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What's unique about your league? (1 Viewer)

drunken slob

Footballguy
Can't remember how long ago it was, but this topic was posted here in the Shark Pool and thought an update would be good. It was a great thread with a lot of cool ideas about league management and participation.  :moneybag:  and scoring aren't important. 

Now that the regular season is over, I'd like to hear from people about any aspects of your league that you enjoy. Please don't turn this into a thread bashing your commissioner or league.

Links to your league rules are welcome or other features are welcome. TIA

:banned:

 
I'll start. As part of that thread, one person posted that the champion and second place owner picked the divisions for the upcoming seasons. Great idea  :thumbup:  

I especially enjoy this because we have a live draft and the smack talk while picking is tremendous. I'm glad we didn't do this in the early 2000's because I would have had to break up some fights and try to preserve my house from being destroyed.

Another revolved around a, "Rivalry Week." I've been trying to work that into my leagues, but just can't seem to find a way without screwing up the regular season schedule.

:banned:

 
32 teams, each player available twice, use head coaches, full IDP (reflect a legit defense including DT and corners). 

The league has been going for 16 years now, many original owners remain, the commish has changed 4 times.

 
32 teams, each player available twice, use head coaches, full IDP (reflect a legit defense including DT and corners). 

The league has been going for 16 years now, many original owners remain, the commish has changed 4 times.
Can you own the same player twice?  Example, you have Todd Gurley and trade for the other Todd Gurley?

 
I could see some interesting situations arise in that league... example: you're trailing going into Monday night.  You and your opponent both have Julio Jones.  Your opponent starts Jones, meaning you have to go with the (presumably) weaker option on your bench in Mohamed Sanu, or say someone on the opposing team, such as Rishard Matthews, to give yourself a chance to win.  Sounds very intriguing!

 
I could see some interesting situations arise in that league... example: you're trailing going into Monday night.  You and your opponent both have Julio Jones.  Your opponent starts Jones, meaning you have to go with the (presumably) weaker option on your bench in Mohamed Sanu, or say someone on the opposing team, such as Rishard Matthews, to give yourself a chance to win.  Sounds very intriguing!
It can be fun, even if those instances are rare. More commonly you see things like both championship teams starting Gurley.

 
One of my local leagues (and my favorite) is a contract keeper league. We started with an auction year one so everyone had a chance at any player they wanted and played out the first year. Then in the first offseason we were allowed to hand out 17 contract years (roster is 17 total) however we wanted. So you could keep any number of players you wanted but only giving a max of 17 years total. Most players kept were given 1 or 2 years with a few higher than that as owners were conservative.

At the end of the second year obviously each player with a contract on your roster would lose one year on their contract, so let's say you had 7 players with a total of 17 contracts then you would have 10 years still on the books and could allocate another 7 years. You can't add years to a player under contract though so it's for new players only. Then when a player's contract is up you can either let them go back into the draft or you have one chance to re-sign them but at double the price. So for example I auctioned AB in year one (2012) and gave him 2 years (2013, 2014). Then when his 2 years were up I re-signed him for another 2 years (2015, 2016) and it cost be 4 to keep for 2. Then when those 2 years were up he went back into the draft (2017).

What I like about this league is of course the strategy of building your roster and then you get a mix of rookies, non-contract worthy vets, vets that are not worth doubled contracts and then the occasional stud back in the draft. This year for example we have AJ Green, Keenan Allen, Ingram, Allen Robinson, Tate, Baldwin, DT, Shady plus others to go with the rookies.

 
I'll start. As part of that thread, one person posted that the champion and second place owner picked the divisions for the upcoming seasons. Great idea  :thumbup:  

I especially enjoy this because we have a live draft and the smack talk while picking is tremendous. I'm glad we didn't do this in the early 2000's because I would have had to break up some fights and try to preserve my house from being destroyed.

Another revolved around a, "Rivalry Week." I've been trying to work that into my leagues, but just can't seem to find a way without screwing up the regular season schedule.

:banned:
Regarding your rivalry week, one of my leagues uses a week 1 double header.  Could you make use of a (or some) multiple header weeks to get the desired schedule?

