Fanball Users BEWARE! (3 Viewers)

[Vikingsrock]

All:

I am a long time lurker here, but had to log in to tell you what's going on. Until yesterday, I was an employee with Fanball in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, me and most of my co-workers were let go yesterday in as part of a corporate merger that is going to bring the house down at Fanball.

Where do I begin? Basically, Fanball was acquired by a company in Toronto called FUN Technologies a few years ago. A few months after that happened, FUN purchased CDM Sports for it's baseball product. That's when everything went downhill. For some reason, the CDM guys made Fanball the scapegoat for all of its problems post merger, even though it was THEIR crappy technology and horrible game design that we all spent HUNDREDS OF MAN HOURS trying to figure out. In the end, CDM somehow convinced FUN that the Fanball product was not as good as theirs, so the idiots at FUN are closing the Minneapolis office, laying off all of the writers and technology staff. What does that mean for you? Well, if you have a Fanball product, expect your league to either switch over to CDM crap or start to malfunction as I hear they let the CTO go that developed the thing from scratch.

So, if you are a loyal Fanball guy, time to move on to another company. I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning. CDM is horrible in every way from the writers to the technology, and I for one am kind of glad that my name will no longer be associated with it.

 

[tietzjd]

Well if this is true it going suck for Bo, Church and others. I wish all the best of luck on finding new places to work. Church needs to take the Noon-2 time slot on K-fan

 

[ScoobyDoo]

So, did Paul Charchian sell out? Fanball was his baby wasn't it?

 

[Vikingsrock]

Charch hasn't been around since FUN purchased the company. He did sell out back then and I don't know why he left, but he's doing his own thing now. It really does suck for Bo, he was great to work with.

 

[weasel3515]

The two leagues I am commissioner for are run by Fanball so if this is true it's not good news for me. Any suggestions by anyone else for a future league website that has very flexible setup (like flexible rosters, using flex players in starting lineups, PPR, negative points for fumbles and INTs, etc.)?

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Charch hasn't been around since FUN purchased the company. He did sell out back then and I don't know why he left, but he's doing his own thing now. It really does suck for Bo, he was great to work with.

Ok. I guess I was so aloof I missed that entirely.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Well I guess that explains why Fanball really sucked the past couple years. I didn't play this year after last year.

I already moved on from Fanball. Glad I now know a possible reason that it went downhill so quickly.

Sorry to hear about you losing a job.

 

[GoBears84]

Bummer, I've been a big Fanball supporter and all three of the leagues in which I particpate are on it...

 

[Vikingsrock]

The two leagues I am commissioner for are run by Fanball so if this is true it's not good news for me. Any suggestions by anyone else for a future league website that has very flexible setup (like flexible rosters, using flex players in starting lineups, PPR, negative points for fumbles and INTs, etc.)?

I'm sure you'll hear MFL and a couple of others mentioned. Sportsline's product is pretty good and reliable (regardless of what some on here think). They have most of the features you mentioned.

 

[cstu]

I've already talked to the people in my league about moving to MFL because Fanball has gone downhill since it was purchased by FUN, so it's going to be a done deal next year. I'm also not planning to keep my keeper league teams there either. It's pretty sad when a product hasn't made any substantial improvements in 5 years while the competition keeps getting better.

 

[Vikingsrock]

Bummer, I've been a big Fanball supporter and all three of the leagues in which I particpate are on it...

Now, I'm not a prognosticator, it may actually be fine next year, but things they aren't looking so well. I would seriously consider monitoring the situation and moving it if you start seeing CDM stuff leak into the game.

 

[tietzjd]

Fanball been ok. I have 1 league there so I little worried. But I forgot about Church leaving too. I have not been member of fanball for 4 years.. Tuvey, Church and Bo always rocked on live chats.

MFL if you don't want fork out ton. Sportsline is very good product.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

I've already talked to the people in my league about moving to MFL because Fanball has gone downhill since it was purchased by FUN, so it's going to be a done deal next year. I'm also not planning to keep my keeper league teams there either. It's pretty sad when a product hasn't made any substantial improvements in 5 years while the competition keeps getting better.

Main reason we moved. Fanball got worse, while the competition got far better.

 

[cstu]

The two leagues I am commissioner for are run by Fanball so if this is true it's not good news for me. Any suggestions by anyone else for a future league website that has very flexible setup (like flexible rosters, using flex players in starting lineups, PPR, negative points for fumbles and INTs, etc.)?

I'm sure you'll hear MFL and a couple of others mentioned. Sportsline's product is pretty good and reliable (regardless of what some on here think). They have most of the features you mentioned.

I'm very impressed by the customization you can do at MFL. The price is a bit high, but you get a lot for your money.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Bummer, I've been a big Fanball supporter and all three of the leagues in which I particpate are on it...

I've always liked them cause they were local. I guess I didn't pay close enough attention. Moving on next year I think.

 

[Ace Matherton]

HMM that would explain the total degredation of content that happened a few years back. I cant even bring myself to look at the site anymore. Hopefully the few talents they have stick with it, some on there i really enjoyed.

