Win $250,000 In The 2024 Rotowire Online Championship

[Greg Ambrosius]

The NFFC was the originator of the Online Championship model that allowed many more participants to compete for big grand prizes at lower entry fee levels. Started in 2009, the NFFC Online Championship debuted with a $350 price point and a $30,000 grand prize. It was an instant hit and 16 years later this contest is bigger than we ever expected.

The NFFC was mainly a 14-team contest from 2004 to 2008, but in 2008 we ventured into the 12-team format with the NFFC Primetime. A year later, we offered the 12-team NFFC Online Championship with a goal of reaching 600 teams. It was a struggle that first year, but we eventually sold it out and have sold out this contest every year since. In fact, last year we set a record with 4,788 teams and our record $250,000 grand prize.

We are again offering a guaranteed $250,000 grand prize this year with prizes based on 4,752 teams. Our goal is to increase the second tier overall prizes this year with growth and get the second through 45th prizes bigger before we add to the big grand prize again. We may increase the grand prize down the road, but for now we expect growth in the number of teams and will grow the secondary prizes first.

This contest has grown by more than 1,300 teams over the last three years and we expect growth again this year. Rotowire.com is back as the title sponsor of this contest and these Rotowire Online Championship drafts will start right after the NFL Draft and will continue through Sunday, September 8th.

Wil Miles of Lanexa, Virginia won the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship and its record $250,000 grand prize in impressive fashion. He became our youngest national champion of 2023 as the 29-year-old won the Rotowire Online Championship and its $250,000 grand prize. Wil first joined the NFFC in 2021 with one Rotowire Online Championship team, then won his first Rotowire OC league title in 2022 and last year won the overall title against a record field of 4,788 teams. Well done Wil.

BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR: If you win your league prize of $1,500 in 2024, you can receive the $1,500 cash that is put back on your Player Account or you can turn it into a FREE 2024 NFFC Primetime entry. That would be $250 off the regular price and $150 off the Early Bird Special. That option will be on your Claim Prizes page at the end of this season, so enjoy the option if you win your league title this year.

We're excited to host these drafts once we know which teams the NFL rookies are on. We know that demand is there for this format and with our software we can easily get through these 20-round drafts in 90 minutes or less. Last year OC drafts sometimes got done in 70-80 minutes. Awesome job everyone, so look for multiple drafts per day in the NFFC as the 11:55 pm ET time slot was a big hit last year and they are back again this year.

There are no rules changes for this contest in 2023. We will again have "All Play" in Weeks 1, 2 and 14 and the regular season will consist of Weeks 1 through 14 with the Championship Round in Weeks 15, 16 and 17. However, just realize that this year there will be two "free look" games before the Week 1 Sunday openers on September 8th. The NFL has its regular Thursday Night Opener on September 5th, but they will also have a Friday Night Opener in Brazil on September 6th. Both games will be "free looks" for all NFFC owners no matter when they drafted. The players on those four teams won't lock until before the 1 pm Sunday games on September 8th, so everyone will know the results for those players. That's new this year, but expect the NFL to do this every year going forward. Plan accordingly.

We also are exploring slow drafts for the 2024 Rotowire Online Championship and may run those from April 27th through early August. They would be 4-Hour, 2-Hour and 1-Hour drafts during the off-season to go along with the nightly drafts. This hasn't been finalized yet, but we are leaning that way for 2024 Rotowire OCs. Stay tuned for more details.

On Registration we also have the dates and times available when you register as we will have Online Championship drafts from April into September. You can pick the dates and times when you sign up or you can just select TBD (To Be Determined). You can always change the date of your draft on your My Teams page up until the league for that date and time is sold out. Just go to your My Teams page, click on the gear icon to the left of the league link and change TBD to something like Online, Sept. 1st, 8 pm ET. Easy as that. All of this is in your hands.

We also have 3-Pack, 6-Pack and 9-Pack Special Packages that save you money per team. The more teams you take at once, the more you save. Find those options under Special Packages on Registration.

You will see more Online draft dates and times this year, so be ready to draft every night after the NFL Draft. If you have a request for additional dates and times, just let us know. We can add weekday drafts during the day if demand warrants it, so look for some of those as well. Thanks all and best of luck in the battle for the $1,500 league prize and the $250,000 grand prize.

Here's a look at the Rules for the Rotowire Online Championship. Good luck all and enjoy.

Official Rules and Regulations of the NFFC's Rotowire Online Championship:

1. Overview
The National Fantasy Football Championship Rotowire Online Championship will consist of multiple leagues each comprised of 12 teams/managers. The NFFC regular season will begin with all Week 1 NFL games (including results from the Thursday, Sept. 5th game and the Friday, Sept. 6th game) and through all Week 14 games. Teams will play every other team in their league once in head-to-head competition plus three “All Play” weekly formats (Weeks 1, 2 and 14), with three teams from each league advancing to the Championship Round. In the All-Play format, the top six scoring teams in each league for that week earn a Win and the six lowest scoring teams in each league earn a Loss.

Playoff qualifiers include:

Championship Round Qualifiers:
Best head-to-head record
Most Total Points (next most total points if h2h champ had most points)

If a team finishes Week 14 with both the best overall record and the most total points in their league it will win $1,500, with the next highest point total team finishing second and winning $700. However, if one team wins the h2h title and another team wins the total points title after Week 14, then each team will earn $700 and compete in Weeks 15-17 for the remaining $800, with total points from that three-week period determining the league champ and earning an additional $800 (weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-14 are not included). Each league will have a total of $2,200 in prize money: $1,500 to 1st and $700 to 2nd. Tie-breakers for league title are listed elsewhere in the rules. The 2 league prize winners automatically qualify for the overall championship round. A 3rd league qualifier will make it to the Championship Round only if the H2H league champion had fewer points than this team; if that's the case a third team from this league makes the Championship Round. Teams will carry their weekly scoring average from the first 14 weeks of competition (i.e. 140.15 points) into the playoffs and then add their point totals from Weeks 15, 16 and 17 to that initial total to determine the overall champion.

