Yahoo Fantasy Sports (1 Viewer)

[billyjohnson]

I've been commish in a $500 buy-in (12 team) yahoo fantasy league for some time. Our league's rules/scoring are pretty normal and the yahoo layout has always been fine---hence yahoo has been ok for us. However, this year yahoo fantasy seems to have gone straight down the toilet. Even with the most basic email request, always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:

1) thanks for contacting us

2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue

3) we will forward this on to our design team for next year

Anyone else noticed yahoo has gone belly up? And what other options would i have for a 12-team, $500 buy-in league---with 12 very competitive owners set in their yahoo ways?

 

[Team ROFLCOPTERS]

Well, I'm not sure where they are getting their money from this year. They are not charging for anything and doubled the maximum amount of teams. I can imagine they are backed up big time.

 

[Aznflyer14]

I stopped using Yahoo Fantasy Sports especially football fantasy because simply, they suck! My friends and I use ESPN fantasy sports and they are way much better. I would vouch on ESPN's FF website due to an extremely user-friendly and commish management features.

 

[billyjohnson]

Well, I'm not sure where they are getting their money from this year. They are not charging for anything and doubled the maximum amount of teams. I can imagine they are backed up big time.

Don't sell out to Microsoft at $42 a share....and now this. Way to go Jerry Yang

 

[Mike]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.

myfantasyleague.com

rtsports.com

ESPN - free

NFL.com - free

 

[billyjohnson]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.myfantasyleague.comrtsports.comESPN - freeNFL.com - free

Yep--We almost switched to a cbs league ($100 or so) a few years back---but guys hated it. The yahoo league we were in last year did cost about $30 and actually worked out fine. But yeah, maybe we are missing the boat here---as i don't think anyone would mind throwing in a few extra bucks for a better league host.

 

[jamil]

I've been commish in a $500 buy-in (12 team) yahoo fantasy league for some time. Our league's rules/scoring are pretty normal and the yahoo layout has always been fine---hence yahoo has been ok for us. However, this year yahoo fantasy seems to have gone straight down the toilet. Even with the most basic email request, always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:1) thanks for contacting us2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue3) we will forward this on to our design team for next yearAnyone else noticed yahoo has gone belly up? And what other options would i have for a 12-team, $500 buy-in league---with 12 very competitive owners set in their yahoo ways?

good luck. i tried to move my league over to MFL last year... and a few of them just kept ######## and moaning the entire season about how much harder it was to use because it wasn't like yahoo.. idiots i tell ya.

 

[39407]

I've been commish in a $500 buy-in (12 team) yahoo fantasy league for some time. Our league's rules/scoring are pretty normal and the yahoo layout has always been fine---hence yahoo has been ok for us. However, this year yahoo fantasy seems to have gone straight down the toilet. Even with the most basic email request, always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:1) thanks for contacting us2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue3) we will forward this on to our design team for next yearAnyone else noticed yahoo has gone belly up? And what other options would i have for a 12-team, $500 buy-in league---with 12 very competitive owners set in their yahoo ways?

good luck. i tried to move my league over to MFL last year... and a few of them just kept ######## and moaning the entire season about how much harder it was to use because it wasn't like yahoo.. idiots i tell ya.

Hold their hand and show them how to customize, guide them through each step (never mind that they can fairly easily find out for themselves). It can be a bit of a pain but eventually they'll come around.

 

[LTF]

I'm sticking with Yahoo. I've never had a problem with any of their live draft servers (have been screwed over before by a couple of different free fantasy sites in that regard) in the five years I've been running my league, the layout is very clean and easy to navigate, and the stat tracker application is smooth. No complaints here, that's really all I need.

 

[LittlePhatty]

always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:1) thanks for contacting us2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue3) we will forward this on to our design team for next year

I've gotten that same reply in previous years, so it doesn't seem to be anything new.

 

[Mike]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.myfantasyleague.comrtsports.comESPN - freeNFL.com - free

Yep--We almost switched to a cbs league ($100 or so) a few years back---but guys hated it. The yahoo league we were in last year did cost about $30 and actually worked out fine. But yeah, maybe we are missing the boat here---as i don't think anyone would mind throwing in a few extra bucks for a better league host.

I'm using CBS right now for baseball and don't care for it, which is why I left it off the short list. Not to mention the price is really over the top.

 

[ninerindallas]

I've been commish in a $500 buy-in (12 team) yahoo fantasy league for some time. Our league's rules/scoring are pretty normal and the yahoo layout has always been fine---hence yahoo has been ok for us. However, this year yahoo fantasy seems to have gone straight down the toilet. Even with the most basic email request, always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:1) thanks for contacting us2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue3) we will forward this on to our design team for next yearAnyone else noticed yahoo has gone belly up? And what other options would i have for a 12-team, $500 buy-in league---with 12 very competitive owners set in their yahoo ways?

