Best Fantasy Football Site (1 Viewer)

[PaulVol]

Lionz,

My league has also used RTSports for many years and we have been very satisfied.

 

[Adam Harstad]

I don't think I really appreciated Fleaflicker so much until the last few years when I joined a couple MFL leagues. Seriously, MFL has some amazing features, but it feels like the league management version of GeoCities. So much information is buried in random difficult-to-access locations, the most common actions you're going to want to take require two to three times as many clicks, so much information that you'll want to access at the same time will be buried on completely different pages (meaning you have to flip back and forth between tabs) rather than consolidated. It's just an absolute mess.

Unfortunately, I felt the same way this summer with MFL, when trying to set up a potential league site for my league to switch to. I was really impressed by the features and the nominal price for those features, but I was also unimpressed with the Geocities feel. And like you, I felt like I was wasting a lot of time. Probably not a big deal to the majority of people as mere owners, but instead for people who run leagues.

That being said, regarding the message board, I'm sure my league could do without one as well on Fleaflicker. ESPN's message board is awfully intuitive, so that is attractive. And I admit, I really like the league "top story" feature right in front on an ESPN league home to keep things looking fresh and to update owners on a new procedure.

One thing that is a big selling point about Fleaflicker for my fantasy basketball league actually is the e-mail draft option.

And also, I would definitely be open to a Fleaflicker league. But I think I'm pretty much convinced for fantasy football anyway. Another question about Fleaflicker - how is reliable is their android and iphone app?

I haven't used the app. I think I downloaded it a year or two ago and it was garbage, but that was back when everyone's app was garbage. No clue if they've made improvements since then.

This actually inspired me to check to see if their app still sucks so much. It turns out, they've pulled their app from the app store and just focused on improving the mobile site. The mobile site is fine. In an effort to keep things from getting cramped, they've spread all the information out vertically, which means you will sometimes need to do a lot of scrolling, but everything is easy to tap and access (I actually greatly appreciate the fact that they didn't shrink any of the buttons down- it's difficult to accidentally misclick something). If I'm away from the computer when I hear breaking news and I need to make some last-minute lineup changes, it'll get the job done easily enough, but it's more of an "in case of emergency" bonus than something that I'm going to use to interact with the league on a regular basis.

 

[blake]

This actually inspired me to check to see if their app still sucks so much. It turns out, they've pulled their app from the app store and just focused on improving the mobile site. The mobile site is fine. In an effort to keep things from getting cramped, they've spread all the information out vertically, which means you will sometimes need to do a lot of scrolling, but everything is easy to tap and access (I actually greatly appreciate the fact that they didn't shrink any of the buttons down- it's difficult to accidentally misclick something). If I'm away from the computer when I hear breaking news and I need to make some last-minute lineup changes, it'll get the job done easily enough, but it's more of an "in case of emergency" bonus than something that I'm going to use to interact with the league on a regular basis.

Thank you again for the reply on this. Do you tend to use the mobile site on Sundays? Or are you with a laptop? I ask because half the time I'm at a bar, so ESPN's mobile app is invaluable, but the other half of the time, I'm watching Red Zone with a laptop.

I actually joined a league on Fleaflicker that had a vacant spot, so I'm curious to see how that league goes...if it goes at all. I guess I'll (hopefully) get my taste of how it works tomorrow.

 

[Verminator]

I have been pleased enough with free sites like ESPN, Yahoo, and Fleaflicker. The big problem with free sites is that the statistics on start %, ownership %, etc. are extremely off base due to all of the free leagues where owners aren't paying attention.

CBS has probably the best live scoring but I just find it offensive that the site costs $150 but they have more ads than any other site.

 

[Adam Harstad]

This actually inspired me to check to see if their app still sucks so much. It turns out, they've pulled their app from the app store and just focused on improving the mobile site. The mobile site is fine. In an effort to keep things from getting cramped, they've spread all the information out vertically, which means you will sometimes need to do a lot of scrolling, but everything is easy to tap and access (I actually greatly appreciate the fact that they didn't shrink any of the buttons down- it's difficult to accidentally misclick something). If I'm away from the computer when I hear breaking news and I need to make some last-minute lineup changes, it'll get the job done easily enough, but it's more of an "in case of emergency" bonus than something that I'm going to use to interact with the league on a regular basis.

