Fantasy sports leagues have about 15 million participants and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association predicted more than $1 billion is spent annually on publications, league fees and other services. Many companies are trying to get in on the fantasy league dollars — PicksPal has a fantasy league for sports betting (you use the lines on the games and pick your winners; earn points). FleaFlicker is your traditional fantasy sports league website, but is free and relies on advertising revenues.

Atomic Moguls has spoken of likely expansion into other entertainment areas such as music, television shows, and celebrities. Fafarazzi has already established a fantasy league for celebrities that awards points to users based on how many times a celebrity’s name is used in popular entertainment blogs, websites, and articles. There’s even a fantasy league for fashion.

Fantasy Moguls should breathe some new life into IMDb (make it more social). I’d also like to see some widgets that I could embed into my blog or MySpace page (this type of functionality appears to be lacking — and would be great for inviting people to join a league, or for posting standings to a blog / MySpace page).

Editor’s Note: This post was written by guest contributor Steve Poland, whose blog Techquila Shots brainstorms web start-up ideas.

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