“Distraught” Fantasy Football Group Postpones Pasadena Convention, Blames the NFL

For the second straight year, organizers of a National Fantasy Football Convention, which would include autograph sessions with players and panels with fantasy experts doling out advice, have decided to postpone its inaugural event which this time would have been at the Pasadena Convention Center in July.

Last year, the convention was delayed after the NFL warned players about the league’s policy against appearing in casinos. The convention was supposed to be in Las Vegas.

The group led by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo blamed the NFL’s blatant and continued interference for the decision to postpone again.

“We are deeply disheartened to be sharing this news with you today, but due to the ongoing actions of the National Football League and after painstaking internal deliberation, we will be announcing the postponement of the inaugural National Fantasy Football Convention to-be-determined later date,” the organizers told fans in a public announcement on Twitter.

The organizers said they’re now leaving it “at the hands of the courts in full confidence” that they will still be able to launch the event.

The fan-centric event in Pasadena was scheduled for July 15 through 17.

More than 100 players, including Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant and Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles, have earlier indicated they were planning to attend the NFFC. The other unique activity at the convention was a plan for six participants to conduct a draft with six NFL players and form a 12-team fantasy league.

Last year’s postponement led to the organizers filing a lawsuit against the NFL, but earlier this year, a Dallas judge dismissed a claim that the NFL intimidated players with threats of sanctions over the planned Las Vegas event.

An Associated Press report quotes NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy as saying the league wouldn’t comment on the NFFC announcement.