Thank you again for the reply on this. Do you tend to use the mobile site on Sundays? Or are you with a laptop? I ask because half the time I'm at a bar, so ESPN's mobile app is invaluable, but the other half of the time, I'm watching Red Zone with a laptop.

I actually joined a league on Fleaflicker that had a vacant spot, so I'm curious to see how that league goes...if it goes at all. I guess I'll (hopefully) get my taste of how it works tomorrow.

I'm always prepping for my weekly FBGs obligations on Sunday, which means I'm pretty much already on a laptop from noon to nine (CST), anyway. The only time I need to use the mobile site is if my wife and I are doing an early lunch before I go into my football cocoon and there's a surprise inactive.

 

[Symbius]

Been with RTSports for years now and have no issues.

The mobile site is very nice now.

The only thing I wish they would add is an option to carry a Practice/Taxi Roster position for the Dynasty Leagues. Other than that, there is really nothing they cannot do.

 

[GregR]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

Some leagues have two waiver runs (i.e. waivers run Wednesday morning, and then a second time Friday morning). If the second waiver run happens after the Thursday night game, then you can actually bid for players that played on Thursday and win them. So, let's say that Marvin Jones had his 4-TD game this Thursday instead of on Sunday. In that case, an owner who knew about the loophole could have just bid $1 for him in the second waiver run and hoped that everyone else assumed he was locked for the week because he'd already played. If so, then that owner would have just won Marvin Jones for $1.

Also, similar issue, but I believe it's possible to add a player who plays on Thursday night, start him, then drop him in the second waiver run and replace him with someone else. You keep the points in your starting lineup, but effectively get an extra roster spot for the week. In the most extreme example possible, you could start a QB, RB, WR, and TE on Thursday, drop them all and add another RB, two WRs, and a Defense on Friday, and then start THOSE four players as well. Voila, you just got 8 starters with just 4 roster spots.

Not sure of any other issues, I believe most of the TNF issues stem from the fact that late-week waiver runs seem to break the system.

The first part of what you said is a good summary of MFL's waiver issue with Thursday players.

You can't do the bolded though. The site won't accept a new lineup that contains a player not on your roster. And he's locked in your lineup, so you'd be stuck with the lineup you had at the time he was dropped.

 

[Fariq]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

I had to start Matt Simms when Seattle played on TNF. I failed to edit my roster on time. I would have gotten Wilson's stats if I didn't touch my lineup at all, but that would have meant a bye week RB and LB would have started. It was my fault for not editing my lineup but I am new to MFL. I was thinking the site worked like Yahoo where your previous week's starters would be your starters for the following week. I didn't complain about it because I am tanking the season anyway. Same league, a few weeks earlier a similar thing happened with a contending owner and a ##### fest ensued. The owner successfully got the commissioner to insert Major Wright into his starting lineup days after the Giants-Bears game.

 

[Fariq]

Adam seems high on Fleaflicker, and he seems like he'd be picky on the details (no offense, Adam), so I'd give that a try. I've not tried it but will try to find a league using Fleaflicker that needs a new owner next year. I'm anxious to check it out.

Was thinking of doing the same thing regarding Fleaflicker.

I am considering starting a dynasty league with IDPs on Fleaflicker

 

[gandalas]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

Some leagues have two waiver runs (i.e. waivers run Wednesday morning, and then a second time Friday morning). If the second waiver run happens after the Thursday night game, then you can actually bid for players that played on Thursday and win them. So, let's say that Marvin Jones had his 4-TD game this Thursday instead of on Sunday. In that case, an owner who knew about the loophole could have just bid $1 for him in the second waiver run and hoped that everyone else assumed he was locked for the week because he'd already played. If so, then that owner would have just won Marvin Jones for $1.

Also, similar issue, but I believe it's possible to add a player who plays on Thursday night, start him, then drop him in the second waiver run and replace him with someone else. You keep the points in your starting lineup, but effectively get an extra roster spot for the week. In the most extreme example possible, you could start a QB, RB, WR, and TE on Thursday, drop them all and add another RB, two WRs, and a Defense on Friday, and then start THOSE four players as well. Voila, you just got 8 starters with just 4 roster spots.

