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Fanball is greatly improved this year. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter benm3218
- Start date
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
I am finally quitting that site.. I have had both my leagues there for years and years--I think close to 7. Every year it is the same thing, "We are getting better. We have made improvements." As soon as the live drafting comes, the servers crash and then every Sunday of the regular season, assuming you were able to get your lineups in, the live scoring crashes and Fanball talking heads assure you it wil be fixed--which by the end of the 1st round of games sometimes it is.
Rinse and repeat until week 5, when things finally get better because that is the point everyone has taken them up on the money back guarantee offer so things sort of run smoother there on in.
I have never seen a site buy server space for 100 people knowing they are going to have 150 people and then count on 50 to ask for their money back just so the site runs well.
Plus last year they had a banner advertiser that had a virus imbedded and I tried to let Fanball support know about it on several occasions and they never responded. So every week I would clean my machine and then as soon as I went on Fanball, there it was again. And judging by their forums, I was not the only one that was going through that as there were several threads concering this.
I am taking one league elsewhere for sure and I am conducting a vote on my other league where we will go.
For the service they provide, I would gladly go back to the old days where I looked at boxscores in the newspaper and typed a weekly newsletter to my owners which I mailed out to them.
Rinse and repeat until week 5, when things finally get better because that is the point everyone has taken them up on the money back guarantee offer so things sort of run smoother there on in.
I have never seen a site buy server space for 100 people knowing they are going to have 150 people and then count on 50 to ask for their money back just so the site runs well.
Plus last year they had a banner advertiser that had a virus imbedded and I tried to let Fanball support know about it on several occasions and they never responded. So every week I would clean my machine and then as soon as I went on Fanball, there it was again. And judging by their forums, I was not the only one that was going through that as there were several threads concering this.
I am taking one league elsewhere for sure and I am conducting a vote on my other league where we will go.
For the service they provide, I would gladly go back to the old days where I looked at boxscores in the newspaper and typed a weekly newsletter to my owners which I mailed out to them.
ninerfanatic492000
Footballguy
i wouldn't go back to Fanball even if they gave me a free lifetime membership for my league
i can remember one of their great 'enhancements'(which was the only one of the season) a few years ago was a color scheme changer...........which they later took back of course b/c for many it caused the site to crash,lol
i can remember one of their great 'enhancements'(which was the only one of the season) a few years ago was a color scheme changer...........which they later took back of course b/c for many it caused the site to crash,lol
ratbast
Footballguy
What he said.
mvp2112
Footballguy
I have been commisioner of a league using the Fanball site for 4 years now. I must be the luckiest commisioner ever, because I have never had any issues with the site. I would even say I really like it. Simple to use, lots of options for league setup, many many things. I have never seen the live scoring crash.
All those things being said, we do an inperson draft, not online. So I can't speak to that.
Now I am not saying no one has issues, because clearly the forums I visit indicate a lot of Fanball users do have problems. I am just not sure why I don't.
All those things being said, we do an inperson draft, not online. So I can't speak to that.
Now I am not saying no one has issues, because clearly the forums I visit indicate a lot of Fanball users do have problems. I am just not sure why I don't.
lord_helmet
Footballguy
Fanball is worthless, there should be some kind of penalty for pimping them to people here.
millertyme1
Footballguy
I think they burnt so many people with so many of the same problems that many wrote them off. I gave them up a couple years ago. The last straw for me was actually them looking to do a Baseball Commissioner product (after their 'money maker' Football Commissioner product was absolute garbage for a very large part of the season).
I've never thought of MFL as sketchy. I was 100% against moving there from Sportsline Commissioner 3-4 years ago, but wound of giving in to league mates. I'm not crazy about the viewing pages themselves, but you can't argue with the customizing ability of most everything there.
They (MFL) seem to be ahead of the curve.
I've never thought of MFL as sketchy. I was 100% against moving there from Sportsline Commissioner 3-4 years ago, but wound of giving in to league mates. I'm not crazy about the viewing pages themselves, but you can't argue with the customizing ability of most everything there.
They (MFL) seem to be ahead of the curve.
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Well... hahaha these comments are awesome. I start a worthless thread on the improvements and get totally trashed.
It really is nice right now. A ton of flash type stuff, instant page transitions etc... We do our draft offline and have never had a problem, so maybe that's why the improvements seem great to me. So far so good for our league. This will be our third yr there.
