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Rules every league should consider having (1 Viewer)

Here's a new addition that I took from another thread:

From The Jerk:

22) Use examples in your rules whenever there is a chance that someone might not understand from just the text.

-- Made mention once or twice of using an example to clarify something, but this is worth being it's own bullet point. If there is a situation where something may not be clear, give an example that illustrates the spots that might be fuzzy. Some great examples of places to do this include:

* A walk through assigning playoff seeds

* A walk through a multi-team tiebreak

* Example "wierd" plays and how they will be scored, like multiple fumbles on a play, field goal return TDs, fake field goals and defensive scoring, etc.

 
I have posted a link to a PDF document with our league rules, if anyone would like to check them out or let me know if you see any room for improvment let me know. Here is the link:

The Fifth Quarter Fantasy Football League Rules

Responses are greatly appreciated.
Some of these are from out of the stuff in the original post, but here's what came to mind for me:* You have entry fee due at the draft. What happens if someone doesn't have it? Now the league is on the spot to either let the guy draft for free and pay later, or cancel the draft, or have his team filled some other way. A better choice might be to require the fee in advance of the draft, to where you can find a replacement owner for anyone who didn't pay.

* You say there is a time limit for each pick, but you don't say what happens if they exceed it. Is it like the NFL where the next team can put in their pick at any time and get a player ahead of him? Does he get skipped until the end of the round? You should say explicitly what happens.

* You mention what positions are in the starting lineup. It might be good to say explicitly what the source for those positions is. For example, are you always going with what ESPN says, or if you disagree will the commish overrule it and change it to something else (Example, Colston as WR/TE).

* I would add a time at which fantasy game results are final.

* Skimming through, I didn't see any mention of what constitutes an unethical activity that won't be allowed. For example, tanking. Or your waiver rules as written don't seem to restrict a team from picking up and dropping every kicker who is a Free Agent on Saturday when he hears his opponent's kicker just got hurt, so the other guy can't pick him up. It's fine to leave it out if you want to allow it, but if you don't, best to put in a section that hopefully never needs to be used.

All in all they look pretty good, but you should probably go through the first post as there are a few more things in there that I didn't get to that you might want to account for.

 
Excellent, excellent thread. Thanks for the efforts and input involved.

Wondering if anyone has a dynasty league constitution that has withstood the test of at least a few seasons that they might be willing to PM me a copy of. Starting a new dynasty league and I don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to.

Much appreciation in advance.

 
explicitly state if a 7-7 team = 6-6-2 team for tie-breaker purposes... (or if you choose, that the 7-7 is better than the 6-6-2) Believe me, if it isn't pre-determined and written in the rules, it will happen and someone will whine about it.

 
alternate end of season scenario to keep owners doing waivers and starting their best lineups each week. also gives everyone a guarenteed 15 weeks of fantasy football! ( 12 teams, 3 divisions, 14 week reg. season, 3 week playoffs. )

Playoff Teams (typical hth matchups, championship week 17)

1. Top division leader (bye week 15)

2. 2nd best division leader (bye week 15)

3. 3rd division leader

4. Top record wildcard

5. 2nd best record wilcard

6. Excluding the above 5 playoff teams, the team with most points for slots into the final playoff spot

Consolation Bracket ( 7 vs 10, 8 vs 9 during week 15. winners play week 16 for 1st round pick next season)

7. 7th best record team

8. 8th best record team

9. 9th best record team

10. 10th best record team

Toilet Bowl (loser is flushed in week 15 "Toilet Bowl". )

11. 11th record team

12. 12th record team

We have used this scenario for a number of years and it keeps all the owners trying to get to the next bracket all the way till the last week.

 
Alternately, here is another playoff bracket alignment which was voted down before out league adopted the previous post. (click link below)

The goal with this one gives the top week 15 playoff team loser a shot in the consolation prize bracket. It also has all 3 "big" games happen on the final week instead of the the above week 15, then 16 then 17 progression. Also only the top 3 teams are safe from falling into the toilet bowl...

Ultimate Playoff Brackets

Needless to say... my fun with visio made it look too confusing for our league to adopt... lol

 
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In regards to teams tanking or losing on purpose for their own benefit, our league, now in it's 15th season has always had the following fee structure in place.

It's $100 as an entry fee, $25 PER LOSS and $10 per add/drop

You can scale the numbers to whatever money level your league is but we've used this simple system for 15 years and never had a problem. It eliminates not only teams losing or tanking on purpose but also it prevents guys from overloading the add/drops to lock out available players from other teams owners. At $10 an add/drop, no one is going ot make 12 add/drops the last day of waiver wires to eliminate all the available free agents. Of course the $25 a loss fee keeps everyone involved and trying hard every single week. You could be 2-10 and in week 13 you're still trying hard to win so you don't have to pay the per loss fee.

It's my favorite rule in our 35 page rule book......

Good luck to all

 
FFL_Offices said:
In regards to teams tanking or losing on purpose for their own benefit, our league, now in it's 15th season has always had the following fee structure in place.

It's $100 as an entry fee, $25 PER LOSS and $10 per add/drop

You can scale the numbers to whatever money level your league is but we've used this simple system for 15 years and never had a problem. It eliminates not only teams losing or tanking on purpose but also it prevents guys from overloading the add/drops to lock out available players from other teams owners. At $10 an add/drop, no one is going ot make 12 add/drops the last day of waiver wires to eliminate all the available free agents. Of course the $25 a loss fee keeps everyone involved and trying hard every single week. You could be 2-10 and in week 13 you're still trying hard to win so you don't have to pay the per loss fee.

