Suggestions For 2013 NFFC Classic

[Jack_Bauer]

You guys are knocking yourselves out on simple rules proposals. I can figure that out to hopefully take care of all deserving teams.

I was hoping for something special, like WE MUST HAVE A $100,000 GRAND PRIZE. Or get back to 18 man rosters. Or host a special Classic party in Las Vegas with special side offerings or prizes. Something I hadn't thought of yet; not just 3rd place total points in each league are guaranteed a Championship Round spot. I'm on that.

How about a 10-year owner only draft! Could we get enough in Vegas to fill a Classic?

I'd be up for that.....and how about some "kickback" for those owners, Greg?

A 10 year "thanks for the thousands of dollars you spent", draft? 100% payback?

This would be cool. Are there enough players to make this happen? It would be a nice thing for the NFFC to do and a great PR move that sends a message to the market as to which contest appreciates their players most while at the same time is building some history.

[Jack_Bauer]

This would work for the Classic also that I posted on another thread.................



One setup that I have always thought could work that I'm not sure if it was mentioned, so apologize in advance if I'm repeating someone's idea.


Overall Contests (Going to Use Prime Time as example)

After 13 Weeks:
#1 Seed - Most Points - $1500
#2 Seed - Best Head to Head - $1500
#3 Seed - Next Most Points
#4 Seed - Next Best Head to Head


League Champion - $4500
Runner-Up - $2000

All 4 teams make the "League Playoffs" which runs through week 16. All 4 teams will take their 13 week Avg into the 3 week race where the team with the most points is the League Champion and the runner up gets 2nd place. The Top 3 seeds will also move on to the "Overall Race" for $150,000. The #4 Seed who got into the league playoffs is not eligible to make the overall (unless he was in top X % in overall points), but does have a shot at the league prize.

The key points to take away from this is that the League playoffs extend through week 16 rather than ending in week 13 and that 4 teams have a shot at it. I do believe that there should be a reward after 13 weeks to the teams that finished with most points and best head to head record. That would be getting their money back. Then they go into a 3 week All Points race to determine the top 2 spots in the league. I believe that there is no reason why the league season/playoffs should end in week 11 or 13. Why not have it just go right till the end in week 16. I also believe there should be a 4th team involved in the league playoffs, but not in the Overall contest. The teams with the most points after 13 weeks are the ones technically that should get rewarded for that, but that 4th team (which is a team that had the next best head to head record after the top 3) still gets a shot at being "League Champion" and walking away with $4500 if he can outscore the other 3 teams. Why 2 record teams making the Playoffs you ask? Because we play the whole season head to head and there should be something said for that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that team deserves a birth in the Overall race. This setup would have a little bit of a Diamond/Satellite league feel to it, but still be an Overall contest league and I think we get a truer picture of who the top teams are after 16 weeks not any sooner.

As for growing the classic. I like some of the above ideas. Before getting into how to determine league titles and money, I will answer Greg's question about basic game playing rule. I didn't feel like the roster size combined with a 14 team league made the free agent wire overly barren. I am not sure I would change much of anything from rules perspective. I liked the full pt per reception for RB's. I like the 6 pts for passing TD's. I just think there has to be a way to make H2H a bit more valuable in a way that keeps more people in the hunt past early October. If you fall behind in points, you are done and that leaves a large number of participants with a bad taste in their mouth playing out the regular season with little to compete for aside from being a spoiler and having a shot at the consolation crap shoot. When you start evaluating the $ you invested and you see how quickly you can be dead in that event some people may start thinking of other places to spend that $1500.

[JETS SB]

I would not change anything about the classic other than trying to get the overall prize up to 100 gs. I will be playing in every classic league they offer next year or as many as I can possibly get drafted. Wish I would have played in more of these this year. Great Job Greg keep up the fine work and I will see you in 2013.

There, now these are REAL suggestions. Let me just say that I agree that there is a big difference between $75,000 and $100,000 and I do believe that folks when they see the odds of winning the top prize in the Classic will like this format if the carrot is big enough. But I also must say that we've sold out the Classic just ONCE in 9 years and even last year's 252 teams was far short of our goal of 322. So to add $25,000 more to the top prize means we'd need 70 more teams to our original goal to be a sellout.

Can we do that? Probably not. But consider a $100,000 grand prize, $7,000 top league prize, $11,500 in league prizes and a 1 in 70 chance of winning in the Championship Round. It would be a fantastic contest. But now we need to find the promotional might to SELL IT OUT!!

Tom and I aren't afraid to stick our neck out for the 14-team format. We've done it for 9 years. But we also don't want to lose our necks like a turkey before Thanksgiving. So we have to be smart here. But I'll consider it all.