 
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Playoffs ...

WILD CARD WEEKEND (Week 13) --- Seed 3-6 ... highest 2 scoring teams advance

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND (Weeks 14-16). 4 team all play (2 winners from Wild Card plus top 2). So, each week you can have a record of 3-0, 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3 (over 3 weeks thats 9 games). Tiebreakers go to record followed by points and seed respectively.

Basically if you make the Final 4 (12 team league) then one bad week doesn't neccessarily doom you.

 
Must keep 3 players but can keep a 4th if they are a rookie and you forfeit your pick in the round they were drafted. Players can only be kept 3 years and 2 max per position.

Also have a trophy the champion holds onto until the next champ is decided that has all the winners names on it since 1998.

 
What are the penalties on keepers(if any)? Been thinking of making a pseudo dynasty league. Don’t have enough owners to start a true dynasty league. 
We keep 8, so it’s a quasi dynasty league. 10 long time owners. 

Each player can be kept for four years - after year four, you can extend a contract either one or two years. If you extend one year, it costs you a keeper spot (so you’ll have 7 keepers if no other extensions). If you extend two years, it costs you two keeper spots (so you’ll have 6).

 
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we are a modified keeper league.  We get to keep the guy 2 rounds earlier than we drafted previously.  This ensures you can't have rodgers for his entire career but get a reward for being smart enough to take him his rookie year in the 18th

also the first place gets to name the last place team the following season

 
While not unique, my league has been together for 23 seasons. We have had almost universally the same ten owners.

Every year we get together in person for our auction, usually over a weekend. Doing a live auction is a blast. 

We started as a bunch of single guys in our twenties. Now, all but one of us is married with kids. 

At this point, our league has become more about friendship and getting together, as we are scattered up and down the east coast.

 
Similar to Ack’s league, we are in our 21st year and our live draft is a 3 day event that everyone flies into town for. We almost always have 11 of the 12 owners there, and sometimes all 12.

We charge $1 for every free agent move through the year, and the total points winner at the end of the year gets that money. 

 
Similar to Ack’s league, we are in our 21st year and our live draft is a 3 day event that everyone flies into town for. We almost always have 11 of the 12 owners there, and sometimes all 12.

We charge $1 for every free agent move through the year, and the total points winner at the end of the year gets that money. 
We charge $2 plus the bid amount for FAs and the money is split amongst the 6 playoff teams. 37% for first down to 5.5% for 6th.

 
7 keepers each year.  1 guy is a "franchise player" who you get to keep automatically.  The other 6 you assign a number 1-6 (must use all 6 numbers), then you roll one die at our annual "Winter Meeting" in full view of the other owners.  Whichever number you roll, you lose that corresponding player into the free agency pool.

It adds some excitement to the league.  Especially when guys lose a player like Melvin Gordon or Julio Jones. (Both of which happened last year)

 
A league that has been together for over 25 years. We have always had a scoring system that gives bonuses for TD length, 0-9 yds = 6points, 10-39yds = 9points, 40+yds = 12 points and those points double if a RB catches the TD or a QB or WR runs it. Also added half point per rush attempt this year to boost the importance of the RB position.

 
Not scoring but we have a fun trading system in our dyno. When a trade goes down it is posted but doesn't go through for 48 hours, during that time both the buyer and seller can get offers from other league mates. It can cause a snowball effect where the best offer is accepted and a new 48 hour time clock starts. If someone is selling it makes sure they get the best offer possible and literally nobody can complain as everyone has a shot. We have seen some insane up-antes in this situation and it makes it so much more fun. Not for all, but it works for us. 

 
Not scoring but we have a fun trading system in our dyno. When a trade goes down it is posted but doesn't go through for 48 hours, during that time both the buyer and seller can get offers from other league mates. It can cause a snowball effect where the best offer is accepted and a new 48 hour time clock starts. If someone is selling it makes sure they get the best offer possible and literally nobody can complain as everyone has a shot. We have seen some insane up-antes in this situation and it makes it so much more fun. Not for all, but it works for us. 
Thats odd yet interesting! Not sure I would enjoy it!

