Win $80,000 In The 2017 NFFC Diamond League

[Greg Ambrosius]

It's hard to believe, but this is the 8th season for the NFFC Diamond League. This contest was started in 2010 as the industry's highest entry point league with the highest league prizes. It's still one of the very best we offer in the NFFC as one owner could walk away with as much as $80,000 in league prizes.

This 12-team live event will be held in Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 8th at 10 am PT. This is a 20-round draft with in-season FAAB and a $10,000 entry fee. The regular season head-to-head champion will earn $10,000 and the regular season total points champion will also earn $10,000. The Top 4 teams advance to the Championship Round in Weeks 14-16 with the team finishing with the most points earning the top league prize of $60,000. The Top 3 finishers in the Championship Round earn cash prizes, along with the top scoring team in the Consolation Round.

Last year's participants have first dibs on spots through May 31st. You can secure your spot via email to me at [email protected] and no payment is needed until August. Thanks all and good luck.

Past champions of the NFFC Diamond League include:

2010 - Peter Berall
2011 - Chad Schroeder
2012 - Paul Clein
2013 - Chad Schroeder
2014 - Kyle Johnson
2015 - Chad Schroeder
2016 - Larry Schechter

Here's a look at the official Rules and Prizes for the 2017 NFFC Diamond League:

Official Rules and Regulations of the National Fantasy Football Championship Diamond League

1. Overview
The National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) Diamond League will consist of 12 teams/managers per league. The NFFC regular season will begin with all Week 1 NFL games (including results from the Thursday, Sept. 8th game) and through all Week 13 games. Teams will play every other team in their league once in head-to-head competition plus a two-week “All-Play” format (Weeks 1 & 2) where the top 6 scoring teams in each of those weeks get a Win and the bottom 6 scoring teams get a Loss. The team with the best overall record will win a $10,000 prize and the team with the most total points during the regular season will also win $10,000. One team can win both prizes if they accomplish both achievements. Tie-breakers for the head-to-head title is total points. The top four teams based on total points and h2h record designated below will make the Championship Round, while the eight other teams will compete in the Consolation Round. The four teams in the Championship Round will take their weekly scoring average into the playoffs and add that to their scoring totals in Weeks 14-16 and the team with the most points wins the title and the $60,000 prize. Prizes will be paid to the top three scoring teams in the Championship Round. The Consolation Round will be set up the same way, with only the top team receiving $2,000.

League playoff qualifiers from each league include:
#1 Playoff Qualifier: Best h2h record (total points is the tie-breaker)
#2 Playoff Qualifier: Most total points (next most total points if h2h champ had more points)
#3 Playoff Qualifier: Next most total points
#4 Playoff Qualifier: Next most total points

2. Draft
Each NFFC Diamond League will be comprised of 12 teams, and each draft will last for 20 rounds, with each team selecting a player in each round in a serpentine fashion (team 1 through team 12 in Round 1 and team 12 through team 1 in Round 2). All NFFC Diamond Leagues will use 3RR (3rd Round Reversal) in 2017, meaning that the draft order will go back down to 12 to start Round 3 and then continue in serpentine fashion after that. The NFFC is using 3RR to balance the talent pool throughout these 12-team leagues. Here’s how the draft order will go:

Round 1: 1-12
Round 2: 12-1
Round 3: 12-1
Round 4: 1-12
Round 5: 12-1
Round 6: 1-12
Round 7: 12-1
Round 8: 1-12
Round 9: 12-1
Round 10: 1-12
Round 11: 12-1
Round 12: 1-12
Round 13: 12-1
Round 14: 1-12
Round 15: 12-1
Round 16: 1-12
Round 17: 12-1
Round 18: 1-12
Round 19: 12-1
Round 20: 1-12

Players can be drafted at any position at any time in the draft, but each team must have at least one player for each of the designated starting positions by the end of the draft. Each team must start a weekly lineup of 10 players and the team roster must remain at 20 players; there are no injured reserve lists beyond the team total of 20.

