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Interview: The Talented Mr. Roto Matthew Berry

Fantasy sports have reached heights that many people thought impossible. What was once a game for nerds and stat freaks is played everywhere, from corporate offices to professional sports locker rooms. One of the most prominent faces in the fantasy sports world is ESPN’s Sr. Director of Fantasy, The Talented Mr. Roto Matthew Berry. I was able to catch up with my former co-worker and talk Hollywood, breaking into the fantasy sports scene, and a little fantasy baseball. The conversation is after the jump.

HG: Prior to becoming the Talented Mr. Roto you were a writer in Hollywood. You’ve been involved with numerous projects but I have to say I’m most impressed by Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.

MB: Thank you. I’m a Razzy nominee for my work on Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. I co-wrote that with Eric Abrams who was my writing partner for a number of years and we got the job because they correctly answered the question ‘they wanna pay us how much?!?’ So it was great. Listen, it bought me a house, God bless The Croc.

HG: When you were writing in Hollywood were you always secretly hoping to wind up working in sports or were blindsided by the opportunity?

MB: I think it’s more of the latter. I always had a huge passion for sports. I’ve been playing fantasy sports since I was 14 years old.. And not just a passion for sports, a passion for fantasy sports. That’s my true love. In 1999 there was a fantasy sports website that was looking for writers. I sent them an email and said ‘Hey, I’m a professional writer living out here in Hollywood and fantasy sports is the passion of my life. I think it would be so much fun if I could just do something on the side. Maybe I could write a little column for you guys, can I try out? can I send you a little sample?’ They email me back the next day and say they looked me up on IMDB, Married With Children was their favorite show of all-time, and I’m hired. That’s how I became a fantasy sports expert/columnist.

HG: How did you come up with the name “The Talented Mr. Roto”?

MB: Well I started writing the column, I wanted to come up with a name that made me sound like an expert, and was memorable, but wasn’t like I was taking myself too seriously but still official sounding. So my then wife at the time, we had just seen The Talented Mr. Ripley, said “What about The Talented Mr. Roto”? I had been doing all of these lame ones like Doctor Fantasy and Mr. Roto.. They were all terrible. So she came up with that I was like that’s hilarious, we should do that and it stuck.

HG: How did you go from writing a column on the internet to the face of fantasy sports at ESPN?

MB: I just kept writing the column and the column seemed to be getting popular with readers.. Then there was a host at Fox Sports Radio named Steve Mason who was a big fantasy fan, you were actually producing his show then, you guys reached out to me and said why don’t you come on for 15 minutes and do a fantasy segment. It went well. Eventually 15 minutes turned to 30 turned to an hour, turned to why don’t you guest host? Then I ended up getting hired for two years by Fox Sports Radio to be their official fantasy sports expert. So I did 11 different hits over the course of a week, various shows but mostly on Sundays. Along the way, Steve ended up leaving Fox for ESPN radio in Los Angeles, 710, an ESPN owned and operated station. He introduced me to the program director over there and they wanted me to do a two hour fantasy football show. I went over to do that, I wanted to get in with ESPN, I thought it was a great opportunity. I left Fox to go to ESPN and once I started doing ESPN radio, that ended up introducing me to some people at Cold Pizza and I started doing some tv hits on Cold Pizza, which led to me doing some stuff on ESPNEWS, which led to ESPN the Magazine offering to let me write a column, which led to me getting the fantasy show last year with Ron Jaworski and Danni Boatwright.

HG: Damn. That’s a huge mountain to climb in such a short amount of time.

MB: It is. I was very very lucky. A lot of things broke right. My rise if you will, was along the same rise as fantasy sports. As it started becoming more and more mainstream, regular media companies such as Fox Sports, ESPN, NBA.com, The Sporting News, they knew fantasy was getting big, they knew they needed someone to talk about it, but they didn’t have anyone in house that could, or that they felt comfortable putting out there. In the case of ESPN they had some people here, but with more and more platforms, more and more content was needed. So what happened was people continued to like me. I would walk through a door and another door would open. Let me go back for a second.