 
1. we have 21 rounds and give owners the potential to keep anybody they draft in rounds 18-21 for life........don't have to keep them, but can keep them...makes the last four rounds pretty interesting instead of just being filled out with PK and DST's....teams have drafted guys they knew would be out for the year, but back after that, and it has paid off for some...has encouraged owners to do a little more "homework" so to speak when thinking about their late round flyers....

2. two week SB....we start playoffs in week 13 (two double headers during reg season, one before bye weeks, and one after)....semifinals in week 14....finals in week 15-16 combining the scores from both weeks....kinda cool, almost like having a half time.....still don't play week 17......kinda nice having a little bit of a "second chance" so to speak in the biggest game...

 
Big believer in two-week playoff matchups, especially the Super Bowl.  Does an amazing job of diminishing variance and giving the better team an edge, and doubles the excitement for owners in the hunt.

Last year my main dynasty league implemented doubleheaders as needed in season to make the conference championship games two-week affairs as well.  Big success.

 
Not scoring but we have a fun trading system in our dyno. When a trade goes down it is posted but doesn't go through for 48 hours, during that time both the buyer and seller can get offers from other league mates. It can cause a snowball effect where the best offer is accepted and a new 48 hour time clock starts. If someone is selling it makes sure they get the best offer possible and literally nobody can complain as everyone has a shot. We have seen some insane up-antes in this situation and it makes it so much more fun. Not for all, but it works for us. 
Do the teams not get the opportunity to use the players on Sunday if they're traded with less than 48 hours? That would be my chief complaint. Lots of trades get pulled off last minute when a player is declared inactive and the team needs a replacement. 

 
Do the teams not get the opportunity to use the players on Sunday if they're traded with less than 48 hours? That would be my chief complaint. Lots of trades get pulled off last minute when a player is declared inactive and the team needs a replacement. 
I'm jealous.  I wish I was in a league where ownership was that active and quick to deal.  In my leagues, it usually takes a week or two of patient wheedling to get any sort of counteroffer.

 
Can't remember how long ago it was, but this topic was posted here in the Shark Pool and thought an update would be good. It was a great thread with a lot of cool ideas about league management and participation.  :moneybag:  and scoring aren't important. 

Now that the regular season is over, I'd like to hear from people about any aspects of your league that you enjoy. Please don't turn this into a thread bashing your commissioner or league.

Links to your league rules are welcome or other features are welcome. TIA

:banned:
My main league is something truly unique which is what keeps me coming back year after year.

It's a 12 team league setup with 3 divisions of 4 teams each. The winner of each division wins some money, overall highest points gets money and the SB winner and runner up get money on top of it.

The lineups are: 2 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 2 TE, 2 PK, 2 DEF, 1 IDP, 5 Bench. All TDs are 6 points, 1 PPR. I have seen 2 QB leagues before, but this league took it even further with the TE/PK/Def to go with it. Most people cringe about the PK & Def but it actually adds value to those positions and you'd be surprised how early some of them are taken in the draft. A 12 team league with 2 QBs shakes up the normal draft day scenarios that every website and magazine puts out there for you. I think we see about 50% of the 1st round taking QBs (it's actually not the smart play in this format, despite what you may think, I've researched the historical trends from previous drafts). To add icing on the cake, the short bench makes it very difficult to stash players, makes coordinating for bye week coverage more complicated and keeps other teams in it all year through WW pickups (my biggest weakness but I accept the challenge).

 
My favorite league is an 8-team redraft league with 15 player rosters, but you start 11 guys each week. So you have to build your team very carefully, and sometimes during byes or injuries, take strategic zeros. We have no kickers or defenses. Its 2 QB, 3 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE starting every week. The 15 player rosters also make it so you aren't totally screwed if your 1st round pick gets injured as there are always useful players on waivers. There is also no IR spots, so you have to decide if its worth keeping an injured player or not.

I've been in this league since 2010 and won it 3 times(2010, 2011,2015), and missed the playoffs each of the last 2 years and its the most fun and challenging league I've been in, way more than my dynasty league, or other larger redraft leagues.

