The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
tom , you say you dont have a single newcomer in boston. as for myself im going to boston because i think citifield was a bummer for me. your stuck in the middle of nowhere. im not taking a subway back and forth. the traffic will be insane with the holiday and tennis. going to boston was my only other option. am i shocked boston didnt do well , very shocked. given the flair of atlantic city how can it do worse than boston and buffalo combined. its only good biz on the part of the casinos to give a good room rate and finding a place to draft cant be that hard. it seems the right move to make. the fun part would certainly be there.
THIS IS THE BUSINESS WE HAVE CHOSEN
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Greg Ambrosius
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The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Guys, I certainly appreciate the input on the city locations and I hear ya on Atlantic City. We held our NFBC at Harrah's in Atlantic City this March and we talked with them about football right after that event. They were using the entire convention center on Labor Day weekend for a slots tournament and couldn't fit us in anywhere. Room rates were also through the roof. We checked a few other AC casinos and they were doing similar tournaments throughout the weekend. They all said, "you do realize that it's Labor Day weekend, right? That's one of our busiest weekends."
We might have been able to host it at the AC Convention Center, but I didn't go that route. We've had 130+ in NY in the past and 8 & 9 leagues in NY last year. I think it's more than location for our reduced numbers now. Hopefully we can make this work yet at Citi Field with our past loyal customers signing up later, but AC was considered.
We might have been able to host it at the AC Convention Center, but I didn't go that route. We've had 130+ in NY in the past and 8 & 9 leagues in NY last year. I think it's more than location for our reduced numbers now. Hopefully we can make this work yet at Citi Field with our past loyal customers signing up later, but AC was considered.
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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The Franchise
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The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
I agree with Frank. That was part of the reason I chose Boston and since I have family there I can spend the weekend with them.
My opinion is this:
1. If you want the Live Draft experience then you go to Vegas or NY
2. If you want convenience and a little savings then you go with Boston
3. If you want both? Well, that doesn't look to be available this year
For me I love walking into a draft room filled with players and interacting with friends and meeting new people........But this year I'm choosing convenience and savings
I vote for AC next year. I have to believe that it is less expensive for both sides than NY.
My opinion is this:
1. If you want the Live Draft experience then you go to Vegas or NY
2. If you want convenience and a little savings then you go with Boston
3. If you want both? Well, that doesn't look to be available this year
For me I love walking into a draft room filled with players and interacting with friends and meeting new people........But this year I'm choosing convenience and savings
I vote for AC next year. I have to believe that it is less expensive for both sides than NY.
Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is.
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Greg Ambrosius
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The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Originally posted by BONGIZMO:
One other thing Greg on the muti city approach. As we discussed early on, I had a concern that you might be spreading yourself a bit thin in this economy and with three main contests all competing for our fantasy dollars. However let's all not forget part of the numbers issue for the NFFC is that y'all started later this year. Don't underestimate the effect that this may have had on the live events as many started placing their dollars with contests that had their sites up, locations announced etc. it did matter as the NFFC has imo been playing catch up in Football in 2010... I do agree with you Scott. The late start didn't help...
One other thing Greg on the muti city approach. As we discussed early on, I had a concern that you might be spreading yourself a bit thin in this economy and with three main contests all competing for our fantasy dollars. However let's all not forget part of the numbers issue for the NFFC is that y'all started later this year. Don't underestimate the effect that this may have had on the live events as many started placing their dollars with contests that had their sites up, locations announced etc. it did matter as the NFFC has imo been playing catch up in Football in 2010... I do agree with you Scott. The late start didn't help...
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
its sad to say but all this talk may be for nothing as football is in big trouble getting started next year with the strike looming. it is going to be a nitemare trying to lock up places for next year. enjoy this year boyz.
THIS IS THE BUSINESS WE HAVE CHOSEN
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
I was one of the people pushing Atlantic City. I understand it's the busiest time of year, but isn't that when you want to be there?
My suggestion would be to pick a location where you'll get the best audience, even if they aren't playing.
If you are in a casino where they are having a slots tournament, I doubt you'll get 70+ year old people interested enough to look on and join the following year. But if you had it in a casino where you'll find people in your range of potential signups, you should not only make a lot of people in 2011 happy, you'll put the NFFC in people's heads for 2012 that saw it happening and missed it.
Having it at the convention center may be the most financially reasonable, but in that place, no one sees the drafts except for the people going in that building to draft. There is ZERO advertising.
