Looking For Feedback On NFFC Cutline Championship

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here at STATS and the NFFC, we are always looking for new ways to grow our business as long as it's good for our customers. We know it's important to build contests with meaningful grand prizes and fair league prizes, so growth is good in the live events area. But it's also important to continuously innovate and create new contests that provide new options for our existing customers while attracting new customers.

In the last couple of years we've created:
** The NFFC Online Championship, the industry's first $350 entry point with a national grand prize. The Online Championship now has Rotowire.com as a promotional partner and a guaranteed $100,000 grand prize.

** The NFFC Draft Champions National Championship. This is now a 12-team format that is projected to finish with 1,000+ teams and a guaranteed $15,000 grand prize. Teams draft through 35 rounds and the computer picks their optimal scoring lineup each week for 16 weeks.

Now we are looking at another new contest: The NFFC Cutline Championship.

Tom and I have been intrigued by this concept for the last couple of years. The FFOC created this format and it was well received by the industry, generating more than 6,000 teams the first year. Unfortunately, the prize structure was so big and the entry level so low -- guaranteed $1 million grand prize and entries of $150-$100 -- that it was unsustainable. The FFOC survived for two years before folding, but the Cutline format still made sense.

The key to this format is TECHNOLOGY and we have this figured out. It's cool to see your team battling to finish above the Cutline each week in real-time live standings when so much money is on the line and that's what the NFFC Cutline Championship will provide at an affordable price.

The NFFC Cutline Championship will have a real-time cutline format within Live Overall Standings from Weeks 10 to 15. This will be a 10-team format and low priced at $100-$125 per team. The regular season will consist of 9 weeks of head-to-head and total points action and 2 of the 10 teams will advance to the Championship Round. Three other teams will advance to a Consolation Round in Weeks 10 to 12, but even those teams still have a shot at the grand prize (see Rules for more details).

The Cutline portion of the contest starts in Week 10 and will be a lot of fun in Week 12 when teams are close to elimination in the Championship Round and the Consolation Round (which we'll call the Wild Card bracket). Then in Week 13 teams will again be eliminated from the Championship Round and Wild Card bracket thanks to the established cutline. This will continue through Week 15 until we have 12 teams left in the Championship Round and 20 teams left in the Wild Card bracket. And just to add some intrigue to the contest, we'll have a couple of teams each week from the Wild Card bracket move into the Championship Round so that all teams still in the post-season have a shot at the top grand prize.

This has the potential to be a fun, fun format, but we need your help. We're looking for all feedback before finalizing the rules and making this a go. Ideally we'd love to have a six-figure grand prize and a live final week in Las Vegas, but we need to start out slowly this season and build from there. We are shooting for a more balanced payout format in the Championship Round and $50,000 for first place. But yeah, having the 12 finalists in Las Vegas and major prizes is the goal of this contest in future years.

Okay, feedback is welcome here. What do you think of the NFFC Cutline Championship and can it work? We may offer two price points: $100 where you are only competing for the overall prizes and $125, where you are competing for the $250 league prize and the overall prizes. Some folks may see this contest as more intriguing for just the overall prizes and less about league prizes, so we're thinking about setting up some leagues that way if that's what folks want. We need feedback there.

Okay, let's see the feedback. Here are the tentative rules:

Section I: Official Rules and Regulations of the
National Fantasy Football Cutline Championship

1. Overview: The National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) Cutline Championship is a national contest that consists of leagues comprised of 10 teams/managers. The NFFC Cutline Championship regular season will begin with all Week 1 NFL games (including results from the Thursday, Sept. 5th game) and through all Week 9 games. Teams will play every other team in their league once in head-to-head competition and the team with the most points after Week 9 wins the $250 league prize. The top 2 teams from each league based on the criteria below qualify for the Championship bracket in Weeks 10-12 of the Cutline Championship:
1st - Most points scored
2nd – best head-to-head record (total points being the tie-breaker)

Three other teams move to the Wild Card bracket for Weeks 10-12:

