Planning Ahead For 2012 Classic League

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:18 am

Most of you know that all of us here at STATS are already knee deep in our baseball event for 2012. In fact, we're the only high-stakes baseball contest in the industry with live events as we'll be hosting drafts in five cities over two weekends this March. Thankfully, with a more stable environment these days in this market, we really think the NFBC is poised for not only a record year but a really BIG record year. Our Main Event is on pace for its 8th straight sellout and we already have 30+ full Slow Draft Leagues through January. It's crazy good over on that side of the business right now.

But we continue to plan and budget for 2012 NFFC and we definitely hope to announce all of our plans in the next month or so. It's a busy September across the country and we continue to look for the right space in each region, but right now we don't have any set venues. We're working on all of that now and hope to have more details later this month.

I do want to turn my attention to the Classic League first before we make all of our official announcements and get feedback from our veteran players. This year the Primetime outsold the Classic in number of teams and I think that trend will continue going forward as we become a bigger force on the first weekend of the NFL season in Las Vegas. We have big plans for that weekend in Las Vegas and we have every intention of growing the Primetime beyond the 360 teams we had this year and the $100,000 grand prize. Look for those details soon.

But right now I want to look at the Classic and figure out a perfect plan there. Winning a 14-team league is very, very difficult and I feel like we haven't grown that accomplishment the way we should have. We have kept the grand prize at $100,000 despite adding the 12-team Primetime and because of that we haven't been able to sell out the Classic often enough or grow the participation levels to where we could increase the league prizes. That's definitely where I'd start with extra prize money if we ever sold out the Classic.

So let's try a different approach for 2012. Would this contest be just as appealing -- or even more appealing -- if we increased the league prizes at the expense of the grand prize? Could we lower the grand prize for one person from $100,000 to $75,000 and use that money to increase league prizes?

I asked that question in our recent survey and got this surprising response:

12. If you play in the Classic league now or are interested in playing, would you prefer higher league prizes than the Primetime event offers if that meant less than a $100,000
grand prize? In other words, build bigger Classic league prizes ($6,000 for 1st) with possibly a slightly lower $75,000 grand prize.

Yes: 59.0%
No: 17.7%
Not applicable to me: 23.2%

Also in our first survey, we found that over 56% of respondents said they would play in the Classic if we offered it that second weekend in Las Vegas. So I do believe this format has appeal to die-hard fantasy football players who joined the NFFC for the first time last year, but we didn't give them that option last year.

Here's our current prize payout for the Classic:
1st - $5,000
2nd - $2,500
3rd - $1,250

That has been that way since the entry fee was $1,250. Could we lower the grand prize to $75,000 and use that extra $25,000 to increase league prizes to:
1st - $5,600
2nd - $2,800
3rd - $1,400

Or should we find a way to even go higher with league prizes, like:
1st - $6,000
2nd - $3,000
3rd - $1,500

That's a $35,000 increase in league prizes based on 20 leagues. But, if we sold out at 280 teams and did eventually reach more leagues, we could then increase the overall prize pool with every additional league. Basically, we'd be working the opposite way than we're doing it now.

Nobody would like a $100,000 grand prize for the NFFC Classic more than me. Our prizes originally were based on 350 teams and we sold out ONCE. Even increasing our entry fee and lowering the guarantee to 322 teams wasn't enough to sell out the Classic. But all of us here at STATS are totally committed to the 14-team format going forward; we just need to find the right mix to reach our guarantees and yet grow this contest each year. Maybe higher league prizes is the way to go here in this 14-team format.

What do you think? Is this a route worth taking? I welcome all of your feedback and look forward to making the Classic bigger and better in 2012. Thanks all.

RedRyder · Post by **RedRyder** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:39 am

I prefer higher league payouts.

I like the idea of 1st place getting more and I even might like 2nd place getting a small bump. Not sure I like 3rd place getting more. I just don't think it has to be across the board bumps for all places.

I also think $100,000 in itself is a good marketing tool. It just looks more impressive than $75,000 or any 5 digit number. But, I can see you can't offer that, so why not make it a $50,000 Grand prize and really increase league payouts.

