Article Regarding Fanball

Route Collectors · Post by **Route Collectors** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:49 am

I like to look at this as a glass half full situation. I know Greg/Tom can't talk about this right now so we'll all have to be patient but I was thinking........
What if this all turns around and Greg/Tom are able to run this contest as their very own. Not sure exactly what that would entail but how cool would it be if they had complete control of this event we've all grown to love.
I can't wait to see how this all shakes out. I echo KofQ sentiments. the last thing in the world I'm worried about is prize money. I'd bet my left one that it will all be taken care of just as promised.
Good luck Greg/Tom. I hope this turns out to be a really good thing for you two!

RoadKing · Post by **RoadKing** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:23 pm

I am surprised that anyone is surprised that LM will drop or sell Fanball. This acquisition just did not make sense from the beginning. I found it surprising that LM acquired Fanball. Let’s face it; fantasy events just do not produce the kind of profit (or even membership numbers) that a company the size of LM should be interested in. Do the numbers; pay expenses pay the staff; pay the winners and what’s left in the kitty. Not enough for an LM sized company. We enjoy a great event and I believe that our contest will emerge on the other side of this press release but it will not be owned by a multi-billion dollar company. Our event is a viable commercial product with reasonable growth potential for the appropriate ownership. However this is not big (Wall Street) type money. Fanballs revenue may appear as a footnote on LM's P&L that generates about 8B a year in revenue. The good news, LM has enough money in petty cash to pay the winners.

I agree this would be a good venture for Greg and Tom. And if they cannot gain ownership of this event I think that we would all support a new contest originated by Greg and Tom.

SS · Post by SS » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:30 pm

Greg and Tom, if this is true, this is completely tragic. Fanball completely destroyed a good company in CDMSports. They did make the correct decision in bringing you and Tom onboard and the rest of the editorial staff does a great job but some of the moves that they made in the past just didn't make sense, i.e. eliminating the Budget Football game, eliminating the FanPoints program, etc.

Please keep us updated and one of the most important things is Greg, Fanball owes it to all participants to have you or Tom be a voice on these boards on to what is going to happen in the coming weeks in regards to prize money won during the regular NFL season, we didn't ask about the playoffs. Also, what happens to the Fanball post season football challenges?

Thanks for everything and I've met a lot of great fantasy owners on these message boards and it is a shame that this had to happen.

SS

Jersey Dawg · Post by **Jersey Dawg** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:23 am

Greg already addressed the post season contest. That game is run by Fantasy911.com - not by Fanball. Anyone can join and play, not just NFFC members.

In my opinion, it would be great if Tom/Greg and the gang ended up owning the NFFC/NFBC. However, that might not be as simple as wishing for it. Legal mumbo-jumbo takes time. Even suggesting Tom/Greg might be interested suddenly raises the selling price. Truth be told, it should be given to them, but nobody ever gives anything away.

Best of luck to both of you and I sincerely do hope you end up with the rights to these games and boards. Through thick and thin you were the faces of these games.

Pete

[ January 07, 2011, 07:24 AM: Message edited by: Jersey Dawg ]

SS · Post by SS » Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:30 am

I echo those sentiments too Pete. When I asked about the Fanball post season challenges, I meant the ones on their site not Fantasy911, i.e. the challenges where you pick players. There is a salary cap during the regular season but not in the Fanball Playoff Football Challenge and Fantasy Playoff Football Challenge.

Greg are these challenges going to close or still go on during the NFL postseason and we still need an answer on if our prize money is safe that was won during the regular season. I know there was horror stories from last years FFOC when they closed even though Fanball played a part in it by sponsoring the contest they did not want to help in paying out the participants which tells you what kind of company they are. It's a shame for all of their employees over there for whom I know most are good hard working individuals.

The other question that needs to be addressed is many of us are in many fantasy basketball leagues with Fanball and the NFBC and also just started drafting for the baseball slow drafts. What happens to these leagues, especially if they close up? Do we get refunds on our entry fees?

SS

SS

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:00 am

Scott, I'm not involved with the Fanball Playoff Football Challenges and don't know what is happening there. I wish I could help, but I'm not in St. Louis and don't know anything about those. I'll see if anyone can help me there.

Fantasy911.com is running and sponsoring the post-season contest that NFFC members are joining. That's a go for sure and all is great there.

All will be addressed when Liberty Media addresses all of us and provides details for this. We have been reassured on some fronts that we feel will happen for the players, but officially I think you'll see the details from top management in the next week. That's all I know.

BLACKHAND · Post by **BLACKHAND** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:04 am

My feeling is we WILL get paid. i hope greg/tom can get this going again. the format of the nffc is the best and would be missed very much. who knows , in the longrun it might work out better than before with ryan out of the picture. my support is with greg/tom and i hope they can save the very best fantasy league of them all.

mattjb · Post by **mattjb** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:15 am

Greg can you confirm the NFBBC will be ok for the remainder of the season?

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:20 am

I'm pretty sure I've participated in over 50 NFFC leagues since day 1. I've always been one of the biggest supporters of the NFFC, and still believe that I've never seen people put so much heart and effort into their job as Greg and Tom.

Unfortunately, this year I couldn't play here because I wasn't confident. I knew Greg and Tom would do everything they could to run the best contest possible. But I wasn't confident that Fanball and Ryan Houston would ALLOW Greg and Tom to continue running things the way they always have. I've used Fanball in the past, and their service always was subpar. Their customer services was near non existent, and their glitches were something you KNEW to expect each year. And I saw some of these problems AGAIN, prior to this past season which is why I dropped out of my events here.

It turns out that Fanball DID allow Greg and Tom to run the contest the way they always have, and from what I hear, this past season was just as much fun as any other year. Unfortunately, it seems that Fanball, AGAIN, has done something half-assed, and their ties with the NFFC will end. I'm sorry to say that I'm not surprised at all, and I'm sorry for Greg and Tom that they still haven't found a way to just have the NFFC become a GIVEN. To have a company that would ensure existence, LONGTERM, would be priceless. But that's not the case here. Yet.

Greg and Tom...I wasn't happy with how I felt you both felt about my valid opinions this year. I also felt that some people have pulled back on me as if I said "no" to the Godfather, and I was going to be "whacked". But how I feel personally doesn't take away from the fact that you guys have run the best contest around for along time, and I know that the only way that you guys will not do this again next year is if you guys just don't have the energy or passion in you anymore to find another company to back you.

Anyone that knows the NFFC knows that you're going to get paid if you played this past season and won money. It is apparent that things will change again in 2011. But I know one thing for sure. If Greg and Tom want this contest to continue, it WILL continue. Their reputation preceeds them and their customers will follow.

larry schechter · Post by **larry schechter** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:38 pm

SS -- I wouldn't worry too much about not getting paid. Even if they "Shut down" it doesn't mean they go bankrupt and stiff everybody.

Also, if there was any chance of that for the Fanball playoff football, they wouldn't accept entries. If they accept entries this week, knowing that they might shut down and not pay everybody, they'd be facing criminal charges.

I'm entering my teams. If anything, our odds are better, because some people will be scared away and not enter.