Not sure of any other issues, I believe most of the TNF issues stem from the fact that late-week waiver runs seem to break the system.

I was always under the impression that there was a setting that guys could not be added that their games already started...is that not the case?

 

[gandalas]

We use CBS, have now for 6 years, transitioning over from yahoo which we used for 10 years....CBS has had it ups and downs. We use the pay version. There is some new stuff this year which is awesome and hilarious, such as "around the league", where the computer does an amazing job of recapping all games from the weekend, and allowing for comments from coaches which are inserted into the recap as if it was part of the report....allows for some funny bashing against each other. We talked about MFL, but never made the move bc of how invested we are in CBS....

Um, you mean like the Fantasy Report that MFL has had for at least 5 years now? Yes, it has the owner comments as well.

 

[Lydia]

Unless you need one of the more esoteric settings only available on MFL, Fleaflicker is the way to go. Totally free, very customizable (not as much as MFL, but way more than Yahoo/ESPN/NFL), open year-round, and it has the best interface. Even if MFL was free, I'd still prefer Fleaflicker (unless, as I said, I was in a league with bizarre rules that only MFL could handle).

Looks like fleaflicker doesn't support auction drafts; is that right? That seems like kind of a big deal.

 

[MIMN]

I have been pleased enough with free sites like ESPN, Yahoo, and Fleaflicker. The big problem with free sites is that the statistics on start %, ownership %, etc. are extremely off base due to all of the free leagues where owners aren't paying attention.

CBS has probably the best live scoring but I just find it offensive that the site costs $150 but they have more ads than any other site.

This is how I feel. As long as the site handles your scoring and scheduling the free sites have come a long way.

CBS doesn't seem worth the cost but the commish in my league loves it so we use it. They charge you $150, bombard you with ads (same or more than free sites), and you can't get support.

I used RTSports in the past (few years ago at this point) and didn't care for it. I have followed the MFL links to show how awesome it is and have never been impressed.

Bottom line though is that none do everything well. Some suck hard as certain things. Find out what is important to you and make sure the site does it.

 

[Agent575]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

I had to start Matt Simms when Seattle played on TNF. I failed to edit my roster on time. I would have gotten Wilson's stats if I didn't touch my lineup at all, but that would have meant a bye week RB and LB would have started. It was my fault for not editing my lineup but I am new to MFL. I was thinking the site worked like Yahoo where your previous week's starters would be your starters for the following week. I didn't complain about it because I am tanking the season anyway. Same league, a few weeks earlier a similar thing happened with a contending owner and a ##### fest ensued. The owner successfully got the commissioner to insert Major Wright into his starting lineup days after the Giants-Bears game.

That is user error and league drama...none of which can be put on mfl. You can have lineups carry over but someone has to take the time to read and check off on that setting.

 

[Fariq]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

I had to start Matt Simms when Seattle played on TNF. I failed to edit my roster on time. I would have gotten Wilson's stats if I didn't touch my lineup at all, but that would have meant a bye week RB and LB would have started. It was my fault for not editing my lineup but I am new to MFL. I was thinking the site worked like Yahoo where your previous week's starters would be your starters for the following week. I didn't complain about it because I am tanking the season anyway. Same league, a few weeks earlier a similar thing happened with a contending owner and a ##### fest ensued. The owner successfully got the commissioner to insert Major Wright into his starting lineup days after the Giants-Bears game.

That is user error and league drama...none of which can be put on mfl. You can have lineups carry over but someone has to take the time to read and check off on that setting.

Understood. I thought maybe that would have answered the guy's question because that was the only problem I came across with the Thursday games. Yeah, it wasn't truly a MFL issue.

 

[nobiz]

With Yahoo, WYSIWYG in terms of your active rosters. With Yahoo, you can easily see what is going on, and learn about trends. ESPN all but hides everything- I hate the experience there. And with ESPN, don't forget to click "Submit" and only after entering your password every visit to the site. Also, Yahoo links to Rotoworld while ESPN to the garbage Rotowire.

 

[Adam Harstad]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

Some leagues have two waiver runs (i.e. waivers run Wednesday morning, and then a second time Friday morning). If the second waiver run happens after the Thursday night game, then you can actually bid for players that played on Thursday and win them. So, let's say that Marvin Jones had his 4-TD game this Thursday instead of on Sunday. In that case, an owner who knew about the loophole could have just bid $1 for him in the second waiver run and hoped that everyone else assumed he was locked for the week because he'd already played. If so, then that owner would have just won Marvin Jones for $1.