I agree that the $100,000 grand prize is a good idea, but haven't we had the $100,000 prize up until this year and the entries for the Classic have declined each year? I understand that you don't want to speak of playoff expansion because you don't feel it is a "REAL" suggestion and doesn't get anyone excited.. I tend to disagree, as the reason why major sports as a whole (MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL) has increased immensely in popularity over the past 20 years is due to playoff expansion and giving teams a chance to make it to the big dance as a wild card, etc when prior to, they were eliminated much earlier.. This kept fans involved as well. I truly believe playoff expansion is the reason for the major sports boom in popularity and attendance and I truly believe that expanding the playoffs here will increase your contest(s) in popularity as well. Give people a better chance to win and they will come. If you want to increase to 322 teams again in the Classic in order to give away $100,000, don't we have to do more than just roster adjusting and FAAB debates? I have only been chiming in because I believe this is an important and vital way to expand and my true intent is not for selfish reasons but is to help grow this contest. I won't say anymore on the subject, but I have been in big business and marketing for 30 years and I know a little about the subject (not saying that you don't)

[Tom Kessenich]

Alan, if there's one thing the players in this industry have said loud and clear it's that the big grand prize is what the majority seeks. We've certainly seen that and so has FFPC. We lowered the Classic's grand prize this year but raised the league prizes to an industry best level and yet the signups declined. Was the drop to $75,000 the only reason? Probably not but it may have been a factor.

There are people on the boards talking about ways to add more playoff teams to our events. You're one of them. So it's inaccurate to say this isn't something Greg and I aren't taking into consideration. We are. Adding more playoff teams may or may not increase signups in the Classic or other events. That's uncertain. However, a larger grand prize will attract more interest. I think that's a given based on how the high-stakes industry has evolved in recent years. We have to decide if returning the Classic to a $100,000 grand prize will increase participation and if so how do we go about doing that without putting the event at risk. I think that needs to be the first question we have to address.

[JETS SB]

Alan, if there's one thing the players in this industry have said loud and clear it's that the big grand prize is what the majority seeks. We've certainly seen that and so has FFPC. We lowered the Classic's grand prize this year but raised the league prizes to an industry best level and yet the signups declined. Was the drop to $75,000 the only reason? Probably not but it may have been a factor.

There are people on the boards talking about ways to add more playoff teams to our events. You're one of them. So it's inaccurate to say this isn't something Greg and I are taking into consideration. We are. Adding more playoff teams may or may not increase signups in the Classic or other events. That's uncertain. However, a larger grand prize will attract more interest. I think that's a given based on how the high-stakes industry has evolved in recent years. We have to decide if returning the Classic to a $100,000 grand prize will increase participation and if so how do we go about doing that without putting the event at risk. I think that needs to be the first question we have to address.

I understand that and agree that raising the grand prize to $100,000 will help. Greg's comment that these aren't "REAL suggestions" makes it seem as if it isn't being taken into consdideration. Maybe I misunderstood his comments then.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Oh boy. YES, WE ARE LOOKING AT OUR LEAGUE PAYOUT AND PLAYOFF SETUPS FOR 2013!!! Is that loud enough?

I can't respond to every new idea. I told you why I looked at all 53 individual leagues and what I learned. We don't have to do anything drastic, but we do need to widen our safety net and I think we will. But Tom and I will make that call and I think we know what we need to do without increasing the Championship Rounds by a large number of teams. So thanks for all of the suggestions and trust me, we've read them all and even heard from folks on the phone. You folks have been very VOCAL and we appreciate it.

But to assume we are doing nothing for 2013 is not accurate as I shouted above.

[ForLoveOfTheGame]

Greg, if upping the entry fee by $50 gets you to a grand prize of $100,000 I'd say that's first and foremost to add. I just have to sign up, pay an extra $50 and I'll win 25k more? Can you get the link for 2013 classic sign ups active?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg, if upping the entry fee by $50 gets you to a grand prize of $100,000 I'd say that's first and foremost to add. I just have to sign up, pay an extra $50 and I'll win 25k more? Can you get the link for 2013 classic sign ups active?

Thanks Jared. I'm working on the 2013 NFFC budget right now and trying to make this all work. It's going to be our 10th anniversary season, so LET'S GO FOR IT!!

I'll tell you how we can get there and see what folks say. I think the $11,500 in league prizes and $7,000 for first place is great for this contest. I've always wanted to up the overall prizes like we have in the NFBC, but we need more teams to make that happen. Maybe having $100,000 as the grand prize PLUS the top league prizes is the key, I don't know. But I'll put it all in the spreadsheet and see what she spits out!! Then it's up to you folks to come back and play again.

And don't forget, 23 of the 54 Classic teams are also tied to Primetime teams for the $75,000 cash bonus. That's a pretty amazing number (led by your 6 Classic teams Jared). But not only can someone win this $75,000 grand prize, but there's a 43% chance that this team will be tied into the Primetime Championship Round, where if that same owner wins both overall titles he or she will win $225,000 in grand prizes plus the $75,000 cash bonus. That's quite a deal.