Auction (1 Viewer)

[Normie32r]

My league is considering using an auction this year. What are the best tips for running the draft? Time limit?

 

[roadkill1292]

My league is considering using an auction this year. What are the best tips for running the draft? Time limit?

I would advise keeping things as simple as possible. Use an outside auctioneer, if possible, and take turns nominating players. Have a simple salary cap (integer, like $100, $200, $260) and bid in whole dollars. Finally, have someone track the money (Excel was made for this chore) and review where the owner stands financially after each purchase is made -- the Numbnuts need 7 players, they have $42 left, their high bid is now $36. Nothing ruins an auction faster than salary cap errors.What specifically do you mean in regards to "time limit?"Congrats on making the leap. You're gonna like it.

 

[KellysHeroes]

My league is considering using an auction this year. What are the best tips for running the draft? Time limit?

You can click on my sig and see how mine works... even join it if you want...as for Time... I found that 30 secs to select and 10 sec Bid Timer works good... anymore than that and people lose interest in the middle of it.

 

[butcher boy]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit.

You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.

grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

 

[roadkill1292]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit.

You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.

grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

I think your league is missing out on an integral part of the auction here. Who to nominate when it's your turn is an important part of auction strategy. But, hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

[WampusCat43]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit. You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

We're starting an auction league too, and I don't understand this. The commish has EVERY name in a hat? Seems like a lot of guys would not get bid on at all, and just be a waste of time.We're thinking about having three or four rounds of auction, then going to a serpentine draft. Anybody ever tried that?

 

[doughboydeluxe]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit. You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

We're starting an auction league too, and I don't understand this. The commish has EVERY name in a hat? Seems like a lot of guys would not get bid on at all, and just be a waste of time.We're thinking about having three or four rounds of auction, then going to a serpentine draft. Anybody ever tried that?

One of my leagues does 10 rounds of auction, then serpentine for the rest. Works fine. The only problems I would see with just doing 3 or 4 rounds of auction then going to draft is that if a few studs get overlooked during the auction, it gives the teams with the first few picks an advantage. Also, with just 3 or 4 rounds of auction, it gets really hard to screw up. You could spend 80% of your cap on one player and still end up with three more good players.

 

[roadkill1292]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit. You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

We're starting an auction league too, and I don't understand this. The commish has EVERY name in a hat? Seems like a lot of guys would not get bid on at all, and just be a waste of time.We're thinking about having three or four rounds of auction, then going to a serpentine draft. Anybody ever tried that?

A brother league of our's, for whom I often auctioneer, does a hybrid. 8 rounds of auction ($100) followed by 8 rounds of drafting. It's not for me but they seem pretty content with it.

 

[Vikes Fan]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit.

You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.

grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

I think your league is missing out on an integral part of the auction here. Who to nominate when it's your turn is an important part of auction strategy. But, hey, whatever floats your boat.

I agree completely. The most fun part of the auction is trying to get everyone else to spend their money on players you don't think are worth it. Some people who have never auctioned think the strategy of drafting gets lost but that isn't true. For example, a few years ago, a guy in our league got Priest Holmes for $87 of his $200 cap. Two players later, I nominate Larry Johnson, who would have gone for $1 or $2 late in the draft that year, but everybody knew that Mr. $87 needed him, so he went for $17, meaning that team had $104 invested in two guys, one of which wasn't going to start. The guy had to sit on his hands for a long time...

 

[Wilbur Wood]

In-person auction drafts are the best, as you the poker faces and price enforcing is a big part of the strategy.

We make the defending champion be the auctioneer and run the board -- btw buy a Big Board (Draft Kits. com) and don't use the smaller free ones that CBS sends out. It is a task to both run the board and participate in the draft, so if you don't have an outside volunteer, you might want have to 2 guys tag team it and rotate the task half-way through.

Auction drafts rock! Takes all the b.s. luck out of getting the 1.01/1.02 pick and getting LT/SJackson. A lot of fun.

 

[butcher boy]

My league just has the commish pulling player names out of a hat and then the bidding begins. He just does the usual "going once, going twice" thing. No time limit.

You NEED to have someone keeping track of everything though.

grats on going auction. It really is the best way to draft.