We've been using footballswami.com and it's amazing and there's always improvements being made to the site. We don't throw in as much money as you (we're at $150), but if I was spending that much I'd want the best site available to me. I think you can go on there and register and see what the site is like. Good luck and yes yahoo for the masses does kind of suck but it's not meant to be anything special.

 

[bcat01]

Used Yahoo for 8 years and have had no problems.

 

[Insein]

Yahoo sucks to me. I use CBS but its also inefficient especially since we're paying but its still better than yahoo.

 

[Warrior]

Great postings in here.

Yahoo has made the following changes this season, which apparently you hate and will cause them to go belly-up

-Stat tracker FREE (was $10)

-Auction Leagues (didnt exist last year)

-Keeper preferences (didn't exist last year)

-League Dues page (didn't exist last year, great for keeping track of paid/unpaid)

-More Mock Drafts (probably 5x as many at least)

-The best player rankings (ESPN's are a joke)

-Easy to use interface

-EVERYTHING IS FREE (ESPN's "insider" content is terrible, but they charge for it)

Seriously, what on earth are you complaining about? They improve a product that was already head and shoulders above the rest of the free sites and all you can do is complain that their changes suck?

Pathetic.

 

[Warrior]

Well, I'm not sure where they are getting their money from this year. They are not charging for anything and doubled the maximum amount of teams. I can imagine they are backed up big time.

I guess Facebook and Google are going belly-up too then..

 

[habsfan]

I've been commish in a $500 buy-in (12 team) yahoo fantasy league for some time. Our league's rules/scoring are pretty normal and the yahoo layout has always been fine---hence yahoo has been ok for us. However, this year yahoo fantasy seems to have gone straight down the toilet. Even with the most basic email request, always get the same version of this bogus, canned, computer generated reply:1) thanks for contacting us2) though we can't actually DO anything about your issue3) we will forward this on to our design team for next yearAnyone else noticed yahoo has gone belly up? And what other options would i have for a 12-team, $500 buy-in league---with 12 very competitive owners set in their yahoo ways?

My first question would be, what was the "basic email request"?I have used them for a number of years and remain content. I've never sent them an email - for my league configuration, they've always kept the trains running on time.

 

[Sweet Love]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.myfantasyleague.comrtsports.comESPN - freeNFL.com - free

Yep--We almost switched to a cbs league ($100 or so) a few years back---but guys hated it. The yahoo league we were in last year did cost about $30 and actually worked out fine. But yeah, maybe we are missing the boat here---as i don't think anyone would mind throwing in a few extra bucks for a better league host.

I'm using CBS right now for baseball and don't care for it, which is why I left it off the short list. Not to mention the price is really over the top.

If you are considering a change, don't go from Yahoo to CBS...that would be like paying to go from Roseann Barr to Fat Albert (the cartoon, not the player...although both would be equally awful). For a $500 entry league, I would seriously explore MFL...yeah, it takes some time getting used to, but you can keep your history (even in redraft), which is (1) always fun to look at in the offseason and (2) can help you better understand you leaguemates' drafting tendencies.

 

[billyjohnson]

Great postings in here.Yahoo has made the following changes this season, which apparently you hate and will cause them to go belly-up -Stat tracker FREE (was $10)-Auction Leagues (didnt exist last year)-Keeper preferences (didn't exist last year)-League Dues page (didn't exist last year, great for keeping track of paid/unpaid)-More Mock Drafts (probably 5x as many at least)-The best player rankings (ESPN's are a joke)-Easy to use interface-EVERYTHING IS FREE (ESPN's "insider" content is terrible, but they charge for it)Seriously, what on earth are you complaining about? They improve a product that was already head and shoulders above the rest of the free sites and all you can do is complain that their changes suck? Pathetic.

Now here's a man who does his homework before calling out others. Oh, but wait---come to think of it, all this awesome NEW stuff that didn't exist last year-----my league had it all. And then some...and we didn't use any of it.Maybe this is the problem for our league this year. Now, instead of paying basically $2 per team for priority help, priority drafting slots, priority features, etc.----we've been thrown into the mix with 2 million nubes who think the yahoo player rankings were written by God himself.

 

[Insein]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.myfantasyleague.comrtsports.comESPN - freeNFL.com - free

Yep--We almost switched to a cbs league ($100 or so) a few years back---but guys hated it. The yahoo league we were in last year did cost about $30 and actually worked out fine. But yeah, maybe we are missing the boat here---as i don't think anyone would mind throwing in a few extra bucks for a better league host.

