Starting the thread a few minutes early. Will see y'all at 9 PM.

First of all, thanks for taking time out of your August schedules to sit down and answer questions about your Fantasy Football Player's Championship. I know how crazy things are at this time of year in the Fantasy Football world!

Mark, thanks a lot for hosting this chat. It is a busy time for everyone I assume. We are pleased to answer any and all questions about the Fantasy Football Players Championship, and high stakes fantasy football.

To kick things off - One thing that a lot of our members want to know, Alex and Dave - I've received multiple forms of this question via messaging and in the message board thread that announced this chat - Why start a new high stakes league this year? What led you to launch a contest in 2008, with so many competitors out there and given the credit crunch/economic challenges in the US domestically?

Following up on that, Buck Naked from the Shark Pool was curious "If you had to name one or two things about FFPC which provides a competitive advantage for you and/or sets FFPC apart from the other leagues, what would it or they be?"

Hi Mark and a big thanks to FBGs for having us.

I will answer the first part and Alex can take the second.

At the time we initially discussed the idea of our own high stakes fantasy football championship (February of 2008), we felt it was the timing was pretty good. At that time, the economy was not great, but was OK. It has since gotten quite a bit worse, and the stock market has fallen, too, which affects high stakes competitors' discretionary spending. We also could not really have known what would come in the form of competition.

Back in February, a number of events had occurred that propelled us to begin our event. First and foremost, the AFFL failed to pay their winners, including Alex, one of the FFPC founders. That led us, as Players, to call for placing prizes in escrow to protect entrants. Then we began hearing complaints and rumblings from fantasy players about what they do not like about the various contests. At that point, we really started to examine the fantasy football market, with a focus on higher stakes events and question whether what was currently offered was what high stakes fantasy players wanted. We knew that if we created our own event, we could make it exactly as we had always wanted, with attorney escrow, better payouts, player-friendly rules, a top notch venue and so on. We felt we could run a great event. Fantasy players that have come to our site and read about the FFPC have been very excited about the overall contest and player-friendly feel.

Yes, the economy is in fairly bad shape and others are trying to enter this market or grow their own contests. We realize that 2008 was not the optimal year to begin the FFPC. But, hey, we’re here to stay and things are going pretty darn well considering the negative external factors. Not only is the FFPC contest going to go off, but we will exceed our announced Main Event entry numbers in our first year.

Great question. I’m going to say that what sets us apart most is that we’re just a couple of FF diehard high stakes players whose only goal is to offer the best Event we possibly can, by any means necessary. We don’t have to answer to corporate management or follow a certain business model. We don’t have to maintain a certain gross margin on a pro-forma to make sure we can pay off our business loan. Our only responsibility is to the high stakes Players that we cater to.

As far as specific things we offer, I will give our two most compelling competitive advantages:

1. I think we offer the best of both worlds as far as draft options. A player can draft from their own home, which requires no travel time or cost. Or one can draft at a 5 star Las Vegas strip resort, Caesars Palace, with catered food and beverage service. You cannot go wrong either way there.

2. The second competitive advantage we offer has to only do with respecting our customers’ investment in us and is in three parts. First, we protect your entry fees in an industry-exclusive attorney escrow account. Second, we pay out prizes by a specific date, January 9th, 2009. Third, we give back to our players in the form of industry-leading payout percentages. You simply cannot beat the safety, expendiency, and percentages we offer. It is our triple-threat.

When looking at the contest itself, the question pops up "How did you guys choose the scoring structure/roster requirements for the FFPC?" What led you to those determinations?

Following up and taking a closer look at the scoring and rules for the FFPC, board member Slam was curious about the following specific rules:

"What affect do you anticipate on the draft from the following rules:

1) Your dual flex

2) Your 1.5 PPR for TEs"

Alex and I have played in many different high stakes leagues and formats. We discussed this time and again, with many phone calls back and forth about what the best possible format would be for fantasy players. We felt that combining the Dual-Flex with enhanced tight end scoring while retaining PPR for other (non-QB) positions was the way to go. We also added Action scoring, which allows players like Devin Hester to get points for punt returns TDs. Our goal was to make the scoring/format/system as player-friendly and fair as possible. Alex will cover the specifics of the tight end and dual-flex in the 2nd part of the question.

