NFFC Survey Results Give Us Good Direction

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:31 am

Thanks to the 300+ NFFC owners who responded to our two surveys in the past month. We had almost 300 respondents from veteran NFFC owners two weeks ago and 60+ respondents from the same survey that was sent to our first-year players. The results from both of those surveys provide valuable direction for us.

That being said, neither survey dove into possible rules changes for 2012. We promise to create another survey in January and email our entire football data base for input. On that survey, we'll discuss possible rules changes, playoff formats, expansion of our Championship Round teams, and more. Look for that more detailed survey soon and we'll even ask for help in forming the questions before it goes out.

Okay, let's look at the demographic data from our veteran NFFC players and see what things they'd like to see in the contest:

1. Of almost 300 respondents, the average age is around 42 and 43.5% earn $125,000+ per year. NICE demographic. 99% male.

2. 85.8% of respondents have been playing fantasy football for 8 or more years, but almost 70 percent of our respondents have been playing in the NFFC for 4 years or less. Over 10% are playing in their 8th season with us.

3. 48% rate their experience in the NFFC this year as Excellent and 84% rank it as Excellent or Very Good. 1% ranked it as poor. The same numbers go for the NFFC's draft and game software.

4. 85% used KDS this year and 86% believe the NFFC should continue using KDS in future years.

5. 71.5% said we should continue using Third round Reversal in future drafts, while 28.5% said no. 67% said they prefer 3RR to straight serpentine drafts.

6. 93% said they want a 13-week regular season rather than an 11-week regular season.

7. 80% said they don't want h2h playoff games in Weeks 12 and 13. And 86% of respondents said if given a choice between the NFFC total points setup in the Primetime or the WCOFF h2h playoff format, they'd take the NFFC format.

8. Interestingly, 63 respondents said they didn't play in the Classic League this year but would play in the 14-team format if it was held on the second weekend in Las Vegas. That was over 26 percent of respondents. 30.4% said they played both contests last year and 43.3% said they wouldn't play the Classic even if it was offered on the second weekend. Still, I'm very happy with the interest in the 14-team format if we can also offer it on the second weekend Online and in Las Vegas. I don't think there's any question we will offer it often for players, just like we do for the Primetime.

9. Almost 90 percent said they plan on returning to the NFFC next year. Those who said no gave a wide range of reasons for not returning and the feedback was excellent. They ranged from the playoff format to the draft software to live scoring to a number of issues that we agree can be improved. All of that feedback was very helpful.

Again, thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out this survey. We'll offer another one shortly after the playoffs and use that to formulate final plans for the NFFC in 2012. Thanks all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:34 am

This was the data from the first survey of first-year NFFC players:

Here are some of the more interesting responses:

Q: Please rate your experience with the NFFC drafts:
Excellent 41%
Very Good 35%
Good 24%
Fair 0%
Poor 0%

Q: Please rate your overall experience participating in the NFFC contests:
Excellent 36.5%
Very Good 33.5%
Good 24%
Fair 6%
Poor 0%

Q: Did you use KDS when ranking your preferred spots?
Yes 76%
No 24%

Q: Do you believe the NFFC should continue using KDS in future years?
Yes 79%
No 21%

Q: Do you believe the NFFC should continue using Third Round Reversal in its drafts?
Yes 61%
No 39%

Q: Do you prefer straight serpentine leagues or Third Round Reversal?
Straight serpentine 47%
Third Round Reversal 53%

Q: Do you like the NFFC's 13-week regular season better than an 11-week regular season?
Yes 82%
No 18%

Q: Would you rather have head-to-head league playoff games in weeks 12 and 13?
Yes 45%
No 55%

Q: If given a choice in the 12-team format, would you rather have the current NFFC setup or the WCOFF league setup?
WCOFF 41%
NFFC 59%

Q: Do you plan on returning to the NFFC in 2012?
Yes 97%
No 3%

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:43 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Q: Do you like the NFFC's 13-week regular season better than an 11-week regular season?
Yes 82%
No 18%

Would love to see this question asked in the FFPC and see the results.