I think your league is missing out on an integral part of the auction here. Who to nominate when it's your turn is an important part of auction strategy. But, hey, whatever floats your boat.

Yeah I know, you're preaching to the choir. I've tried to convince them but they are quite stubborn. The list of players we use is horrible too. I think last year's had Tim Biakabatuka on it. It's a good, competitive league though.To compensate for lack of nominations, part of the drafting strategy in this league is getting as many of the other owners as drunk as you can before the draft.

 

[BigRed]

Time limit? ?? Unless you're playing with morons, time limits are pointless. Take turns nominating players and just let the bidding take it's course - when you get more than a few moment of silence, it's time for the "going once going twice" bit.

I would also suggest a $100 limit. Easiest and simplest to do because then each dollar equates to the percentage of your $ you're using. I find $200 drags it out too much because there's always some dorks raising up a player like LT by going "50.....51.....52.....53.........................."

 

[Vikes Fan]

Time limit? ?? Unless you're playing with morons, time limits are pointless. Take turns nominating players and just let the bidding take it's course - when you get more than a few moment of silence, it's time for the "going once going twice" bit.I would also suggest a $100 limit. Easiest and simplest to do because then each dollar equates to the percentage of your $ you're using. I find $200 drags it out too much because there's always some dorks raising up a player like LT by going "50.....51.....52.....53.........................."

:( I guess I am a dork then. I never raise by more than $1. I just might get a guy and I don't waste any cap money. The only time I deviate from this rule is if I am bidding against another guy with limited funds. I will then jump right up to his highest number possible, because I know that is where he will go. Prime example, a guy nominated Brad Johnson two years ago for $1. Next guy goes $10. As he was penciling in Johnson's name, he asked if anyone else was going to bid. The guy who nominated him said he was nervous he would get stuck with him for $1, everyone else said, "no".

 

[inca911]

1. Randomly select an order in which owners can nominate players. Stick to that order and any owner can nominate any player when it is their turn. The order is also used for bidding.

2. Select a dollar amount and have a way to track it. We've used poker chips to track our $200 cap. Someone pays $35 for a player, they give up $35 in chips. IMPORTANT: We don't have a minimum bid for a player so we don't have to make sure someone still has $1 for every player they need to complete their roster. Much simpler.

3. Give people crap when they nominate a player at far less than market. Listening to SJax start at $1 is a painful waste of time.

4. No comments on nominated players until after they have been auctioned. If an owner doesn't know of the latest injury, that's their fault. After the player has been purchased, the heckling can begin!

5. Nominating a player that someone else nominated once cost an owner $3. Made people pay attention but we changed the rule.

6. We generally bid in order and once someone passes they can't bid on that player. Makes things go more quickly as you get down to two people bidding against each other.

 

[shredhead]

Sorry for my naiveness here, but I have tried to get one of my leagues to go to an auction to no avail (yet).

Has anyone ever tried or had success with a blind auction. What I am thinking is when a player is nominated, everyone writes an amount secretly what they are willing to pay for that player. Highest bidder gets the player. It seems to me that you would have to determine what percentage of your cap you want to spend on each player/position and predetermine your max amounts before the draft. I think you would also have to have a few contingency cap scenarios worked out in case you don't get your top guy. I know you probably have to do those things anyway at a conventional auction, but I thought the blind auction might add a different twist. I think it might reward the person who does his homework a little more, but I could be way off base here.

I'm not even sure if it is possible to do it or if it would take the fun out of auctioning players, but I wanted to get any feedback if anyone has ever tried it or know of someone who has.

I'm also not sure what you would do if there were 2 people tied at the top bid. Maybe a blind (or conventional) bid-off between the top bidders.

Again, sorry for my rambling auction naive question (and my semi hijack) but please answer if you have any thoughts. Good or bad, I can take it. You can tell me that's the stupidest idea you've ever heard of and I won't mind!