It's my favorite rule in our 35 page rule book......

Good luck to all
:blackdot:
 
I read through it quickly....did not see any mention of having a 5 member RULES COMMITTEE that votes on all trades and reviews all rules and suggestions.

I have been a commissioner of a dynasty league for 5 yrs. All trades are submitted to me (COMMISH), I review to make sure all parties accepted and forward to the 5 member Rules Committee. They then approve or VETO WITH REASONS WHY. I then process trade OR inform owners why VETOED.

This takes out any issues that Commissioner is making decisions to help his team. Also, just having 5 members VS the league speeds up the process. Every year, anyone can run for office....and then the league votes on the 5 members.

ALSO mentioned was what about a team POINT Shaving to get the #1 pick:

Our solution was to institute the following:

A - Every week we calculate the GREATEST POSSIBLE POINTS (GTP) that could have been scored by each team and use that to determine who gets the #1 pick. So a 7-6 team that had a GTP of 1000 could get a higher pick than a 3 - 10 team that had a GTP of 1300.

B - We created MIN scores for every position. If a Team decides to drop all their WR's so that their GTP will be reduced....it won't matter. At the end of the year, if a team does NOT hit the MIN score for a position...we automatically adjust that position to the minimum.

As far as minimum scores for a position....you can use the AVG of the TOP 10 free agents from the previos year....

 
I read through it quickly....did not see any mention of having a 5 member RULES COMMITTEE that votes on all trades and reviews all rules and suggestions.

I have been a commissioner of a dynasty league for 5 yrs. All trades are submitted to me (COMMISH), I review to make sure all parties accepted and forward to the 5 member Rules Committee. They then approve or VETO WITH REASONS WHY. I then process trade OR inform owners why VETOED.

This takes out any issues that Commissioner is making decisions to help his team. Also, just having 5 members VS the league speeds up the process. Every year, anyone can run for office....and then the league votes on the 5 members.

ALSO mentioned was what about a team POINT Shaving to get the #1 pick:

Our solution was to institute the following:

A - Every week we calculate the GREATEST POSSIBLE POINTS (GTP) that could have been scored by each team and use that to determine who gets the #1 pick. So a 7-6 team that had a GTP of 1000 could get a higher pick than a 3 - 10 team that had a GTP of 1300.

B - We created MIN scores for every position. If a Team decides to drop all their WR's so that their GTP will be reduced....it won't matter. At the end of the year, if a team does NOT hit the MIN score for a position...we automatically adjust that position to the minimum.

As far as minimum scores for a position....you can use the AVG of the TOP 10 free agents from the previos year....

 
Haven't read the whole thread yet, but what are the chances of an NFL game not being played?

If a game gets postponed, however unlikely, there should be a provision for that unique case (i.e. next likely player inserted, or "that's the breaks", etc.)

Before you dismiss it, understand that a rulebook is all about "what ifs" and what odd instances could happen, however unlikely.

 
Haven't read the whole thread yet, but what are the chances of an NFL game not being played?If a game gets postponed, however unlikely, there should be a provision for that unique case (i.e. next likely player inserted, or "that's the breaks", etc.)Before you dismiss it, understand that a rulebook is all about "what ifs" and what odd instances could happen, however unlikely.
9/11 gave way to widespread postponements and talk of cancellation.We saw the Saints and their situation in a lot of flux last year.Miami has had weather that was so bad they couldnt play (or came close to not playing, don't quite recall. Was about 5 years ago).So I suppose you could definately have a situation where a game is postponed, played on a mutual bye or something weirder if one had to be postponed.
 
Greg,

what do you have for a rule about keeping dynasty folks involved in the offseason BUT letting them enjoy their time off so not such a big commitment?

 
Greg,what do you have for a rule about keeping dynasty folks involved in the offseason BUT letting them enjoy their time off so not such a big commitment?
Kind of goes beyond the goal of the thread (which is more on just make sure you cover these kind of issues, however you decide to)..... but as for my own dynasty league.We allow off-season trading. We have a rookie draft not long after the real rookie draft. We (will) have bidding on franchise and transition tagged players. I say will because our contracts haven't run out yet to where anyone would be tagged as we've just finished year 2 and they are 3 year contracts. We also have contract extensions that have to be declared in the off-season. So I guess for my league, we come up with some reasonably short activities at a few times in the off-season.
 
Excellent posting! I just fell victim to an absurd tie breaking rule and will be suggesting some changes at next year's draft. :thumbdown:

 
I have a very extensive rules document for the Hyper/Active dynasty league that was started last year. It addresses many of the topics Greg and others have mentioned. If anyone would like a copy, feel free to PM me.

 
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Here is a link to our rules, which include the suggestions in this thread as well as several other items we have added. The rules doc is broken into sections to include/exclude as people see fit. These rules incorporate the following suggestions from this thread:

1. Early payment of league fees

2. Final timing for scoring

3. Stat verification process

4. Official stats source

5. DST vs. Offense play definition

6. Communication responsibilities

7. Error transactions

8. 9. 10. Trade responsibilities

11. Sportmanship guidelines

12. Collusion guidelines and resolution

13. Tiebreakers, including 6-6-2 vs. 7-7 records

14. Methods to address non-compliance with rules

15. Decision making structure

16. Distribution of Rules

17. Official source for player positions

19. Ownership changes for a team and money responsibilities

20. Team management changes

21. Add/Drop manipulation

22. Examples throughout

Plus some other needed areas not yet mentioned, but also important:

1. Team QB definition, including implications in keeper leagues from QBs changing teams

2. Eligibility rules of players for selection via auction/draft (2005 Ricky Williams).

3. Method to address non-showing Owners at league draft/auction.

4. Keeper language to address if players can be kept who entered the draft but elected not to sign and play with a team (1986 Bo Jackson).

