That's good data Mark. As Greg has been pointing out, our drafts are averaging around two weeks to complete. Some take a little longer, some a bit quicker. But on average it's in that range. So our drafts typically aren't taking 18 days or so to complete.
My personal opinion is that if you sign up for a football DC and it's taking two weeks or so to complete that's a reasonable time frame. Given the growth in this contest in recent years that would seem to provide evidence the majority would agree with that. That being said, if there is a strong demand for one-week DCs, we'll offer the 4-hour formats or the 6-hour leagues. Again, we're more than willing to do that. We just need 12 people to say they want to do it and we'll get you guys off and running.
I don't want to speak for Greg but if we're going to lower the time limit per pick in these leagues as a whole we need more evidence that the format itself is in danger and honestly, I'm not sure that's the case. Certainly, the average amount of time for our DC drafts does not lend itself to the belief the format isn't working properly. However, I'm not so stubborn I would ignore any compelling evidence that tells us shortening the amount of time per pick would help us grow this contest even more. If it would we certainly would look into making that change. But without having the ability to go through every draft and determine the amount of time each player is making per pick I'm not sure we're in a position to truly evaluate that.
Even if we were as I explained in an earlier post just having X amount of time listed does not always provide enough context into why certain players are taking the amount of time to make each pick. Life does have a way of getting involved in these drafts at times which is why just singling out someone for taking too long to make a pick is so highly flawed. Context is always needed to draw a more accurate conclusion.
It seems the strongest concern here is being made in favor of shorter DCs. If that's the case then say the word and I'll start a 4-hour DC thread and once we sell that out and we'll start another. And another and another and as many as everyone wants. Right now that may be the only way to get the shorter time frame some of you are looking for. I believe KJ's point to that (and correct me if I'm wrong KJ) is he's afraid that only the same group of people would sign up for such leagues. If that's true, perhaps that's an indication that the majority thinks the current setup is working fine as Steve said earlier? Again, I'm not trying to be stubborn or argumentative, just asking.
Like I said, my goal here is to find a solution that will work given our current tech offerings and the position Greg and I have taken that we are not going to be labeling people. If the solution is DCs done in a week then say the word and I'll start up a 4-hour DC signup thread today or 6 or whatever time you all tell us you want. Unless I'm missing something that would seem to be the only solution to shortening the DCs to the length some of you are desiring. If I'm missing another idea please let me know.