Who's Coming To The NFFC?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 4:30 am

I'm glad to see that while I was off playing golf in 45 degree weather that the signups for the NFFC kept coming in. We received two more signups last night for the New York NFFC draft. Let's welcome Raymond D'Amico of Lyndhurst, N.J. and his co-manager Robert Mullins of Bayonne, N.J. to the NFFC. Thanks for participating guys and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize.

Also signing up for the NFFC draft at the New York Hilton on Sept. 4 was Gerard Venezia of Staten Island, N.Y. I hate to give away his favorite team, but I noticed the Jets are located within his e-mail address!

Thanks for joining the growing NFFC family, Gerard, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize.

JerseyPaul · Post by **JerseyPaul** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 6:34 pm

Hmmm...if Dyv is playing

Well Greg, I'm a charter WCOFF guy but I'm really tempted to switch. Here's my concern...

As you may know, last year a multi site high stakes game tried to compete with WCOFF but never got off the ground and was cancelled. That left the folks who signed up for that event in the cold, as WCOFF was filled by the time they cancelled. I don't want to be left without a game.

Your successful baseball event is certainly a great sign. In baseball, WCOFB became the minor event and they went off, even without as many teams as they had planned for. I, and probably others, need to know that if you don't get your target number of teams you will not take the option of cancelling, but will take the option of reconfiguring the top prize to accomodate fewer entries. That way we can still play, possibly with even better odds of winning, but for a smaller prize.

By the way, whichever event I play in, I'll do the Auction and the Draft Masters. Last year the WCOFF Auction was my first, and I had a great time. In a serpentine, you make a decision every 10 minutes or so but in an auction you're involved every second for hours. It's a blast.

[ April 25, 2004, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: JerseyPaul ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:08 am

Jersey Paul, you know we'd love to have ya. The WCOFF is a grand event and I respect everything that Lenny and Emil have done over the last three years. We feel that we can reach the same type of participation in Year One because there are plenty of people who want to play in a first-rate fantasy football high stakes game, but who can't make the flight and take the time off from work to get to Las Vegas. That's why having events in Chicago and New York this year -- and more cities in following years -- is the right idea.

First of all, we are not like Fantasy Four Sports. Their multi-city model was a good one, but they were going to have drafts on different weekends in the different cities. That just can't happen if this is going to be a fair contest. What would have happened if one city drafted on Aug. 20 and then Michael Vick got hurt in a pre-season game the next day. When people drafted the next weekend in another city, they would have an advantage. They also weren't staffed like Krause Publications is to handle simultaneous drafts in multiple cities. And they weren't a $250+ million a year company like our parent company is.

As you know, we are not charging an Events Fee or hotel requirement because we are paying the rental space for all three spots. We have already paid those locations and are moving forward. We don't gain anything by cancelling the event, so I GUARANTEE we're not cancelling the NFFC in 2004. We are running our Fantasy Sports Trade Conference in Las Vegas two days prior to the NFFC at the Flamingo, so I will DEFINITELY be there to run another show. We have already paid STATS to be our stats provider and game manager and have negotiated a license with the NFLPA. So there's no turning back as far as I can see.

As you know, anything can happen and if we have 10 people signed up we'd have to make a tough decision. But we already have a strong base of players from the NFBC and a good promotional plan in place, so I'm confident we'll reach our goal. And when we didn't reach our goal in the NFBC we still guaranteed the prize money and took a small hit in Year One because 1) we knew it was the right thing to do; and 2) we knew it would build loyalty for the future. We are not in this for a one-time gain. Our company is 52 years old and we have been a leader in the fantasy sports industry for 15 years, so we're building a brand for the long-term and willing to invest in Year One to make this the industry's premiere fantasy baseball and football high stakes contest/event.

All I can say is we have a track record of guaranteeing our prize money already and the interest we've already received for the NFFC and the Draft Masters and Auction Leagues is encouraging. If you see another game that fits your needs, go for it. But if the NFFC format and location makes better sense, we'd love to have you. I can GUARANTEE you that we're going to have simultaneous live drafts in three cities on Sept. 4th and we're going to be a major player in this high stakes fantasy football market. We're building a brand for the long-term and will make it through Year One even if it hurts a little.

And not to throw stones at a competitor, but I think our price is right for Year One. The $1,250 entry fee is $485 less than the WCOFF ($1,450 entry fee) because we don't have an Events Fee or a hotel requirement. So if that is a factor and the savings on travel is another factor, our prize structures are very similar. But again, I'll let you make that decision and just tell you that we're going to be there on Sept. 3-4 in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas and we'd love to have you join us.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:10 am

Okay, it's not official but Mr. Bill has said that he's going to fly to Las Vegas for another fantasy football contest. Bill Ezzell is a TRUE fantasy football player and he has said he will compete in the NFFC and the Auction League in Las Vegas. I won't officially welcome you just yet Bill, but thanks for the conversation on Friday and thanks for trusting us in 2004.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:12 am

Let's welcome another member to the NFFC as Salvatore Diana of Manalapan, New Jersey has signed up for the main event at the New York Hilton. I know that Sal competed in the WCOFF last year and he was going to fly to Las Vegas to be one of our draft facilitators for the NFBC before business took him out of the country. Don't let work get in the way of this year's football draft, Sal!