5. Rule detailing QB completing pass to himself (1998 Brad Johnson).

6. Lateral yardage, fumble recovery yardage.

7. Special Teams play by players also drafted at a position not counting towards individual scoring (e.g., Reggie Bush for this year).

8. Multiple changes in possession (2003 Keenan McCardell).

9. How matchups are selected (to avoid commissioner setting matchups against opponents with key BYEs).

10. Add/Drops and Waivers process, including rules for end of year add/drop cutoff.

11. Examples of playoff seeding.

12. Process to replace an Owner, and to replace an Administrator.

13. Process to expand/contract the league, including adjustment of keeper auction costs.

14. NFL strike rule.

http://www.gunnysports.com/MinnFBGrules.htm

 
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Nice work, Greg. Two issues that I didn't see in my quick review of this thread:

1. Rules regarding draft day procedure -- In our re-draft league, we typically have one or more persons who can't make it in person on draft day, so we have set up some rules on how their team is handled. For instance, the Owner who cannot make it to the live draft has the responsibility to find someone who will be at the live draft to either talk on the phone with them (and relay picks) or to pick for them. Typically, the Commisioner (me) will not accept that duty since I am doing other things at the draft. The league prefers that if the Owner cannot make the draft, another person (non-Owner) who happens to be at the draft pick for that person. If that cannot be done, then we will allow another Owner to pick for the absent Owner, provided that the Owner picking for the absent Owner must be at least 5 picks away in the draft order from the absent Owner (e.g., if the absent Owner picks 1st, then the Owner picking for him must be picking at least at #6 -- this helps ensure the impartiality of the Owner picking for the absent Owner). We also require that the absent Owner provide the picking Owner (or the person picking for him) with a cheat sheet outlining at least the top 100 players to be selected.

2. Rules regarding payouts by the Commish - What's good for the goose . . . . Owners should be able to expect a timely payout of all cash prizes. Our league has a rule that the Commish will make final payment to all winning Owners before the Superbowl.

 
I'd like to see this turned into an article on FBG so it doesn't ever get axed. If I'm starting up a league in three years, I'd like to be able to find this thread.

 
I'd like to see this turned into an article on FBG so it doesn't ever get axed. If I'm starting up a league in three years, I'd like to be able to find this thread.
I was thinking about making it into article. Also thinking about coming up with a rules template someone can sort of pick and choose to merge together into a set of rules for a new league.
 
List from our league ---- pretty comprehensive

********************************************************************************

***********

Overview: This is a 14 team (0-9) keeper league with 2 divisions. You play each team once (13 weeks). 8 teams make the playoffs (weeks 14 - 16). Playoff entrants are comprised of Division Winner and the 3 best records of each division. The teams will remain in their divisions from year to year.

Important Dates:

March 15 = $ due

April 15 = keepers needed to be emailed to commissioner, dropped manually, or posted on message board

July 15 = Round 20 draft

August 10 = 1-19 round draft

Week 11 of the season and on = $ prepaid for next year's entry in order to trade

Week 17 until the draft = Must be paid in order to trade

Post-draft =FCFS waivers until the kickoff of the first week of the season.

I.) Entry Fees Entry fee is $200 per season due by March 15 (in 2008) each year.

II.) Prize Payouts

Playoff champion - $430; 2nd place playoffs - $250; 3rd place playoffs - $100;

Season points champion (total wks 1-17) - $400; 2nd place = $240; 3rd = $100;

Weekly points champion $70 x 13 weeks ; Highest weekly points in 14-16 = $100 each

III.) Rosters will consist of 20 players. A player must be eligible for the NFL draft to be included on a league roster. No roster limits per position. A player's draft position in the current year determines what round in the next year's July draft must be given up. Therefore, 1ST ROUNDERS CANNOT BE KEEPERS. If you do a trade and you get duplicate round players you must forfeit the next lower numbered round (OR JUST USE THE DUPLICATE ROUND IF YOU HAVE ACQUIRED TWO VIA TRADE) which is available (pick value+1 round). *** i.e. you trade and get 2 - 2nd round drafted players ---- you would only be able to keep one since your next highest pick+1 is not existent (UNLESS YOU ACQUIRED two 1ST ROUNDERS VIA TRADE - THEN YOU COULD KEEP BOTH). 2nd example --- you get 2 - 4th round drafted players and you have traded your future 2nd round pick -- You would have to give up your 3rd and your 1st (since you did not have a 2nd)

IV.) Lineups Starting lineups will be: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 Def, and 1 Flex (RB,WR, or TE) = 10 total. Starters will be locked at the start of their game. (changed from the 1 Pm Sunday or start of their game as it was in 2007).