 

[gadkins]

What about AOL.. Isn't it really fanball?

 

[GroveDiesel]

Guess that may be one reason that AOL is creating their own platform from scratch for next year and breaking away from Fanball. It will be interesting to see if AOL can pull it off because right now they're the best free product out using Fanball's service.

 

[Illegal Pants Downfield]

Thanks for the headsup, Vikings...I assume this potentially affects AOL leagues which run on the fanball platform as well?

 

[Illegal Pants Downfield]

Sorry for the three converging AOL questions all at once.

 

[Vikingsrock]

Trust me, you want nothing to do with what AOL is putting together either. I had the unfortunate pleasure to meet the people from there and they've had some changes too, for the worse, with regards to their management. Look for Fox Sports part deux coming out of that area. All of their development is being done out of India. Yeah, I would trust an Indian to write an application for a sport that he or she knows NOTHING about.

AOL didn't renew their contract with Fanball so they are building their own product internally, so those leagues are gone next year too. It's a shame because people really liked those.

 

[tls01]

This is our 5th season with Fanball, only a handful of odd problems in that entire time. Too bad, time to move on after this season.

 

[weasel3515]

What is MFL?

 

[Vikingsrock]

www.myfantasyleague.com

 

[Da Good Da Bad an Da Ugly]

www.myfootballleague.com

You mean myfantasyleague.com don't you?

 

[tls01]

Isn't that myfantasyleague.com?

 

[Vikingsrock]

Yeah, multitasking, sorry.

 

[benm3218]

oh great... I use thier site. It is crappy but it does what we need in a complicated league.

we have a dynasty league with salary caps and fanball keeps track of salary for you.

does anyone know if myfantasyleague or sportsline tracks salaries?

 

[uwgb96]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I've always liked Fanball. Maybe I'm just used to it, but I like the look and feel and the tracking of historical data.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

oh great... I use thier site. It is crappy but it does what we need in a complicated league. we have a dynasty league with salary caps and fanball keeps track of salary for you. does anyone know if myfantasyleague or sportsline tracks salaries?

yes, both do.

 

[3C's]

Fanball been ok. I have 1 league there so I little worried. But I forgot about Church leaving too. I have not been member of fanball for 4 years.. Tuvey, Church and Bo always rocked on live chats.MFL if you don't want fork out ton. Sportsline is very good product.

You Tarzan?

 

[Paddy O'Seanessy]

I've already talked to the people in my league about moving to MFL because Fanball has gone downhill since it was purchased by FUN, so it's going to be a done deal next year. I'm also not planning to keep my keeper league teams there either. It's pretty sad when a product hasn't made any substantial improvements in 5 years while the competition keeps getting better.

Rather than going down, that's the case -- no improvements or refactoring in the past 2 years. But, that being said, Fanball Commissioner is not all that good technology. Why is it that a "replacement" is going to be worse.Vikingsrock,You're not one of those guys who gushes over being able to stick pictures everywhere while the scheduling system sucks outloud, are you?

 

[Sleeper 43]

Fanball been ok. I have 1 league there so I little worried. But I forgot about Church leaving too. I have not been member of fanball for 4 years.. Tuvey, Church and Bo always rocked on live chats.MFL if you don't want fork out ton. Sportsline is very good product.

You Tarzan?

 

[Paddy O'Seanessy]

www.myfantasyleague.com

Someone told me myfantasyleague is $90 going in but they renew each year at $20. True?

 

[ScoobyDoo]

I've already talked to the people in my league about moving to MFL because Fanball has gone downhill since it was purchased by FUN, so it's going to be a done deal next year. I'm also not planning to keep my keeper league teams there either. It's pretty sad when a product hasn't made any substantial improvements in 5 years while the competition keeps getting better.

Rather than going down, that's the case -- no improvements or refactoring in the past 2 years. But, that being said, Fanball Commissioner is not all that good technology. Why is it that a "replacement" is going to be worse.Vikingsrock,You're not one of those guys who gushes over being able to stick pictures everywhere while the scheduling system sucks outloud, are you?

Oh, it's not that bad. Sure, it never really improved (although the live scoring has been stable this year), but it wasn't awful. You could run a league on it.

 

[Tanner9919]

All:I am a long time lurker here, but had to log in to tell you what's going on. Until yesterday, I was an employee with Fanball in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, me and most of my co-workers were let go yesterday in as part of a corporate merger that is going to bring the house down at Fanball.Where do I begin? Basically, Fanball was acquired by a company in Toronto called FUN Technologies a few years ago. A few months after that happened, FUN purchased CDM Sports for it's baseball product. That's when everything went downhill. For some reason, the CDM guys made Fanball the scapegoat for all of its problems post merger, even though it was THEIR crappy technology and horrible game design that we all spent HUNDREDS OF MAN HOURS trying to figure out. In the end, CDM somehow convinced FUN that the Fanball product was not as good as theirs, so the idiots at FUN are closing the Minneapolis office, laying off all of the writers and technology staff. What does that mean for you? Well, if you have a Fanball product, expect your league to either switch over to CDM crap or start to malfunction as I hear they let the CTO go that developed the thing from scratch. So, if you are a loyal Fanball guy, time to move on to another company. I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning. CDM is horrible in every way from the writers to the technology, and I for one am kind of glad that my name will no longer be associated with it.

never viewed Fanball as being useful, so to see them go away, is no big deal.sorry to hear about your loss, though...