3rd – Best head-to-head record among remaining teams (total points being the tie-breaker)
4th – Most points among remaining teams
5th - Most points among remaining teams

Round 1: Weeks 10-12 (scores combined for those 3 weeks + weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-9)
- The top 25% scoring Championship bracket teams after Week 12 advance to Week 13 (top 100 teams if we had 400 Championship Round teams based on 2,000 total teams); all other teams from the Championship bracket move to the Wild Card bracket.
- The top 10 scoring Wild Card teams move up to the Championship bracket; the next 100 advance in the Wild Card bracket. All other teams in the Wild Card bracket are finished.

Round 2: Week 13 (take each team’s weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-9, plus weekly playoff scoring average, plus your score from Week 13)
- The top 60 scoring Championship bracket teams advance; all other teams move to the Wild Card bracket.
- The top 5 scoring Wild Card teams move up to the Championship bracket; the next 60 advance in the Wild Card bracket.

Round 3: Week 14 (take each team’s weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-9, plus weekly playoff scoring average, plus your score from Week 14)
- The top 30 scoring Championship bracket teams advance; all others move to the Wild Card bracket.
- The top 3 scoring Wild Card teams move up to the Championship bracket; the next 30 advance in the Wild Card bracket.

Round 4: Week 15 (take each team’s weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-9, plus weekly playoff scoring average, plus your score from Week 15)
- The top 11 scoring Championship bracket teams advance; the next 10 in scoring advance to the Wild Card bracket.
- The top scoring (1) Wild Card team moves up to the Championship bracket; the next 10 advance in the Wild Card bracket.

Final Round: Week 16 (take each team’s weekly scoring average from Weeks 1-9, plus weekly playoff scoring average, plus your score from Week 16)
- 12 teams compete in the Championship bracket
- 20 teams compete in the Wild Card bracket

2. Draft: All NFFC Cutline Championship drafts are held online at nffc.stats.com. Cost of entry is $125 per team.

3. Prizes:

League Prizes:
1st Place - $250

Championship Round:
1st Place - $50,000
2nd Place - $25,000
3rd Place - $15,000
4th Place - $10,000
5th Place - $5,000
6th Place - $1,000
6th Place - $1,000
7th Place - $1,000
8th Place - $1,000
9th Place - $1,000
10th Place - $1,000
11th Place - $1,000
12th Place - $1,000

Wild Card Round:
1st Place - $10,000
2nd Place - $4,000
3rd Place - $2,000
4th Place - $1,500
5th Place - $1,000
6th-12th - $500 each
13th-20th - $250 each

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 26 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 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. NEW FOR 2013: 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 every 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 8-12 points by the entire team
• 2 points for allowing 13-17 points by the entire team

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), but will be held ONLY 3 TIMES DURING THE SEASON. FAAB will run before Week 2, before Week 6 and before Week 10. Each team will start with a $1,000 FAAB budget, and will be permitted to bid for free agents three times per year. 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). Free Agent bidding in the NFFC Cutline Championship continues through Week 10 within each league, even after the regular season is completed in Week 9.

9. The Draft: All drafts will be held online at nffc.stats.com. The draft will be held in a serpentine fashion for all 26 rounds: 1-10 in Round 1, 10-1 in Round 2 and continuously that way for 26 rounds. There is no Third Round Reversal in the NFFC Cutline Championship and no KDS. Draft spots are randomly picked in the NFFC Cutline Championship.
A. League Management Web Address: STATS will manage the NFFC and provide real-time stats online. You can access your league via the Internet by going to http://nffc.stats.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 plus total points. 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: The NFFC Cutline Championship will have just one bidding period during each of the three FAAB bidding time frames. That will be on Friday of Week 2, Friday of Week 6 and Friday of Week 10. The FAAB period will run for all available free agents from that week on Friday at 10 pm ET. Rosters will be updated by 11 p.m. ET on Friday 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.

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. However, only the 5 playoff teams from each league will be able to make bids in Week 10.