Because the NFFC Diamond League will be drafting after the Thursday, Sept 8th NFL Opener, all owners will be allowed to set their Week 1 starting lineup AFTER that game. Starting lineups will be due before the first game on Sunday, Sept. 10th.

3. Prizes
Place League Consolation Round
1st $60,000 $2,000
2nd $25,000 --
3rd $7,000 --
Head-to-Head Regular Season Champion: $10,000
Total Points Regular Season Champion: $10,000
Consolation Round Winner: $2,000

4. No Trading
Trading is not allowed during the NFFC season and owners are not allowed to trade draft picks.

5. Roster Requirements
Maximum of 20 players at all times.

6. Starting Lineup Requirements
Starting lineups will consist of:
1 Quarterback
2 Running Backs
3 Wide Receivers
1 Tight End
1 Flex Player (RB, WR or TE)
1 Kicker
1 Team Defense/Specials Team

If no Week One lineup is submitted, the NFFC will determine your starting lineup. After Week One, if no starting lineup is submitted, your starting lineup will be that of the previous week.

7. Scoring
Players can accumulate points in a number of ways:
PASSING
.05 points for every yard passing (works out to 1 point every 20 yards)
6 points for every passing touchdown
2 points for every 2-Point conversion
minus 2 points for every interception
minus 1 point for every lost fumble

RUSHING
.10 points for every yard rushing (works out to 1 point every 10 yards)
6 points for every rushing TD
2 points for every 2-Point conversion
minus 1 point for every lost fumble
6 points for a recovered offensive fumble for a touchdown (RB, QB, WR, TE)

RECEIVING
.10 points for every yard receiving (works out to 1 point every 10 yards)
6 points for every receiving TD
1 point for every reception for all players
2 points for every 2-Point conversion
minus 1 point for every lost fumble

KICKING
1 point for every extra point
3 points for every field goal from 1-30 yards
3 points for every field goal plus .10 points for every yard after 30 yards (i.e. a 47-yard field goal would be worth 4.7 points)

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
1 point for every sack
2 points for every interception or opponents' fumble recovery
6 points for every touchdown (interception return, defensive fumble return, punt or kickoff return, blocked field goal return, blocked punt return). All special teams and defensive points are awarded to the team responsible. Individual players who also score a TD on special teams will receive 6 points for their fantasy teams. Also, any lost fumble or “muff” on a specials team play now results in negative points for that individual player. Should a kicker, punter or field goal holder throw a pass off a fake attempt, however, the offensive output for that offensive play would go towards the individual player, not the specials team.
2 points for every safety
2 points for every touchdown scored on a failed PAT or 2-point conversion
12 points for a shutout by the entire team
8 points for allowing 2-7 points by the entire team
4 points for allowing 8-12 points by the entire team
2 points for allowing 13-17 points by the entire team

8. Free Agent Acquisitions
Any player who is not on a team roster within your league is considered a free agent for that league. The free agent system will be a "blind bidding" process for each individual league (Free Agent Acquisition Bidding or FAAB). Each team will start with a $1,000 FAAB budget, and will be permitted to bid for free agents on a weekly basis beginning after Week 1 and going through Week 13. No team will be informed of any other team's free agent bids before they’re announced and only the winning bid and the runner-up bid will be announced afterwards to NFFC owners. The team with the highest bid on any given player will be awarded that player. The amount of the winning bid will be deducted from the winning team's free agent dollars. For each winning bid, the winning team must drop a player to make roster room for the free agent acquisition. If a team's free agent dollars goes to zero, that team will no longer be allowed to bid for the rest of the season. No bid will be accepted that is larger than a team's free agent dollars. All bids must be in increments of dollars (no cents).

