So you want to start a local fantasy league!  Perhaps this is your first venture into Fantasy Football, or maybe you’ve wet your feet in a random league on Yahoo, or have tried a salary league on CNNSI.  Some of you may even already be in a local league, but are looking for some pointers or good ideas to steal.  That’s great!  Probably every aspect of our league, except the draft, was copied from one place or another.  So if this is your first venture into commissionership, read on.  If you’re just looking for ideas, feel free to skim ahead and steal at will (there are some great ideas in the Draft section at the end)!

Topics discussed are:  What kind of League, League Requirements, Types of Leagues, League Management,  Lineups, Scoring, Website, the Draft, and the End of Season Meeting.

What kind of League

The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you want a more casual or competitive league.  Nothing is wrong with either, but to get the most out of this article you will need to evaluate your intentions before you continue.  Probably the best way to answer your question is by asking yourself another one:  When does the Fantasy Football season end?  A) The Superbowl;  B)For some leagues Week 13, for others Week 17, but for most leagues Week 16;  or C) Trick Question!  FF is always in season!

            Chances are, if you answered A or B, your league will be more casual.  In no way am I saying there won’t be true competition or rivalry, but it’s the psychos that answer C (I say this lovingly, for I, too, am one of those psychos) whose leagues will be harder to get started as well as maintain.  So, whether you are in this for fun or you are out to create the ultimate fantasy league, here are some suggestions.

League Requirements

One of the most frustrating things for commissioners can be an owner who doesn’t seem to care about the league.  I have been there myself, having let people join a league who were not ready or able to participate to the level I had expected.  It was my fault, though.  I failed to communicate what was expected.  So when you’re writing out your rules, go ahead and include something about Owner Expectations, but at the very least think about it and communicate it.   Some ideas:

1-     Submitting a starting lineup weekly

2-    Posting regularly on the Message Board

3-    Involvement in FA/Waiver pickups

4-    Attending draft

The more casual the league, the less stringent the requirements will be.

Before I go on to the specifics, there is one reminder I need to say to the ambitious commissioners and would-be commissioners out there.  You don’t have to do it all the first year.  Think long-term.  Your goal should be to hook your owners with something fun and exciting the first year and to improve on what you’ve got each year.  Everything you do should be done well.  Taking on too much the first year may be harmful in the long run.  So pace yourself and have fun!  As commissioner, you get most of the work, so don’t make this a second job that you will soon resent.  Enjoy the process and allow your league to develop.

Types of Leagues

      Re-draft – Every year brings a clean slate.  All players are re-entered into the draft.

      Keeper -  Teams either must or may keep players from year to year.  How many

players and how long you can keep them varies from league to league.

Dynasty – All players are kept from year to year.  Roster changes only occur through

trades, free agency, the Rookie Draft, or a supplemental FA draft.

Contract -  Contract leagues usually have auctions to select teams and then sign their

players to contracts based on a pre-determined salary cap.

If this is your first time being a commissioner and/or most of your owners are new to FF, I strongly suggest you start with a re-draft league.  It is easier to build momentum as a league because of the interest and excitement of the draft (which I’ll talk about later on).  Also, re-draft leagues survive owner turnover much easier than other types of leagues.

League Management

            The first major decision you have to make is whether to run your league on paper, on an internet site, or with a scoring program.  If you have the time to add up every score from the newspaper each week, go for it, but this option is not a reasonable one for most people.

            The advantages of an internet-based league are that they keep track of all FA pickups and trades and do all of the scoring for you.  The commissioner simply sets up the league,  find owners, and enters the rosters after the draft. (note: some internet leagues do not allow you to have a live draft.  Instead, each owner submits a player list and their computer performs a draft based on each owners lists, giving them best available player at each pick.)  Most internet-based leagues have Message Boards for talking smack.  Unfortunately, the free leagues rarely give you the opportunity to customize your scoring system and often seem to generic and lack individuality.  If you and your owners are new to FF, this may be the perfect place to wet your feet.  (It’s where I started out.)

            There are internet based leagues that cost money and allow you more liberty in your scoring system and notes from the commissioner and such.  Most people that opt for these leagues would be considered serious, because of the financial investment (usually, though, it costs less than 10 bucks/owner, so it’s not that bad), but not psycho commissioners.

            Your psycho commish usually creates a custom web-site for his league.  When our local league reached this stage, I viewed every single one of the customer sites at FFLM.com (a few hundred of them!) looking for ideas.  If you are going to create a website for your league, you will want a scoring program that will organize your league and make your life much, much easier.  We use FFLM, but there are many out there that are used and loved by their customers.  My advice in choosing one is to hop on the message board here and ask what people use, what they think about them, and for a web address so you can see the format and various reports of that program.

Lineups

            The typical lineup consists of 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1K and 1Defense/Special Teams.  There are many variations.  Probably the most common is making the TE optional and starting a 3^rd WR (TE count as WR).  Some leagues give owners the options of different lineups, while others have a required lineup.  I prefer a set lineup, but know many people who like the options.  Remember, some free sites give the owner lineup options and others do not.  Some lineup options you may like:

1QB, 1RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K, 1DEF/ST

1QB, 1RB, 4WR, 1K, 1DEF/ST

1QB, 3RB, 2WR, 1K, 1DEF/ST

You get the idea.   It is important to remember that usually these lineups are used only as options that an owner can choose from.  If your league is going to have set lineups, you should use the typical lineup with TE or 3WR instead.