In fact, if you're even thinking about having it in AC, why not start putting up advertisements for your LIVE 2011 AC events up starting in JANUARY!!!! Guys, I've always been 100% NFFC, but I'm not sure if it's baseball or business in general, but the early bird gets the worm. In this case, the worm is the signup. I think you'll do just fine this year, but I also think you would have done much better if you had come out with your product and signups MUCH earlier.
This is only one man's advice, and I see Tom's post so I don't want to be praised or blamed if AC is tried...I just know it's a place where people go to spend money. A lot of money. It is the place to have fantasy drafts.
[ August 15, 2010, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: Diesel ]
My suggestion would be to pick a location where you'll get the best audience, even if they aren't playing.
If you are in a casino where they are having a slots tournament, I doubt you'll get 70+ year old people interested enough to look on and join the following year. But if you had it in a casino where you'll find people in your range of potential signups, you should not only make a lot of people in 2011 happy, you'll put the NFFC in people's heads for 2012 that saw it happening and missed it.
Having it at the convention center may be the most financially reasonable, but in that place, no one sees the drafts except for the people going in that building to draft. There is ZERO advertising.
In fact, if you're even thinking about having it in AC, why not start putting up advertisements for your LIVE 2011 AC events up starting in JANUARY!!!! Guys, I've always been 100% NFFC, but I'm not sure if it's baseball or business in general, but the early bird gets the worm. In this case, the worm is the signup. I think you'll do just fine this year, but I also think you would have done much better if you had come out with your product and signups MUCH earlier.
This is only one man's advice, and I see Tom's post so I don't want to be praised or blamed if AC is tried...I just know it's a place where people go to spend money. A lot of money. It is the place to have fantasy drafts.
[ August 15, 2010, 10:58 AM: Message edited by: Diesel ]
*Ranked #1 Average Fantasy Football Player in the Nation 2004-2013
"Fantasy sports are all about LUCK. Except when I win."
"Fantasy sports are all about LUCK. Except when I win."
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Originally posted by THE_BLACKHAND:
its sad to say but all this talk may be for nothing as football is in big trouble getting started next year with the strike looming. it is going to be a nitemare trying to lock up places for next year. enjoy this year boyz. Hey Frank, If the NFL goes on strike, I will ban them for a few years and start going to Atlantic City again 2-3 times a year. A strike here is nothing less than the rich fighting to get richer on both sides. If the fans suffer because of it, it is inexcusable. I absolutely LOVE football, but if they force me to find something else to do, by going on strike, I will have to do what I've gotta go.
its sad to say but all this talk may be for nothing as football is in big trouble getting started next year with the strike looming. it is going to be a nitemare trying to lock up places for next year. enjoy this year boyz. Hey Frank, If the NFL goes on strike, I will ban them for a few years and start going to Atlantic City again 2-3 times a year. A strike here is nothing less than the rich fighting to get richer on both sides. If the fans suffer because of it, it is inexcusable. I absolutely LOVE football, but if they force me to find something else to do, by going on strike, I will have to do what I've gotta go.
*Ranked #1 Average Fantasy Football Player in the Nation 2004-2013
"Fantasy sports are all about LUCK. Except when I win."
"Fantasy sports are all about LUCK. Except when I win."
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Originally posted by Diesel:
I was one of the people pushing Atlantic City. I understand it's the busiest time of year, but isn't that when you want to be there?
My suggestion would be to pick a location where you'll get the best audience, even if they aren't playing.
If you are in a casino where they are having a slots tournament, I doubt you'll get 70+ year old people interested enough to look on and join the following year. But if you had it in a casino where you'll find people in your range of potential signups, you should not only make a lot of people in 2011 happy, you'll put the NFFC in people's heads for 2012 that saw it happening and missed it.
Having it at the convention center may be the most financially reasonable, but in that place, no one sees the drafts except for the people going in that building to draft. There is ZERO advertising.
In fact, if you're even thinking about having it in AC, why not start putting up advertisements for your LIVE 2011 AC events up starting in JANUARY!!!! Guys, I've always been 100% NFFC, but I'm not sure if it's baseball or business in general, but the early bird gets the worm. In this case, the worm is the signup. I think you'll do just fine this year, but I also think you would have done much better if you had come out with your product and signups MUCH earlier.