V.) Scoring: Decimal scoring will be used. All players:

1 point per 10 yards rushing or receiving;

1 point per 20 yards passing;

1 point per reception

-1 point per fumble lost

-1 point per interception thrown

6 points per TD rushing or receiving

4 points per TD passing

2 points per extra point rushing, receiving or passing

Kicker: 1 point per PAT **3 points per FG .1 point per yard per FG over 30 yards

Defense/ Special Teams Scoring: 6 points per TD; 2 points per safety; 2 points per Interception; 2 points per fumble recovery; 1 point per sack; Points allowed: 0 scored = 10 points; 2-6 = 8 points; 7-10 = 6 points; 11-14 = 4 points; 15-19 = 2 points.

The hosting site will be the final authority on the scoring. The commissioner will not have the power to interpret or change the scoring of any particular play. Commissioner will try to notice the scoring updates from MYFANTASYLEAGUE but the onus is on those effected to post the need for updated scoring made the following week by the NFL.

VI.) Draft

After the initial year (fall 2006), there will be 2 separate drafts.

A) Round 20 draft which will be held on the message board starting on July 15th and will consist of only one round:

For 2007:Only rookies and previous year 1st rounders are available to be picked in this round 20.

(**ADDED -- FOR 2008 AND ON: Only rookies and previous year 1st rounders and ROUND 20 from the previous year are available to be picked in this round 20. )

The order for this one round draft is done by worst to first according to the ranking rules below in paragraph C. Any non-rookies taken in round 20 are only able to be kept for that current year (no NON-ROOKIE keepers from round 20). Round 20 ROOKIES can be kept for the following year and they will take up your Round 3 pick for that subsequent year. (Rookies in round 20 are in essence a fourth round draft choice and can only be kept for 4 total years as a maximum).

B) The 19 round draft is held August 10th (round 1-19) -- this draft is done in worst to first (according to the ranking rules below) and using an Nfl style order ( NO SERPENTINE) for all rounds. No first rounders (round 1), rookie or not, can be kept from this round for the following year. All other draft picks that are kept, up to 9 maximum, will cause you to forfeit the next smaller numbered round pick in the next year's draft. i.e. A second round pick in 2006 costs a 1st rounder in 2007. A 9th rounder in 2006 costs a round 8 in 2007, a round 7 in 2008, etc. If you acquire 2 or more of the same round draft picks, then to keep both you must forfeit the normal round as discussed for the one, and the next smaller numbered round also. ie. You have 2 fourth round keepers, you must forfeit your 3rd and your 2nd rounder. Important point to remember - Your round 20 (or round 1 for the initial year) rookie is treated as if they were drafted in that 4th round - therefore, if you are keeping your rookie as a 4th rounder and your regular 4th rounder you will have to give up a 3rd and a 2nd (at the minimum).

C) Draft positions will be determined in the following manner: All teams will be ranked in the reverse order of total points scored in weeks 1 - 13 with the highest scoring team earning the last draft position. The four teams with the lowest total season score will have a three week cumulative playoff in weeks 14-16 to determine their final draft order with the highest scoring team earning the first draft position. Teams finishing the regular season in 12th through 14th place will receive bonus points added to their playoff score (think of it as a handicap point differential added to them). The bonus will be three times the difference of their week 1 through 13 average weekly score and the average weekly score of the 11th place team. This is done to handicap and weight the advantage toward the worst teams. Tie breaker for this mini-playoff will be the team with the year-to-date best overall % efficiency taken from the MFL website.

VII) Keepers: Each team must keep between 0 and 9 players. Commissioner must be emailed which picks you are keeping before 11:59 Pm EST on April 15th or you can drop them yourself at any time. Alternatively, you may post them on the message board. It is imperative that you post which round you will be forfeiting for EACH PICK – Commissioner does not want to have to do this himself due to traded picks and missing rounds, etc.

VIII.) Trading rules: All trades will be approved automatically by the Commish.

A) VETO: A trade can be vetoed if 7 out of 14 teams protest within a 36

hour window. This simple majority vote (counting only the non-interested parties) should help temper the crazy trades that cause the most contention. The 36 hour window will necessitate a Friday 9 PM (EST) deadline for trade proposals. Proposals will no longer be "reviewed" by the commish in an attempt to equalize trades. The 9 am (EST) Sunday finality of all trades will allow 4 hours for lineup submission.

B) Any trade after the end of week 9 will require both parties to pay for the subsequent year.

C) Any trade utilizing next year's picks will require both parties to pay for the subsequent year.

IX.) Waivers and Transactions

A) Waivers will be by blind bid ( $100 bidding $ per team). Bidding bucks may also be traded. The minimum bid is $1. Each team will receive $100 bidding bucks at the beginning of each season. Unused bidding bucks can be carried over to the next season (no maximum). Bids can be placed from kickoff of the first game of the week until 12 am eastern time on Wednesday (1 minute after Tuesday 11:59 pm). At that point they will be processed automatically by the Myfantasyleague system. After the processing is done (not always instantaneous), waivers will be first come first served the rest of the week. There will not be any waiver transactions between the end of week 17 and the end of the day May 31st (other than the drops which will be posted April 16th). No waiver wire is available until after the round 1-19 draft which will be held on August 10th. It is first come first served for waivers until prior to kick off of week 1 of the NFL.

B) Players not listed on the league hosting site may be added by clearing and holding a roster spot and claiming the desired player on the league message board until he becomes available. Rookies may not be added before the league does the ROUND 20 draft.