Scoring

            There are two basic scoring systems:  Performance and Scoring (or TD only leagues).  The first gives points for both yardage and TD scored.  The second only gives points for TD.  I prefer the first.  A basic scoring system would be as follows (options are unlimited, but some more common ones are listed in parenthesis):

TD Rush/Rec – 6pts (bonus for length of TD)

TD Pass – 4pts (6pts…bonus for length of TD)

Rush/Rec Yards – 1pt/10yds ex. 10-19yds = 1pt (some leagues give fractional points -- .1pt/1yd)

Pass Yards – 1pt/25yds (many leagues give 1pt/20yds)

2-pt Conversion Rush/Rec/Pass – 2pts

FG – 3 pts (missed FG = negative pts; some scoring systems give more points for longer FG)

Extra Point – 1pt (-1/miss)

INT (Offense) = -2

Fumble (Offense) = -2

Defensive scoring usually differs more from league to league.  Special teams is generally lumped together with defense, however some leagues draft different teams for defense and special teams, while others draft individual defensive players.  Here are some things you need to decide on for scoring defense:

1-     Team or individual players (Team is much easier)

2-    If Team, do you want to draft DEF and ST together or separately (I recommend together)

There are two main routes for defensive scoring.  The most common includes points for sacks, turnovers, TD, safeties, and shutouts.  Some leagues score only for TD, yards against, and points against.  The reasoning behind the latter is that turnovers end drives and limit offensive yards and points against.  Sacks are counted against a team’s passing yards, so they, too, are accounted for in yards against.  I am involved in both types of leagues, but I prefer the second option.  Here are two customizable scoring charts:

If you choose to use individual players, I suggest you draft more than just 1DL, 1LB, 1DB.  Many leagues work this way, but each team ends up with a pro-bowler at each position, so there’s no real strategy.  Go with 4DL, 3LB or 3DL and 4LB and 4DB.  Your scoring system should account for Tackles, Sacks, INT, Safeties, TD, Fumbles Caused, Fumbles Recovered, and Passes Defended.

Website

            If you are going to make a website for your league, again I suggest that you not try to reinvent the wheel.  Snoop around for a while.  Visit as many league websites as you can. And bookmark the ones you like.  Remember, cut and paste is your best friend!  Email the webmasters and ask questions.  You will find that most people will be flattered that you are asking and will help you get started in any way that they can.

            You can do almost anything to your site.  We had owner pages w/pictures and profiles on year, sound clips, weekly polls, the works!  Without a doubt, though, the most important tool is a message board.  Many FF sites will host your board for free, and there are plenty of free hosting sites that do a decent job.  Hint:  The message board will become whatever you make of it, so SET THE PACE!!

The Draft

To me, the live draft  is what makes a local league special.  It is also the best way to gain momentum and build excitement for your league.  If you really want to have an awesome local league, you should try to have an awesome draft, and all it takes to have an awesome draft is a little creativity.   Here are some things to consider:

            Where?  To a great degree, what you can do depends on where you hold your draft.  Living rooms are fine, but a big conference room is better.  Some people rent conference rooms at hotels.  They’re usually not too expensive and can be set up to meet your needs.  Our league runs our draft at a church.  It’s free, plus we have a sound system and spotlights!  Our first year, we just put tables in a U and kept track of picks on a dry-erase board.  Last year, we brought in a computer, had a video projector and ran the whole thing on a 10ftx10ft screen.  We also bought a 12ftx4ft draft board with stickers for each player color coordinated by position!  We decorated the tables and set them up in a U again with the league trophy set up in the middle on a pedestal.   When league members entered the room, they were met by Jock Rocks blaring over the sound system.  The lights were all off, except for two spotlights aimed at the trophy.  It’s been eight months, and people are still talking about it!

            Many leagues determine draft position ahead of time.  Each owner in our league is given a wood draft ball to decorate with a team logo, and we hold our lottery just prior to the draft.  We then sit in draft order and pass a microphone around to make our picks.

            This may sound too complicated or unrealistic for your league.  My point isn’t to brag or discourage you, but to encourage you that with a little brainstorming and some planning, you can make your draft into an event that is looked forward to and talked about for months!  One piece of advice that is crucial:  Have someone else run your draft for you.  Running a live draft, no matter how simple it is, and drafting at the same time is the very difficult.  The draft will be great, but your draft won’t.  Know what I mean?  We had 3 people running ours last year.

            Feel free to check out our site:  http://members.tripod.com/dvrfootball/home.html  and steal our ideas!  There is a Draft History page with pictures from the draft I just talked about.   If you already have a league and have been reading this for ideas, I’d love to hear some of the things you have done to make your league special.  Please email me your ideas or suggestions.

End of Season Meeting

            At some point during the season, there is sure to be a situation where a rule or part of the scoring system is challenged.  It is important to state ahead of time how you will handle these issues.  I suggest that you keep track of them and have an end of the season meeting.

            At that meeting you should give out awards, cast a vision for next year (let them in on your new ideas), discuss issues that came up over the season and have an open forum to talk about scoring, rules, etc.

            It can sometimes be difficult to remember that, while you may have created the league and run the league, and while you have  certainly put the most time into the league, that this is their league, too.  So keep your ears open to what they say and don’t ignore the majority opinion even though you may not be in agreement.  I get the most of my fun in our local league out of seeing everyone else enjoying the draft, website, etc.  Of course, I want to win, but if I just wanted to win, I’d put all my time into my team and leave all the other commissioner duties to someone else.  No, I want to run a league that is awesome!

            If you have grand aspirations like me, you are probably daydreaming right now about how you could make your league even better than mine.  Great!  I really hope you succeed!  Most people won’t put in the time or effort that I have put into my league.  That’s ok, too.  My advice to all of you is to pick and choose what you want to do and then do those things well.  Above all, enjoy the process of creating a league.

            Be creative.  Ask for advice.  And remember:  Cut and Paste!