 

[Tanner9919]

So, did Paul Charchian sell out? Fanball was his baby wasn't it?

Charchian the worst of the worst..

 

[Cerwin]

All:I am a long time lurker here, but had to log in to tell you what's going on. Until yesterday, I was an employee with Fanball in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, me and most of my co-workers were let go yesterday in as part of a corporate merger that is going to bring the house down at Fanball.Where do I begin? Basically, Fanball was acquired by a company in Toronto called FUN Technologies a few years ago. A few months after that happened, FUN purchased CDM Sports for it's baseball product. That's when everything went downhill. For some reason, the CDM guys made Fanball the scapegoat for all of its problems post merger, even though it was THEIR crappy technology and horrible game design that we all spent HUNDREDS OF MAN HOURS trying to figure out. In the end, CDM somehow convinced FUN that the Fanball product was not as good as theirs, so the idiots at FUN are closing the Minneapolis office, laying off all of the writers and technology staff. What does that mean for you? Well, if you have a Fanball product, expect your league to either switch over to CDM crap or start to malfunction as I hear they let the CTO go that developed the thing from scratch. So, if you are a loyal Fanball guy, time to move on to another company. I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning. CDM is horrible in every way from the writers to the technology, and I for one am kind of glad that my name will no longer be associated with it.

Sorry you lost your job but this probably isn't the right forum to whine about it.

 

[lion_crazz]

I love Sportsline. I have been on it for 5 years now with no issues.

 

[Vikingsrock]

All:I am a long time lurker here, but had to log in to tell you what's going on. Until yesterday, I was an employee with Fanball in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, me and most of my co-workers were let go yesterday in as part of a corporate merger that is going to bring the house down at Fanball.Where do I begin? Basically, Fanball was acquired by a company in Toronto called FUN Technologies a few years ago. A few months after that happened, FUN purchased CDM Sports for it's baseball product. That's when everything went downhill. For some reason, the CDM guys made Fanball the scapegoat for all of its problems post merger, even though it was THEIR crappy technology and horrible game design that we all spent HUNDREDS OF MAN HOURS trying to figure out. In the end, CDM somehow convinced FUN that the Fanball product was not as good as theirs, so the idiots at FUN are closing the Minneapolis office, laying off all of the writers and technology staff. What does that mean for you? Well, if you have a Fanball product, expect your league to either switch over to CDM crap or start to malfunction as I hear they let the CTO go that developed the thing from scratch. So, if you are a loyal Fanball guy, time to move on to another company. I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning. CDM is horrible in every way from the writers to the technology, and I for one am kind of glad that my name will no longer be associated with it.

Sorry you lost your job but this probably isn't the right forum to whine about it.

WHINE about it? Whatever man, I'm just giving my fellow Fantasy heads some information about a site that they use. Get a life.

 

[Alberta Clipper]

I'm sorry you lost your job but I have always found CDM sports as very professional and dependable with respect to their fantasy sports games. I've played football, hockey, golf for 8+ years with no problems. Before the merger/buyout stuff with FUN I had spoken with Carol M the CDM owner several times and they were always responsive to customer issues. I'm not sure who's in charge since FUN took over but I can vouch that the CDM software/online games are reliable and well run.

Fanball is another story. I have grown more and more tired of the Fanball site and football league management hosting. Their site is loaded with crap and after using MFL for 8+ years for most of my 9 leagues I find the fanball menus and site navigation very unfriendly.

Just my 0.02. I do recommend MFL for league hosting and if you sign up for early bird discounts, etc. you can bring your cost down under $70 for the year.

 

[CrossEyed]

Trust me, you want nothing to do with what AOL is putting together either. I had the unfortunate pleasure to meet the people from there and they've had some changes too, for the worse, with regards to their management. Look for Fox Sports part deux coming out of that area. All of their development is being done out of India. Yeah, I would trust an Indian to write an application for a sport that he or she knows NOTHING about.AOL didn't renew their contract with Fanball so they are building their own product internally, so those leagues are gone next year too. It's a shame because people really liked those.

Sorry to hear that. We've been using AOL in one league for 3 years and it's been pretty good for a free site. I'd really rather not go back to Yahoo.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Sorry but closing this. This is not Shark Pool material. And I'm really not sure there is any forum on the site where I want "this company rules" vs "this company sucks" type threads.

Charlie Wiegert of CDM has been a friend of mine for a long time. Paul Charchain that put Fanball where it was before they sold to FUN is also a longtime friend. I have respect for both guys and both companies.

J