We were fine with that and we've kept the Live Auctions private ever since. People still love to compete in live auction leagues and we're more than happy to keep all of the prize money within those leagues.
However, when we first debuted our online auction software in 2020, you could tell that this format had an even greater chance to grow more easily than live auctions. We kept those online auction leagues private that first year, but by 2021 we could tell that the time was right for a national Online Auction Championship. And it was born in 2021.
Not only was it born, but it exceeded expectations as we maxxed out with 34 leagues and 408 teams. Ryan Burt of Maumee, Ohio won the debut national title and the $5,000 grand prize as he moved up 10 spots in the final week with a monstrous Week 17 showing. It was a great ending to a great debut season.
Now we're onto 2022 and we have even bigger plans for this contest. This year we are guaranteeing a $10,000 grand prize and over $19,000 in overall prizes as we are hoping to reach 50 leagues and 600 teams this year. We're bullish on this contest and we think that doubling the grand prize will attract even more players to this great contest.
We are offering $150 Online Auction Championship leagues this year, along with $250 and $500 leagues, with each league allocating the same amount of money to the overall prize pool. All leagues are eligible for the $10,000 grand prize.
Players who competed in this contest last year will tell you that the software is fantastic and you can get done with a 12-team, 20-round auction in a couple of hours. We also maxed out the number of teams we had projected in baseball as the NFBC's Online Auction Championship had another record year. The online auction software has improved so much so quickly that it's as easy as competing in a draft, except you are in on every player who is nominated. It's a blast.
Enjoy the 2nd annual national championship and budget your $200 wisely. You are definitely in on every player...as long as you have the money to pay for them!!
Enjoy.Here's the contest link and the Lobby link:
https://nfc.shgn.com/rules/1348
https://nfc.shgn.com/lobby/football#276
We can add new dates and times upon request if needed, so just post here or email myself, Tom or Darik and we'll get it done. Best of luck everyone and thanks for convincing us to grow the grand prize and the prize pool after maxing out in 2021. Enjoy.