How league fees effect activity? (1 Viewer)

[KingDread]

This will be my 4th year playing fantasy football. I have commished and played in 10 leagues in three years, and in all 10 leagues they were either $35 or less (except one $50). In every single league, I have ran into no less than two owners quitting on their teams, not playing the waiver, and not setting their lineups. My question is for you guys that play in $50+ leagues. Have you found that there is a correlation between activity and higher league fee? It makes sense that would be the case, but I'm just curious.

I am commishing 4 leagues this year ($30-40 range) and am already noticing people that don't appear to be very committed. Really thinking of going $50+ in all leagues next year due to this. However, I've thought that even in a $100 league, some owners that are out of the playoff hunt would just abandon their teams. As a commish, I have gotten on owners in the past about setting their lineups, but when you're dealing with people you don't know in real life, it's likely they won't care what you have to say.

I'm not a fan of the weekly payouts as I think it dilutes the pot too much, but I might have to resort to something like that next year. I just have a hard time seeing the point in winning $10 or $20 when the league buy in is $100. Just seems silly to me.

What are your experiences like? Any advice?

 

[Deamon]

Great question. I actually find that both cheap and expensive leagues run into that problem. Obviously, the more the buy in, the more interest the owner puts in, but that doesn't guarantee they'll be a good active owner. Upping it will certainly help a LITTLE bit though but not solve the issue.

I used to do weekly payouts but found people just don't care about that small amount. I now have every team make playoffs... 6 to actual playoffs, 6 to consolation side, with a decent chunk (about 10% of the pot) going to the consolation champ. I find it still keeps my owners engaged as they are never "out". Coming 4th place in their division compared to 5th place, gives them a bye in round one of the consolation side and puts them 2 "playoff wins" away from getting their $200 buy in back.

If you find the same owners slacking each year, its usually time to move on from them.

 

[KingDread]

Oh yeah for sure. Any owner that is continually not setting his roster is out, but chances are they don't care anyways. I don't mind if the people that are 0-10 aren't playing the waiver, but when the rest of the league are jockeying for playoff spots, you owe it to your leaguemates to at least set your starting lineup. It's just annoying having to babysit teams during the last half of the season. Commissioner, owner, babysitter. Fun times.

My ultimate goal is to run 3-4 leagues that have 12 active owners, but it's going to take time to get to that point. I can keep replacing owners until I reach that point, but it's still a tricky proposition. And despite being a diehard fantasy player, I'm still relatively new to the game, so I am in still in a phase of trying to figure out what kind of league, roster, and scoring settings I prefer. And the only way to do this is to create new leagues, and startup leagues will require trying to recruit people I've never played with as not everyone I know is always going to be interested in joining a new league.

 

[cstu]

I'm in a $300 league and if you trade your 1st then you have to pay half of next year's dues ($150). It has to be done but it's rare to see 1st's get traded.

 

[Agent575]

I would recommend payouts for the consolation bracket, an emphasis on what your leagues considers "active" being laid out very clearly and the commissioner punting anyone that isn't up to the task. It would really help if owners were honest about their interest level but everyone seems to think they are "active" which is nonsense of course. Playing with owners that are of the same level of interest as you is the single most important thing to focus on. Trust me.

Good luck.

 

[KingDread]

I appreciate the responses thus far. I definitely should do a better job at explaining more in depth what is being active. Definitely a great tip right there. It's definitely not enough to just say you must be active, as I have learned that numerous times over the past couple years. Some people think being active is just showing up for the draft.

In the end, I'm not a jerk. I really just want people to set a weekly lineup regardless of their record. In the end, that's really the most important thing to me. If they turn out to be very active through the waivers, trades/trade offers, and message board participation... well, that is just a nice bonus.

 

[J Rod]

Playing with owners that are of the same level of interest as you is the single most important thing to focus on. Trust me.

Good luck.