I'm using CBS right now for baseball and don't care for it, which is why I left it off the short list. Not to mention the price is really over the top.

If you are considering a change, don't go from Yahoo to CBS...that would be like paying to go from Roseann Barr to Fat Albert (the cartoon, not the player...although both would be equally awful). For a $500 entry league, I would seriously explore MFL...yeah, it takes some time getting used to, but you can keep your history (even in redraft), which is (1) always fun to look at in the offseason and (2) can help you better understand you leaguemates' drafting tendencies.

Does MFL allow you to write a back history? I want to move our CBS league and would be willing to goto another pay site if it lets us keep our history per se. CBS drives me nuts. This year they lost our last years draft record. So we don't know what everyone picked last season. A very useful tool to see how our owners think. They promised a $60 refund but it may take upto 3 months for it to come. Ridiculous.

 

[benbadman]

billyjohnson, it sounds like you have a great league with owners who care about their fantasy teams. I would recommend giving www.MyFantasyLeague.com (MFL) a chance. If you end up liking MFL and make the move, feel free to use league #22428 as a referral. Also make sure to use Footballguys.com subscriber -$10 off coupon (link thru FBG subscriber content site)

I had never heard of MFL until i started using FBG message boards, and my league has been using it going on 4 years now with great results.

The MFL league website is very easy to customize, by the commish, or even by owners--who can give the league a custom look with various features turned off/on.

For example, as commish, I can populate the league website with over 50 different content options from:

Survivor Pool

Power Rankings (of your fantasy league)

Top Adds/Dropped players

ADP

Fantasy Articles (updated daily by MFL/FantasySharks)

Fantasy Game of the week Recap (MFL generates analysis of an interesting game of your fantasy league last week)

League Articles / Newsletters

League Message board

League Chat room

Player photos (favorite feature of my ff-lovin girlfriend!)

Fantasy MVP (weekly high score by position)

and more...

my 2010 site (havent really started using it yet...)

http://www13.myfantasyleague.com/2010/home/22428#0

my 2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

 

[MG345]

Great postings in here.Yahoo has made the following changes this season, which apparently you hate and will cause them to go belly-up -Keeper preferences (didn't exist last year)-League Dues page (didn't exist last year, great for keeping track of paid/unpaid)

They had these last year, they were just part of the "Plus" package. Not sure how anyone can knock Yahoo. It has everything 90% of leagues need, and has a better UI than any other free site (and some pay sites). I can see using something like MFL if you need a completely customized league and scoring, but outside of that, why not use Yahoo?As for the OP's problem, there only certain things Yahoo can do for custom leagues, it says so right in the user policy that you agree to when you sign up. They always send out that boilerplate email for things they cannot change. But if you do have technical issues, or need technical assistance, they are extremely helpful. I have been with Yahoo since they opened, and have run several leagues there. Every time I have had a problem, they have gotten back to me within 24 hours. One time I had a guy spend several hours with me through IM, to reset my league after the draft, because someone had hacked it. Suffice it to say, they have good customer service, though there are somethings that are off limits for them in custom leagues, but if you actually read what you agreed to, you would know that. If you are spending $500 for the buy in, you think you would make sure you knew what you were getting into....But the best part about this is.....You aren't out any money, and there is more than enough time to transfer your league to another site. I am sure Yahoo won't mind

 

[shredhead]

Does MFL allow you to write a back history? I want to move our CBS league and would be willing to goto another pay site if it lets us keep our history per se. CBS drives me nuts. This year they lost our last years draft record. So we don't know what everyone picked last season. A very useful tool to see how our owners think. They promised a $60 refund but it may take upto 3 months for it to come. Ridiculous.

I'd like to know the answer to this too. I hate the fact that our league is throwing $160 to cbs every year, but I can't get the commish to switch because of the history. If I had this ammo, maybe more money could be going to the payouts instead of cbs.

 

[MG345]

2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

Sorry but that site looks like crap. MFL is extremely customizable, and definitely the way to go if need something other than the ordinary. But, the ONLY sites that I have seen that look even remotely organized and not just thrown together are the ones that have custom CSS overlays. Which, yes you can do yourself, but most people plop down an additional couple hundred dollars to have. I get that it is a one time cost, and it is well worth it, but trying to convince a league to spend that money is hard sometimes.

 

[billyjohnson]

So let me just throw in that I don't mean to come down too hard on yahoo. It has been our league of choice for ten years---and if it really just plain sucked---would have looked for other options long before now.