C) FA Valuation: Any non-drafted players that are picked up in waivers, will be treated as if they are a 10th round draft pick. If kept for the following year, they will cost a 9th round pick. If you have 2 or more keepers (FA or regular draft picks) that would use the same round pick, the owner gets to decide who to keep in which of the slots they are required to be in. If you have multiple FAs, they use up the next lower rounds (Another 9th, if acquired, then the 8th and so on. These are the same rules as normal drafted keepers. IF THE PLAYER PICKED UP was a draft pick, their value will remain what round they were drafted --- Draft picks don't lose their round value even if they are released to FA. i.e. Lee Suggs is picked by Team x in the 4th. Team x realizes his stupidity and drops him to Free Agency. Suggs gets traded to Denver and becomes the starting RB. team x picks him up again. Suggs value would be as a 3rd round keeper for the next year .

X.) Playoffs : Seeding and Format - The top 4 teams by W-L (with points as a tiebreaker) from each division will make the playoffs:

A) The top 2 teams in each division will remain in their division bracket for the entire playoffs. The top 2 in each division (4 total teams) are seeded as 1 through 4 (by W-L with points as a tiebreaker) with the remaining teams being seeded 5-8 but not according to division (ie teams 5 and 6 may both be from the same division.)

B) Week 14 is the FIRST ROUND and Seeding team 8 plays team 1; 7 vs 2; 6 vs 3; 4 vs 5. After the first round, THERE IS RESEEDING (with highest team playing worst team, etc).

C) Tie breaker for playoff will be the team with the year-to-date best overall % efficiency taken from the MFL website.

XI.) Rule Changes: Owners may propose rule changes to the commissioner between February 1 and June 1st each year. The commissioner will have the option of putting proposed rule changes to a league vote. 9 of 13 owner (**commish will abstain***) votes will be needed to change a rule. The commissioner will act in the best interest of the league on any situation not specifically covered in the rules.

XI.) Commissioner Duties: The commissioner is responsible for acting in the best interest of the league at all times. The commissioner will collect and hold league fees and payout winners in a timely manner. The commissioner will interpret and enforce league rules. In extreme cases, the commissioner may remove owners from the league if that owner’s conduct places the entire league in jeopardy.

XII.) Owner Duties: All owners are expected to fully participate in the league. Collusion will not be tolerated. Owners will refrain from posting any obscene or offensive material on the league website (nothing should be there that kids should not see.). Commissioner is the ruling force on this matter ---Please respect this rule.

XIII) Collusion and Cheating

A) Any team caught Cheating or in Collusion will immediately forfeit they ownership of the team and all rights of ownership including prize money.

B) Collusion is any two or more teams working together to improve one team unfairly. This must be shown by their actions (Examples: a series of unequal trades, Not starting a proper lineup or their best line up to help someone else win.)

C) Cheating is any action that helps give your team or another team an unfair advantage and would not be considered by a person of integrity to be honest and good sportsmanship.

 
I attached a link to the league bylaws page of the keeper league I'm starting up this year.

It's 11 pages long if printed out. This is a 12 team Keep 6 league. The rules that might be useful are the Goverance Section and the Trading Section. I specified structure for handling common problems in keeper/dynasty leagues...owner's suspected of tanking to gain better draft position, bad trades, not entering in a valid lineup, etc. I copied and pasted the "Goverance Section" below the link.

http://football9.myfantasyleague.com/2007/...=15998&O=26

GOVERANCE

Tanking Rule

If any owner suspects that another owner tanked a game on purpose in order to gain a more favorable draft position the following year or to help out a fellow owner, the following action will be taken.

(1) A 3 owner committee will be assigned to settle the dispute.

(2) The committee will be assigned by the commissioner.

(3) The committee will be comprised of owners that are NOT involved in the game in which tanking is suspected.

(4) The owner in question of tanking will provide justification for starting the roster he did to the committee.

(5) The committee will be selected by last name alphabetical order (A-Z). The first dispute would be settled by the 3 owners with last name starting closest to the letter “A” for the first committee. Example- Troy Anderson, Mike Ahern, etc. would be on the 1st committee unless they were involved in the game in question.

The 2nd dispute would be settled by the next 3 owners in the alphabet so that the 3 owner committee rotates so that everyone is placed on a committee an equal amount of times. The commissioner is included in this rotation.

If a team is owned by 2 owners then the owner with the Last name with the letter closest to A will be used in the committee rotation but both owners from that team must agree and vote together – a split choice by co-owner teams will not be accepted.

(6) If the committee unanimously agrees that tanking occurred then the owner that tanked will automatically lose their 1st round pick for the upcoming draft. If they own another owner’s 1st round pick…then they would lose that pick. If they traded their own 1st round pick & own no other 1st round picks, then they will lose their 2nd round pick for the next year coupled with 1 of their starters. They would be allowed to keep only 5 players and would draft their 22nd player after the last pick of the last round.

Bad Trade or Collusion Rule

(1) If an owner believes a trade was made in collusion (2 owners trying to stack a team) or a trade was made that is so unfair that it will unbalance the league he should bring it to the attention of the commissioner and additionally post on the message board the reasons for feeling the trade meets collusion or the bad trade rule.

(2) The commissioner will assemble a 3 owner committee to investigate the matter. The process will be identical as it is under the TANKING rule above. If the committee feels collusion occurred, the tanking penalty will incur for both teams and the trade will be reversed. Additionally, both owners may be banned from the league and new owners would be secured.