This is only one man's advice, and I see Tom's post so I don't want to be praised or blamed if AC is tried...I just know it's a place where people go to spend money. A lot of money. It is the place to have fantasy drafts. Atlantic city may be a better choice next year getting into a casino with both Delaware and Pennsylvania having slots and table games now buisness in AC is going to be down even the convention center or the Sheraton hotel could be a option in 2011 that is where Wcoff and Rotobowl held their drafts. As far as NY goes I would have loved to see the drafts at Giants stadium I could get Diesel to give me a ride to the draft
I was one of the people pushing Atlantic City. I understand it's the busiest time of year, but isn't that when you want to be there?
My suggestion would be to pick a location where you'll get the best audience, even if they aren't playing.
If you are in a casino where they are having a slots tournament, I doubt you'll get 70+ year old people interested enough to look on and join the following year. But if you had it in a casino where you'll find people in your range of potential signups, you should not only make a lot of people in 2011 happy, you'll put the NFFC in people's heads for 2012 that saw it happening and missed it.
Having it at the convention center may be the most financially reasonable, but in that place, no one sees the drafts except for the people going in that building to draft. There is ZERO advertising.
In fact, if you're even thinking about having it in AC, why not start putting up advertisements for your LIVE 2011 AC events up starting in JANUARY!!!! Guys, I've always been 100% NFFC, but I'm not sure if it's baseball or business in general, but the early bird gets the worm. In this case, the worm is the signup. I think you'll do just fine this year, but I also think you would have done much better if you had come out with your product and signups MUCH earlier.
This is only one man's advice, and I see Tom's post so I don't want to be praised or blamed if AC is tried...I just know it's a place where people go to spend money. A lot of money. It is the place to have fantasy drafts. Atlantic city may be a better choice next year getting into a casino with both Delaware and Pennsylvania having slots and table games now buisness in AC is going to be down even the convention center or the Sheraton hotel could be a option in 2011 that is where Wcoff and Rotobowl held their drafts. As far as NY goes I would have loved to see the drafts at Giants stadium I could get Diesel to give me a ride to the draft
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Originally posted by Diesel:
quote:Originally posted by THE_BLACKHAND:
its sad to say but all this talk may be for nothing as football is in big trouble getting started next year with the strike looming. it is going to be a nitemare trying to lock up places for next year. enjoy this year boyz. Hey Frank, If the NFL goes on strike, I will ban them for a few years and start going to Atlantic City again 2-3 times a year. A strike here is nothing less than the rich fighting to get richer on both sides. If the fans suffer because of it, it is inexcusable. I absolutely LOVE football, but if they force me to find something else to do, by going on strike, I will have to do what I've gotta go. [/QUOTE]marc , you say that now but we will go back. plus you would have to change your cell number cause i would hound you.
quote:Originally posted by THE_BLACKHAND:
its sad to say but all this talk may be for nothing as football is in big trouble getting started next year with the strike looming. it is going to be a nitemare trying to lock up places for next year. enjoy this year boyz. Hey Frank, If the NFL goes on strike, I will ban them for a few years and start going to Atlantic City again 2-3 times a year. A strike here is nothing less than the rich fighting to get richer on both sides. If the fans suffer because of it, it is inexcusable. I absolutely LOVE football, but if they force me to find something else to do, by going on strike, I will have to do what I've gotta go. [/QUOTE]marc , you say that now but we will go back. plus you would have to change your cell number cause i would hound you.
THIS IS THE BUSINESS WE HAVE CHOSEN
The Multi-City Live Event Discussion
Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
A couple of things I'd like to add. For years we've been told "City A" or "City B" would result in big numbers for the NFFC. We were told that about both Tampa and Orlando and that failed to materialize. We were told that about Boston and despite the fact we have a five-star hotel location with a great price the turnout hasn't been strong and there isn't a single newcomer to the event there. The list is comprised entirely of people who previously have drafted in New York.
So we need to remember these things when people nominate Atlantic City as the way to go. Perhaps it is but I recall when we had the discussion about AC vs. New York for the NFBC a few years, the results were strongly in favor of staying in New York. And prior to this year, the signups in New York had strongly rivaled and often surpassed the ones in Vegas. New York, in fact, was the No. 1 location in three previous years for the NFFC. So moving away from New York was not an easy decision to make when you had 8-9 leagues there as we often had in the past.
Now, looking at this year things have obviously changed in New York. Is it the Citi Field location? Perhaps. But the reality is that remaining in Manhattan was not financially reasonable given the costs involved. Ryan was there with me for the 2009 NFFC and both of us took one look at the bill and said we can't stay here. While the Hilton and Sheraton were great sites with great staffs, the fees associated with those hotels were outrageous. For us to remain there, at some point we would have to transfer some of those costs to the participants simply to make ends meet.