[/QB]Q: Would you rather have head-to-head league playoff games in weeks 12 and 13?
Yes 45%
No 55% [/QB]

This one is for Gambler

Q: If given a choice in the 12-team format, would you rather have the current NFFC setup [/QB]or the WCOFF league setup?
WCOFF 41%
NFFC 59% [/QB]

Again.....for Gambler

[/QB]Q: Do you plan on returning to the NFFC in 2012?
Yes 97%
No 3% [/QB][/QB]

This is GREAT! Now lets just reach out to a whole new crew, and we will really be rocking!

I think it is really great that you guys did this, as it can only help grow this event....NICELY DONE!

[ December 20, 2011, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: BillyWaz ]

wiljiro2 · Post by **wiljiro2** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:30 pm

Great job guys -

One thing - I forgot to put this in the notes during the survey - It's silly - but something that actually affected me during my draft -

Is there a way to put both names of the players on the draft cue? I accidentally drafted B.Tate - Cle - in the 10th round - Had to pause my draft -

Like I said - It's silly -

I guess that shows just how great you league is...

Thanks, Will

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:34 pm

Actually a couple of these votes were a lot closer than they appear.

In a sample size of 300, a swing of only 15 respondents would make the H2H playoff vote a dead heat.
A swing of only 30 voters would make the format vote in favor of the other side.
A swing of only 10 voters would affect the 3RR vs Serpentine results.

I'm not sure what the margin for error is on such a small sample size is but these votes were far from landslides.

On the other hand, no margin for error possible could affect the 97% return rate.

RoadKing · Post by **RoadKing** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:54 am

How did you determine who to include in the survey?

Cocktails and Dreams · Post by **Cocktails and Dreams** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:03 am

While the survey is an excellent idea, the results are pretty much as expected. These are all people that played here. The product is good, which in turn will tend to get people to just check the box of how the rules currently are if close in their minds. Results would likely be much different if 300 potential new players were surveyed, and that is pretty important.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:04 am

Originally posted by RoadKing:
How did you determine who to include in the survey? The first survey went to participants who we identified as first-year players. We may not have gotten all of them, but we did our best to identify new players.

The second survey was emailed to all other NFFC players from this year. If you were among that group, you should have received the survey via email. It's possible that it went to your junk mail folder because it was a mass email, but everyone else should have gotten it. Response back was very solid.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:10 am

Originally posted by Glenneration X:
Actually a couple of these votes were a lot closer than they appear.

In a sample size of 300, a swing of only 15 respondents would make the H2H playoff vote a dead heat.
A swing of only 30 voters would make the format vote in favor of the other side.
A swing of only 10 voters would affect the 3RR vs Serpentine results.

I'm not sure what the margin for error is on such a small sample size is but these votes were far from landslides.

On the other hand, no margin for error possible could affect the 97% return rate. Actually, the close votes that Billy was quoting was from the first-year members. I certainly would have expected those results to be close and in fact expected many of those people to vote for h2h playoffs since they may have played that way for 8+ years with WCOFF. I was actually surprised that the majority of those people chose 13 weeks and total points in the playoffs, but as you say it was close.

Among veteran NFFC players, the vote wasn't close. 180+ owners chose total points over h2h playoffs and 100+ votes separated 3RR from straight serpentine. But again, this is from veteran NFFC players and as Chad said would be expected.

When you survey your customers, you certainly hope for satisfaction but you never know. Had we done this with Fanball, would we have gotten the same results? Probably not. If FFPC does a survey among their veteran players, will most people agree with all of their formats? Probably, even on h2h in Weeks 12 and 13.

But this survey did teach us some things and I'll address them next. At least we know the software is more than acceptable and we got feedback on areas we definitely can improve on. All of that helps us prepare for the future.

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:15 am

Never mind. Greg's last post answered my question.

[ December 21, 2011, 09:16 AM: Message edited by: Glenneration X ]