 

[stickboy]

Has anyone ever tried or had success with a blind auction. What I am thinking is when a player is nominated, everyone writes an amount secretly what they are willing to pay for that player. Highest bidder gets the player. It seems to me that you would have to determine what percentage of your cap you want to spend on each player/position and predetermine your max amounts before the draft. I think you would also have to have a few contingency cap scenarios worked out in case you don't get your top guy. I know you probably have to do those things anyway at a conventional auction, but I thought the blind auction might add a different twist. I think it might reward the person who does his homework a little more, but I could be way off base here.I'm not even sure if it is possible to do it or if it would take the fun out of auctioning players, but I wanted to get any feedback if anyone has ever tried it or know of someone who has.I'm also not sure what you would do if there were 2 people tied at the top bid. Maybe a blind (or conventional) bid-off between the top bidders.Again, sorry for my rambling auction naive question (and my semi hijack) but please answer if you have any thoughts. Good or bad, I can take it. You can tell me that's the stupidest idea you've ever heard of and I won't mind!

Blind auctions are faster than regular auctions but they take a lot of the bluffing out of the play. Since you only get one chance with a blind bid, you also lose players you wanted or get players you didn't fully expect (gotta bid on other players so folks don't guess your strategy).If 2 or more tie, they get to rebid, usually with the current bid as a floor. Keep going until someone wins, or a number of tries after which something like a coin flip is used.

 

[Varmint]

I've offered this before...I'll offer it again...

Although I'm not what you'd call an "auction god"....I DID set up my league in a draft format and set all the guidelines that have made it the success that it is.

If anyone would like a copy of the documents that made it happen...shoot me a message.

I'll forward you the docs and you will be on your way to setting up a VERY successful auction that will grow with your league!!!

Good luck with it regardless...

 

[LTsharks]

1. Randomly select an order in which owners can nominate players. Stick to that order and any owner can nominate any player when it is their turn. The order is also used for bidding.

2. Select a dollar amount and have a way to track it. We've used poker chips to track our $200 cap. Someone pays $35 for a player, they give up $35 in chips. IMPORTANT: We don't have a minimum bid for a player so we don't have to make sure someone still has $1 for every player they need to complete their roster. Much simpler.

3. Give people crap when they nominate a player at far less than market. Listening to SJax start at $1 is a painful waste of time.

4. No comments on nominated players until after they have been auctioned. If an owner doesn't know of the latest injury, that's their fault. After the player has been purchased, the heckling can begin!

5. Nominating a player that someone else nominated once cost an owner $3. Made people pay attention but we changed the rule.

6. We generally bid in order and once someone passes they can't bid on that player. Makes things go more quickly as you get down to two people bidding against each other.

bumpthinking about this as our league goes to an auction for the first time this year, it seems like the bidding would have to be done in some type of order. i just see a problem where a player was nominated towards the end for $1 and 2 guys jump in at the same time and say $2. i don't think we should end up sitting there trying to figure out who bid first. really this could occur at any point if two guys reached the max they wanted to bid and they both felt like they were in first.

anyone else have any experience with this? any other thoughts on running this part of the auction?

 

[Varmint]

...taken from my league's Auction Day Procedures Doc...

BUT...basically what you need is an AUCTIONEER to run the auction.....HE is the final voice in who gets who.

Auction Procedure: The auction will begin when the Auctioneer calls for the first franchise to throw an NFL player into the fray. The order in which players are introduced (Introduction Order) is determined by the order of finish during the previous season. The defending Superbowl Champion goes first and the last place team goes, well…goes LAST. The franchise introducing the NFL player will fill the needed information on the Auction Slip.

The FFLOB franchise will stand up and announce (in a LOUD voice) the name, position, NFL team and the opening bid he is placing on the player then give the Auction Slip to the Auctioneer. This gives the Auctioneer all the information he needs so that he doesn’t switch the information and teams end up bidding on the wrong player. During the few seconds that it takes for the FFLOB team to bring the Auction Slip up to the Auctioneer the other owners should quickly form a bidding strategy for THIS player. Once the Auctioneer has the slip in his hand he will enter the Introduction # on the slip and officially start the bidding by re-introducing the NFL player and call for bids.