9. The Draft
The draft will be held in Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 8th and will include stats from the already completed game on Thursday night. If a full league of members can’t be formed in Las Vegas owners can be added via teleconference to fill out the 12-team league, but live owners get first preference. The draft will be held in a serpentine fashion for each round while using 3RR (3rd Round Reversal, 1-12 in Round 1, 12-1 in Round 3, 12-1 in Round 3, 1-12 in Round 4 and continuing in serpentine fashion from that point on).
A. League Management Web Address: SportsHub will manage the NFFC and provide real-time stats online. You can access your league via the Internet by going to http://nffc.sportshubtech.com.
B. Lineup Submission: All lineups may be submitted on the league web site and must be entered prior to the scheduled kickoff for the game affected.
C. Scoring: The National Fantasy Football Championship will use a head-to-head scoring setup. Scoring will be accumulated each week from your 10 starters. Scores in the NFFC are finalized with no changes possible after 6 p.m. EST each Thursday after the weekend games.

10. Bidding Time Frame
Because of the NFL having Thursday Night Games every week this season, the NFFC will be hosting 2 FAAB periods each week. The first one will run every Wednesday after Week 1 at 10 pm ET, and a second FAAB period will run for unselected free agents from that week on Friday at 10 pm ET. Players dropped on Wednesday can’t be picked up on Friday and all NFL players competing in Thursday’s games can’t be picked up or waived on Friday. Those players are all LOCKED on Thursday and available in the next FAAB period on the following Wednesday.

The bidding process will be held each week after Week 1 and continues through the end of the NFFC regular season in Week 13. Bids will be accepted on the league web site from Saturday at 9 am ET until Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET in each of those weeks. Bidding for the second FAAB of the week will begin at 9 am ET on Thursday and close at 10 pm ET on Friday. Rosters will be updated by 11 p.m. ET Wednesday and Friday with the results of all winning and runner-up bids. Standings on tied bids will be based on the standings at the time of FAAB bid, which obviously can change from Wednesday to Friday based on Elias stat changes on Thursday.

There is NO FAAB before Week 1, so plan accordingly. You may need to draft backup kickers and get depth at several positions before the start of the season. This is all part of the roster construction knowing that Free Agents aren’t available until after Week 1.

11. Conditional Bids
Conditional bids can also be offered. In the event you may lose out on a player, you can place conditional bid(s) for other players during the bidding time frame. The first conditional bid will become relevant only if you lose out on the first bid. Subsequent conditional bids will become relevant only if the previous conditional bid fails. Bids do not require conditional bids. Bids may have several sequential conditional bids, but the system processes them from highest dollar value to lowest dollar value.

12. Number of Bid Limits
There is no limit to the number of bids each week in which bids are permitted.

13. Tied Bids
If there is a tie bid, the team that receives the player will be determined in order by:
Worst league record
Lowest total points
Highest points against
Lowest draft spot

14. Trades between managers
To minimize the possibility of collusion, there will be no trading allowed. All drops are also subject to review by the commissioner of the NFFC and can be revoked if the dropped player is deemed too valuable to be offered to that league's free agent pool, thus damaging the credibility of the overall contest. In the case of a “star” player being dropped in a league for a valid reason, the NFFC commissioner does reserve the right to allow the cut but keep the player out of that league's free agent listing for any length of time, possibly the entire season. Accidental cuts or cuts of the wrong player will be handled individually by the NFFC commissioner and reversed if deemed necessary. All decisions by the NFFC commissioner will be final.

15. League Structure
Each league will consist of 12 teams competing in a head-to-head plus total points format for the league championship. The NFFC Diamond will run from Week 1 through Week 13 in a league format, with each team playing every other team once in head-to-head competition plus two weeks of “all play”, where the top 6 scoring teams in each of those weeks get a Win and the bottom 6 scoring teams get a Loss. The team with the best overall record will win a $10,000 prize and the team with the most total points during the regular season will also win $10,000. One team can win both prizes if they accomplish both achievements. Tie-breakers for the head-to-head title is total points. The top four teams based on total points and h2h record designated below will make the Championship Round, while the eight other teams will compete in the Consolation Round. The four teams in the Championship Round will take their weekly scoring average into the playoffs and add that to their scoring totals in Weeks 14-16 and the team with the most points wins the title and the $60,000 prize. Prizes will be paid to the top three scoring teams in the Championship Round. The Consolation Round will be set up the same way, with only the top team receiving $2,000.