It really is nice right now. A ton of flash type stuff, instant page transitions etc... We do our draft offline and have never had a problem, so maybe that's why the improvements seem great to me. So far so good for our league. This will be our third yr there.
NinerK
Footballguy
Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.
http://www.barracudafantasysports.com/cont...%20-%20Footballthis doesnt look bad at all... If I get Fanball problems I may check it out.We found an alternative to both that kicks ###. Barracuda Fantasy Sports. Everything MFL and Fanball offers plus some.
Carver
Footballguy
This is just their second year (I think). but we used it last season, and we are hooked. Much more well run than MFL or Fanball. Maybe because they are a smaller site and can handle customer service better. The owner reminds me allot of joe.B... he's very hands on with the site.http://www.barracudafantasysports.com/cont...%20-%20Footballthis doesnt look bad at all... If I get Fanball problems I may check it out.We found an alternative to both that kicks ###. Barracuda Fantasy Sports. Everything MFL and Fanball offers plus some.
Lott's Fingertip
Footballguy
I've never used Fanball, but judging by the negatives mentioned here, they really missed an opportunity.
Back in the day when we used to run our fantasy leagues through email and scored our weeks using the Monday morning newspaper, AOL was still big.
Now one thing AOL had going for it that nobody else (that I knew of) had was the ability to watch multiple live games online at one time in separate mini-windows. We'd have two games on two TVs and the rest of the games on these mini-windows, updating live. We take it for granted now, but it was awesome back then.
Well, AOL's fantasy football info came from Fanball back then, and it wasn't bad stuff at all. ESPN and NFL.com were both behind the curve with fantasy football.... it seems like Fanball could have positioned themselves very well in fantasy hosting back then. Now it's too late for them to be a leader in the field, their rep is too tarnished.
They left a lot of money on the table there.
I have been with MFL for a long time, and the customer service has always been very good on the rare occasion there was an issue to resolve.
The problem with new guys like Barracuda is that they start out small and provide great customer service with a personal touch, but then they grow. Maybe Barracuda will be different, but I just think of Antsports. Steve was a great hands-on guy over there, but the site got too big for him to keep up that level of service, and now it is less than impressive. Complaints are common, issue resolution is time consuming, and the site is simply outdated looking.
Maybe the new little guys will be different. We'll see.
Back in the day when we used to run our fantasy leagues through email and scored our weeks using the Monday morning newspaper, AOL was still big.
Now one thing AOL had going for it that nobody else (that I knew of) had was the ability to watch multiple live games online at one time in separate mini-windows. We'd have two games on two TVs and the rest of the games on these mini-windows, updating live. We take it for granted now, but it was awesome back then.
Well, AOL's fantasy football info came from Fanball back then, and it wasn't bad stuff at all. ESPN and NFL.com were both behind the curve with fantasy football.... it seems like Fanball could have positioned themselves very well in fantasy hosting back then. Now it's too late for them to be a leader in the field, their rep is too tarnished.
They left a lot of money on the table there.
I have been with MFL for a long time, and the customer service has always been very good on the rare occasion there was an issue to resolve.
The problem with new guys like Barracuda is that they start out small and provide great customer service with a personal touch, but then they grow. Maybe Barracuda will be different, but I just think of Antsports. Steve was a great hands-on guy over there, but the site got too big for him to keep up that level of service, and now it is less than impressive. Complaints are common, issue resolution is time consuming, and the site is simply outdated looking.
Maybe the new little guys will be different. We'll see.
HeirCoryell
Footballguy
If you are even remotely thinking about using Fanball, please check out the Commissioner Forums first. You'll be hard pressed to find a single positive post on there. It was pretty bad at times last year but, this year looks like it could be a total disaster. You know it's bad when they can't even get their schedule generator to work.
loose circuits
Footballguy
we used them last year, and I didn't mind them so much. They are just way too behind on adding players to their database. It doesn't work good for a 12X30 (35 for off season) non-IDP dynasty roster. MFL keeps their player database updated fairly well, and allows the option for the commish to add players if needed. Fanball needs to fix that as they could have had my dynasty league for years to come. I tried talking to them about and advised them their player database was behind, but they didn't seem to mind too much. Guess they have too much going on for my dynasty league to matter...