The Championship Round for the overall competition will be held Week 15 through Week 17. Teams will carry their weekly scoring average from the first 14 weeks of competition (i.e. 140.15 points) into the playoffs and then add their point totals from Weeks 15, 16 and 17 to that initial total to determine the overall champion.

2. Draft
All leagues will hold their drafts Online at playnffc.com from late April through September 8. Each 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 Rotowire Online Championship leagues will use 3RR (3rd Round Reversal) in 2023, 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. 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. 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

Because of the various times of the Online Championship drafts, all owners will be allowed to set their Week 1 starting lineup AFTER the Thursday, Sept. 5th game and the Friday, Sept. 6th game. Starting lineups will be due before the first game on Sunday, Sept. 8th no matter if you drafted before or after the Thursday, Sept. 5th and Friday, Sept. 6th games. All leagues will be competing for the same overall prize pool.

3. Prizes
Place Overall League Consolation Round
1 - $250,000
2 - $50,000
3 - $20,000
4 - $15,000
5 - $12,500
6 - $10,000
7 - $7,500
8 - $6,000
9 - $5,500
10 - $5,000
11 - $3,500
12 - $3,000
13 - $2,500
14 - $2,250
15 - $2,000
16 - $1,750
17 - $1,500
18 - $1,250
19 - $1,200
20 - $1,150
21 - $1,100
22 - $1,050
23 - $1,000
24 - $950
25 - $900
26 - $850
27 - $800
28 - $775
29 - $750
30 - $700
31 - $675
32 - $650
33 - $625
34 - $600
35 - $575
36 - $550
37 - $525
38 - $500
39 - $475
40 - $460
41 - $450
42 - $440

Regular Season Total Points Leader = $1,750

The first place overall winner will win the prize shown PLUS an NFFC plaque.

League Prizes
Each league has $2,200 in league prizes: $1,500 for first, $700 for second
Each League Champion (won/loss record + total points after Week 13) = $1,500 **
Each 2nd place (2nd most points after Week 14 if one team had best h2h record and most total points) = $700

** If after Week 14, one team was h2h champ and another team was total points champ, then those two teams would each receive $700 and would compete in Weeks 15-17 for the remaining $800 and the title as league champ. That league playoff would be total points from Weeks 15-17 (weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-14 are not included).

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 Team 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 a safety
12 points for a shutout by the entire team
8 points for allowing 2-7 points by the entire team
4 points for allowing 8-14 points by the entire team
2 points for allowing 15-20 points by the entire team
1 point for allowing 21-24

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 before Week 1 and going through Week 14. 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 drafts will be held Online at playnffc.com. The draft will be held in a serpentine fashion for each round using 3RR (1-12 in Round 1, 12-1 in Round 2, 12-1 in Round 3, 1-12 in Round 4 and continuing from there in serpentine fashion).
A. League Management Web Address: SportsHub Tech will manage the NFFC and provide real-time stats online. You can access your league via the Internet by going to http://playnffc.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 Saturday at 10 pm ET. Players dropped on Wednesday can’t be picked up on Saturday. Players who played in the Thursday Night Game CAN be waived during Friday's transactions.

The bidding process will be held each week starting with Week 1 and continues through the end of the NFFC regular season in Week 14. Bids will be accepted on the league web site from Sunday 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 Saturday. Rosters will be updated by 11 p.m. ET Wednesday and Saturday 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 Saturday based on Elias stat changes on Thursday.

Also this year, we are allowing FAAB before Week 1 for all Rotowire Online Championship leagues that drafted before that first FAAB period, so plan accordingly. You will have an opportunity to replace an injured kicker or quarterback or any other position if you drafted on, let's say, Aug. 25th and FAAB runs on Wednesday, Sept. 4th. FAAB will be open Wednesday and Saturday for those owners.

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 Rotowire Online Championship will run from Week 1 through Week 14 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 six scoring teams in the league earn a Win and the lowest six scoring teams in each league earn a Loss. The “All Play” format this year will be held in Weeks 1, 2 and 14. After Week 14, two teams from each league earn a spot in the Championship Round: 1) Best head-to-head record with total points being the tie-breaker; 2) most total points not including the team with the best head-to-head record; and 3) A 3rd league qualifier only if H2H league champion had fewer points than this team. Any team outside of the top two in each league that finishes in the top 15 percent of the total number of teams (Top 750 if we finish with 5,000 total teams) also can earn a Wild Card spot in the Championship Round if they didn’t earn a spot through their league finish. All of the teams in the Championship Round will carry their weekly scoring average from the first 14 weeks of the regular season into the Championship Round and add that score to their point totals in Weeks 15, 16 and 17 to produce their playoff scoring total. The team with the most points in the Championship Round wins the $250,000 grand prize.

16. Random League/Draft Spot Selections
The Rotowire Online Championship leagues fill up on a first-come, first-serve basis. The first 12 teams for any date and time will form that league and draft spots will be announced 30 minutes after the league forms if the draft date is within 5 days of filling. If a league fills farther out than 5 days, then draft spots will be announced 5 days before Draft Day at that scheduled draft time.

17. Tie-breaker procedures
If after 14 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 14 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 14
Highest point total from Week 13
Highest point total from Week 12 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 post-season, 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 to make their picks and there are no breaks during the online draft. Players can set up queues for every round if they'd like.

League Management: The league will be available via the Internet at http://playnffc.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 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).

21. Taxes
If the principal team owner's net 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 minus your entire entry fees in 2019 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, Delaware 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.