#1 Playoff Qualifier: Best h2h record (total points is the tie-breaker)
#2 Playoff Qualifier: Most total points (next most total points if h2h champ had more points)
#3 Playoff Qualifier: Next most total points
#4 Playoff Qualifier: Next most total points

16. Random League/Draft Spot Selections
The NFFC will randomly select the draft order of the Diamond League once the league is filled with 12 owners. Leagues are formed on a first-come, first-served basis. In 2017, we’ll also use the Kentucky Derby Style process to allow owners more draft preference. The KDS process allows owners to rank their order of preference for Draft Day, ranking their preferences 1 through 12 BEFORE the leagues are selected. If an owner wants the third pick if he is selected No. 1 overall in his league, he would choose that option and he would then be moved to third in that league on Draft Day. NFFC officials will look at every owner’s Draft Preferences after the leagues and orders are randomly selected and then announce the draft orders for each league. Once each NFFC owner has officially signed up for the contest, they can find this feature once they click on their team link. You will see the rankings ranked 1-12 and an Edit Preferences link. If you decide not to rank your preferences, your preferred order will remain 1 through 12. Owners can change their Draft Preferences right up until the announced deadline is set.
The NFFC will run KDS 30 minutes after the game on Thursday, Sept. 8th, picking the spots online and then emailing all league members of the draft order. The KDS deadline for all owners is the conclusion of the Thursday Night Game.

17. Tie-breaker procedures
If after 13 regular season games, teams are tied for first place, second place or third place, the following tiebreakers will be used in this order:
Total points through 13 weeks
Head-to-head won/lost record against the tied teams (if three or more teams, it's cumulative wins against those common opponents)
Highest point total from Week 13
Highest point total from Week 12
Highest point total from Week 11 down to Week 1 in order
Lowest draft spot

This procedure is for determining the head-to-head champion and the league total points leader.
In the playoffs, should any teams finish in a tie for prize money, the money would be split among those teams. In the unlikely event that teams are tied with the exact same point total during the playoffs for the NFFC title, the prize money for first and second place would be added together and split evenly. The same is true if teams tied for third place or fourth place or any of the other money spots, including the consolation round.

18. Draft Rules
Time Limit: Each participant will have a one-minute time limit from the moment the draft facilitator tells him/her that they are on the clock to make their selection. The participant will be told when there is 15 seconds left by the draft facilitator and a countdown from five seconds will go until time has expired. The draft facilitator will have final say on whether a pick was called out in time or not. If a participant does not make a selection within one minute, he/she will be passed over until the next participant makes a player selection. The passed-over player goes back on the clock for one minute after the selection is made. The draft facilitator also has final say on the announcement of the picks as the pick becomes final AFTER he/she announces the pick.

Seating: Every team will have two draft spots available at the table and each team will be seated in their draft order.

Trading: There is no trading allowed during the NFFC season and all player cuts will be evaluated by the NFFC. Any player cut that will hurt the integrity of the league can be removed from that league’s free agent pool for good by the NFFC.
Electronic Equipment: Participants can use electronic equipment during the draft as long as it fits in the allotted draft spot at the table. There will be no Internet connections or electrical outlets, so participants bringing laptops will have to supply their own power. Cell phones are allowed at the draft table, but we encourage participants to use them sparingly and not in a way that interrupts the draft process.

Smoking/Drinking: Smoking will not be allowed in the Draft Room. There will be a cash bar available in the Draft Room, but we ask that each participant drink responsibly.