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pinequick
Footballguy
I know about Firefox and Ad Blocker, so nobody feel the need to lecture me, but Fanball plastering ads all over a league site that I already *paid for* always bugged me.
pinequick
Footballguy
I don't use MFL, but the above should be corrected. Based on what I read in the MFL thread, a disgruntled league owner guessed the league commissioner's password and started goofing around with stuff in the league. When the league commissioner reported the shenanigans, MFL advised him to change his password... and he DIDN'T do it (hence, more shenanigans ensued, until he did change the password). That was operator error, by and large, not an MFL problem.Again, truth in advertising--my league is on ESPN this year, so I've got no dog in the MFL fight.
nightmare
Footballguy
MFL "sketchy" What world do you live in? MFL may not be "The one stop FF place" that CBS Sportsline strives for and that's what I like about it. MFL may not be the easiest to learn or modify but it's the best at being a FF league management site.
Wooderson
Fight The Power
Used them for 6 years now. Not a problem. Live scoring works great. And fir $59.99 it's a good deal.
Captain Hook
Footballguy
Of the few supporters for Fanball here I wonder how many of them are employed by that site
lacesout
Footballguy
Not usually going to find thank yous in the "whining" Section of forums. For going thru a big overhall your going to find the same 6 guys in each post complaining. Other than that they have pretty much fixed all the bugs. I dont do keeper or dynasty so i cant say for sure there fixed but i have been using them for 7 years and besides the first week or two the live scoring works fine. I dont need the up to the minute scoring. I tend to not enjoy the games as much when i do that.
mvp2112
Footballguy
As I stated in my post, clearly there are folks that have issues with Fanball.Not trying to defend Fanball, but I am certainly not jumping on the bandwagon to bash them. The site has always worked very well for me, and I have no complaints.I just thought it important to let it be known that not every user is dissatisfied.And I am not employed by Fanball.Captain Hook said:Of the few supporters for Fanball here I wonder how many of them are employed by that site
HeirCoryell
Footballguy
I wouldn't be surprised if there were only 6 guys left on the whole site. And for your claim that they have pretty much fixed all the bugs -even though you admit that you don't really know anything- here is a list of some of the problems they are having:Live DraftTraded Draft PicksKeepers SalariesMissing PlayersScoring Setup ChangesTimestampsClaimsLoading RostersSchedule GeneratorHonors EditingPlus they have downgraded: Player Sorting, Individual Stats, and Picture Posting.I also do not work for Fanball.lacesout said:
Wooderson
Fight The Power
Yes I use offline draft as well. So maybe that is why I am satisfied with the site. Fanball gets allot of bad pub on these boards which who knows may be justified. There have been many times people would post "live scoring down"... but mine would be working fine. So maybe I have just been lucky.Not sure why I have to say this but I do not work for Fanball either
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
strong
Footballguy
similar. i think fanball is a great/cheap option for leagues that hold drafts offline. we hold auction in person.we've been with fanball for 5 years and many owners appreciate the historical records of our league it keeps. also, their contract option is easy to manage. the owners are happy with the league. it's frustrating that the first two weeks of live scoring are hit or miss throughout sunday, but other than that we haven't had any serious problems caused by fanball (knock on wood)
Fanball was a nightmare for me last year. I am the commissioner of the league, and every Sunday for the first 4 weeks I was sure to get multiple phone calls from owners who either couldn't get the site to load, had it time out as they were submitting lineups/transactions, or couldn't get the Live Scoring to load. The scary thing is, it did settle down around mid season, which really makes me wonder how many people do take advantage of the money back offer that it actually helps site performance.
I was pleased with Fanball my first year using them, a little irritated in year 2, but last year... year 3, I hated them by November. I'm glad some of you are pleased with them, and having no issues, but I wouldn't suggest them as a league site to anyone. It's far more than 6 people who have had issue with Fanball, if you got ambitious, I'm sure you could find tons of different forum members here that have had problems with Fanball.
I was pleased with Fanball my first year using them, a little irritated in year 2, but last year... year 3, I hated them by November. I'm glad some of you are pleased with them, and having no issues, but I wouldn't suggest them as a league site to anyone. It's far more than 6 people who have had issue with Fanball, if you got ambitious, I'm sure you could find tons of different forum members here that have had problems with Fanball.
Kevin Ashcraft
Footballguy
Same story here == been commishing a league on there since 2003. After last season, where the live draft room malfunctioned so bad we did the draft by conference call, we are biting the financial bullet and going to CBS Sports. It is twice as much money, but I have played there and never had an issue. It will be an inconvenience to move the records, etc but i may have a happier league because of it.