 
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Do the teams not get the opportunity to use the players on Sunday if they're traded with less than 48 hours? That would be my chief complaint. Lots of trades get pulled off last minute when a player is declared inactive and the team needs a replacement. 
If you want to use the player the trade in question would have to be accepted by Thursday night if you want to use them Sunday. Any new offered Friday or later it will roll over to next week just like any other league 

 
If you want to use the player the trade in question would have to be accepted by Thursday night if you want to use them Sunday. Any new offered Friday or later it will roll over to next week just like any other league 
My leagues have no waiting period so we don't roll over to the following week.

 
My auction 4-8 player keeper league has 2 superflexes.  Yes, you can start 3 QBs, and it's a nice advantage if you have 3 decent ones.  It is PPR and QBs get 1 pt per 25 yds passing and 4 pts per TD pass.  10 team league.  And you still have to start 2 RBs, 3WRs, and a TE.  Keep players for 10% more than previous value, rounded up to the nearest dollar, minimum $2 increase.  And if a player finishes in the top 10 QBs, top 15 RBs, top 15 WRs....you have to pay "market" value, if their value falls below "market".  So for example, Cam Newton was bought in 2011 for $1.  He finished in the top 10 that year, so his owner had to pay QB15 price for 2012, which was about $17.  This "market pricing" prevents, say an Alvin Kamara owner who was purchased at the draft for $4 (and lucked out on him being a top 5 RB in PPR) to be able to keep him for $6.  Kamara should go for about $15 in 2018 (which is still a discount, just not as great of one). 

The best QBs that aren't kept (usually about 15-17 are kept) go for insane prices at the auction, especially Aaron Rodgers....he goes for $52-60 every year.

 
Not sure how unique it is, but we’re a local league of friends, very little turnover. So many leagues I read about seem like they’re committed to one thing or another very strictly. Either strict with bonuses or not, PPR or not, etc.

we kind of do everything with the goal of having high scoring & balanced scoring. It’s IDP, so we have scoring for everything.

1 PPR, .3 point per completion (for QBs), 6 pt TDs, -3 Int, -2 fumbles, -1 MFG under 30 or for a MPAT. .1/1 Ru/Re, and .1/2 PaYd

Points for KR/PR at .1 per 3 yds

tackles 2 points, ATK 1 point.

sacks 5 points, 1/2 sacks 2.5

ints 6 points

DTD 6 points

FF / DFR 2 points ea

50+ passing, rushing or receiving TDs get +1 points 

100+ Ru/ReYd = 2 point bonus

300+ PaYd = 2 point bonus

some in the league love bonuses, some hate them, so we met in the middle with small bonuses. We aren’t a football simulation, we’re playing a game. So we want to reward the metrics that people universally applaud as achievements. Things that are hard to do. 

Same reason we have a 5 point safety and a 4 point blocked punt or FG - theyre a huge plays, and a rare ones at that, so we want to reward them. 

Again - not sure how unique any of this is, but we’re a very competitive league with great parity - 9 teams were still fighting for a playoff spot in week 13 this year. Week 14 there were still 6-7 teams with a chance at a wildcard. By scoring everything & having 15 active roster positions, there are more ways to win. The league winner this year had the worst QB play in the league & mediocre WRs, but won on the strength of running backs & defense. 

What might be unique is that every year at the draft, we put up rules change suggestions to vote, and let the person who proposed it make a case for it. Hen we vote on each one. Some years no changes are made, some years we make several changes. But it’s a democracy - my vote as commish counts for exactly one vote. 6-6 isn’t a majority, so 7 votes are needed to pass a new rule. 

Its my favorite league, and next year we’ll be proposing 2 rules that I think will both pass: 

1. Add a 3rd linebacker or a 2nd D-Flex position. I’m hoping the latter. 

2. 1-seed gets to pick their playoff opponent. I love that. Mostly because there’s a chance to be wrong, lose, and have the league heckle you forever about it. 

 
Last place team gets their team named by a league vote the following year. Some pretty bad names have came up, I’d get banned if I typed Even one of them out.  Always a fun way to end the draft when everyone is hammered, everyone submits a name or two and the loser team has to read them off one by one. No one wants to be the last place team either so it can keep the loser teams active at the end of the year.  

