Could We Combine KDS With Early Draft Slot Positions?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:15 pm

One of the things I hate with KDS is that we are tied to later draft pick announcements because we can't run KDS before the leagues are picked. Or are we tied to that?

I'm tired of waiting until the final days for our signups to come in and I think if we ran KDS earlier we'd prevent that. I don't think we ever want to run it too early because pre-season changes our evaluation of those draft spots, but I still think we could set a deadline earlier and announce draft picks earlier by doing KDS a different way. And in fact, I have a feeling this would work out even better for the players.

I've given this a lot of thought this week and I think I've come up with a plan going forward. Stay tuned and give it some thought. It's possible that everyone could win in this scenario. I'm still thinking this through, but put your thinking caps on and see if you're going down the same train of thought that I am. Thanks all.

And you know what? I think it's time to do early draft slot announcements in baseball too. We've sold out our NFBC Main Event seven straight years and it's time to reward our loyal members in advance. I think we can do that starting in 2012. Stay tuned there as well.

Time to listen to the customers one more time and make this setup even better starting in 2012. I think it would help everyone in our contest.

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:25 pm

Just another reason why the NFFC continues to thrive!!!

Sounds great......looking forward to it!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:28 am

Just a heads up, there is no doubt in my mind now that we can provide early draft slots through KDS next year. I've figured out how we can do this. We don't want to be too early with the announced draft picks because injuries can happen before Draft Day and throw off your preferences, but I think we can do this next year two weeks before each scheduled Draft Day. Would that be appealing and okay with all of you?

No worries, but I think we can do this for baseball and football in 2012 and make it even better for the customers. Now just don't let me forget about it.

Good luck all this year and expect to receive your picks sooner next year.

Sandman62 · Post by **Sandman62** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:32 am

I wouldn't want to set my KDS until after the 3rd and most important preseason game.

thegambler · Post by **thegambler** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:48 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Just a heads up, there is no doubt in my mind now that we can provide early draft slots through KDS next year. I've figured out how we can do this. We don't want to be too early with the announced draft picks because injuries can happen before Draft Day and throw off your preferences, but I think we can do this next year two weeks before each scheduled Draft Day. Would that be appealing and okay with all of you?

No worries, but I think we can do this for baseball and football in 2012 and make it even better for the customers. Now just don't let me forget about it.

Good luck all this year and expect to receive your picks sooner next year. the earlier the better.....all you have to do is look at the other contest. people LOVE getting their draft spots early. it is like christmas morning.

let me add to that: i have been talking to the people i play with and to be honest that was one of the things they had against joining here. we are use to getting our draft spots in july and then preparing from there. i am not saying give yours out in july (best way) but earlier then the week before we leave.

the more time to prepare the better IMO. if i get my spot a month before the draft i can plan out my whole draft, to a point of course, but one week or even two weeks before doesn't give you enough time to do that. its hard enough to find time to do any fantassy work: you got work and then the wife wants you to spend time with her....then the kids. before you know it it is 9/10 pm and you are almost getting ready for bed. with a month to prepare it gives you 4 solid weekends.

i think that has always been a major draw for the wcoff and now for the ffpc. people like getting their draft spots early

[ August 17, 2011, 09:57 AM: Message edited by: thegambler ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:53 am

Originally posted by thegambler:
quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Just a heads up, there is no doubt in my mind now that we can provide early draft slots through KDS next year. I've figured out how we can do this. We don't want to be too early with the announced draft picks because injuries can happen before Draft Day and throw off your preferences, but I think we can do this next year two weeks before each scheduled Draft Day. Would that be appealing and okay with all of you?

No worries, but I think we can do this for baseball and football in 2012 and make it even better for the customers. Now just don't let me forget about it.

Good luck all this year and expect to receive your picks sooner next year. the earlier the better.....all you have to do is look at the other contest. people LOVE getting their draft spots early. it is like christmas morning. [/QUOTE]Ours is like Christmas Day, but on New Year's Eve!!!

We drag out our Draft Spot Announcements city by city, league by league and crash the message boards with so many people on it. I'm notorious for making it last a good hour!!! I want folks to enjoy their coffee, tea or beers during our draft slot announcements!!

There is a fine line between being too early and too late with KDS. Randomly, you can do the luck of the draw anytime. With KDS, you do need to strategize. That being said, there's a cutoff at some point for the good of the customers and the good of the contest. Having all last minute signups isn't healthy for anyone. So I think we'll weigh the opinions of our users and come up with that right time frame and signup deadline. Maybe it's not two weeks ahead of Draft Day; maybe it's sooner or later. You folks let me know what you think and we'll come up with a decision for 2012. Thanks all.

Cocktails and Dreams · Post by **Cocktails and Dreams** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:54 am

If random it is better to have them early. If using something innovative like KDS, then I would rather make it is skillful as possible and wait as long as possible to have to set them. Ideally right there minutes before the draft. So I disagree on the blend of early draft slot announcements and KDS blending together.

thegambler · Post by **thegambler** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:04 am

i understand the strategy in waiting if you are picking your draft spot. but doing it this way causes people to wait until later to send in money. and, just being honest here , it might cause people to shy away from the nffc....they only see 200 signups for each league and get worried especially since what happen over at the wcoff. maybe that makes them go over to the ffpc.....where they have tons of early signups cause people want their draft spots early.

its a catch 22......i love the idea of picking your draft spot (we just put this in our home league draft) but i like getting my draft spot as early as i can.

[ August 17, 2011, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: thegambler ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:05 am

Originally posted by Cocktails and Dreams:
If random it is better to have them early. If using something innovative like KDS, then I would rather make it is skillful as possible and wait as long as possible to have to set them. Ideally right there minutes before the draft. So I disagree on the blend of early draft slot announcements and KDS blending together. The idea of doing KDS minutes before a live draft can be done for private leagues, but when you're talking about dozens of leagues it's much, much tougher. Not impossible, but tougher. On the day before Sunday's games, okay, impossible. I say that because all of these leagues have to be entered into the back-end software and at least with draft spots determined ahead of time you can set the leagues and the owners and the draft order and enter the data as it happens. To set the leagues and owners and draft orders as they happen, likely would be very difficult. Again, not impossible, but difficult.

And I think a lot of folks like to plan for their draft spots in advance, not on the spot. Some owners like that "Shut Up, Sit Down and Draft" philosophy, but not everyone. Still, I understand what you're saying about KDS and the debate over earlier vs. later. That's why I'm starting this discussion. I'd like to hear more of it from the participants. Thanks for your input.

Cocktails and Dreams · Post by **Cocktails and Dreams** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:09 am

Most people want their draft spots far earlier than I do. So from a business perspective, it makes sense to just go completely random. Makes the game itself slightly worse, but potentially the business better. I can understand the urge to keep up with what seems to be working well at other places by staying on top of this important thing. Tricky call for Greg and Tom.