948 Teams In The Online Championship: $60,000 Grand Prize

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:54 am

The end of the lockout has resulted in a flurry of signups all week and that's especially been true in the 12-team Online Championship. We now have surpassed 100 signups, meaning we are 1/3 of the way toward our projected goal of 300 teams.

Our first sold out league is Sunday night and check out the thread I posted for the openings we have next week. Keep the signups coming and let's keep talking about football and planning for our drafts.

Thanks everyone.

[ September 08, 2011, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:07 am

Awesome start everyone. I can't remember being at 100 points at this point in July during either of the last two years and during those seasons we hit 600 teams and 720 teams for our 12-team Online Championship. I don't have any doubt we'll surpass our goal of 300 teams in this format. GREAT JOB ALL.

Remember, our overall prize pool is based on 300 teams, only 300 teams I can say now. When we grew to 720 teams in 2010, the grand prize grew to $50,000. The overall grand prize pool -- led by the grand prize -- will continue to grow with each additional league after 25 leagues. The $20,000 grand prize is guaranteed and is sure to grow beyond that thanks to this great start.

Thanks all and keep 'em coming.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:22 am

The 12-team Online Championship has been a big hit with our players the past two seasons and there's no question that's still the case in 2011. With the lockout over, the signups for these leagues have been pouring in. We have now topped 150 signups. That means we are more than halfway to our projected goal of 300 teams.

We can go beyond 300 teams and field as many as 720 in this event but only the first 300 teams are guaranteed spots. So if you're wondering if you should dive into this event, the answer is absolutely YES and the time to lock up your dates and times is NOW.

We're off to a great start with this event and we thank all of you for taking part. We're also seeing a lot of new names signing up for this event so we welcome all of you first-time players to the NFFC. We trust you will enjoy your experience and come back for more. Keep those signups coming.

[ August 02, 2011, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: Tom Kessenich ]

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:24 am

Don't forget, we have a $75,000 bonus for anyone who wins both the 12-team and 14-team Online Championship events. So while you're signing up for the 12-team leagues, don't forget to sign up for a 14-team league or two or three so you have the opportunity to showcase your skills in both of our Online Championship events.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:09 am

Even though we hit 720 teams last year for the 12-team Online Championship and grew the grand prize to $50,000, I'm still surprised by the strong interest so early this year. I know a lot of people don't even know what their schedules are going to be for the rest of the week, so selecting draft dates a month from now is even tougher. But despite that, we already have over 175 teams signed up for this contest with a goal of only 300 teams. Amazing. It's obvious that we are going to go above our goal and could reach our max limit of 720 again this year. I hope it happens. Don't delay if you're thinking about playing in this one.

I know we are well ahead of our pace from last year for this event. Folks definitely like this price point across the industry as proven by the success of other games that have followed our lead. It's a great growing point for any contest and we hope to continue our growth in the 12-team and 14-team formats. Remember, in the 14-team Online Championship the Top 3 teams from each league make the Championship Round for a shot at the grand prize, so don't discount that format either.

Anyway, thanks all for the strong early support. This is going to be another strong season for this format and we thank you for your support.

Sandman62 · Post by **Sandman62** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:02 am

Greg, have you guys ever considered just starting a 2nd Online championship instead of bumping these to 720? I mean, when people sign up, they might be expecting a certain percentage odds of being able to win (based on 299 opponents). But when these increase to more than double that, isn't it really an entirely different animal (they now have over 700 to beat)? Yes, the prizes are proportionately bigger too, but the odds of winning have gone up so much that it's much more like a "lottery" feel.

Any consideration to just splitting it into TWO 300-team Onlines (and maybe letting each one fluctuate up to 350)? The NFFC would still make the same whether one or two leagues, no? But it would keep the odds of winning at what people expected when they signed up.

Just a thought.

Coltsfan · Post by **Coltsfan** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:08 am

Can we switch any entries from the 14 team leagues to the 12 teams leagues? They seem to be filling up better so I was just curious?

Wayne

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:14 am

Originally posted by Coltsfan:
Can we switch any entries from the 14 team leagues to the 12 teams leagues? They seem to be filling up better so I was just curious?

Wayne Yes you can do that Wayne. The best way to do that right now would be to register for the 12-team leagues you want to be in and then email me and let me know which 14-team leagues you want to be removed from.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:09 pm

Originally posted by Sandman62:
Greg, have you guys ever considered just starting a 2nd Online championship instead of bumping these to 720? I mean, when people sign up, they might be expecting a certain percentage odds of being able to win (based on 299 opponents). But when these increase to more than double that, isn't it really an entirely different animal (they now have over 700 to beat)? Yes, the prizes are proportionately bigger too, but the odds of winning have gone up so much that it's much more like a "lottery" feel.

Any consideration to just splitting it into TWO 300-team Onlines (and maybe letting each one fluctuate up to 350)? The NFFC would still make the same whether one or two leagues, no? But it would keep the odds of winning at what people expected when they signed up.

Just a thought. Mike, we are doing all we can to grow this format and still make it fair for players. Other players are asking me just the opposite of what you are saying, wondering why we would cap it at 720 when other contests just go as high as the signups will take them? I think 720 and a $50,000 grand prize like we had last year is fair and still good business for us. If we reach that total again this year, maybe I'll decide to run another 300 team 12-team Online Championship after we're full rather than just stop taking signups like we did last year.

Again, I want a good grand prize and I want fair odds for the players, but at the same time if I keep it too low then we get posts like Wayne's saying there's not enough interest there and he wants to move to the bigger grand prize contest. So it's hard to win (and that's not anything negative Wayne, just a perfect reflection of what happens if we just offer 300 team, $20,000 grand prize contests). Players are gravitating towards the bigger grand prizes and the 12-teamer for us is attracting that attention because of what is happening. I think the 14-team OC will be fine, but would it be bad if we finish with just 308 teams and a $20,000 grand prize? Of course not, but compared to the 12-teamer it seems that some players wouldn't like it as much.

No, we're going to 720 as the rules state if we can and 60 teams with about 125-130 teams in the Championship Round is a solid contest if we reach that point. It was competitive and fair last year and I trust it will be again. And who knows, maybe 12-Team OC II will follow it with only 300 teams. We won't stop in September this year.

[ August 03, 2011, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:16 pm

Oh, and I know Tom hasn't updated the signup list yet, but I see all of the 3-Packs that have come in tonight and we're definitely over 190 for the 12-team format and might be at 200+ by morning. Great stuff all and again, the goal is 300 teams there with a max cap of 720 teams. Great odds of winning a solid grand prize and league prize if you like the online draft. Thanks all.