Looking For Feedback On Main Event Doubleheader

wlfskp · Post by **wlfskp** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:58 pm

I think the time between drafts was perfect for Vegas. I like the idea of a price break if you do both mains. I like the 2000 total but would want the classic (14) to remain at 1300 and the primetime be reduced. I also agree the prize structure for the primetime should be at least 75K. As to location I have been in Vegas for 5 years and probably would always go to vegas, but the two other cities I would consider would be Ft. Lauderdale (friends and business there) and New Orleans....nothing in the world like Bourbon Street and the only Hurricanes to worry us should be the ones we drink. Yes Katrina 2 years ago and Gustav this year but that should mean no worried in 09? Besides with a birthday of 09/09/09 next year and labor day 09/07/09 what a better place to celebrate......As to the public flogging of 150+ week one I object as we were over 150 in both mains...

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:48 pm

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:
quote:Originally posted by BillyWaz:
1. Was the 3+ hour time inbetween main events just right, too long or too short? Why or why not? Well I was in Vegas, and relaxed and got a bite to eat in between. Honestly, I could stand there looking at draft boards for hours, so 3 hours is fine by me no matter what city I am in.

2. Was the $1,300 cost for each main event just right or too high? Should we keep one of the events at $1,300 and one lower? If lower, at what price point (keeping in mind that it would then affect the overall prize structure)? $750 or $1,000 would be options I'd consider unless convinced otherwise. I wouldn't mind the NBC 12 teamer being lower, but I think $1,300 is a fair price for the 14 teamer. I did WCOFF this past weekend, and I can honestly say that you guys have NOTHING to worry about as far as customer service goes. The people working the WCOFF and their customer service is some of the worst I have ever experienced. People just need to experience the NFFC/NBC and they will stay. A smaller entry fee for the 12 teamer might help. DON'T LOWER THE NFFC 14 TEAMER, THAT IS YOUR "BREAD AND BUTTER", AND IT IS WHAT MAKES THE NFFC UNIQUE!!!!

3. If one of the events went to a lower price point, which one would you choose: NFFC Primetime (14 teams) or NFFC Classic (12 teams)? Why would you choose that one over the other main event? No question that the NBC 12 team should be lower. 14 teams is what makes the NFFC unique, and to lower that would be devastating to your contest IMO. Again, get all the pissed off people from WCOFF with a lower entry fee to give them "a taste", and then they will be hooked on the 14 teamer also.

4. We have exhausted our efforts to host live events in Florida for football, I believe. New Orleans was No. 1 on my list before Hurricane Gustav followed Hurricane Katrina and now that just doesn't seem like a feasible option. If we stick with four cities, which city do you believe makes the most sense for 2009? And why?
I would say Atlanta. Major city in the south, easily accesible by air, and the nightlife and things to do are better than Chicago, and probably on par (or better) than NYC.

5. I'd like to find a suitable time for an NFFC Super League because I believe folks will compete in that format, but this year we shoved it in at a rough time on Sunday afternoon. Would Saturday night be an option or is that too much in one day? Would starting the NFFC Ultimate at 9 a.m. PST and the Super at noon be too much in one day?? Barring a lack of funds, I will DEFINITELY be in a 14 team Super with the total points playoffs in 2009. Anytime early on Sunday would work, and if you started at 8:00 AM eastern, I would be there!

6. The phone option that we offered this year with MockDraftCentral.com worked well as we hosted two NBC leagues with folks on the phone and the league available online as well. By allowing owners to voice their picks, there were no issues with picking wrong players online or time-out issues or computer glitches. This is a format we may consider in the future as well with travel costs likely to be high again next year. Is expanding online an okay option for NFFC participants? Again, why or why not? It is fine by me, and offering an online option that drafts the same time as one of the Main events only brings in more people IMO. You critiquing/ripping WCOFF based on an experience anywhere outside of Vegas is like someone critiquing/ripping the NFFC based on their experience in Florida.

C'mon, now Billy.

~Lance [/QUOTE]It's all I have to go by. Should I go on someone's "word" that the Vegas event is good?

Also, the customer service on a DAILY basis (no matter what city you are in) is AWFUL.

IMPORTANT questions go DAYS without being addressed, they pick draft slots whenever they feel like it, no KDS, etc....

You can't say that is just outside of Vegas. :rolleyes:

Don't get me wrong, I like the SuperSatellites, but the live events (at least in AC) were EXTREMELY disappointing.

WCOFF is getting by on their reputation, IMO. Only a matter of time before people realize their are better options out there (i.e NFFC)

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:24 pm

Greg: how many brand new signups did u get for the nffc event? How many for the nbc event?

Eddiejag · Post by **Eddiejag** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:37 am

Dont know what you guys are smoking but the WCOFF expierence for myself was awesome.Their is nothing like walking into that room in Vegas and seeing 75 leagues , you can get lost in there.I have no cheap shots at either event as they are too me the bestin the business.But to think that WCOFF will lose teams is silly.They just hit 912 in this economy, i think when the economy gets better both events will grow even more. Love them both.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:18 am

We talked about Atlantic City for our baseball event this past year but we found that we would lose too many of our New York participants if we made that shift so we elected to stay in NY - and found a great location and hotel with the Sheraton. So my question for those advocating Atlantic City would be:

1. Do you think we should go to Atlantic City and remove New York as a destination?

2. Or do you think we should add Atlantic City as a fourth city?

OK, that's two questions. Seriously, if we added AC as our fourth city, do we gain new members or do we just split the New York participants in half? That would be my question and my main concern. What we want to do with a fourth city is not only add another geographic element that isn't being covered but find a destination that will attract new people to our events. If we already have the East Coast covered with New York, does it make sense to add another East Coast city or is that a way to maintain the 7-10 leagues we can get in New York and add more in Atlantic City?