Opening bids may be as high as that team’s cap allows but it must be at least $1. As soon as an NFL player is introduced to auction with legal opening bid, that player belongs to the team who introduced him, that is, until his opening bid is beat by another team. If no other team bids, the team who in introduced him now owns him for the amount of the opening bid. If another FFLOB team wants him and is willing to pay more for his services, that team will increase the bid for as much as his cap will allow but no less than $1. Bids must be increased by a minimum of $1. The bidding continues around the room until the Auctioneer notices that the bids are slowing. At this time the Auctioneer is to repeat the highest bid that HE HAS HEARD and the team that holds the highest bid. He will give everyone approximately three (3) seconds before he starts the GOING…(three more seconds)….GOING…. (Five more seconds)…GONE!! When the Auctioneer yells, “GONE”, the player is, you guessed it, GONE. Ties go to the Auctioneer. If he yells “GONE” at the same time a team tries to up the bid, the player is GONE and awarded to the previous team for their winning bid. The Auctioneer may allow the bid if he feels that the bid got in before he closed the bidding. The Auctioneer will the repeat WHO was sold, to WHAT team and for HOW much. The Auctioneer will fill out the Auction Slip with the proper information and hand it to his assistants. They will then enter it to the proper sheets for later use. The entire process continues until each FFLOB franchise has purchased 12 players for his team. When it’s time for your franchise to introduce a player you must do so…you cannot “pass” your turn.

Winning the Bid: When the Auctioneer has declared your team as the winning bid, a representative from your team will walk to the Auctioneer’s Platform and pickup the Name Strip of the player you just purchased. Members of the Auction Staff will have pulled the strip, written the amount of you winning bid and the amount remaining in your salary cap on the right side of the strip. You will then walk over to the Auction Board and place the newest member of your team under your team’s name on the board. This is a good time for heckling, jeering, cheering or whatever comes to mind for the rest of the league. Once you’ve placed you player on the board and returned to your place, the Auctioneer will call for the next introduction from the next team on the list.

Team owners are urged to enter the current auction information on their own Auction Sheets for reference. The FFLOB has gone to great expense ($50) to purchase the Ultimate Draft Board. This board is easily seen from anywhere in the Draft Floor. Every team’s financial situation is listed and current on this board but ultimately YOUR responsibility to keep track of it. If, at any time during the auction, your figures do not agree with the league’s Draft Board please wait until a break between player introductions and bring it to the attention of the Auctioneer Team. It benefits everybody to point out any discrepancies. If you keep interrupting the auction and it’s found that you simply cannot add…you will be asked to keep quiet and trust the board.

If the Auctioneer HEARD the bid, the bid is LEGIT. It does not matter if you were “kidding”, trying to be funny or that your partner bid and you didn’t want him to bid…

IF THE AUCTIONEER HEARS THE BID IT IS A LEGAL AND BINDING BID.

This is not negotiable…no re-trial…no appeal. If he points at you and repeats, “what he heard” the bid is YOURS! This is why EVERYONE must agree with the choice of Auctioneer. If he shows up with a hearing aid, feel free to protest. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable to “up the bid” by placing bids simply to make your opponent pay too much but keep in mind that if the bidding stops and YOU have the highest bid…you own that player’s services.

Ending the Auction: The auction will end at different times for every team. Some teams will fill up faster than others due to the fact that every player is available to every team. You will purchase players as you see fit for your roster. Team “A” may have purchased four players before Team “B” purchases a single one. When you have filled your 12 man roster you are finished with the auction. You will not bid on any more players and you won’t introduce any more players into the auction, you are welcome to quietly stick around but you may leave if you wish…YOU ARE DONE. Please do not disrupt the auction as it continues. Sit back, relax, and watch the fun but BE SILENT DURING BIDDING.

.

 

[roadkill1292]

1. Randomly select an order in which owners can nominate players. Stick to that order and any owner can nominate any player when it is their turn. The order is also used for bidding.

2. Select a dollar amount and have a way to track it. We've used poker chips to track our $200 cap. Someone pays $35 for a player, they give up $35 in chips. IMPORTANT: We don't have a minimum bid for a player so we don't have to make sure someone still has $1 for every player they need to complete their roster. Much simpler.

3. Give people crap when they nominate a player at far less than market. Listening to SJax start at $1 is a painful waste of time.

4. No comments on nominated players until after they have been auctioned. If an owner doesn't know of the latest injury, that's their fault. After the player has been purchased, the heckling can begin!

