

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.

– Josh Bousquet of the Worcester Telegram didn’t like FX’s “The League” either.

– For those interested in taking their fantasy play beyond the field/court/ice/track/etc., the Fantasy Fund Manager game that’s operated under the JP Morgan umbrella doles out £35,000 to its winner.

– Fantasy Sports Ventures CEO Chris Russo was featured in today’s “What I Like” profile by Sports Business Journal.

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