Introducing a partnership with Fanduel

One of the first things I wrote on this site was a sponsored fantasy baseball preview for Mariners players. As you can see from the comments, it went super well (gulp). Everyone was thrilled with a dedicated post about fantasy baseball, and we continued on without any bumps in the road. After all, Lookout Landing has always been extremely interested in everyone's individual fantasy teams and welcomes all conversation about them, especially when they take over comment sections and veer conversation towards desperately needing a save so you can beat your boss's WHATEVER

Yeah, it didn't go over too well. Which is a bummer, because for a lot of people fantasy baseball is very fun. Though LL has always steered clear of fantasy after last year's meLLtdown, SB Nation and all the MLB team sites have joined up with FanDuel to do some cool stuff this year. It's an exclusive partnership, which means there's going to be some fun opportunities to play in their daily fantasy leagues and make some money if that's your thing. They've given me some cash to play around on their site, and even though I have generally preferred weekly or cumulative fantasy baseball in the past, this format is simple and addictive. You get a set amount of money to spend on a team full of players, and then join leagues with cash prizes (or for fun) in which you earn points for how well your players do. You know, fantasy! The scoring is simplistic and fair, and leagues update live and pay out quickly. You can join big leagues with large prizes at the top, smaller leagues with less risk, or even square off head to head with somebody, doubling up (asterisk, 10% rake) or losing it all. I've been using FanDuel for a while now, and it is a wonderful time waster and keeps me easily connected to what's going on around the league. That's really not some paid endorsement -- this is my second year playing it, and not just with baseball.

Here's a little video on how it all works.

There are rules, ones that you can read right here. Read them, because one of them certainly applies to a good portion of our readers.

The first contest has been launched for tonight, so check it out. It's only $2, and there's $18,000 in prizes handed out. I'll be rocking an entry tonight (keep an eye on my pre-LL created user name, spookyaction), and depending on how many of you sign up, we could even have some site-specific contests/leagues, which could be very fun for the community.

Now, to quell your inevitable concerns, of which I share.

Lookout Landing is not a fantasy baseball site. It will never be a fantasy baseball site. This is the only planned individual post that we'll dedicate to FanDuel, and I will try hard to make sure all other mentions are easily skipped if you're not into it. FanDuel isn't going to take over LL, and it won't have a voice in the kind of content we create. This is in addition to what we already do, not a part of it. I will never write about how Brad Miller is a good bargain for the day in a piece that analyzes his pitch recognition. What you will see are occasional footers at the end of articles that remind you that you can play, and a link that says how to do it.

For example, here's what you'd see at the bottom of an article on a day like today, using the contest that I previously mentioned.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Join today, and discuss your strategies, teams, and results here.

That's it. This is the kind of thing that you'll see at the bottom of game threads, previews, or whatever the case may be throughout the rest of the season. They won't be in every piece, and they'll never show up in recaps. If you're very anti-fantasy sports, great! You can stop reading as soon as you see those italics and move along with your business.

If you're concerned about FanDuel and fantasy in general leaking into comment sections, know that I'm just as concerned as you. The whole staff will be monitoring them to ensure that as always, conversation is free-flowing but related to the topic on hand. If you see something veering towards fantasy, flag it and we'll take care of it. Chatter about who you took in FanDuel that day in any non-FD post won't be permitted. For all FanDuel talk, there may eventually be a dedicated Fanpost where you can discuss your strategies and results, or even attempt to get some LL leagues together. We'll create it and link to it in each of the footer links once this starts rolling out this week.

There will be questions, and I'll do everything I can to answer them. I know this community a billion times better now than I did when I took the reins over a year ago. I promise to do everything in my power to make this as painless as possible. For the skeptics, you might even have some fun playing FanDuel along the way. I know I do!