Also, similar issue, but I believe it's possible to add a player who plays on Thursday night, start him, then drop him in the second waiver run and replace him with someone else. You keep the points in your starting lineup, but effectively get an extra roster spot for the week. In the most extreme example possible, you could start a QB, RB, WR, and TE on Thursday, drop them all and add another RB, two WRs, and a Defense on Friday, and then start THOSE four players as well. Voila, you just got 8 starters with just 4 roster spots.

Not sure of any other issues, I believe most of the TNF issues stem from the fact that late-week waiver runs seem to break the system.

The first part of what you said is a good summary of MFL's waiver issue with Thursday players.

You can't do the bolded though. The site won't accept a new lineup that contains a player not on your roster. And he's locked in your lineup, so you'd be stuck with the lineup you had at the time he was dropped.

Good to know. Thanks, Greg.

By the way, I know you're a huge MFL proponent. You aren't going to make a pitch at least?

 

[Adam Harstad]

Unless you need one of the more esoteric settings only available on MFL, Fleaflicker is the way to go. Totally free, very customizable (not as much as MFL, but way more than Yahoo/ESPN/NFL), open year-round, and it has the best interface. Even if MFL was free, I'd still prefer Fleaflicker (unless, as I said, I was in a league with bizarre rules that only MFL could handle).

Looks like fleaflicker doesn't support auction drafts; is that right? That seems like kind of a big deal.

Don't know. Like I said, I've never used their drafting software, I always draft off-site and import (month-long message board drafts).

 

[blake]

Thank you again for the reply on this. Do you tend to use the mobile site on Sundays? Or are you with a laptop? I ask because half the time I'm at a bar, so ESPN's mobile app is invaluable, but the other half of the time, I'm watching Red Zone with a laptop.

I actually joined a league on Fleaflicker that had a vacant spot, so I'm curious to see how that league goes...if it goes at all. I guess I'll (hopefully) get my taste of how it works tomorrow.

I'm always prepping for my weekly FBGs obligations on Sunday, which means I'm pretty much already on a laptop from noon to nine (CST), anyway. The only time I need to use the mobile site is if my wife and I are doing an early lunch before I go into my football cocoon and there's a surprise inactive.

Joined a league on Fleaflicker, taking over a vacant spot, and looking at the live scoring on mobile. That was really the point of joining the league, to look at the live scoring. Very clean, very easy, and no need to use an app. Extremely impressed.

 

[Dizzy]

CBS has probably the best live scoring but I just find it offensive that the site costs $150 but they have more ads than any other site.

Good point raised here.

If your decision is based on $$$ spent... MFL.com is $80.00 if you sign up early ($90.00 if you wait 'til August).

Subscription includes a separate MFL Gameday download that allows you to track (live) all of your MFL.com leagues.

 

[blake]

Switching from an ESPN league was going to drastically cut my league's MFL price for this season. Much cheaper than $80/90. Also, was able to combine my FBG membership for an additional discount. That was great. Just something to think about.

On the flip side, MFL's lackluster looking apps was also something that made me want to look elsewhere. I forgot about that, and haven't seen it mentioned in this thread.

 

[GregR]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

Some leagues have two waiver runs (i.e. waivers run Wednesday morning, and then a second time Friday morning). If the second waiver run happens after the Thursday night game, then you can actually bid for players that played on Thursday and win them. So, let's say that Marvin Jones had his 4-TD game this Thursday instead of on Sunday. In that case, an owner who knew about the loophole could have just bid $1 for him in the second waiver run and hoped that everyone else assumed he was locked for the week because he'd already played. If so, then that owner would have just won Marvin Jones for $1.

Also, similar issue, but I believe it's possible to add a player who plays on Thursday night, start him, then drop him in the second waiver run and replace him with someone else. You keep the points in your starting lineup, but effectively get an extra roster spot for the week. In the most extreme example possible, you could start a QB, RB, WR, and TE on Thursday, drop them all and add another RB, two WRs, and a Defense on Friday, and then start THOSE four players as well. Voila, you just got 8 starters with just 4 roster spots.

