Meet Bach Bracket, which has turned fantasy 'Bachelorette' leagues into a national phenomenon

Like many others, Kaitlyn Hurley gets up midweek in the fall with the performance of her fantasy team on her mind. It’s not her football team she’s most worried about, although as a diehard Chiefs fan that’s certainly a concern. Hurley is one of the founders of Bach Bracket, the site that is touted as the No. 1 fantasy Bachelor site.

Much like its football counterpart, fantasy Bachelor/Bachelorette leagues have become immensely popular as viewers set lineups, answer trivia, and try and predict how all the drama will unfold on the popular ABC dating shows. Bach Bracket was born back in 2016 as something Hurley, who works in client services for a digital marketing agency, and three friends did on their own as they drafted suitors and used an Excel spreadsheet to monitor the madness. Now, over half a million people participate in one of the three games — First Impression, Rose to Rose, or Advanced — that Hurley and Bach Bracket offer.

“Before I played fantasy football, I was like why would I watch these two trash teams play each other? Now that I have fantasy, I’m like, ‘Yes, that tight end is going to catch the ball,” Hurley told BetFTW in a call last week. “That was how we felt with episodes where you don’t really care about what’s happening. With fantasy, you’re like, ‘Alright hot tub time, let’s go. Who’s gonna kiss in this hot tub?'”

Oh Rick… suddenly we’re all full pic.twitter.com/qzEY1vaytW

— Tayshia Adams (@tayshia) October 20, 2021

In the Advanced League, Bachelor/ette superfans can set a lineup each week and then receive points based on performance. Points (and penalties!) are awarded for everything from just receiving a rose or going on a date to being shirtless on camera or declaring that they aren’t there to make friends.

There are no odds or bets placed within Bach Bracket, but it brings a new competitive level to reality television. It has also expanded the fan base considerably, according to Hurley. “There were always guys that liked The Bachelor, and there were are always women that played fantasy football,” Hurley said. “So many boyfriends — so many — have said, ‘I started watching The Bachelor because my girlfriend made me play fantasy with her,’ and so it’s been kind of cool to expand the community like that and see Bachelor Nation grow.”

Reality fantasy content has been around since at least 2011 as David Jacoby — now host of Jalen and Jacoby on ESPN2 — wrote a recurring recap for Grantland. Jacoby’s recaps combined multiple reality shows and doled out points. Now, television fantasy leagues have become more popular over the last few years as viewers at home get involved with reality TV like Survivor, The Challenge, Big Brother, and more.

Some reality shows like The Bachelor/ette and MTV’s The Challenge have  themselves have gotten in on the action, setting up official fantasy leagues for viewers. ABC now uses Facebook to promote engagement for their league, although you used to be able to access your Bachelor team through the fantasy tab at ESPN.

BIG YIKES, RYAN#TheBachelorette pic.twitter.com/MPbSbiMrOO

— Bach Bracket (@bachbrack) October 20, 2021

One thing that reality fantasy leagues have to combat that sports do not is the fact that the seasons have already been completed in real life and spoilers are a thing thanks to blogs like Reality Steve. For Bach Bracket, Hurley and Co. tried to develop the Advanced Leagues to prevent spoilers from taking all the fun out of it. “We started the fantasy side of things because previously there were just brackets of who’s going to get a rose at this rose ceremony. It’s very fun — and you can still play that way in our first impression leagues — but if someone goes on Reality Steve they can just see who wins at every ceremony, and that kind of takes the fun out of it.”

By rewarding the little moments that you can’t predict by Zaprudering every clip ABC releases or scouring blogs, Hurley feels it’s a win for fans. It’s one of the few situations where even more rules means more fun. “What we’ve really tried to do is have as many rules as possible that are that are spoiler-proof in our Advanced League,” Hurley said. “You might be able to tell who’s gonna get a rose, but Reality Steve doesn’t report that someone swears three times in this episode, or that someone says connection or journey or vulnerable. I think those are the most fun rules, and I think that’s why people like playing on that bracket is because it is really relatively spoiler-proof.”

The new season of The Bachelorette got underway Tuesday night as Michelle Young became the 19th woman to search for her Forever Love while being pursued by a collection of personal trainers, finance bros, and something called a pizzapreneur (no, seriously).

A trio of men — Chris S., Nayte, and Rick — led the way from the premiere with 31 points apiece, buoyed by bringing props, earning roses (including the first impression rose if you’re Nayte), and being shirtless.

Here’s to hoping everyone that joins a fantasy league is here for the right reasons and enjoys their journey (that just got me five points).