 
Not scoring but we have a fun trading system in our dyno. When a trade goes down it is posted but doesn't go through for 48 hours, during that time both the buyer and seller can get offers from other league mates. It can cause a snowball effect where the best offer is accepted and a new 48 hour time clock starts. If someone is selling it makes sure they get the best offer possible and literally nobody can complain as everyone has a shot. We have seen some insane up-antes in this situation and it makes it so much more fun. Not for all, but it works for us. 
Who decides what the "best" offer is?  That is typically a subjective decision based on your team makeup.  I would think it would make for some hurt feelings when someone's offer is rejected for what is thought by some to be an inferior offer.

 
I'll start. As part of that thread, one person posted that the champion and second place owner picked the divisions for the upcoming seasons. Great idea  :thumbup:  

I especially enjoy this because we have a live draft and the smack talk while picking is tremendous. I'm glad we didn't do this in the early 2000's because I would have had to break up some fights and try to preserve my house from being destroyed.

Another revolved around a, "Rivalry Week." I've been trying to work that into my leagues, but just can't seem to find a way without screwing up the regular season schedule.

:banned:
Rather than a rivalry week we have position weeks.  That is were 1v2, 3v4 etc.  In the 14 team league we have 4 positions weeks (w4, w8, w12, w16).  We do not do playoffs.  Best record after 17 weeks wins the title.  The position weeks kind of are mini playoff weeks scattered through the season as you are facing your immediate competition.  With 14 teams this means you play every team exactly once (13 weeks) plus the 4 positions weeks.  It's a perfectly balanced schedule.

 
1. Injury contingencies - Used for any player listed as questionable.  Ex: If Antonio Brown (Q) doesn't play my contingency is Mo Sanu.  Keeps you from getting screwed on Sundays and from having to be at your computer before the start of every game.

2. Losers bracket - 12 tm league, Top 6 teams make the playoffs but the next 4 make the losers bracket which still has a payout to the winner.  Keeps the bottom half of the league active to the end of the season with something to play for.

 
Dynasty league is IDP with 16 starters (8 offense & 8 IDP).  Each position scoring was tried to be equal so that if you have a top tier RB= top tier WR= top tier DL=top tier K= top tier TE etc......  We keep 15 players year to year with salary cap and contracts.  The inaugural season started with an auction for each team to acquire 15 players (number of keepers).  You had a salary cap to stay under for the 15 players and this set their salary.  Upon completion of the auction we started a snake draft (inaugural draft only - all other drafts are nfl style) with the team having the most money left under the cap with the first pick and so on down the line.  Each draft round had a set salary associated with the round. 

You could assign up to 3 yr contracts to as many players that you wanted realizing that if you had to cut a player under contract you were hit with a cap number equal to the total salary left on the contract.  This limits the number of contracts teams would issue.  Upon completion of the season, salaries of non contracted players could escalate based on their actual finish in scoring at their position.  The top 15 players for each position are eligible to escalate at various levels.  You can then keep these players at their escalated salaries (essentially resigning them to 1-yr contracts).  You can do this indefinitely but the player could escalate each year to the point that they may be too high to keep.

For the draft each year we start with a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) auction.  So any player not kept but was on a fantasy roster the previous year is eligible for the auction.  Each team keeps 15 and/or $250.  If you only spend $200 you have $50 to use in the RFA auction.  If you had the player on your final roster but did not keep them they become your restricted free agent which gives you final matching rights in the auction.  You have the right to resign them at the winning bid and take them away from the team that had the highest bid. 

In order to sign someone in the RFA auction you must have a draft pick in the first 5 rounds as the player counts as that pick....starting with your latest round 5 pick and moving forward.  This is whether it is your RFA or not.  Any player you acquire in the auction.   The minimum starting bid on these players is half their previous seasons salary or $10 (price of round 1 draft pick) whichever is higher. 

This RFA auction helps set the market value for players and is a way to have an auction as part of the draft every year.  It has worked out extremely well. 