(3) If the committee feels that no collusion existed, just one owner taking advantage of another owner to the extent that the trade unbalanced the league then the trade will be reversed.

(4) The bad trade rule is a slippery slope. Somewhat unbalanced trades should be allowed to go through if the owners can justify the trade such as an owner rebuilding by trading away a stud or two for youth and multiple draft picks. A trade CANNOT be voided simply because it makes the very good teams that much better. An owner has the right to manage his team in the fashion he desires even if others do not agree.

(5) The Veto Happy Owner Rule will be put into place to discourage owners that keep trying to veto trades simply because they feel it makes a team "too good". Organizing a committee to vote on the issue will often hold up the games that week.

Veto Happy Owner Rule

(1) Any owner that constantly brings trades that don't appear to be unbalanced or stink of collusion to vote to try to veto them simply because he doesn't like the trade or feels the trade will help out one of his opponents too much will be penalized.

(2) If any one owner brings 3 trades to vote during a fantasy season (draft day - trading deadline of that season) that the 3-person committee all decide are fair enough to be allowed to stand and are not overturned then that owner will incur the veto happy owner penalty which is the same penalty that is listed under the "tanking section" - loss of 1st round pick, etc.

Lazy Owner Penalty Rule

If an owner doesn’t field a starting roster for 3 of the 13 regular season weeks a penalty will be incurred. The three strike rule will be applied in one of the 3 ways.

(1) Starting a player that is injured and it was announced before kickoff. The penalty will only occur if the owner had another player on the bench that was not on a bye week and could have been started in place of the injured player.

(2) Starting a player that is on a bye week when the owner could have started a player at the same position that was on that owner’s bench.

(3) Going 2 weeks without a healthy player at a position that prevents an owner from fielding a starting lineup will incur a strike. Example: You have 2 QB’s and one is injured. On Wednesday your only healthy QB pulls a hamstring in practice and is placed on the IR. The owner can field a lineup without a QB that week with no penalty. However, if the owner doesn’t trade for a QB the next week and doesn’t field a starting lineup for 2 straight weeks….one strike will occur & a strike will occur every subsequent week until that owner makes a trade that allows him to field a starting lineup. If an owner has used up all 10 of the trades and cannot fix their roster then the league will vote on how to resolve the issue.

(4) The commissioner will track strikes against owners for the Lazy Owner Penalty Rule and all infractions will be posted in a thread each year on the message board. Another owner can bring an infraction to the attention of the commissioner to record. It is not only the commissioner’s duty to monitor and notice owner’s entering in uncompetitive or incomplete lineups.

(5) If an owner receives 3 strikes against them during a season the penalty will be the same as the penalty imposed under the tanking section of the rules (loss of 1st round pick, etc.).

Voting Anonymity

If you are on a committee or vote for a rule change you must post your vote on the message board with your name. There is NO voting anonymity. That way there will be no question about who voted for what.

Pleading Ignorance Every owner is expected to know the rules, especially those that pertain to roster requirements and penalties for making their roster illegal. Read the league rules thoroughly and ask for clarification of any rule before the season starts. Most of us are in multiple leagues with very different rules. It can be easy to forget the differences in rules between leagues. Ignorance is not a valid excuse.

Rule Changes

All rules are subject to change. In order for a rule to change, 75% of the owners (9 of 12) must agree. Example would be if the league decided to expand to 14 teams or the league wanted to expand or reduce the number of keepers, etc.

Owner Tragedy

If an owner is hospitalized or is unable to manage his team due to health/personal issues the following action will occur.

(1) If he is able he can delegate anyone he wishes to run his team for him while he is unable to do so.

(2) If he is unable to delegate someone, the commissioner will contact his closest family member (wife,brother,etc.) and ask if they would like to delegate someone to run the owner's team for him. The same will take place if the owner passes.

(3) If the family is unable to be reached or doesn't want anything to do with fantasy football, or it would be inappropriate to approach the family about something so trivial as fantasy football during a family crisis, then the commissioner will appoint a different owner each week to select the sick/deceased owner's lineup for him. The owner selected will have the most to gain by the sick/deceased owner's team winning that game.

(4) If the owner is unable to return to managing his team due to terminal illness then the league will look into replacing the owner in the offseason.

New Owner Change Rules

(1) If an owner no longer wishes to play and wants to give his team to a friend, this will be allowed only after the rest of the league owners agree to the admission of the new owner. A 75% of the league must agree to this new owner (9 of 12 owners approve).

(2) If an owner drops out and does not find a replacement owner that is suitable, the league will vote on worth of the team in order to charge the new potential owner more or less to take over the management of the team. If the team really sucks, we may want to give the owner a reduction in the initial year’s entry fee in order to sell the team. If the team is stacked, we may want to require the new owner to pay extra if he is getting a player with multiple fantasy studs.

Issues Not Covered In The Rules

If an issue comes up that is not spelled out in the rules then a league wide vote will be taken and a majority vote will decide the issue. If there is a dead lock then the commissioner’s vote will be the tie-breaker.

 
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Submitting a starting lineup is required, or the previous week's lineup is considered "valid."
I never liked that rule. I think it invites laziness or someone to not be involved so much.I like if something unavoidable comes up call the commish to put in last week's lineup but it makes me grrrr when someone doesn't give the league the two minutes it takes to submit a lineup form at MFL. I'd like to waive that owner on the following Tuesday. 2 minutes a week is hardly asking for much and/or affecting someone's personal life
 
Add a provision for ruling on namesakes.