Those are the questions we have to look at if we're going to start talking about AC. I agree that if we replace Orlando, we need to find a venue that will be fun and make people want to go there. Atlantic City would certainly have that from the gambling perspective. So would New Orleans, but with two hurricanes in the past four years, I don't think we can call NO a realistic option any longer. There are just too many weather-related risks involved with hosting our event there in August.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:34 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:
Greg: how many brand new signups did u get for the nffc event? How many for the nbc event? We were happy with a return of 75% of our customers from 2007 to one of the two main events. That means we had about 130 new customers for either main event, which is on par with past years. Unfortunately, with two contests and twice the amount of prize money, we fell short of our goals. We had expected even more newbies with our partnership with NBC Sports, but I think in time those goals will be met. We admittedly had some first year hiccups together and we continued to adjust the web site on the fly, which made things tough for newbies trying to join. If we can get some of those things solved hopefully we can convert more folks into our events next year.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:40 am

Originally posted by Eddiejag:
Dont know what you guys are smoking but the WCOFF expierence for myself was awesome.Their is nothing like walking into that room in Vegas and seeing 75 leagues , you can get lost in there.I have no cheap shots at either event as they are too me the bestin the business.But to think that WCOFF will lose teams is silly.They just hit 912 in this economy, i think when the economy gets better both events will grow even more. Love them both. I would agree with Eddie that the WCOFF Las Vegas experience is FANtastic. It's one helluva sight to see 75 leagues in a 70,000 square foot room and from what I remember last year they don't spare any expense on their participants. Now they have some events fees to use for that, but it's all good.

I heard this year in Las Vegas was top notch too.

Heck, I'd love to have that first weekend of the NFL season in Las Vegas as I know how exciting that is out there, but there's no reason for two events on the same day. WCOFF does it up right out in Las Vegas. I know it's tougher to create the same experience in the other non-NFL gambling cities, but we kind of have the same problem. Fortunately, Tom knows what he has to do in NY to keep those folks happy, Scott knows what he has to do in CHI to make the Windy City as good as it can be and Scott and Steve do their best in Florida. Having every staffer here in Iola and meeting once a week makes us all leave here with the same goals.

It's all good. Both events just need to find ways to bring in new customers and keep our current customers as happy as can be.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:51 am

Thanks for all the comments so far. Keep them coming because they do help. I'll say this:

1. I know that 3 hours was perfect in LV and Tom said a lot of folks liked it in NY too as they had plenty of time to get something good to eat in the area. Maybe we figure something to do inbetween the events if folks don't want to leave and relax. As Mark Moyer said to me in Las Vegas, "Greg, if you would have asked after the NFFC event if anyone wanted to draft a $1,000 satellite or a $250 satellite inbetween the NFFC and NBC Sports events, I bet you would have filled up a few leagues. We could have drafted right there while you cleaned up the other tables." If folks want another draft inbetween or even after the NBC Sports events, I'm game!!

2. I do want to offer a fourth city as the goal is to cover all parts of the country and to continue bringing in new customers. We feel that once we get customers into the NFFC that they will continue with us for a long time and will eventually try more satellite leagues, maybe even baseball and maybe even basketball or the other sports we hope to offer soon. They also bring in friends who later join, so while the Florida numbers look small in many ways this fourth city has been very good for the NFFC/NFBC.

3. Just remember that if we went to a $750 price for the 12-team event, the grand prize would be greatly affected. It's tough call to do that. With 252 teams this year, it would be hard to budget a guaranteed prize for much more than 300 teams. That's the dilemma I face, but I'll figure it out. We have a good thing going with the two-event format, but I'd hate to reduce the grand prize of one event and still fall short of our guaranteed level on the other. So I need to be smart with this next decision.

Thoughts? Oh, and I REALLY love New Orleans as a fourth city, but with the Gulf of Mexico at 87 degrees each August that's just inviting trouble.

eugenemin · Post by **eugenemin** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:55 am

Greg, here's my input:

1. 2 hours is good enough.

2. $1300 for both events is fine. Making the Primtime price go down would make it LESS attractive to me.

3. I had the opposite feeling as some of the earlier guys to post. I was thinking a lower price on the 14-teamer would get more people to try something they were less familiar with since it cost less? I definitely see it their way too though.

4. Question on this one: Geographically speaking, where do your customers come from? In other words, drafters may go to a city outside of the region where they live, but are all the major regions of the US represented well? What percent comes from the West Coast, New England region, Midwest, South, Southeast, etc? Based on that info, maybe picking a 4th city would be easier?

5. What about having Auctions, Draftmasters, Supers, Ultimates spread out over Thurs/Fri?

6. I like the idea of keeping phone drafters in play to increase the size of the field.