Not sure of any other issues, I believe most of the TNF issues stem from the fact that late-week waiver runs seem to break the system.

I was always under the impression that there was a setting that guys could not be added that their games already started...is that not the case?

It applies to FCFS. But if you have queued up waivers, either normal or blind bidding, where everyone had an equal chance to every player being claimed, then the setting doesn't apply.

Myself and some others have put in requests that they either make all types of waivers obey it, or add an additional option. In my experience they have been extremely good about fixing issues like these that can lead to strife for leagues.

 

[GregR]

MFL has lost me as a customer this year, lot of problems with Thursday Night games have come to a head IMO. I will be looking elsewhere. RTSports is pretty easy to use, old fashioned perhaps but reliable. I am in 10-12+ leagues, 9 on MFL, 3 on RTSports.

ok, I'm curious..never have or heard of an issue with Thursday games

Some leagues have two waiver runs (i.e. waivers run Wednesday morning, and then a second time Friday morning). If the second waiver run happens after the Thursday night game, then you can actually bid for players that played on Thursday and win them. So, let's say that Marvin Jones had his 4-TD game this Thursday instead of on Sunday. In that case, an owner who knew about the loophole could have just bid $1 for him in the second waiver run and hoped that everyone else assumed he was locked for the week because he'd already played. If so, then that owner would have just won Marvin Jones for $1.

Also, similar issue, but I believe it's possible to add a player who plays on Thursday night, start him, then drop him in the second waiver run and replace him with someone else. You keep the points in your starting lineup, but effectively get an extra roster spot for the week. In the most extreme example possible, you could start a QB, RB, WR, and TE on Thursday, drop them all and add another RB, two WRs, and a Defense on Friday, and then start THOSE four players as well. Voila, you just got 8 starters with just 4 roster spots.

Not sure of any other issues, I believe most of the TNF issues stem from the fact that late-week waiver runs seem to break the system.

The first part of what you said is a good summary of MFL's waiver issue with Thursday players.

You can't do the bolded though. The site won't accept a new lineup that contains a player not on your roster. And he's locked in your lineup, so you'd be stuck with the lineup you had at the time he was dropped.

Good to know. Thanks, Greg.

By the way, I know you're a huge MFL proponent. You aren't going to make a pitch at least?

I thought MFL got sufficiently discussed. I would like for them to update their system, though honestly having a pretty looking interface is probably item #60 on my list of importance. I actually tend to prefer simplicity, would rather see someone nail the substance before worrying about glitzy look. NFL's regular football (not fantasy) looks pretty and also is one of the most painful things I've ever tried to use on the web. ESPN by comparison looks 10 years old, but gets me immediately to everything I want to see.

I do think for the price, MFL is a ridiculously good value over the other pay sites. Especially after you account for the various discounts avialable. Not to mention the support, and that they generally pretty outstanding when it comes to site availability, correct stats for games, etc. I remember someone was bumping a few MFL threads when there were issues preseason. The sheer volume of problems with stats for fumbles, site outages, etc, that I noticed from other sites I thought dwarfed the MFL ones.

I actually am going to give Fleaflicker a look, though I am doubting many sites out there can handle all the stuff my leagues do on MFL. From multiple preseason auctions (tagged players, regular free agency) plus rookie draft, tracking salaries and contracts, coaches, punters, etc. It does sound like Fleaflicker has some better history stuff I wouldn't mind getting my hands on though.

 

[gsmayes]

With each passing year, it gets harder and harder to give MFL my money. There's a couple guys in my league that absolutely hate MFL, and at this point I may be going back just out of spite. The interface is ancient, the settings confusing, autodrafter is terrible, the issues with TNF and trades last year. This year the site was down when our waivers were supposed to get processed, so the waivers never ran and people were able to start adding fcfs free agents, it was a mess.

It's just not a modern website, how much longer are people going to let that slide? It's just short sighted by MFL. I've mostly stuck with them because I couldn't find anything better that kept the historical data. Another problem is finding a site that allows for one doubleheader game each season. We implemented that a few years ago to move our SB to week 16 while still having three playoff weeks. We were on AOL for five years, but switched to MFL when AOL became Fleaflicker. I'm going to check out Fleaflicker next year.