13. Tied Bids: If there is a tie bid, the team that receives the player will be determined in order by:
1. Worst league record
2. Lowest total points
3. Highest points against
4. 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 10 teams competing in a head-to-head and total points format for the league championship. The top 4 teams advance to the Championship Round after Week 9, while the 6 other teams move onto the Wild Card Round. Teams compete in the Championship and Wild Card Rounds in Weeks 10, 11 and 12 to advance to Week 13. Each week during the playoff rounds of Weeks 13 to 16 teams will be eliminated from the Championship Round and Wild Card bracket through the Cutline process, while some teams from the Wild Card bracket will earn a spot into the Championship Round. The number of teams will eventually be pared down to 12 teams in the Championship Round by Week 16 with those teams competing for the top overall prizes.

16. Random League/Draft Spot Selections: The NFFC will automate leagues for each draft date as they come in and announce draft spots no more than 7 days before the scheduled draft dates. Leagues can actually fill the day of the draft and in that case draft spots will be emailed immediately after leagues are formed to all of the participants. All draft spots are randomly selected; there is no KDS or Third Round Reversal in the NFFC Cutline Championship.

If a league on one of the draft dates doesn't fill exactly with 10 teams, the NFFC has the right to cancel that league. No charges will be run until a full league is formed.

17. Tie-breaker procedures. If after 9 regular season games, teams are tied for first place in total points, the following tiebreakers will be used in this order:
a. Best Head-to-Head record in the league through 9 weeks
b. Head-to-head won/lost record against the tied teams (if three or more teams, it's cumulative wins against those common opponents)
c. Highest point total from Week 9
d. Highest point total from Week 8
e. Highest point total from Week 7 down to Week 1 in order
f. Lowest draft spot
This procedure is for determining 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, all prize money will be split among those teams.

18. Draft Rules:
a. Time Limit: Each participant will have a 70-second time limit for each online pick. Should a player time out, the computer will pick the top player from that owner’s Que. If no players are in the Que, then the computer will pick the top player from the NFFC’s player default list. There are no breaks during online drafts.
b. Trading: There is no trading allowed during the NFFC season and all player cuts will be evaluated by the NFFC. Any player cut that will hurt the integrity of the league can be removed from that leagues’ free agent pool for good by the NFFC.
c. League Management: The league will be available via the Internet at http://nffc.stats.com. All lineups may be submitted on the league web site and must be entered prior to the scheduled kickoff for the game affected.
d. 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 at least five minutes 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. STATS reserves the right to cancel any entries which are not part of a full league. In addition, STATS 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 STATS 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, STATS 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 STATS. In the event of any such termination by STATS, all entry fees will be refunded, with the exception of any live event fees (if such live event has already occurred).
At its sole discretion, STATS reserves the right to terminate any NFFC game, event or league (including the National Fantasy Football Championship Main Event) if there are an insufficient number of teams prior to the scheduled start of the league. In this unlikely event, STATS will refund all entry fees within 48 hours of cancellation notice and/or provide a new application form with the newly stated prize figures. In this situation, all pre-registered applicants have the right to a full refund or to agree to play for the newly announced prize structure. STATS is not responsible for any loss or liability incurred by any participant or co-managers due to cancellation of any NFFC game, event or league, including but not limited to travel or hotel expenses, time taken off from employment, etc.

