Fantasy Football For Dummies. Martin A. Schulman

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       Keeper or dynasty leagues: Most basic leagues and beginning players use an annual format, meaning that next season each coach starts fresh at the draft with an empty roster, and the league has the option of changing rules and settings each year. However, in keeper or dynasty leagues, you’re allowed to retain the services of some or all of your players each year. This format is more complicated for many reasons. Foremost, your drafting strategy and team management during the season can’t focus solely on winning today; you have to acquire players that will help you in the future and for years to come. Keeper and dynasty leagues require much more time, energy, and football knowledge than the traditional fantasy game.

       Salary cap leagues: Salary cap football is lots of work and research, and it presents a challenge different from basic fantasy football. However, because you have so many options, and you don’t necessarily have to interact with other coaches, salary cap football can be fun for both casual and competitive players. Each team in a salary cap league is given a weekly budget that the manager uses to pick a starting lineup. Unlike standard leagues, every coach can select any players they want as long the total dollar value of the lineup stays under the cap.The website provider assigns a dollar value to each player; like the stock market, a player’s dollar value rises and falls depending on how he plays. Therein lies the challenge of salary cap football. If you spend money on an elite RB, can you still afford three top WRs? Will a $10 QB play as well as a $25 QB, based on his matchup?

       Best Ball leagues: One of the latest trends is the “Best Ball” format. One 20-player draft, no trades, no waivers/free agency, and no need to sweat over setting your lineup! The site automatically selects your best players, and your team score is based on your optimal lineup. The winner is determined by who scores the most points over the full season, not weekly and not head-to-head wins and losses. This type of league is all about your draft prep, but super low maintenance during the season, which appeals to lots of busy people!

       Uber leagues: Fantasy games cover all sports, not just football, and many football fans also follow other sports. Along the way, someone got the bright idea to try to compete in multiple fantasy sports for one league. In an uber league, you draft teams in multiple sports (usually football, basketball, and baseball), and the site compiles your fantasy stats (also known as rotisserie stats) in each sport for a year. The coach who scores the most combined points wins the uber league. Uber leagues are highly competitive and time consuming, but if you’re a real sports junkie, you may want to consider going uber.

       DFS — Daily leagues: These leagues (FanDuel, DraftKings, and so on) are covered in more detail in Part 4.

      Why are you playing? For love or money?

      If you’re just starting your venture into the world of fantasy football, you may not want to spend any money to play while you learn and gain experience. That’s perfectly fine. Just keep signing up for free leagues and have fun. However, if you’ve been playing for a while, or if you’re a bit adventurous, you may want to (literally) up the ante.

      I’ve played in many leagues just for fun, but fun doesn’t look good when placed on my mantle, and pride doesn’t buy me a new iPhone. Something to play for makes fantasy football all the more fun and exciting. Why not go for a little prize money or a trophy to do the bragging for you? If you’re willing to spend a little moolah to play, this section covers what you could win.

      Acquiring trophies and other bling

      Most fantasy geeks are retired jocks, sports nuts, or coworkers with something to prove, so being able to hoist trophies above their heads after winning it all really is a fantasy come true. A league trophy symbolizes commitment, and committed coaches are what make a league strong and the game of fantasy football more fun to play. (Furthermore, trophies are surprisingly affordable [depending on how huge you want them to be], and adding names to them costs peanuts, so you may suggest this idea to your commissioner.)

Figure 3-1 shows a photo of the championship trophy from my XFL2 League. The award is basic, but it works. I’m a three-time winner of the Golden Football!

      Photo by Judy Park

      FIGURE 3-1: Victory on your mantel!

      You can even contact a ring company that will make championship rings for your league! Anything goes, but no matter what prize you choose, giving awards is a great excuse to get together and party with your buddies when the season is over.

      Show me the money!

      Many fantasy coaches only want to play for cold, hard cash. The key for money players is to determine a comfortable buy-in amount. Many of these types of leagues charge $10 to $2,000 to play with the prospects of winning a T-shirt or $1,000,000! The fees and prizes can be collected entirely by the site (like in CBS Sports or Yahoo! competitive pay leagues) or by the commissioner, who pays the league provider and then divides the rest of the league dues amongst the winners every season. This is also one of the main draws of Daily Fantasy Football, which is covered in Part 4 of this book.

Examine your financial situation to determine how much money is worth spending on fantasy football. Personally, I think league fees and prizes should stay in the $20 to $200 range. If you’re on a limited budget, you may want to stay on the low end of the range. If, however, you want to play for more money, consider joining a pay public league, where you can be as cutthroat as you want to be without losing friends (see the earlier section, “Pay public leagues”).

      

Playing for money can bring out the worst in people. I’ve seen many leagues crumble and friendships lost when members put too much cash on the line. Heed my advice here to prevent your league from turning into a reality-show competition gone awry.

Starting Your Own League: You Want to Be a Commissioner?

      Do you like the idea of playing in a private fantasy league, but you’ve never been invited to join one? (Check out the “Joining the private sector: An invitation required” section earlier in this chapter.) Are you organized, blessed with good communication and decision-making skills, a glutton for punishment — and perhaps a bit of a control freak? Have you considered starting your own fantasy league and inviting your friends and coworkers to play? If so, you’re a prime candidate to become a league commissioner. Everything that a commissioner needs to know could be an entire Dummies book, but this section covers the basics.

      

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