With so many duplicate names in the league now (Steve Smith, Adrian Peterson, Chris Henry, etc.), figure out how to handle a draft if the wrong one is selected.

 
Add a provision for ruling on namesakes. With so many duplicate names in the league now (Steve Smith, Adrian Peterson, Chris Henry, etc.), figure out how to handle a draft if the wrong one is selected.
Already covered. #10 in the original list. :bye: There's also one about if mistakes will be fixed or not, and under what conditions (i.e. have to inform the league you goofed in a certain amount of time, etc).
 
This is a fantastic thread - it has been a tremendous help to me as I've revised my league's rules this summer.

I didn't see it in a previous post (perhaps I missed it), but I think it would be a good idea to add a statement that reads something like:

By participating in this league, the owners hereby acknowledge they have received and read a copy of the rules, and agree to participate according the rules and conditions established.

Perhaps some of the FBG attorneys out there could improve upon the language, but perhaps something to the effect that everyone agrees to play by the rules could prevent some nasty problems down line.

 
No trades during the season cures #8, #9, and #12 and maybe a couple others. The amount of headaches "no trades" cures is immeasurable. No trades during the year = :thumbup: :yes:
Absolutely agree with the "No Trade" policy especially if there is money involved. High stakes leagues like WCOFF and AFFL dont allow trades for a good reason. Most incidents of alleged collusion is a direct result from a trade. Lopsided trades, trades to help a buddy cover his bye week, pre-draft agreements amongst buddy's to split winnings at the end of the season by utilising timely sweet heart deals amongst themselves..........all of those unfair tactics would be eliminated.As for me, I'm pretty suspicious of any players that are all for trading. It's been my experience that those are the people that will be at the center of any collusion allegations. They are also the people that don't do their home work before the draft and try to make up for it by colluding with their buddies in the league. Trading is a Fantasy Football cheaters favorite tool.
 
Added a keeper issue to the OP:

23) For keeper leagues that require giving up draft picks for the keeper, clarify which pick must be given up if the team has multiple picks due to trades. Also address a "trading down loophole" if necessary.

-- Several issues to make sure you handle here. The most contentious ones would probably be, what happens if a team acquires a second pick in a round they must give up a pick in? Do they have to give up their original pick? Do they have to give up their earliest pick (which if so might defeat the purpose of them trading so might be a questionable way to do it)? Or can they choose which pick they give up.

Also, there is a loophole with this kind of situation which Al Davis exploited in the NFL, causing them to close it. Davis had to give up a draft pick as compensation. So he traded his pick for the last pick in the round in exchange for other considerations since the last pick would meet the requirements of the rules.

The fantasy version is very similar. Your team has to spend a 3rd on a keeper, while another team plans to use their 3rd normally. So you swap your 3.1 for their 3.12 in exchange for a later round swap in your favor. You can use the 3.12 as easily as the 3.1 on your keeper unless the rules state otherwise. So the easiest way to close this loophole is to do what the NFL did, make the rules require the pick you give up be equal to or better than your team's original pick in the round.

 
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Always have a Draft NIght Contingency Plan.

If you are drafting, auctioning or whatever - live or online - have a backup plan.

Usually someone can set up a conference call, and while not great, it is better than messing up the whole evening / draft / auction.

 
Great post. Anybody have ideas of how to prevent teams from throwing games at the end of the season? We just started a dynasty league and I think this will be a problem with people wanting the #1 rookie pick. I thought about making the following years entry fee dependent on the place you finish in. Any other ideas?
This is what I do. 10 team league. The draft order goes like this:1 9th best record2 8th best record3 7th best record4 6th best record5 10th best record6 5th best record7 4th best record8 3rd best record9 2nd best record10 1st best recordYou could go even more extreme by having the 8th best record pick 1st and 10th/9th pick 5/4.
we do something similar in a 1 keeper league1 : 7th best record2 : 8th best record3 : 9th best record4 : 10th best record5 : 6th best record6 : 5th best record7 : 4th best record8 : 3rd best record9 :2nd best record10 : 1st best recordthere are usually 4 solid picks at RB so that the bottom 4 teams still get a good shot at a viable rebuild. This year the 1st 4 picks were Larry Johnson, Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker, and Willis McGahee (suprise)...with Travis Henry going to the 6th best record dude.
 
Bumped because this thread rocked, and would significantly reduce the number of "Issues" we see on the board right now when money is on the line and people really care. (including my own post).

Thanks GregR for compiling. Great refresher as we look to update our league rules for next year.

Any new ones to add?

Can we re-pin this thread? Seems about the right time of year to do so.

 
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24. Explicitly state if a 7-7 team = 6-6-2 team for tie-breaker purposes... (or if you choose, that the 7-7 is better than the 6-6-2 or vis versa)

Believe me, if it isn't pre-determined and written in the rules, it will happen and someone will whine about it.

 
A plug for rule #23, combined with strong definition of scoring rules. This year our Super Bowl loser (by 3 points) had Kevin Curtis, who recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD. It was made worse by the fact that the live scoring had the loser still ahead by 0.5 points, but when the final scores came in, he was behind. We had "offensive player fumble recovery for TD" as an example in the scoring dispute rules, and it averted what could have been a really nasty situation. (It still sucked, but the league will keep going).

 
Funny. I was just looking for this thread to bump it...and it already be bumped.