As far as switching, i think jamil makes a great point in that change is not always welcome. Not to mention that the commish can have issues with the league host (setup, etc) that other league members do not---hence they are much less likely to see a problem. And as far as having plenty of time to switch...not sure. We would need to have a league vote---then have to discuss if not 12-0---which it wouldn't be. Probably too late for this year. Maybe will give this NEW yahoo one more year before jumping ship? But will definitely look into the MFL setup to see if it might work for next year.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and advice,

Bill

PS. I will go on record that I would never pay $160 for a cbs league....but best of luck to those who do!

 

[billyjohnson]

my 2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

Thanks for the example. And by the way, how did commodicks only manage to put up 37 pts in playoffs!!?

 

[benbadman]

2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

Sorry but that site looks like crap. MFL is extremely customizable, and definitely the way to go if need something other than the ordinary. But, the ONLY sites that I have seen that look even remotely organized and not just thrown together are the ones that have custom CSS overlays. Which, yes you can do yourself, but most people plop down an additional couple hundred dollars to have. I get that it is a one time cost, and it is well worth it, but trying to convince a league to spend that money is hard sometimes.

its not a sexy web design contest genius, its about functionality.

MFL costs ~$70 if you buy it by June/July... $10 off with your FBG sub.. thats $5-6 per league member. i'm in a CBS league too, and their stats and interface may be pretty but it is pure suck. and so is giving cbs $200 of the pot to host the website.

 

[billyjohnson]

2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

Sorry but that site looks like crap. MFL is extremely customizable, and definitely the way to go if need something other than the ordinary. But, the ONLY sites that I have seen that look even remotely organized and not just thrown together are the ones that have custom CSS overlays. Which, yes you can do yourself, but most people plop down an additional couple hundred dollars to have. I get that it is a one time cost, and it is well worth it, but trying to convince a league to spend that money is hard sometimes.

its not a sexy web design contest genius, its about functionality.

MFL costs ~$70 if you buy it by June/July... $10 off with your FBG sub.. thats $5-6 per league member. i'm in a CBS league too, and their stats and interface may be pretty but it is pure suck. and so is giving cbs $200 of the pot to host the website.

FYI: Not that i'm suggesting anyone change b/c i know nothing about mfl---but did see where they are offering 1/2 off league price IF you are switching from another league.

 

[Insein]

2009 site

http://football13.myfantasyleague.com/2009/home/31943#0

Sorry but that site looks like crap. MFL is extremely customizable, and definitely the way to go if need something other than the ordinary. But, the ONLY sites that I have seen that look even remotely organized and not just thrown together are the ones that have custom CSS overlays. Which, yes you can do yourself, but most people plop down an additional couple hundred dollars to have. I get that it is a one time cost, and it is well worth it, but trying to convince a league to spend that money is hard sometimes.

its not a sexy web design contest genius, its about functionality.

MFL costs ~$70 if you buy it by June/July... $10 off with your FBG sub.. thats $5-6 per league member. i'm in a CBS league too, and their stats and interface may be pretty but it is pure suck. and so is giving cbs $200 of the pot to host the website.

FYI: Not that i'm suggesting anyone change b/c i know nothing about mfl---but did see where they are offering 1/2 off league price IF you are switching from another league.

Yes I saw that. I'm very seriously considering getting our league to switch next year. $160 to CBS is a waste. Plus I saw the feature where they are working on being able to fully import your league from another site. I'll have to see how that works. They could seal the deal for me. Only reason we hang on to CBS is the near decade of league history.

 

[Team ROFLCOPTERS]

12-team $500 buy-in and you guys go with a free league manager? I mean, I guess if it historically met your needs, fine, but I find it surprising. You've got lots of options though.myfantasyleague.comrtsports.comESPN - freeNFL.com - free

Yep--We almost switched to a cbs league ($100 or so) a few years back---but guys hated it. The yahoo league we were in last year did cost about $30 and actually worked out fine. But yeah, maybe we are missing the boat here---as i don't think anyone would mind throwing in a few extra bucks for a better league host.

I'm using CBS right now for baseball and don't care for it, which is why I left it off the short list. Not to mention the price is really over the top.

Yeah, it's not a good alternative. I use it for several hockey, baseball and basketball leagues each year. Their cost to payout ration is terrible and it takes forever to get paid. If that isn't enough their layout format is so hard to navigate. The way you trade, pick up FA's, and interact with other managers is just stupid.

 

[Team ROFLCOPTERS]

Well, I'm not sure where they are getting their money from this year. They are not charging for anything and doubled the maximum amount of teams. I can imagine they are backed up big time.

I guess Facebook and Google are going belly-up too then..

I didn't say they would go belly up. They are pioneers. People have been using them forever. With that said, with all the changes you should expect them to be be backed up.