Breaks: There will be a 15-minute break after Round 10 and we will finish the draft after the break.

Week One Lineups: Every participant is responsible for submitting their Week One starting lineup before the Sunday, Sept. 10th games. The Thursday night game results will count in the NFFC scoring. All teams are also required to confirm their team roster and sign off on the players on the list before leaving the draft. Any errors on your roster should be presented to the NFFC management as soon as possible.

League Management: The league will be available via the Internet at http://nffc.sportshubtech.com. All lineups may be submitted on the league web site and must be entered prior to the scheduled kickoff for the game affected.
Thanksgiving/Saturday games: Any players you want to place in your starting lineup for early games like Thanksgiving or the Thursday Night Games, must be entered online at least five minutes before the scheduled kickoff. Any player involved in those games that isn't in the starting lineup by the regular lineup deadline of Sunday morning, won't be available for those week's games.

19. Refunds
Once a participant submits valid payment, no money will be refunded unless the NFFC event for which such participant has registered has been canceled. A team spot is considered filled when the entire entry fee is paid. SportsHub reserves the right to cancel any entries which are not part of a full league. In addition, SportsHub retains the right to deny, at its sole discretion, eligibility of any individual to register for any NFFC game or event and/or participate in any NFFC game or event, even after the registration fee has been paid, but in such case, the entry fee will be refunded. Under no condition shall SportsHub be held responsible for any loss or liability related to any expenses incurred by a denied entrant or any person affiliated with that denied entrant. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that any participant or co-manager is banned from the NFFC as the result of any violation of the Official Rules, then no refund will be given.

20. Cancellation
At its sole discretion, SportsHub reserves the right to terminate any NFFC game, event or league at any time prior to the completion of the season due to any acts of God, natural disasters, terrorism, change in applicable law, interruption of the season (including strikes, lockouts and/or use of replacement players), or any other situation beyond the control of SportsHub. In the event of any such termination by SportsHub, all entry fees will be refunded, with the exception of any live event fees (if such live event has already occurred).

At its sole discretion, SportsHub reserves the right to terminate any NFFC game, event or league (including the National Fantasy Football Championship Main Event) if there are an insufficient number of teams prior to the scheduled start of the league. In this unlikely event, SportsHub will refund all entry fees within 48 hours of cancellation notice and/or provide a new application form with the newly stated prize figures. In this situation, all pre-registered applicants have the right to a full refund or to agree to play for the newly announced prize structure. SportsHub is not responsible for any loss or liability incurred by any participant or co-managers due to cancellation of any NFFC game, event or league, including but not limited to travel or hotel expenses, time taken off from employment, etc.

21. Taxes
If the principal team owner's prize winnings are $600.00 or greater (or any other threshold subsequently established by the IRS), the National Fantasy Football Championship (“NFFC”) must file a Form 1099 with the IRS at the end of this calendar year. We will request your social security number and signature on this form. The form contains the amount paid to you and you will receive a copy of the form for tax purposes. SportsHub pays the principal team owner of each NFFC team that was submitted on the entry form and you are responsible for paying any taxes that result from your cash prize; please consult your income tax advisor for filing advice. In the event that the awarding of any prizes to winners of the Contest is challenged by any legal authority, SportsHub reserves the right in its sole discretion to determine whether or not to award such prizes. After 12 months, any unclaimed prize will be forfeited.

22. Eligibility; Registration
The National Fantasy Football Championship is open to individuals who are at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in your state of residence) and are a resident of the United States of America or Canada. Notwithstanding the foregoing, residents of Washington State, Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Virginia and Iowa are not eligible to register or play in the NFFC. All registrations must be in the full legal name of the primary team owner, though owners will have the option to add a co-manager(s).

23. Official Rules
Registration for, and continued participation in, the National Fantasy Football Championship constitutes your full and unconditional agreement to these official rules (“Official Rules”) and to SportsHub’s decisions relating thereto. SportsHub’s decisions in regards to these Official Rules and all matters pertaining to the National Fantasy Football Championship are final and binding.

