What to do with my league? (1 Viewer)

[RTB1]

10 years ago, I started a league and have been the commish ever since. We've had some turnover, but 5 of the original 12 are still in the league, and a few of the "non-charter" members have been in since early on also. This is an 8-player keeper league, with a traveling trophy that has each Champ's name on it. This has always been a low-dollar league, mostly because none of us had much money ten years ago. Entry fee is currently $48.

Here's my quandry: The league isn't as much fun as it used to be. A handful of the guys barely pay attention any more; you might as well call their teams "bye week". Also, over the last ten years, what was once a group of close knit friends has grown apart. Some of us have become pretty successful and have our stuff together. Others have gone the complete opposite - drug and alcohol problems, inconsistent employment and housing situations, lack of internet access, etc. There's a lot of drama and history that I don't want to go into here.

I don't want to continue the league in it's current state.

Do I endanger past friendships and just tell some guys that they're not welcome back?

Or do I just do the old "it's not you, it's me" routine and tell them that this is my last season due to personal reasons, lack of time, etc, then cherry pick the members I want out of the old league to form a new league of interested, mature, responsible people?

I'm leaning towards just leaving the league, letting them replace me, and then reforming a new league.

 

[Angus82]

This is tough. One option would be to talk to the owners that you still respect and see how they feel. If they agree with you, look at some possible replacements. It may be rough to expel some friends but a league should be fun AND competitive. If some owners don't want to participate, that is their loss. I personally feel that a league without involved owners takes away from the overall experience of being in fantasy football. Uninvolved owners are great if you just want to brag about victories, but if you want to enjoy the overall experience, lame duck owners need to go!

Of course, this is just my opinion and one perspective to look at.

 

[Birdie048]

This is tough. One option would be to talk to the owners that you still respect and see how they feel. If they agree with you, look at some possible replacements. It may be rough to expel some friends but a league should be fun AND competitive. If some owners don't want to participate, that is their loss. I personally feel that a league without involved owners takes away from the overall experience of being in fantasy football. Uninvolved owners are great if you just want to brag about victories, but if you want to enjoy the overall experience, lame duck owners need to go!

Of course, this is just my opinion and one perspective to look at.

Good advice. If the league is not fun anymore, it is time for change. If it requires removal of "bye week owners", so be it. The premise of the league is to promote a competitive fun environment. If owners are not following thru with that, they are not valid owners.

We made it part of the rules to be involved. Non-action was viewed as a dead team and warnings to correct the behavior. 2nd Warning is the final notice. 3rd offense = OUT! No refund!

 

[blake]

I was in a similar spot - not the exact same - but had a long running league and it stopped being as much fun. I finally stopped owning a team and acted as a commissioner hoping to give more focus on the league, but that didn't change much and I finally asked out partway through last season and let a long standing member run the league in my stead. Personally, I'd look out for yourself and your own time and enjoyment first.

 

[Chaka]

Suggest an entry fee hike to $200, the guys who have lost interest will drop out and the ones who want to stay will be increasingly competitive.

 

[Your Mother]

Start a new league with the people who are active owners.

 

[Akkum]

Suggest an entry fee hike to $200, the guys who have lost interest will drop out and the ones who want to stay will be increasingly competitive.

What I did in my league...I didn't raise the entry fee, but started charging teams $10 a loss. It was amazing how fast team owners started paying attention

 

[RTB1]

Suggest an entry fee hike to $200, the guys who have lost interest will drop out and the ones who want to stay will be increasingly competitive.

This is one of my ultimate goals, bumping up the fee to make it more financially interesting. However, trying to pass this by the current members will be seen for what it is - trying to force out certain people.

 

[Chaka]

Suggest an entry fee hike to $200, the guys who have lost interest will drop out and the ones who want to stay will be increasingly competitive.

This is one of my ultimate goals, bumping up the fee to make it more financially interesting. However, trying to pass this by the current members will be seen for what it is - trying to force out certain people.

What it is is an attempt to make your league more interesting. Write an e-mail, site the waning interest and make your reccommendation. This should spark a debate, if that debate leads to a fracturing of the league so be it. Isn't that the point? I assume you have some alternate owners lined up, if not then you may have a problem.

 

[supermark_28]

This might have been mentioned but what about changing from an 8 player keeper league

to a 2 or 3 player keeper league? I know that's a big jump but there's no way your drafts

are any fun. Maybe you need something like this to give everybody some renewed focus.

Had a similiar situation in my keeper league w/ 1 owner but before we got rid of him he

decided to drop out. Maybe get all the owners together for a "pre-season" meeting,discuss

league entry fees,keepers,etc.

 

[smcindoe]

There's a real good chance that the "bye week" owners feel the same way in reverse -- they don't want to play anymore, but they feel obligated to stick around, maybe even just for you.

Ask those guys if they still want to be in, making it clear that there's no hard feelings if they back out. They may surprise you and quit before you can fire them.

 

[bentley]

Suggest an entry fee hike to $200, the guys who have lost interest will drop out and the ones who want to stay will be increasingly competitive.

This isn't a bad idea. I have a live league that I've run since '95 that had a $50 entry for much the same reason yours does. We went to $100 two years ago, and the dead weight dropped out and has been replaced by people that are competitive.