HG: Ok

MB: I’m sort of jumping around here but in 2004, the website I was with fired me. I was making 100 bucks a week to write my column. They came to me and said ‘we want you to take a pay cut to $25 a week.. We can’t afford $100 a week at this time’ This is before the internet really exploded. And I said ‘I’ve been working for you for 3 years and you want me to take a 300% pay cut?’ I didn’t take the pay cut, it was a principle matter, the money was so minuscule it didn’t really make a huge difference but it was the principle. When I refused to take the pay cut and they fired me so I decided to start my own site, thetalentedmrroto.com… And I started it cause I was really enjoying it. It was more of a creative outlet and something I enjoyed doing more than the Hollywood stuff I was doing. So the website kept growing but I didn’t have any marketing budget so the best way for me to get out and promote the website was ME. I just basically took every radio station gig, every tv thing, anyone who wanted to interview me, offered up my content for free. All I wanted to do was try and get the word out, try and get traffic. What happened was twofold. Number one was that it helped build up some traffic and awareness for the website and in addition it got me more and more reps on the air. I got a lot more comfortable, I was able to work with producers that understand what they want. Every time I did it I got better at being on the radio, being on tv. Suddenly, I found myself in this unique position of being one the very few guys in the industry that had been playing this and could speak the language of fantasy. I was able to speak about it in an entertaining way that radio and tv producers liked, and I could explain it to an audience that may not be as familiar with fantasy… So the website continued to get more and more popular and after the Ron Jaworski show, the fantasy show I did, they really liked my work on that, it tested well. ESPN basically decided they were looking for the Mel Kiper of fantasy sports and they thought I was the guy. They said they really liked what I had done with my website because Talented Mr. Roto started in 2004 and was profitable by the middle of 2005. By 2006 I had over 50 writers, we had more nominations and more wins as far as industry awards, in terms of writing and content, than any other site. Things were going real well so they said we like what you’ve done with the site, we like what you’ve done business wise, we like you on the air so we’d like to buy your website, bring you over here, have you bring your talented writers over here, and let’s really blow out fantasy so I said ‘Where do I sign?’

HG: Do you like the title “The Mel Kiper of fantasy sports”?

MB: Sure. I think it’s an easy shorthand. Obviously Mel Kiper’s terrific. He’s synonymous with one day a year. It’s amazing what he’s done with one day a year, draft day. Now it’s so much more than that. I think the idea is basically Mel Kiper’s become synonymous with something that has a very passionate following and is considered by some to be niche and fantasy certainly fits within that. I think fantasy actually has a broader appeal, but it’s a good shorthand. There’s a lot worse things to be called than the Mel Kiper of fantasy sports because he’s been phenomenally successful.

HG: You just laid out everything it took for you to get where you are today. Playing fantasy sports at 14, running a website, networking.. but if I go to your blog, everybody thinks they can do your job. Does this happen to you a lot in public? Do people run up to you complaining about your draft advice or telling you how much better they are at fantasy sports than you?

MB: People are much braver on the internet than they are in public. Anytime somebody recognizes me in public and comes over and talks to me, they’re extremely complimentary, very flattering, and wanna tell me all about their team. And to all the people that say I can do your job better than you, I always say then go ahead. I just told you my whole story. It’s not like I’m someone’s kid, I didn’t have any connections or anything like that. I answered a blind ad on a website in 1999. From there, I definitely got some breaks, definitely got some people like Steve Mason and yourself that helped me out, but I worked my butt off. Every single day I woke up thinking about the website, went to bed thinking about the website, gave up nights, gave up weekends, and pushed forward with it while doing a full time job as a movie writer. So whether people love me or hate me, I don’t think anybody will accuse me of being just handed this. I’ll bring this up, and he’s been very public about it, Mike Harmon. Mike Harmon who was the big fantasy expert over at Yahoo for a long time, now he’s over at Fox. Very sweet guy, really nice, I like him a lot, but Mike Harmon was in the customer service department at Yahoo when they were starting. Somebody said ‘Who plays fantasy?’ and Mike Harmon says ‘I play fantasy’ so they brought him over. So I’m not a guy that was already working at Yahoo or working at ESPN or working at one of these big media companies that just happened to be right place, right time, ‘We need someone that plays fantasy, hey you do right?’. Anyone can do what I did.. Which is answer a blind ad on a website, write well, develop enough of a following that you’re confident about being out on your own, buying a url at register.com, throwing some content up there, going out there and promoting the site driving traffic, and getting noticed enough that a media company wants to buy you. I don’t wanna say it’s easy because it’s not, it’s real tough but there’s no barrier to entry there. So that’s what I say to that. As far as my actual picks or analysis, I can’t predict the future. I’ll be the first to admit that.