 
Who decides what the "best" offer is?  That is typically a subjective decision based on your team makeup.  I would think it would make for some hurt feelings when someone's offer is rejected for what is thought by some to be an inferior offer.
The seller, he takes best of all offers

 
Hu-Tang Clan said:
My leagues have no waiting period so we don't roll over to the following week.
Yea I play in separate mfl league, that's cool but sometimes I think "damn, I would have have offered more for that player". Hence our rule

 
12 team salary cap dynasty league. Teams have a cap of $255 and each player is at least $8.  17 roster spots including 3 IDP.  Players can be kept forever, but increase in price $3 each season.

The most unique part of our league is the draft. We assign dollar amounts to each round starting at $23 and decreasing $1 each round. You are not required to pick in any round and may "Pass" your selection if no player is worth the current price in your opinion. We get a lot of different strategies playing out. Some spend a ton of money in the early rounds and then buy cheap players for $8 at the end. Some try to fill their roster with inexpensive guys and then play the wire all year.

Our salary cap is pretty tight, and teams get creative trying to work within the cap. We will see interesting trades that move expensive players to free money. Players are also regularly cut in attempts to "refinance" them during the year, but that often backfires and an underperforming star can change teams in a hurry.

 
The seller, he takes best of all offers
But who defines what is the "best offer"?  Since trade evaluation is so subjective I can see where some will get bent out of shape because their offer wasn't accepted when they think it is a better offer.  I am not sure how to define best since too many variables go into it.  Have you ever had issues with one owner thinks their offer is the best and is pissed some other offer was accepted?

 
But who defines what is the "best offer"?  Since trade evaluation is so subjective I can see where some will get bent out of shape because their offer wasn't accepted when they think it is a better offer.  I am not sure how to define best since too many variables go into it.  Have you ever had issues with one owner thinks their offer is the best and is pissed some other offer was accepted?
I'm not sure what your argument is......"best offer" is only relevant to the seller as he's the one who accepts what he thinks is best. It matters none that someone else may get bent because they think their offer is better but wasn't accepted. It only matters to the seller of the commodity. Period.

 
Playoffs ...

WILD CARD WEEKEND (Week 13) --- Seed 3-6 ... highest 2 scoring teams advance

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND (Weeks 14-16). 4 team all play (2 winners from Wild Card plus top 2). So, each week you can have a record of 3-0, 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3 (over 3 weeks thats 9 games). Tiebreakers go to record followed by points and seed respectively.

Basically if you make the Final 4 (12 team league) then one bad week doesn't neccessarily doom you.
In a similar vein, this year a commissioner in one of my long-time leagues moved our playoffs to a round-robin championship bracket. Each of the four playoff teams plays each other once, best overall record (or H2H result if two or more teams are tied) takes the title. An added benefit is that in a 10-team league it cuts the regular season from 14 weeks to 13, which with two 5-team divisions makes for a perfectly balanced schedule (I missed out on the playoffs two years ago b/c my randomly assigned 14th game happened to be against the other division's leader while my wild-card competitor got to play a 2-11 squad).

I love the concept so much I'm going to institute it in our local league starting next year even if I have to totally bork ESPN's league settings to make it work.

 
One of my main leagues is a contract dynasty league.  We have an auction each year and upon a winning bid you have to decide how long you want to keep the player.  4 years is the maximum.  Cutting a guy before his contract is up incurs cap hits and such but what I want to get to is...

What at we do which I have rarely seen is our in-season waiver process.  It is an open auction.  You nominate a player for a salary amount, usually the minimum but not always.  If another team wants to acquire the player he has 24 hours to up the bid.  If that happens the clock restarts and every team has another 24 hours to consider if they want the player.  Keeps going until there are no bids in a 24 hour period.

You can't sneak a guy through waivers.  It's all open information.  Just like a regular auction sometimes you are just hoping to drive the price up.  Sometimes you nominate a guy because he blew up the week before and you know someone will up the bid and add to the transaction kitty ($5/transaction).  Sometimes you overpay because you have cap space and the other guy doesn't.

Because it's open info you need to be proactive and acquire the guy before others are confident he will (continue to) produce.

 

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