5. Nominating a player that someone else nominated once cost an owner $3. Made people pay attention but we changed the rule.

6. We generally bid in order and once someone passes they can't bid on that player. Makes things go more quickly as you get down to two people bidding against each other.

bumpthinking about this as our league goes to an auction for the first time this year, it seems like the bidding would have to be done in some type of order. i just see a problem where a player was nominated towards the end for $1 and 2 guys jump in at the same time and say $2. i don't think we should end up sitting there trying to figure out who bid first. really this could occur at any point if two guys reached the max they wanted to bid and they both felt like they were in first.

anyone else have any experience with this? any other thoughts on running this part of the auction?

My league has done both styles over the years. "Poker" style, or bidding in order, was easier for me as the auctioneer and prevented the kinds of problems you noted. It's also interesting in its own way as the drama slowly builds on each player as the price climbs and owners drop out. Many of my fellow owners still prefer this method.But we're going "open" auction this year and have purchased Big Time Fantasy Sports' auction software to help us run things. It will also cure the problems of determining who bid first and make life even easier on the auctioneer. Just push your button before anyone else does -- no muss, no fuss.

 

[Art_VanDalay]

One of the best aspects of our longtime auction league is the auction draft process. You HAVE to let the owners nominate because so much strategy goes into that part and really affects the dollars spent. We forgo a paid auctioneer and have each owner who nominates essentially run that players auction. We also go around the horn in order and once you are out, no coming back in if the player gets "undervalued." This is another interesting strategy aspect of ours. We check caps after each time around the horn and at least two of us keep track after each player selected to make sure that the commish is on target with his numbers. We also update them on the draft board after each pick. This takes a while but works great and is a big reason why our league stays fresh after over 12 years. Auction is the way to go - good luck!

 

[stlrams]

We're employing a hybrid auction this year - 3 rounds of auction then sepetine. Where do you get player values for this type of draft???

 

[LTsharks]

1. Randomly select an order in which owners can nominate players. Stick to that order and any owner can nominate any player when it is their turn. The order is also used for bidding.

2. Select a dollar amount and have a way to track it. We've used poker chips to track our $200 cap. Someone pays $35 for a player, they give up $35 in chips. IMPORTANT: We don't have a minimum bid for a player so we don't have to make sure someone still has $1 for every player they need to complete their roster. Much simpler.

3. Give people crap when they nominate a player at far less than market. Listening to SJax start at $1 is a painful waste of time.

4. No comments on nominated players until after they have been auctioned. If an owner doesn't know of the latest injury, that's their fault. After the player has been purchased, the heckling can begin!

5. Nominating a player that someone else nominated once cost an owner $3. Made people pay attention but we changed the rule.

6. We generally bid in order and once someone passes they can't bid on that player. Makes things go more quickly as you get down to two people bidding against each other.

bumpthinking about this as our league goes to an auction for the first time this year, it seems like the bidding would have to be done in some type of order. i just see a problem where a player was nominated towards the end for $1 and 2 guys jump in at the same time and say $2. i don't think we should end up sitting there trying to figure out who bid first. really this could occur at any point if two guys reached the max they wanted to bid and they both felt like they were in first.

anyone else have any experience with this? any other thoughts on running this part of the auction?

My league has done both styles over the years. "Poker" style, or bidding in order, was easier for me as the auctioneer and prevented the kinds of problems you noted. It's also interesting in its own way as the drama slowly builds on each player as the price climbs and owners drop out. Many of my fellow owners still prefer this method.But we're going "open" auction this year and have purchased Big Time Fantasy Sports' auction software to help us run things. It will also cure the problems of determining who bid first and make life even easier on the auctioneer. Just push your button before anyone else does -- no muss, no fuss.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. After reading the replies i think that we will do some sort of bidding in order. We will rotate who gets to nominate the players and then the bidding will go around from there. This seems to be what a lot of people do and also seems like a good way to keep our auctioneer (who will most likely be another friend from outside the league) from getting in the middle of any disputes about who bid first. I think using software to run an "open" auciton like mentioned above would be the way to go, but that cost isn't for everyone.