HG: So what can you do?

MB: My job is to provide analysis and that analysis is based on trends and research, and to do it in an entertaining way… and I think that I do that. My track record’s pretty good.. I tend to think that most people read fantasy analysis to see if the expert agrees with them or not. Most people that play and know it wanna know does this guy like the guys I like? If you like the guys they like you’re a genius, if you hate the guys they like you’re a moron. It doesn’t bother me, I encourage it in fact, I like to print hate mail.. My sort of feeling is that I don’t care whether they love me or they hate me, it’s when they don’t care what I’m saying that I’m really screwed.

HG: I like to say fantasy sports is to sports what porn is to the movie industry. They were considered dirty and underground but they’re being accepted by the mainstream more and more. Do you have an analogy or explanation for fantasy sports?

MB: It basically gives you a rooting interest in every single game. It brings you together with your friends.. There’s nothing better than talking trash with your buddies in the spirit of fantasy. You’re watching SportsCenter at night, they’re showing some highlight of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates in interleague play, and it’s like who cares about that? Well I do because I have Carl Crawford and Jason Bay on my team.

HG: So you don’t combine porn and fantasy?

MB: I don’t, I don’t.. but understand, we’re owned by Disney.

HG: Aah. That’s true.

MB: I understand you’re analogy though because for a long time fantasy sports was pushed to the side, sort of a dirty little secret, and now it’s completely mainstream. Everybody does it. I got to go down to ESPN the Weekend in Orlando. They sent all the bigwigs down there, the Stuart Scotts, all of the big shots at the network. So if they sent 75 celebrities down there, I’m number 75. I’m probably #76 but 75 got sick or something. But anyways, I get to go down there and they have me interviewing some of these athletes for fantasy and the thing I was amazed about, every single baseball player plays fantasy football. Brian McCann walked in the interview room and said “Hey, Matthew Berry the fantasy guy, man watch you all the time.” It’s like, in what universe should Brian McCann recognize me? It’s ridiculous.

HG: Guys are skipping past Berman and Stuart Scott to get to you?

MB: It’s absolutely insane. It makes no sense whatsoever. Brian McCann told me all about his four teams and he’s like ‘Oh, Larry Johnson screwed me last year‘, he’s into it and I asked him, who’s in the league. ‘Francoeur’s in it, Smoltzy, Glavine‘. It’s amazing to me. Everyone plays. Even Carlos Lee. Carlos Lee said he wasn’t a big football fan, but now he’s a football fan. I asked him why’s that he said “I didn’t use to watch American football, but Hunter Pence wanted me to co-own his team with him in the Astros clubhouse.” They finished 2nd and he really got into it. And that’s what fantasy does. It gets you into sports. Sports you don’t care about, sports you may not have as much of an appreciation for and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve never had someone play fantasy, try it, and say ‘eeh not for me’, not if they’re a sports fan. I’ve had people say it takes too much time or they got too addicted to it, but if you try it, you will like it.

HG: Fantasy sports might not be for everyone but you have ways people get the fantasy feel without being involved in sports right? I think it was something you and Bill Simmons were discussing? A fantasy hollywood league?

MB: Yeah. Movies. I started one of those, but when I took my deal at ESPN I had to sell my interest in it so I have a minority stake in it and I don’t have anything to do with it, but a company called fantasymoguls.com. They do entertainment based fantasy games and they do a great job. I’m just a money investor, I have a small piece in it but movies would be my choice.