Will the costs be better in Atlantic City moving forward? We can certainly explore those options. Will all of the New York signups we once had go there or will we lose many of them to other cities, the Online option or lose them completely because of the location? That's another question as well. The most difficult part of this job is finding the right location. Not every location meets the size requirements we need or can do so at a price that makes sense and enables us to keep your entry fees where they are.
So keep the discussion coming. This is all good stuff. I just wanted to toss some things out there as far as the AC vs. New York discussion goes. THINK about it.. for the amount of leagues you have in NY this year.. you could seriously rent 2 or 3 suites in a nice hotel in AC and have the drafts there in those suites. would probably be cheaper.. the difference between as and NY is the cost of staying overnight is night and day.. most people from this area (east coast) have ability to stay free in AC.. or very cheap around the outskirts of the city.. in NY there is no choices.
i find it hard to believe that you wouldn't at least get the amount of people in AC as you have in the City right now.. i could be wrong but i don't think i am.. Ac there are things to do, you can gamble.. thats the environment people want ..
going into cities like denver, buffalo,???? i was shocked when i saw that this year..
how hard would it have been to send out a simple survey to each participant to the NFFC in past 4 years.. make a choice, what city would you do live draft in? give them vegas, ac, chicago, and a few others and go strictly by numbers..
no such survey went out.. which now has cost you guys lots of wasted time with these other cities that are not working..
i hope things get back to normal. im a hair away from bolting even this year on nffc drafts quite honestly.. i just am not looking foward to sitting in Citi field with a small group of guys and then going back to a crappy hotel room to do it again the next day.. we will see i guess.
A couple of things I'd like to add. For years we've been told "City A" or "City B" would result in big numbers for the NFFC. We were told that about both Tampa and Orlando and that failed to materialize. We were told that about Boston and despite the fact we have a five-star hotel location with a great price the turnout hasn't been strong and there isn't a single newcomer to the event there. The list is comprised entirely of people who previously have drafted in New York.
So we need to remember these things when people nominate Atlantic City as the way to go. Perhaps it is but I recall when we had the discussion about AC vs. New York for the NFBC a few years, the results were strongly in favor of staying in New York. And prior to this year, the signups in New York had strongly rivaled and often surpassed the ones in Vegas. New York, in fact, was the No. 1 location in three previous years for the NFFC. So moving away from New York was not an easy decision to make when you had 8-9 leagues there as we often had in the past.
Now, looking at this year things have obviously changed in New York. Is it the Citi Field location? Perhaps. But the reality is that remaining in Manhattan was not financially reasonable given the costs involved. Ryan was there with me for the 2009 NFFC and both of us took one look at the bill and said we can't stay here. While the Hilton and Sheraton were great sites with great staffs, the fees associated with those hotels were outrageous. For us to remain there, at some point we would have to transfer some of those costs to the participants simply to make ends meet.
Will the costs be better in Atlantic City moving forward? We can certainly explore those options. Will all of the New York signups we once had go there or will we lose many of them to other cities, the Online option or lose them completely because of the location? That's another question as well. The most difficult part of this job is finding the right location. Not every location meets the size requirements we need or can do so at a price that makes sense and enables us to keep your entry fees where they are.
So keep the discussion coming. This is all good stuff. I just wanted to toss some things out there as far as the AC vs. New York discussion goes. THINK about it.. for the amount of leagues you have in NY this year.. you could seriously rent 2 or 3 suites in a nice hotel in AC and have the drafts there in those suites. would probably be cheaper.. the difference between as and NY is the cost of staying overnight is night and day.. most people from this area (east coast) have ability to stay free in AC.. or very cheap around the outskirts of the city.. in NY there is no choices.
i find it hard to believe that you wouldn't at least get the amount of people in AC as you have in the City right now.. i could be wrong but i don't think i am.. Ac there are things to do, you can gamble.. thats the environment people want ..
going into cities like denver, buffalo,???? i was shocked when i saw that this year..
how hard would it have been to send out a simple survey to each participant to the NFFC in past 4 years.. make a choice, what city would you do live draft in? give them vegas, ac, chicago, and a few others and go strictly by numbers..
no such survey went out.. which now has cost you guys lots of wasted time with these other cities that are not working..
i hope things get back to normal. im a hair away from bolting even this year on nffc drafts quite honestly.. i just am not looking foward to sitting in Citi field with a small group of guys and then going back to a crappy hotel room to do it again the next day.. we will see i guess.