Dealing With The Friday Night Opener, Sept. 6th

[Greg Ambrosius]

The NFL announced earlier this off-season that they would be adding a Friday Night Season Opener in Brazil and we have since learned that it will be a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Today we learned that kickoff will be at 8:15 pm ET and will be aired exclusively on the Peacock Network.

That becomes the second "free look" game of Week 1 for all NFFC drafters, whether you draft before these games or after these games. The Thursday Night Season Opener will reportedly be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens.

Those are four great offenses and now NFFC owners will be able to see the results from those two games before setting their starting lineups before the Week 1 games start on Sunday, September 7th. Get used to this format because there's no way this is a 1-year thing. You know this is going to be the format from here on out, with Thursday and Friday Night Openers before the Week 1 Sunday games.

So how do we handle this in the NFFC?

Well, first of all, both games are free looks. I think everyone in the fantasy football high-stakes industry will handle these games that way.

But with Friday night being one of the biggest draft nights of the season, how are we going to handle that? Are we going to shut everything down for drafts and auctions like we do on Thursday night?

The simple answer is: NO.

We will still offer live and online drafts during the Friday Night Game and if you don't mind drafting during the game then go for it. If there's no way you want to draft during this game, then by all means definitely draft before or after that game.

But from our perspective in Las Vegas, people fly out there for a weekend of games and drafting and it wouldn't make sense to offer nothing on Friday night. Last year we hosted 5 live drafts/auctions on Friday at 4 pm PT and 6 live drafts/auctions on Friday at 7 pm PT. We are keeping many of the same contests at those times and will run whatever we can fill. Again, we feel people are flying out to Las Vegas for live events and to totally shut down Thursday AND Friday night would limit the options people have to draft live that weekend.

With the game starting at 5:15 pm PT, I think we can still have a full slate at 4 pm PT. The Primetime and Super drafts are done in 90 minutes or so, while the Best Ball Live really won't affect what happens in that game. Should we move the Ultimate Auction League from that time? That's something we'll have to discuss with those currently signed up as that one is moving toward a sellout already.

The lineup at 7 pm PT is tougher because it will likely be halftime of that game. Should we move the Diamond League to 8 pm PT or even to Saturday at 1 pm PT? I'm all for moving this league to Saturday afternoon if needed. We could also move back the schedule to 8 or 8:30 or 9:00 for the Primetime or Auction League and Silver Bullet league if needed. We can discuss that over the next few days.

I'm also open to adding more events on Wednesday if people plan on getting into Las Vegas earlier going forward. We hosted 3 NFFC Primetime leagues on Wednesday at 8 pm PT and have moved that contest to 7 pm PT. We have 6 ballrooms and can add more contests at 7 pm or even add some at 4 pm PT. Also, we can do more on Saturday at 1 pm PT (auction??) and 4 pm PT (Super??). The schedule is wide open to add even more offerings on Wednesday and Saturday if Friday night isn't good for some drafters.

Anyway, we are open for suggestions/discussion right here. Again, we think we can keep the 4 pm PT schedule as is right now and see if we can fill those five scheduled leagues, but Friday night has an array of possibilities from moving to later start times to moving to other days. Help us set the foundation for this new format because going forward I'm confident the NFL will have Thursday and Friday Night openers every year going forward. Let's set our schedule correctly in 2024 so that we have it right for 2025 and beyond. Thanks all.

[packman527]

With the game starting at 5:15 pm PT, I think we can still have a full slate at 4 pm PT. The Primetime and Super drafts are done in 90 minutes or so, while the Best Ball Live really won't affect what happens in that game. Should we move the Ultimate Auction League from that time? That's something we'll have to discuss with those currently signed up as that one is moving toward a sellout already.

I was planning on joining the Ultimate Auction, but was waiting for the kickoff time announcement of the Packers/Eagles game. I will not be drafting, especially not an auction, during that game. If the Ultimate Auction is moved so that it doesn't interfere with the Packers game at all, I may still join. But if it stays where it's at, I will definitely not be joining.

Also, are you thinking about any sort of viewing party for the Friday game, as well? Or just for the Thursday game?

[Sack]

For every year that I can remember, it was important to hold the 14 Team Auction prior
To the first game of the NFL season and until recently those of us participating were even required
To have our lineups set, no cheat games. No issue w/ the cheat games now as ALL of the other NFFC
Leagues are given the preview,

With the new wrinkle of the NFL adding the Friday night game I understand continuing both Auctions and
Drafts throughout the entire day. But putting up the sum of money your asking for the Ultimate Auction ( $5000 )
and then saying that this be be conducted during a LIVE game is a complete disservice to some of your most loyal
Customers who have supported these High Stakes Events. I don’t want to be at the table with that kind of money
On the line, EVERYBODY in that room will want to watch that game. This will include the players and your staff,
I suspect a rush, whether you admit it or not, to conclude this $5000 event or any other draft/auction so that
we can all GET to the game. Watching the games “AROUND” the NFFC Leagues is why I enjoy participating and
Making the trip to Las Vegas.

If you can hold a “Premier” Auction for years at 9am on a Thursday BEFORE the 5pm kickoff and
then not show the same consideration for the other so called “Premier” Auction League that carries a
Price twice the amount is simply working against the initial theory = which was sound. Hopefully you
will reconsider, As currently listed, no way would I personally register for your 4pm Auction with the NFL
Holding a LIVE game an hour later.