HG: Ok, I guess that’s what I’m thinking of. Well, it’s about time to wrap this up but I can’t have a conversation with a fantasy sports expert without getting some advice so give us some guys you like this fantasy baseball season and a few guys you think people should stay away from. Sleepers and Dogs I guess.

MB: Here’s the problem with that. Define a sleeper. To me a sleeper is a guy that exceeds expectations. Is Brandon Phillips a sleeper? I don’t think so but he’s going in the third round of most ESPN drafts and I actually think he’s a first round guy, so it’s always hard to say. I really like Jeff Francoeur this year. Last year he hit 19 home runs however he almost doubled the amount of doubles he had from 2006 to 2007, and 14 of those doubles hit the wall. He added 20 pounds in the offseason, he’s played 162 games each of the last two years. That’s a guy that I think is gonna have a monster year. I was on tv the other day and they asked me for a bold prediction. I said ‘Bold prediction? Rick Ankiel 40 home runs.’ Here’s the reason I gave. Rick Ankiel hit 43 home runs between triple A and the Majors last year. When he got to the Majors, he was hitting home runs one every 14 at bats. If he gets 600 at bats this year, which playing everyday he should, he’s gonna hit more than 40. He needs to stay healthy and I don’t think he’s gonna help you’re batting average, I think he’s gonna hit .250-.260, but 40 home runs is a definite possibility, especially if he’s hitting in front of Pujols. Third, I think Rich Harden. Somebody’s gotten in Rich Harden’s ear. I think he stays healthy this year. Oh, I love Corey Hart this year. Look at Corey Hart’s numbers from last year and compare them to Grady Sizemore’s. They’re almost identical and yet Grady Sizemore had 120 more at bats last year. Also, it’s a small sample size, but Nick Swisher’s batting average at U.S. Cellular Field the last three years, .383. I think Nick Swisher’s gonna have a big year in Chicago. If you want a deep sleeper I wrote that I like Shawn Hill in Washington as a pitcher.

HG: Who are you staying away from this year?

MB: I’m staying away from Albert Pujols because to get him you’re gonna have to get him in the first round or so and it’s just too much risk. If the Cardinals are out of it in the middle of June, why wouldn’t they shut him down? He needs surgery on that elbow eventually. I’m really concerned about that. They’ve already said he’s going to be resting.. I’m not crazy about Francisco Liriano. Everyone’s all hyped up about him but remember he’s never pitched more than 175 innings at any professional level. He’s coming back from surgery, he’s never stayed healthy… and Hiroki Kuroda. He’s a guy that I don’t like. First off, he doesn’t strike anyone out, he’s a groundball pitcher and last year the Dodgers had the fifth worst fielding percentage of any team in Major League Baseball. This is a guy where a lot of people are like ‘whoa, a Japanese import’ but no. So there you go, those are three busts.

HG: All right man. I appreciate that and I’m sure all of the fantasy baseball players do too.

MB: If you’ll allow me to pimp a little bit..

HG: We’ll allow it.

MB: You can still sign up to play fantasy baseball with free live scoring on ESPN.com, Fantasy insider is every Sunday at 11 a.m. EST on ESPNEWS, Nate Ravitz and I do a podcast every single day that’s free. It’s the top-rated fantasy podcast, it’s one of the top five ESPN podcasts, and it’s currently in the top 40 of all podcasts on Itunes. Our downloads are well into the six figures. Also, Sunday nights Fantasy Focus radio show, it’s 9 p.m. EST on ESPN radio or ESPN.com. Starting next week I’m gonna be on daily doing fantasy minutes on First Take and Baseball Tonight. In addition, we do a daily online fantasy show. It’s on ESPN.com and ESPN mobile tv so either you can watch it on your cellphone or on the dot com.. It’s also called Fantasy Focus and of course I write for the magazine and the dot com.

Tags: Matthew Berry, Fantasy Expert, ESPN, interview