This.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

It all depends completely on the group of owners you put together. I only play dynasty but I play in multiple $40 buy-in leagues and one bragging rights league where we just split the cost of MFL (~$6 each). They are both very very active with trades, waivers, chat, etc.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Two large money leagues. Both leagues are circles of friends that have known each other for 10-20 years. By week 9ish, usually one or two teams that have fallen off. They're requested to set their lineup, but that's it.

 

[NYRAGE]

I run two leagues for 20+ years. Anyone that has ever neglected a team gets the boot. Some teams will make a couple of mistakes with bye weeks/injuries, but nothing too bad. It's hard to find 11 guys that match my passion/interest though.

The guys in my cheap league are just as active or more than the guys in my $300 league. I don't see the money being a true incentive in my opinion.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

I appreciate the responses thus far. I definitely should do a better job at explaining more in depth what is being active. Definitely a great tip right there. It's definitely not enough to just say you must be active, as I have learned that numerous times over the past couple years. Some people think being active is just showing up for the draft.

In the end, I'm not a jerk. I really just want people to set a weekly lineup regardless of their record. In the end, that's really the most important thing to me. If they turn out to be very active through the waivers, trades/trade offers, and message board participation... well, that is just a nice bonus.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but this is another great reason to consider using All-Play (in which every team plays every other team every week) instead of, or in addition to, head-to-head.

Probably the single most frustrating experience I've had as an active owner is fighting week in and week out to make the playoffs, or for a bye, only to lose out in the last week or two of the regular season because the schedule had me playing the 4-8 owner who still cares about his team ... while my rival plays the 4-8 owner who mailed it in a month ago.

With All-Play, it still sucks to have owners go off the reservation, but at least it doesn't suck any more or less for one owner than for anyone else.

 

[SpruceGoose]

the more you know the people...the more active they will be (money must be involved)

Real Life > Forum Friends > Random internet game

 

[Ilov80s]

We have a losers playoff bracket. The team that wins it gets their choice of draft slot at next year's draft so it rewards them to stay active on WW, etc.

 

[Fantasysports1]

I can see why a team might not make an attempt to improve if their team is down. Some people manage more than a few teams, play DFS and other things with sports. One's time is best used for teams that are in competition and endeavors that make more sense financially, etc. I will set my lineup because it doesn't take much time but it is possible I won't make much of an attempt to improve a team not in contention.

I have one team that has 2 injuries in top 3 picks and a suspension in a big money league and I already think it is a lost cause. I will make that initial attempt in the start of the season to try to pick up an impact player but you have to finish in the top 2-3 in a 12 team league and that is going to be pretty tough.

 

[jandyt]

My main dynasty league is going on its 13th year with only 4 of the original 16 owners still there so we have had turnover. But generally all owners have stayed active during the season. Offseason activity varies greatly but I don't consider that a big deal. We do require advance payment of future years fees for trading future picks to avoid anyone trading away all future picks and then quitting.

 

[Warrior]

Great question. I actually find that both cheap and expensive leagues run into that problem. Obviously, the more the buy in, the more interest the owner puts in, but that doesn't guarantee they'll be a good active owner. Upping it will certainly help a LITTLE bit though but not solve the issue.

I used to do weekly payouts but found people just don't care about that small amount. I now have every team make playoffs... 6 to actual playoffs, 6 to consolation side, with a decent chunk (about 10% of the pot) going to the consolation champ. I find it still keeps my owners engaged as they are never "out". Coming 4th place in their division compared to 5th place, gives them a bye in round one of the consolation side and puts them 2 "playoff wins" away from getting their $200 buy in back.

If you find the same owners slacking each year, its usually time to move on from them.

So 5th-6th place don't make any $, while 7th place wins 10% of the pot?

OOF

 

[Borden]

the more you know the people...the more active they will be (money must be involved)

Real Life > Forum Friends > Random internet game

This is 100% incorrect.

Your league with friends will have guys that just want to be part of the draft party. There will also be buddies who think they are doing you a favor by just being in the league, even if they aren't setting line ups, responding to trades etc.