I am trying to put my keeper league rules in writing (which have been unwritten for 5 years). Would appreciate links to anyone's (especially keeper/dynasty leagues) written rules. I'll certainly link mine as soon as they are complete.

TIA

 
It is that time of year and I was blowing the dust off our league rule book and was glad I had bookmarked this post so I could bring them up to date. There were a number of great suggestions in this thread that I have now put on the books.

Regarding games that are postponed, any suggestions on how to handle that?

 
Added two more after hearing of problems a friend is going through in his money league:

18) Money leagues: Future draft picks may only be traded for years which the owner has paid his league fees in advance.

-- This is to stop a team from giving away his future and then leaving the league. Most new owners coming in to take the team would be reluctant to have to pay full price for a team that doesn't even have its regular alotment of picks.
i am thinking about adding a rule like this to my new dynasty league. what do you other dynasty league commissioners do when it comes to trading future draft picks. I was thinking about at least 50% of the league fee for the next year should be paid
 
Added two more after hearing of problems a friend is going through in his money league:

18) Money leagues: Future draft picks may only be traded for years which the owner has paid his league fees in advance.

-- This is to stop a team from giving away his future and then leaving the league. Most new owners coming in to take the team would be reluctant to have to pay full price for a team that doesn't even have its regular alotment of picks.
i am thinking about adding a rule like this to my new dynasty league. what do you other dynasty league commissioners do when it comes to trading future draft picks. I was thinking about at least 50% of the league fee for the next year should be paid
My league isn't a cash league so I don't actually have this one, but I think it's a good idea. Whatever amount you go with, it should be enough that even if a team gets his future picks depleted, the discount that was prepaid by the other guy should make it possible to find a new owner. That may mean that bigger cash leagues may need a higher percentage paid.Also, I think it would be a good idea that you explicitly stipulate that money is actual prepaid league fee. I want to say I've seen a thread or two where someone had a league that did this and the owners wanted to split that money and pocket it and still charge the new owner full price.

And while you're dealing with how the league fees are handled, stipulating that the fees be placed in a bank account or elsewhere separate from the commish's personal money is always a good idea.

 
This one should have been added a long time ago. Added to original post.

24) As much as possible, rule changes should not go into effect that will impact decisions and transactions that teams have already made. They should instead be broadcast so the owners have advance warning, and then go into effect at an appropriate future date after they have had a chance to prepare for the change.

This one should have appeared in the first few, can't believe I missed it. It isn't fair to owners when they make decisions based on the rule structure in place, and then suddenly the rules are changed in ways that they would have done differently had they known. There are some extremely bad examples of this that are posted in the Shark Pool, like people changing the scoring system in the middle of the draft. But some other examples of where this advance notice should be given would include:

* changing the scoring system after the draft or during the season

* deciding to go from a redraft to a keeper format using the current rosters drafted when teams thought it was a redraft

* changing the procedure for determining draft slots when teams have already traded for future year picks

* changing starting lineup requirements.

 
We have a rule that addresses this and I think it is important to also define when the season starts. We used to have a rule that said:

1. Before the season starts a rule change or addition will pass if it has 70% or more owner approval, and

2. After the season starts a rule change or addition will require 100% owner approval.

However, we have since defined the "Season Start" as occurring when the draft commences.

GregR said:
This one should have been added a long time ago. Added to original post.

24) As much as possible, rule changes should not go into effect that will impact decisions and transactions that teams have already made. They should instead be broadcast so the owners have advance warning, and then go into effect at an appropriate future date after they have had a chance to prepare for the change.

This one should have appeared in the first few, can't believe I missed it. It isn't fair to owners when they make decisions based on the rule structure in place, and then suddenly the rules are changed in ways that they would have done differently had they known. There are some extremely bad examples of this that are posted in the Shark Pool, like people changing the scoring system in the middle of the draft. But some other examples of where this advance notice should be given would include:

* changing the scoring system after the draft or during the season

* deciding to go from a redraft to a keeper format using the current rosters drafted when teams thought it was a redraft

* changing the procedure for determining draft slots when teams have already traded for future year picks

* changing starting lineup requirements.
 
We have a rule that addresses this and I think it is important to also define when the season starts. We used to have a rule that said:

1. Before the season starts a rule change or addition will pass if it has 70% or more owner approval, and

2. After the season starts a rule change or addition will require 100% owner approval.

However, we have since defined the "Season Start" as occurring when the draft commences.

GregR said:
This one should have been added a long time ago. Added to original post.

24) As much as possible, rule changes should not go into effect that will impact decisions and transactions that teams have already made. They should instead be broadcast so the owners have advance warning, and then go into effect at an appropriate future date after they have had a chance to prepare for the change.

This one should have appeared in the first few, can't believe I missed it. It isn't fair to owners when they make decisions based on the rule structure in place, and then suddenly the rules are changed in ways that they would have done differently had they known. There are some extremely bad examples of this that are posted in the Shark Pool, like people changing the scoring system in the middle of the draft. But some other examples of where this advance notice should be given would include:

* changing the scoring system after the draft or during the season

* deciding to go from a redraft to a keeper format using the current rosters drafted when teams thought it was a redraft

* changing the procedure for determining draft slots when teams have already traded for future year picks

* changing starting lineup requirements.
That's a very good point, and that is actually what I do as well. There are times we have rule changes come up like that, and I require unanimous approval to implement it right away. I also have such a vote be done silently so no one feels pressure to vote to make the change now.
 

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