It's all about the ROI to many players, you give killer ROI on a league level and still offer a nice Grand Prize on the overall level and you are carving out a very nice niche for the Classic. Something the other two contests won't have, incredible league payouts, yet a decent carrot for the Overall.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:55 am

Just so we're clear with the numbers:

Current:
$1,400 entry
280 teams (20 leagues)
$392,000 total entry fees

League prizes (5000/2500/1250): $175,000 (57%)
Overall prizes (100/15/7.5/2.5/1.4x4): $130,600 (43%)
Total prizes: $305,600

Proposal A
$1,400 entry
280 teams (20 leagues)
$392,000 total entry fees

League prizes: (5600/2800/1400): $196,000 (65%)
Overall prizes: (75/15/7.5/2.5/1.4x4): $105,600 (35%)
Total prizes: $301,600

Proposal B
$1,400 entry
280 teams (20 leagues)
$392,000 total entry fees

League prizes: (6000/3000/1500): $210,000 (70%)
Overall prizes: (60/15/7.5/2.5/1.4x4): $90,600 (30%)
Total prizes: $300,600

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:56 am

Originally posted by RedRyder:
I prefer higher league payouts.

I like the idea of 1st place getting more and I even might like 2nd place getting a small bump. Not sure I like 3rd place getting more. I just don't think it has to be across the board bumps for all places.

I also think $100,000 in itself is a good marketing tool. It just looks more impressive than $75,000 or any 5 digit number. But, I can see you can't offer that, so why not make it a $50,000 Grand prize and really increase league payouts.

It's all about the ROI to many players, you give killer ROI on a league level and still offer a nice Grand Prize on the overall level and you are carving out a very nice niche for the Classic. Something the other two contests won't have, incredible league payouts, yet a decent carrot for the Overall. Like the way you're thinking here, Jules.

Coyote Streakers · Post by **Coyote Streakers** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:45 am

Originally posted by RedRyder:
I prefer higher league payouts.

I like the idea of 1st place getting more and I even might like 2nd place getting a small bump. Not sure I like 3rd place getting more. I just don't think it has to be across the board bumps for all places.

I also think $100,000 in itself is a good marketing tool. It just looks more impressive than $75,000 or any 5 digit number. But, I can see you can't offer that, so why not make it a $50,000 Grand prize and really increase league payouts.

It's all about the ROI to many players, you give killer ROI on a league level and still offer a nice Grand Prize on the overall level and you are carving out a very nice niche for the Classic. Something the other two contests won't have, incredible league payouts, yet a decent carrot for the Overall. Agreed

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:17 am

Agree with all above, and I would be totally fine with 50K grand prize (still a VERY nice chunk of change!) and even higher league prizes than

$6,000
$3,000
$1,500

I just think once you go below the 6 digits, 50 and 75K are pretty much the same thing......play for SERIOUS league prizes instead of the extra 25K!

[ February 01, 2012, 01:19 PM: Message edited by: BillyWaz ]

bald is beautiful · Post by **bald is beautiful** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:28 am

Originally posted by BillyWaz:
Agree with all above, and I would be totally fine with 50K grand prize (still a VERY nice chunk of change!) and even higher league prizes than

$6,000
$3,000
$1,500

I just think once you go below the 6 digits, 50 and 75K are pretty much the same thing......play for SERIOUS league prizes instead of the extra 25K!

Agreed

kentucky · Post by **kentucky** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:46 am

I totally agree with everybody's thinking. More to the individual leagues.

Ry's Guys · Post by **Ry's Guys** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:30 am

Agreed

TamuScarecrow · Post by **TamuScarecrow** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:29 am

The unknown here is whether an extra weekend of 14-team league offerings is going to boost the numbers and if so by how much. I like KofQ's Proposal B as long as the extra money for additional leagues above 20 goes to the top prize. A $65k first prize is a nice apple.

Proposal B
$1,400 entry
280 teams (20 leagues)
$392,000 total entry fees

League prizes: (6000/3000/1500): $210,000 (70%)
Overall prizes: (65/15/7.5/2.5/1.4x4): $95,600 (30%)
Total prizes: $305,600

If you drop the first prize to $50k, having a first place league prize of $6500 and 2nd place league prize of $3250 would be nice too.