LATEST EMAIL:
Let us begin by saying thank you for the patience that you have shown throughout this ordeal.
The unfortunate events that have darkened the name of the AFFL have proved too much to overcome. When we started this venture back in March we envisioned a resurrection of the AFFL name. We wanted to come in, make things right, and then move forward. We knew that to keep the AFFL alive would mean paying out all the 2007 prizes as well as pre-securing 2008 prizes. We wanted to prove to the AFFL customers, and the fantasy community, that we would not make the same mistakes that previous ownership did. We wanted to prove to them that we were guys that could be trusted. Unfortunately, mostly due to timing and the economy, we were unable to raise the substantial amount of money it would require to do so. So now what?
There are a lot of people out there that love to play fantasy football and the AFFL provided a great place to do it. In the past few months we have spoken with a lot of customers and have had positive feedback about the structure of the contest. To date, the AFFL has reached almost $60,000 in signups for the upcoming season, all without a resolution to the 2007 problems being announced. People want to play.
We love fantasy football just like you guys. We've been playing for a long time and have wanted to start a contest for a while. We've put a lot of time and money into this and do not want to give up. We're out of ideas, and out of ways to cut costs. This is what we have left.
We are no longer going to try to fix someone else's mistakes and problems. We also do not want to have to pay for someone else's mistakes and problems. We are upfront and honest guys that want to put a great contest out there for the fantasy football community. Therefore, we’re going to take the only option left for us at this time. We are going to start a new contest. We will use the same AFFL software and website, and change the name of the contest in the future. The contest will be run in the exact same fashion as the AFFL. All previously posted prizes and rules will not change. As 2007 prize winners ourselves, we really wanted to make things right and payout 2007 winners. As we stated earlier, we are sad to say that with only a few weeks left until the season starts that’s going to be impossible. We are offering the following three choices for 2007 prize winners:
1. We will be honoring any 2007 AFFL prize credits that you want to roll over. Of the prize winners that we have spoken to, almost 90% were willing to roll over. If you want to put this debacle behind you, move on, and just play fantasy football again, then roll over and play in the same contest you won in last year. We are honest guys and will make timely payouts. Roll over amounts, up to $10,000, will never expire and will be able to be used over multiple years. We will personally contact prizes winners over $10,000 and speak to them personally about their options.
If you choose this option, you will have to agree to absolve International Fantasy Sports and the AFFL of any 2007 prize liability. If you decline this option, please note that Chicago Fantasy Sports will not be assuming any liability for 2007 prize payouts from International Fantasy Sports.
2. Take your chances in court, although, this option will be long and drawn out, and as we understand it, previous ownership has no funds if the lawsuit succeeds. We have also been told that IFS is filing bankruptcy. With option 1 at least you are guaranteed to get something for what is owed to you.
3. Choose not to play with us on principle. Choose not to get involved in a drawn out lawsuit. Just chalk it up to a loss and do nothing. Again, with option 1, at least you are playing fantasy football.
Please follow this link to accept or decline option 1. If you accept, your credits will be available immediately. www.affl.com/prizes
If, prior to February, you had elected to take credit for you prize winnings, that credit is still active. However, you will still need to accept option 1. If that gives you additional credit, your original discount code will be updated.
We hope that you will choose to play with us. Although we cannot prove ourselves to you in advance, as we had hoped, we will certainly do so in the future.
We hope to have the site up and running at 100% in the next few days. Because we never really considered this option until the last few days, there are some things that will need a little time to happen. We will need to have prize winnings placed in your respective accounts soon. Once they are in your accounts, you can choose to use them this year or in future years.
We have also decided to cancel the platinum league for this year only. Although we are reluctant to do so, there is just not enough time to get enough participants in order to make the platinum league competitive. For our platinum players, please consider our gold contest, it costs only $600 to enter, $750 less than the platinum contest and the grand prize is only $15,000 less.
Also, due to time constraints, drafts on August 16th and 17th will be cancelled.
Emails containing further information will be sent out in the future. We know there may be some of you that are unhappy with this resolution and we want you to know that we are as well. We certainly did not envision this when we started, but as I said earlier, this is the only feasible option we have left.
Wade J. Golab 773-908-0246
Robert J. Smolarczyk 773-842-5954
-QG
Good god. Kudos to them if they've got suckers to pay up to the tune of $60,000 for this year.
but I used my winnings as credits for this year! I believe the 2007 winnings are a lost cause. That being said, I will use last years winnings to play this year...granted they are nowhere near the amount some of the other players won last year!
