Damn, what a year it's been already and we're just getting started. It was a record year from a participation standpoint, but just as importantly it was a record year from a camaraderie and getting together standpoint. I mean, the live events couldn't have been better or more fun if we had dreamt them up this way.
We obviously want everyone to enjoy themselves during the drafting experience and while using our software to manage your teams, so thanks to everyone who participated Live or Online this year. Here's the quick numbers:
* Over 20,000 paid NFFC teams this year
* A record 1,080 Primetime teams
* A record 4,788 Rotowire Online Championship teams
* 2,868 Footballguys Best Ball Championship teams
* 3,984 $25 and $50 Best Ball teams
* A record 252 Silver Bullet teams
* A record 1,400+ Guillotine teams
We could go on and on, but from all of us here at the NFFC let's just say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the NFFC this year.
The main purpose of this thread is to thank everyone who attended live in New York City and Las Vegas over two weekends and who made our jobs so much easier. We know that Online is the biggest part of our business today in Year 20, and we know that for some of you it's the easiest, most convenient and most cost-effective way to compete in the NFFC.
But I must tell you: There's NOTHING like the live events experience and I thought this year was the best one we've ever had.
First of all, we finished with a record 62 live events in 2023. We had 8 live drafts or auctions in New York City over Labor Day weekend, and 9 live events in Las Vegas that same weekend. We had 45 live drafts and auctions last weekend at Park MGM in Las Vegas and everything went off without a hitch and everything started on time. We were so busy on Friday that we had 5 drafts/auctions at 10 am, 6 at 1 pm, 5 again at 4 pm and 6 again at 7 pm. It was crazy good and Brady Tinker did all four auction leagues on Friday. That old man was pooped that night!!!
We also had the Thursday Night Viewing Party in the Park MGM sportsbook/sports bar and we had over 60 paid NFFC attendees in our group and several other NFFC members throughout the sports bar. Open bar for four hours hit the pocketbook hard but it was money well spent!!!
Damn, that was a good time and we'd love to do it again.The Sunday Viewing Group at the Westgate is the perfect capper to a perfect weekend. Just so much fun and thanks to everyone who joined us there. Oh, and thanks to Duke, Glenn and others who bought buckets of Corona's!!! They tasted soooooooooooo good before, during and after that Packers' victory.
Just an FYI: In case you left early, MGM Resorts got hacked on Sunday at 2:30 pm and their Internet was still down on Tuesday when they left. Not just Park MGM; all of MGM's properties. You couldn't make bets live in all of the MGM property sportsbooks after that and the Convention Center had no Internet. It's a national story and it's affecting many of MGM's properties still this week. I bring this up because I'm not sure what we would have done if this had happened on Friday or Saturday. Let's just thank our lucky stars that it didn't happen before or during our drafts and let's hope it never happens again while we're hosting live events. I've had nightmares since thinking about the sticker boards!!!
Everyone who attended our live events came to the drafts on time or plenty early. That is so much appreciated. Everyone was prepared and the drafts and auctions went so smoothly. Everyone was cordial and the camaraderie was off the charts. It does me proud to see the friendships that have been made in the NFFC and the fun you folks have at the live events. Some guys bring their wives, some bring their sons, some bring their dads. It's all so cool and with Online growing it's so cool to still see the live events growing and getting better. Thank you all for that.
Oh, and James Roday Rodriguez made a passionate speech on Saturday before the 10 am events to help us Sack Cancer in the NFFC. He's passionate about Connor's Cure and we had several people who came up at the break to tell me how much James's speech meant to them. Some gave me money or a credit card so that they could donate to Connor's Cure. It was that great. And of course bringing up all of our past national champions and past NFFC Hall of Famers to the front of the room was special and just damn cool to see. I love doing that on Saturday morning.
As for 2024, I feel like Park MGM has become a nice alternative to the Bellagio and we are talking with them already about returning there for football. I think the setup and the Thursday Night party all works well there. I'll let you know how that goes, but we are talking.
As for New York City, we had mentioned that this would be our last year there for football. The three of us have talked since and we are open for a return in 2024 under certain conditions. Give us some time to discuss room availability with the venue and then internally and we'll make an official announcement on plans later on. But we are keeping an open mind if some things happen. Stay tuned and we'll see what happens.
We look forward to any feedback you can give us on the live events, both from what you experienced this year to your thoughts on 2024. We hope everyone enjoyed the 2023 live events and if we can top 60+ live events again next year we will be more than happy. Let's keep this great community together -- both Online and Live -- and keep growing in Year 21. Thanks all and good luck in all your leagues.
But from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for a record-breaking 20th anniversary season. Long Live THE NFFC!!!