Welcome to the growing NFFC family, Sal, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:28 am

Let's keep the signups rolling as Tony Silvia of Tinley Park, Illinois has agreed to participate in the NFFC main draft in Chicago on Sept. 4th. Tony is another NFBC member who is taking advantage of the early bird special. Welcome to the growing NFFC family, Tony, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 8:18 am

We're glad to have another NFBC member signed up for the NFFC today. The team of William Robertson and Peter Lukowicz of Sparta, New Jersey will return to New York to compete in the NFFC main event at the New York Hilton. Glad to have you guys back for the gridiron contest and part of our growing NFFC family. Pick out an autographed photo that you'd like to receive and I'll send it out. Oh, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:04 pm

Originally posted by JerseyPaul:
Hmmm...if Dyv is playing

Well Greg, I'm a charter WCOFF guy but I'm really tempted to switch. Here's my concern...

As you may know, last year a multi site high stakes game tried to compete with WCOFF but never got off the ground and was cancelled. That left the folks who signed up for that event in the cold, as WCOFF was filled by the time they cancelled. I don't want to be left without a game.

Your successful baseball event is certainly a great sign. In baseball, WCOFB became the minor event and they went off, even without as many teams as they had planned for. I, and probably others, need to know that if you don't get your target number of teams you will not take the option of cancelling, but will take the option of reconfiguring the top prize to accomodate fewer entries. That way we can still play, possibly with even better odds of winning, but for a smaller prize.

By the way, whichever event I play in, I'll do the Auction and the Draft Masters. Last year the WCOFF Auction was my first, and I had a great time. In a serpentine, you make a decision every 10 minutes or so but in an auction you're involved every second for hours. It's a blast. Hey JP - you and I have had our fun on the boards over the past 2 yrs., but I think there's some mutual respect (well at least, I respect your game, lol)

I won't lie to you - you know the WCOFF is solid... unlike the WCOFB. Lenny and Emil are true football guys and that's their main interest. Having said that, Greg is every bit a fantasy SPORTS addict as any of us. The multi-city format will have a huge draw... as people from Chicago and NY can just wake up and go to a convention center on a Saturday with minimal expense. You don't have to waste money on events fee (i.e. pocket padding). On top of that, Greg's goodie bags for baseball were probably worth at least a hundred bucks. Football will almost certainly have more sponsors who want to get their products in our hands.

We got the Sporting News Baseball Register, a Mickey Mantle coffee table book, stress ball baseballs, pens, a folder, a bobblehead, a MacFarlane sports collectible, 5 fantasy magazines, a year subscription to Fantasy Sports Magazine... a ping golf polo shirt, probably something else I'm forgetting, but that's what I remember.

In addition, Greg's affiliations with Upper Deck and Steiner mean that for baseball there are 2 prizes awarded every week - high score and random draw for a memorabilia item. I don't know the total value of everything given away but it's easily over $10,000... probably in the neighborhood of $15,000.

Greg will get this event going and we'll end up with at least 350-400 people. Heck, the WCOFF will be filled up by June and then Greg will be everyone's alternative. How many did the WCOFF get in year 1? Greg will top that. He did it in baseball, he'll do it again.

Finally, I think Greg's rules are better. They allow for more value to the QB position and with a 14 team league EVERYTHING will have value. It's not like in the WCOFF where you need powerful RB or you're screwed. In this contest, you can get out of the draft from any position with a good team and the best managers will be the ones who can identify the VALUE at each position. As a matter of fact, I think picking #1 is a crappy spot in this contest.

Good luck if you decide to join - Greg's contest will only grow - the WCOFF is limited by its own vision and focus on making a quick buck. Greg is an employee of Krause, he doesn't own the place - so even though he has bosses to talk to, he's more interested in making the event an equal value position for participants and organizers. I've gotten a strong sense that the WCOFF is about making money off of our passions and putting on a good contest isn't as important. I don't feel that way with Greg and Tom and Rocky and the gang.

Dave

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 7:47 am

We're glad to welcome another NFBC member to the gridiron game as Greg Morgan of Westerville, Ohio has signed up to compete in the main event at the Oakbrook Marriott in Chicago. Greg was one of our first signups in the NFBC and now he's leading the pack again with our NFFC signups. Welcome to the growing NFFC family, Greg, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize. Oh, and let me know which autographed photo you'd like and we'll ship it out to you.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:48 am

We don't like to tag any owner in the NFFC, but we have our first industry writer who has agreed to participate in our high stakes event. Let's welcome Nate Ravitz of RotoTimes.com, another NFBC member who has yet to get his team on the home page leaderboard, but who is willing to try again in the NFFC. Nate will be drafting in Las Vegas on Sept. 4th at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino and he hopes his baseball team will be much improved by then. Welcome to the growing NFFC family, Nate, and best of luck in the hunt for the $200,000 grand prize.