24. Code of Conduct
All participants and co-managers are expected to behave in lawful, respectful and sportsman-like fashion at all live draft events, throughout the NFFC season, and during use of any NFFC website, including, but not limited to comments posted on any NFFC message board. Additionally the NFFC events, games and/or leagues may not be used for any form of gambling. Any conduct or message board post by a participant, co-manager or other person which is deemed by SportsHub, in its sole discretion, to be unlawful, or to have the effect of intimidating, harassing, offending or otherwise harming any other participant, co-manager, guest, or NFFC/SportsHub representative, is strictly prohibited. SportsHub reserves the right, in its sole discretion to ban any person from current and/or future participation in the NFFC and/or from use of the message boards if such person engages in any such prohibited conduct or is otherwise in violation of any of these Rules. In addition, any person engaging in such conduct forfeits any rights to a refund, as well as any potential rights to a prize award. SportsHub shall not be responsible or held liable to any person for damage to property or personal injury or death arising from the acts or omissions of any third parties. Any participants or co-managers who collude, or attempt to collude, or who attempts to blackmail, bribe or otherwise influence any representative of SportsHub/NFFC, or who otherwise attempts to sabotage the league, in an effort to alter the results or outcome of any NFFC game will be disqualified and will be prohibited from winning any prize award. If a participant is banned from participation in a current NFFC game, then SportsHub reserves the right, to take those actions which it sees fit, in its sole discretion with respect to such banned participant’s team. Any criminal behavior may be referred to the appropriate authorities.

25. Errors
The deadline for submitting any dispute or claim regarding the operation of any league draft is one hour after the conclusion of the draft itself; further, leaving any live draft event without submitting any dispute or claim regarding the draft constitutes your waiver of any right to challenge any aspect of the draft. You are strongly urged to double-check your lineups, trades, and free agent moves throughout the season, as SportsHub/NFFC will not be held liable for any errors in entering lineups, trades or free agent moves, and SportsHub/NFFC will not intervene or alter a transaction after lineups, trades or free agent moves are due.

26. Prize Splitting
Prize splitting amongst the principal registrant and co-managers is available, provided that the principal registrant has authorized payment to his co-managers in writing and in advance of the completion of the season. In order to authorize prize-splitting, the principal registrant must completely fill out and sign the authorization form designated by SportsHub (including the name and address of the co-manager(s) and the applicable prize percentage to be paid to each co-manager(s)). Both the principal registrant and each co-manager designated on a prize-splitting form will be required to fill out a W-9. No prize money will be distributed until all necessary forms have been received by SportsHub. Both the principal registrant and the co-manager(s) will receive IRS Form 1099 reflecting the prize money paid to each. If SportsHub deems, in its sole discretion, that the appropriate documentation and/or authorization has not been received, or has not been received in a timely fashion, then SportsHub will pay prize payments only to the principal registrant.

27. Communication and Access
All NFFC team owners must have internet access and a valid e-mail address for communication. SportsHub is not responsible for any issues which impede or interfere with the transmission or receipt of any transaction, including but not limited to, draft selections, trades, free agent moves and lineups. SportsHub is also not responsible for the failure of any telephone networks/lines, internet connections, software/hardware, or internet congestion/transmission rates.

28. Hold Harmless
Each participant and co-owner hereby releases and holds harmless SportsHub and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives from and against any and all liability for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind to person (including death) and property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from participation in any NFFC event, game or league, as well as acceptance or use of any prize award.

29. Player Eligibility
Players will be eligible at one position during the NFFC season and designated for that position before the season by SportsHub. Should a player move to another primary position before the start of the season, the NFFC reserves the right to give that player a second eligible position. No player will ever lose the eligibility originally designated by the NFFC, but a second position could be added if deemed necessary by the NFFC. All decisions made by the NFFC commissioner regarding eligibility are final.