21. Taxes. If the principal team owner's 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 and you will receive a copy of the form for tax purposes. STATS 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, STATS 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, Iowa, and Vermont 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 STATS’ decisions relating thereto. STATS’ 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 STATS, 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/STATS representative, is strictly prohibited. STATS 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. STATS 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 STATS/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 STATS 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 STATS/NFFC will not be held liable for any errors in entering lineups, trades or free agent moves, and STATS/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 STATS (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 STATS. Both the principal registrant and the co-manager(s) will receive IRS Form 1099 reflecting the prize money paid to each. If STATS 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 STATS 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. STATS 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. STATS 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 STATS 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. Disputes; Limitation of Liability; Disclaimer: Each participant and co-owner agrees that (i) all issues and questions regarding the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or your rights and obligations in connection with the NFFC shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the state of Illinois, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules; and (ii) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the NFFC or any prize awarded will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, or the appropriate state court located in Cook County, Illinois; and (iii) in no event shall STATS liability to you for any and all damages, losses or causes of action exceed $250; and (iv) in no event shall STATS, its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives, be liable for any punitive, incidental and consequential damages. If your jurisdiction does not allow limitations or exclusions of liability for incidental or consequential damages, the above may not apply to you. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EACH NFFC GAME, EVENT, LEAGUE,WEBSITE, AND BULLETIN BOARD/FORUM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IF YOUR JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

30. STATS PASS: In the event that you have purchased a STATSPASS® subscription, then the following additional Terms and Conditions shall apply throughout your subscription period:
1. Your username/password are personal to you, and shall not be shared with, or used by, any third party.
2. During your subscription period, STATS hereby grants to you a non-exclusive license to utilize STATSPASS® and the data contained therein, solely for your personal use. This grant of license is expressly limited to the use described herein, and no additional rights or licenses are included. Any other use, including any commercial or non-personal use of STATSPASS® or use by any person other than you, is strictly prohibited, and shall be considered an Unauthorized Use.
3. In the event of any Unauthorized Use, in addition to any other remedies to which STATS shall be entitled, STATS shall have the right to immediately terminate your STATSPASS® subscription, without notice.
4. Subscription fees are non-refundable.
5. STATSPASS® IS LICENSED TO YOU "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL STATS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LEGAL PENALTIES, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STATSPASS® AND/OR THE DATA ACCESSED THROUGH STATSPASS®. STATS’ LIABILITY HEREUNDER SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE SUMS RECEIVED BY STATS IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR STATSPASS® SUBSCRIPTION.
6. You shall not copy, database, archive, save, or otherwise store any data accessed through STATSPASS®.

31. Player Eligibility: Players will be eligible at one position during the NFFC season and designated for that position before the season by STATS. 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.

[BillyWaz]

I really like this from a standpoint of growing the NFFC!

That being said, there are TWO things I would change.....

1) While still setting a lineup each week, somehow ELIMINATE FAAB. With 10 teams, a 25-30 round draft would give people an ample bench. Of course I am looking at this from a standpoint of already owning a lot of teams, and FAAB can be very time consuming. Only 200 players drafted is going to leave a TON of FAAB options, and more than I personally would want to deal with.

2) Find a way to make it a straight $100, and still give away the $250 league prize. Having two different fees is confusing, IMO.

I really do like the idea, and think it would be a hit.....just get rid of that pesky FAAB!

[Greg Ambrosius]

I really like this from a standpoint of growing the NFFC!

That being said, there are TWO things I would change.....

1) While still setting a lineup each week, somehow ELIMINATE FAAB. With 10 teams, a 25-30 round draft would give people an ample bench. Of course I am looking at this from a standpoint of already owning a lot of teams, and FAAB can be very time consuming. Only 200 players drafted is going to leave a TON of FAAB options, and more than I personally would want to deal with.

2) Find a way to make it a straight $100, and still give away the $250 league prize. Having two different fees is confusing, IMO.

I really do like the idea, and think it would be a hit.....just get rid of that pesky FAAB!

Good feedback Billy and that is a good thought with No. 1. Interesting. What do other folks think of this option? It does solve some things from our end and would make this more like what we offer in our NFBC Draft Champions Leagues. Very interesting.

KJ assures me that two different price points isn't confusing!! His point is that some folks will play this just for the grand prize and I do agree with him. But Tom and I always like league prizes because that's what owners can most control. So we're torn between the two and thought maybe having both options would work. That's why I wanted feedback from you folks. You can't give $250 per league at a $100 entry point without planning for a few thousand more teams, so the two options was one way to make it work for everyone. Just a thought and we're not saying it's the final answer. Thanks again for the quick feedback.