Also, one of the more active leagues I'm in is a free ($6 to split MFL costs) with a bunch of random Internet people.

 

[pack100]

League Fee 100 bucks

Failure to submit a legal line up will result in a 25 dollar fine per occurrence.

If they quit because of the fines...so be it

 

[Borden]

I think upping the buy in is a bit of a double edged sword. Yes it will increase priority but it may also drive some people out of the league who don't have that extra money kicking around. It can also scare away new or newer FF players who would be good owners.

Some options:

- Boot the bad owners. If someone can't set their line up then you're probably not going to be in the league.

- Talk to your owners about why they aren't involved. We take for granted that some people (even if they are experienced) know how to look through FAs, trades, chats etc. I had a guy in a league for a year and half before he realized there was a message board.

- Realize that not everyone is a smack talking, wheeling and dealing owner. There is one owner that won't post because it's "bad luck" and never wants to lower his WW priority with a FA pick up. Most of the time it's the lower ranked teams that are the issue but I know some people will just sit on a trade trying to decide if it's good or not. They always think they are going to make a mistake and won't propose or counter trades either.

- Offer to help people figure out line ups and evaluate trades and FA pick ups.

- Make sure you're sending out trades.

- Talk smack.

- Compliment any and all trades openly and on the message board.

If you're in 10 leagues then see if you can turn one into a higher priced league and have the another league(s) act as a feeder league. Or even just the bottom teams get booted for the the winners of the cheaper league.

You could also just cut all the bad owners from your league's and see if you can consolidate the leagues after.

 

[KingDread]

It's easier said than done to make a league with just buddies and family you know in real life. I have tried that the last 3 years, and besides 2 or 3 other owners, it's just a joke really with people who either don't set lineups or don't even try to play the waiver. I have given up my local league due to this because it's just not fun for me anymore.

I really could care less about how much someone trades or makes trade offers, or even how much they play the waiver. For me the only two things that really irk me are failure to answer trade requests after several days, and people that don't set their lineup. As long as people can answer trade requests and set their lineup, I honestly don't care too much about the rest. I do think message board activity really livens up a league though. It is a little frustrating when only a handful of people are talking on the boards, but I guess some people just aren't big talkers.

And yes, I would never raise the price on an established league unless every single member was ok with it. In the end I don't play for the money, but for a fun and active experience.

 

[Deamon]

Great question. I actually find that both cheap and expensive leagues run into that problem. Obviously, the more the buy in, the more interest the owner puts in, but that doesn't guarantee they'll be a good active owner. Upping it will certainly help a LITTLE bit though but not solve the issue.

I used to do weekly payouts but found people just don't care about that small amount. I now have every team make playoffs... 6 to actual playoffs, 6 to consolation side, with a decent chunk (about 10% of the pot) going to the consolation champ. I find it still keeps my owners engaged as they are never "out". Coming 4th place in their division compared to 5th place, gives them a bye in round one of the consolation side and puts them 2 "playoff wins" away from getting their $200 buy in back.

If you find the same owners slacking each year, its usually time to move on from them.

So 5th-6th place don't make any $, while 7th place wins 10% of the pot?

OOF

Correct. It keeps teams engaged and the bottom teams are always fighting for that bye and playing till the end. I agree it's a tad much, and I've considered ways to get the 5th/6th place teams back in the hunt by having the teams that lose the first round, dropped into the consolation side and having a three-way final game for that $200.

 

[Zdravko]

Both of my most active leagues - by a wide margin, too - are the leagues that require pre-payment of 2 years in advance.

In one of them, we are even discussing adding a 3rd year. Nothing makes people commit to their FF team more than the fact they've paid and are stuck with it - might as well run it. Not a single owner has ever left either league so far and the majority would qualify as very active.

 

[Fantasysports1]

This is just how it is. there are enough people that are not serious fantasy managers. Unless there is a legit reason why someone did not set their lineup, he or she just doesn't care enough.