Broncos Fans Featured In Fantasy Football Film

By Mark Ackerman

DENVER (CBS4)- A group of Denver Broncos fans are starring in the first major film about fantasy football.

The documentary "Fandom" is narrated by Christian Slater and follows four fantasy football leagues throughout a season.

One of the leagues featured is an all-female league from Denver. The film chronicles the season of the commissioner, Denver attorney Vicki Lovato.

"I've been a sports fan since 9 or 10-years-old and my parents have no idea where it comes from. It's always a passion," said Lovato, who is a Broncos season ticket holder.

The storyline centers around Vicki's rivalry with her close friend Dawn Owens, the executive director of College in Colorado and also an ultra-competitive sports fan. The film takes viewers from the draft, where men dressed as referees and served the women drinks, through heated weekly matchups.

"She talks trash and she knows what she's talking about," Dawn said about her rivalry with Vicki in the film. "She beat me last year and I think I threatened to call the bar association and lie to get her disbarred,"

Rebecca Holmes, a third member of the league, is also featured prominently. She admittedly doesn't have a "lot of football background" but has a lot of success in the league, which frustrates her die hard friends.

Fandom's producer, Andrew Aronow, says the old stereotype that football is "just for men" is long gone. When he started the film, Aronow said 40 million people played fantasy football each year. By the time he finished the film just two years later, the number of players had jumped to 75 million and many of the fans are now women.

"It has really changed things - being an active participant watching the games instead of a passive viewer, " said Aronow. "That's really got people hooked."

Before starting their own league both Vicki and Dawn played for decades and were often the only women in male dominated leagues.

"The first one was in law school," recalled Vicki. "The guys actually made me take a test to get in."

She said her male colleagues didn't think she'd have much success starting an all-female league, which motivated her to branch out on her own. Nearly a decade later, the league is going strong with 12 teams and a waiting list to join.

"It's kind of fun to have something for ourselves," said Dawn. "Men shouldn't have all the fun."

Mark Ackerman is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. Follow him on Twitter @ackermanmark