[BillyWaz]

I think it is a winner to get the "small player" involved with very little risk and a big time reward.

With someone like myself and many others who manage multiple high stakes teams, it simply would be too time consuming for a $250 prize and possible chance at the grand prize.

Make it NO FAAB and increase the rounds, and you can put me down for at least 5 teams!

[kjduke]

The FFOC had three convoluted tiers and something like 10,000 teams in its final season, so I don't think two much simpler pricing tiers would be too confusing to attract a big audience. I think one pricing tier would work too, but in that case it would probably have to be at the $125 price tier with the league prize to attract the casual player.

On Billy's suggestion, making it a DC-style tournament is worth exploring. I'd play more teams with that format too, but the critical question is would it attract the lower-stakes FFOC-type player who might be unhappy with not being able to improve upon a crappy team they drafted in July or August ? I don't know the answer.

[BillyWaz]

The FFOC had three convoluted tiers and something like 10,000 teams in its final season, so I don't think two much simpler pricing tiers would be too confusing to attract a big audience.

On Billy's suggestion, making it a DC-style tournament is worth exploring. I'd play more teams with that format too, but the critical question is would it attract the lower-stakes FFOC-type player who might be unhappy with not being able to improve upon a crappy team they drafted in July or August ? I don't know the answer.

I thought about a DC format as well, but I don't think a lot of low stakes players are familiar with it.

I just can't see myself jumping in if there is FAAB involved. 25 rounds at 10 teams is still only 10 more players than a 12 teamer, so even 30 would make sense. You still would have weekly lineup decisions (that everyone is used to), so in a way, it is a DC-standard hybrid (much more standard, but no FAAB is why we all like the DC's! )

Just my .02.

[Tom Kessenich]

The concern I would have with no FAAB is it then becomes too similar to our Draft Champions event which also has a national grand prize. I think we should look to differentiate the Cutline from what we currently offer, not make it like something we already offer on a national scale. That's why we're thinking of offering this event without KDS and 3RR. Makes it a unique offering and something which may be appealing to those who don't like KDS and/or 3RR for whatever reason.

[kjduke]

Billy, yeah I meant no-faab rather than an actual DC best ball contest - if it could attract casual players in the same numbers it would be a good option.

Tom, agreed on no kds/3rr for this contest. I love it for high stakes, but you wouldn't want to run that for a quick hit impulse buy contest like this.

[BillyWaz]

The concern I would have with no FAAB is it then becomes too similar to our Draft Champions event which also has a national grand prize. I think we should look to differentiate the Cutline from what we currently offer, not make it like something we already offer on a national scale. That's why we're thinking of offering this event without KDS and 3RR. Makes it a unique offering and something which may be appealing to those who don't like KDS and/or 3RR for whatever reason.

The key is you are still submitting a weekly lineup.

[Greg Ambrosius]

The concern I would have with no FAAB is it then becomes too similar to our Draft Champions event which also has a national grand prize. I think we should look to differentiate the Cutline from what we currently offer, not make it like something we already offer on a national scale. That's why we're thinking of offering this event without KDS and 3RR. Makes it a unique offering and something which may be appealing to those who don't like KDS and/or 3RR for whatever reason.

The key is you are still submitting a weekly lineup.

Keep the feedback coming. Outside of FAAB, is there any feedback on the playoff format or the number of cutdown teams? Do you like the idea that even teams in the Wild Card bracket can earn a spot back into the Championship Round and still win the overall grand prize? I think that adds to teams fighting throughout the post-season. Should we tweak anything there?

One thing we know is that if we're bringing in new players at $125, this might be their introduction to "high stakes". Maybe this is their one big team to manage and they might enjoy some in-season roster management. And if folks draft in July there will be new players who come to the forefront who weren't drafted and could help teams. I'm wondering if there's a happy medium to increased roster size and lesser importance on FAAB. I'm not sure, but there seems like that could be accomplished with a few tweaks.

Anyway, keep the ideas coming and we'll see where it takes us. Thanks all.