Also, with an eye to the logistics of running a live event with both in-person and online components, Shark Pool poster Joffer asks "What was the thought process behind offering both in-person and on-line drafting simultaneously for the main event? How do you avoid having one league with both when trying to fill the last one? And are you concerned about internet troubles causing problems?"

Considering that our starting lineup requirements are 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1K, 1D and 2 Flex RB/WR/TE with 1 PPR for both RBs & WRs, we believe that the Dual-flex along with the 1.5 PPR for TEs will play a major role is adding new strategy to both the draft as well as in-season roster management. We are already seeing the results in our satellite leagues that have been drafted with the FFPC format.

Recently, a FFPC participant - Codecracker - wrote an excellent article about our format and here's an excerpt from that article on how he sees this very dilemma:


"First, let's examine two of the major changes that will affect both your draft and your lineup management; the 1.5 point-per reception TE rule and the FFPC Dual-Flex. This is a PPR league and to add some pizzazz to the TE position, the TE's will receive 1.5 points for a reception instead of the standard 1 for WRs and RBs. This makes the TE significantly more valuable and that means owners are more likely to draft a TE early which leads to more variation in the somewhat predictable draft order we all face. Last year six TEs caught more than 60 passes and with Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez both flirting with the century mark in catches, it seems the perfect time to elevate the tight ends value in fantasy leagues. Even mid-level TEs with 40-50 catches can produce numbers that rival some 3rd and 4th WRs which means that this slight change will cause a ripple effect throughout the draft. Perfect timing to reemphasis the TE in fantasy football just as the position is surging in the NFL as well, nice job FFPC.

Now add on an even bigger change in lineup management, the Dual-Flex. It means exactly what it sounds like; instead if the typical one, you get to play two flex positions in your lineup, to join the required, 1-QB, 2-RBs, 2-WRs, 1-TE, 1-K and 1-Defense. These two flex positions are chosen from RBs/WRs/TEs as usual but this feature opens up the sky to possibility for a creative owner who may also draft with a specific team-type in mind. Are you a hoarder of RBs? You could actually start four RBs in this league. Fancy a fleet of fast WRS? Bombs away, you could start four WRs as well. Did you fall in love with the TE rule above and snake Witten and Gonzalez to play a double or even a triple TE fantasy formation? It's all yours. An owner also gains the ability to target his favorite late round sleepers based on his team type, for example gambling on late RBs if the team has gone the RB-heavy route in the draft.

Here's another interesting angle the FFPC Dual-Flex presents. Normally, if you already have 3 solid starting running backs on your roster, you need not look in the direction of another RB who just happens to pop up on the waiver wire. Sure, you'd love to get him for depth -- who wouldn't? -- but is it worth spending a large portion of your blind bidding bucks on a player who'll just ride the pine for your squad as a 4th RB? But what if you can actually start him? Well, that possibility changes everything, doesn't it? Not only would you be cornering the RB market in your league, but you'd be building a powerhouse roster in the process. The same goes for the TE position. With 1.5 point per catch and the FFPC Dual-flex, you can now try and go get that Eric Johnson or Tony Scheffler off the waiver wire as not only your second, but even your third starting TE.

As you can see, while the Dual-flex is just a subtle adjustment to the lineup requirements, it doubles the number of lineup configurations, allows for very individualized draft & free agency strategy and also provides for better bye week coverage. Why hasn't someone thought of this before?"

The reasoning for offering the hybrid draft options – the ability to draft either live or online – it simply to allow everyone the opportunity to participate. Those who can come to Vegas can choose to partake in the festivities. Those who cannot – or do not want to – can draft from the comfort of home. Once the drafts are over though, everyone ends up competing in the same main event.

As far as avoiding problems in filling both live & online leagues, in case we do have to combine the final league, we have a plan in place which we feel will work well for all involved. We plan to have the live drafters draft as they normally would and we would have a FFPC representative with a laptop at the draft who will input all the live picks into the MockDraftCentral draft room so that those drafting online can continue with their picks undisturbed. Similarly, those pick made by the online drafters will be seen and announced by our representative through his laptop and these picks will be placed on the live draftboard. We will also have some phone lines on stand by in case of loss of internet and we can always temporarily pause any draft that has difficulty.