[Greg Ambrosius]

For every year that I can remember, it was important to hold the 14 Team Auction prior
To the first game of the NFL season and until recently those of us participating were even required
To have our lineups set, no cheat games. No issue w/ the cheat games now as ALL of the other NFFC
Leagues are given the preview,

With the new wrinkle of the NFL adding the Friday night game I understand continuing both Auctions and
Drafts throughout the entire day. But putting up the sum of money your asking for the Ultimate Auction ( $5000 )
and then saying that this be be conducted during a LIVE game is a complete disservice to some of your most loyal
Customers who have supported these High Stakes Events. I don’t want to be at the table with that kind of money
On the line, EVERYBODY in that room will want to watch that game. This will include the players and your staff,
I suspect a rush, whether you admit it or not, to conclude this $5000 event or any other draft/auction so that
we can all GET to the game. Watching the games “AROUND” the NFFC Leagues is why I enjoy participating and
Making the trip to Las Vegas.

If you can hold a “Premier” Auction for years at 9am on a Thursday BEFORE the 5pm kickoff and
then not show the same consideration for the other so called “Premier” Auction League that carries a
Price twice the amount is simply working against the initial theory = which was sound. Hopefully you
will reconsider, As currently listed, no way would I personally register for your 4pm Auction with the NFL
Holding a LIVE game an hour later.

Kenny, I'll host the Ultimate Auction at any time that works for everyone who wants to participate. We posted this contest at the same time as last year before even knowing about the Friday Night Game and before knowing the start time of the game. We have 6 people signed up, but I'll gladly move it to a different date and time if we can figure out the best date and time together. That's the tough part on a busy weekend.

Same with the Friday Night Diamond League. It's not conducive to host that during the game, but in polling the participants I have a mix of those who want to keep it that night (maybe starting after the game) and those who want to move it to Saturday night. I am listening to everyone involved and want to get this at a time that works for all 12 participants.

This is an important year for those contests and all of our Friday night contests that we've run in the past because what we do this year will likely be the format going forward in future years. The NFL isn't doing this Friday Night Game as a one-off; this is going to be the First Weekend schedule every year going forward. So every year going forward we need to get these auctions and drafts on times that will work for the participants.

I'm all for moving these contests to 9 pm Friday after the game is done or to Saturday at 1 pm or any other time that works. It's a busy weekend for everyone, so finding the right day and time for each one is going to be difficult. But absolutely I'm willing to move these contests to times that will fill and not make it difficult for the participants.

As for wanting to watch the game: Count me in!!! The Packers are playing. I'd love to watch it. But a lot of people are flying to Las Vegas to draft teams for the entire season and to have no contests on Friday after 2 pm PT doesn't seem right. Hopefully we can still fill some of these other contests during that time and if we need to have a full slate at 9 pm PT we'll have the ballrooms ready for those leagues. Just let me know what works best and we'll get them set up.

YOU FOLKS are telling us what you want. If nobody signs up for Friday at 4 pm and 7 pm PT, then we'll need to quickly adjust. But again, we had those contests on Registration long before the NFL announced the Friday Night Game and now we need to adjust or fill them. We're willing to fill some if demand is there and move other leagues if demand tells us to do that. We're ready to adjust now and I'll even email the Ultimate Auction league folks now to get better feedback.

Thanks for pushing the conversation and hopefully we can find the right time for this contest on Second Weekend.

[Sack]

Greg:

Appreciate the quick response. I realize you are halfway to filling the Ultimate Auction, I’m hoping
Others involved would prefer to not handle this important Auction during the game. I’ll be watching to see
How it turns out going forward. TY

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg:

Appreciate the quick response. I realize you are halfway to filling the Ultimate Auction, I’m hoping
Others involved would prefer to not handle this important Auction during the game. I’ll be watching to see
How it turns out going forward. TY

The feedback so far has been to move it to 3 pm PT with minimal breaks so that we are done by 5 pm or so. I think it's doable. All of the 1 pm PT drafts will be done by 2:40, but the only conflict would be if someone is in a 1 pm PT auction league. That likely wouldn't be done by 3 pm PT.

I think the lesson here is to change the entire Friday schedule going forward to starting at 9 am PT, noon PT, 3 pm PT and maybe 8 or 9 pm PT. That way we are still giving folks options that day with enough time to watch the Friday Night Game. I think that's doable for 2025.

And maybe the Ultimate Auction finds a different time slot in 2025. Like you said, maybe it's 9 am on Friday. Keep the feedback coming and we'll come to a resolution soon and see if we can fill it up. But right now, a 3 pm Friday start time is the leader among the six owners who are signed up. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, there are two obvious choices right now for the NFFC Ultimate Auction league if we want to fill it again:

1) 3 pm PT on Friday before the game. With minimal breaks we can get this done by 5 pm or so.
2) 9 pm PT after the game. Everyone would know the results of the two "free look" games and we do battle late at night with everyone there. This one has a lot of merit and I'm all for it if there is demand for it.

Feel free to post on this thread or email me and we'll see where this takes us. Thanks all.