I was accessing our fanball league last week, and the page load times were crazy -- like I was back in 1997 -- only I have a working 3 MB DSL connection. Such crap.
I was accessing our fanball league last week, and the page load times were crazy -- like I was back in 1997 -- only I have a working 3 MB DSL connection. Such crap.
I hope I don't come off as xenophobic or anything but the site got a lot worse when they sold it to a british company a few years ago. The problem was the ppl who run the company were just in it because ff is a booming industry and they wanted to make money. They know absolutely nothing about ff and got rid of almost all of their staff who did. In addition the geniuses fired their IT ppl so it's no surprise they're now having so many problems. All of my leagues that were there will now be hosted by MFL who I've used for one of my dynasty leagues for almost eight years and absolutely love it. Also one of my keepers will be hosted by barracuda sports and I'm anxious to try it out since I know the guys who run it from the fanball forumsFor all of you who say you've had no problems with fanball I suspect you don't use real leagues/exit 42 leagues and instead use their more pricey services which I've heard are good.
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Evil Monkey
Footballguy
I think this thread did more damage than good pimping wise...lol.I have ran leagues on MFL for 4-5 years now and have no interest of doing it anywhere else really. I also love their Live SCoring application where I can keep tabs on all my leagues in one place with the audio letting me know what is going on while I watch the game.
two_dollars
Footballguy
7 years in cbssportsline, do a live draft ever year with the draft kit that is included with the league purchase. No complaints at all.
whodeywhodey
Footballguy
Hilarious. Can't even log on today and it is not even preseason yet.
Code:
The server at fbc.fanball.com is taking too long to respond.
SharkBait
Footballguy
I've never found Steve or anyone or thing about AntSports to be anything but halfassed and I've been over there for many years. Little by little I've given the guy less and less of my business. To be honest the only reason I was still there last year was because the competition is so lax. Last year I was down to a $500 and $250 league, but this year I'm just in a trophy league and I'm only in that because my son likes it and I want to play in a league with him. So he gets $8.95 each year from me until my son is old enough to play in something a little more mature.Case and point, go to a mock draft, sign up, and then click on the Edit tab to change your draft pick. It says it's a future feature and it's dated like 2005 or something. I'm sure he's making some coin on this site, but wow he was in a position to take advantage of market share and I'm convinced he was just too damned lazy and unmotivated to make anything of it. He now says he's handed out 1.8 mill in prizes, but that's just a fraction of what the guy could have done with any work at all. It's not that he's not competent, he's just lazy and his high school project looking site is proof of that. Tried to go to the AntSports message board lately? Of course it's a broken link. He got tired of people ragging on him and his site.Emails to the guy are NEVER answered. No "working on it", apology, NOTHING. Wow, what a way to run a business.
I am in two leagues that have run on Fanball for the past several years. We've never had any major issues other than the live scoring. This year though, since they made the "upgrade" the commissioners of both leagues have been having all sorts of problems. Very little seems to be working right and they have been unable to really get any sort of response from Fanball. Although there doesn't seem to be any problems with Fanball's banners, ads, or links to puchase player insurance.
Since now is not the time to be fooling around or hoping that the bugs will be fixed before the draft/season starts, both commissioners have moved league management over to MFL (taking advantage of their 50% off offer). I do not work for Fanball or MFL.
Since now is not the time to be fooling around or hoping that the bugs will be fixed before the draft/season starts, both commissioners have moved league management over to MFL (taking advantage of their 50% off offer). I do not work for Fanball or MFL.
stuckinthemuck
Footballguy
I'll jump on the bashing bandwagon.
Fanball also runs FFOC, the million dollar league. It defies explanation that so much money can be given away for prizes using such terrible draft and live scoring software. Surely they could find $50,000 lying around to overhaul the system. Free fleaflicker is better. I also have great leagues on rtsports and espn. How is it possible that Fanball/FFOC is so bad?
Fanball also runs FFOC, the million dollar league. It defies explanation that so much money can be given away for prizes using such terrible draft and live scoring software. Surely they could find $50,000 lying around to overhaul the system. Free fleaflicker is better. I also have great leagues on rtsports and espn. How is it possible that Fanball/FFOC is so bad?
Hash Mark
Footballguy
Comissioner of a fanball league for 8 years...always had minor issues, but overall have been happy,...but, not this year....their contacts are not working...we can't upload rosters...and they are not responding to our "complaint tickets"..anyway, I am on board for some fanballl bashing as we are going to move our league....after 8 years!