Its also important to note that Geoff Stein from MockDraftCental.com (which will host our online drafts) is fully aware of the importance of these drafts going off without a hitch. He, along with his staff will personally facilitate each online draftroom. In addition, since our draft is on Friday, September 5th, after NFL’s opening game has been played on Thursday, it’s very likely that the FFPC drafts may be the ONLY live drafts still taking place so Geoff can give as much attention as required.

Regarding the planning of the whole event as an event, board member Fourd wanted to know: "What have you found to be the biggest surprise since you decided to launch this event?"

Also, in a similar vein I'm curious as to how you came to schedule the event for the Caesar's palace venue - how hard was it to nail down the date of the draft (September 5th) in the Tiberius Ballroom - did you have to try various strip hotels before finding a fit, or was Caesar's just a good fit from the beginning?

One last set of questions - from board member Fourd, who asks "How hard is it to be on the ownership side of this contest as the season grows closer - knowing you can't compete in a contest that you have designed to be player-friendly?"

And as a followup to that question, I'd like to know how hard you think it'll be once the fantasy playoffs roll around, seeing the best of the best advancing to the league playoffs and just having to watch the top teams battle to the end? Could you describe how those final rounds of competition are going to be structured - sorry to twist the knife there... ;-)

We wanted to make sure the FFPC can be held in a 5-star venue on the Las Vegas strip. Unfortunately, since we only began our inquiries in March, many spaces were already long booked. Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Wynn and Mirage were taken. Venetian had the space we needed but, as in any negotiations, things simply didn't work out. Thankfully, Caesars Palace offered us the Tiberius Ballroom - a 17,000 square foot space, perfectly suited for the FFPC. So we did get a bit lucky there as our options were limited. It certainly wasn't easy to finalize, and expensive - to be frank - but we feel this is a great precedent to set for our customers for years to come.

This is a tough question. Since I have always been a high stakes player, I feel like I get pulled in more than one direction about making a comment as a player, yet restraining myself as a contest organizer. That was a big surprise for me. I also have never been in the middle of the "fantasy football industry", so to speak, and was surprised at the level of polarization by players. Some people will never play us because they are an NFFC guy or won't play NFFC because they play us or WCOFF, and so on. I personally will play every event I can afford that I like. I am playing NFFC and WCOFF this year, because I cannot play the FFPC, of course.

I am also surprised that a number of people have questioned the motives behind launching the FFPC, like we have a hidden agenda. We do not want - our agenda is plain and simple - we NEVER want there to be another AFFL. We do not want players to ever again get screwed out of money - hence the attorney trust. It really should be an industry standard and be in place for all high stakes events.

I think that your commitment to safeguarding your participants is admirable. As a Footballguy and moderator on these boards, one of the things I most hate to read about is whenever there is a problem in a league, no matter what the size. In a perfect world nobody would get disappointed while pursuing our hobby.

Thanks a lot Alex and Dave for answering our questions about your event. I look forward to hearing about the competition in the FFPC as it unfolds this year, and seeing who wins when December rolls around!

We’re players first and game operators/owners second so of course we want to play in the FFPC. There was a running joke back when we were creating the format and the rules for the FFPC. We were so exciting about how things were beginning to shape out that we’d say to each other: “Ok, I’m out of this – I want to be able to play in this event” . That excitement is certainly still felt by us to this day. But I guess we'll have to wait until someone else adapts our format to experience it for ourselves.

Each individual league (live or online) will have their 2 week league playoffs in weeks 12 and 13, and the #1 and #2 seeds (along with the league champ if it is a #3 or #4 seed). We take each team's weekly scoring average and add it to their points scored for weeks 14, 15 and 16 in a race to the FFPC championship and the $75,000 grand prize. I know I will enjoy watching someone take home the big money this year and for many years to come. I bet it will be exhilarating from our end to hand someone the "Big Check" for $75,000. We will let you know....

Thanks for the kind words and your time, Mark.

If anyone has further questions, please email myself or Dave at alex@theFFPC.com or dave@theFFPC.com

Have a great 2008 season!!

Thanks Mark! Have a great season!

Enjoy all the action in your contest and the NFL - I am sooo ready for opening weekend to get here, already!