What Is Going To Happen To High-Stakes Fantasy Football?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:52 am

Sounds good Glenn and keep pushing in baseball. Winning national titles is always looked on favorably by the NFBC Hall of Fame committee!!

And it helps in the pocketbook, too. Keep it going and it's great to see you excited again. Last year every night was a treat for you as you chased Steve Jupinka for the $100,000 grand prize and you should feel the same way again.

To be in the Top 2 in the other national contest most of the year and have 20 weeks of uncertainty isn't right. I've talked to others who feel the same way. Unbelievable and someone should be reassuring folks soon or giving out the honest news. This current non-disclosure of anything positive or negative almost feels the worst for everyone involved.

This is still a great hobby and being part of a loyal community is key. That community starts with the leaders of those contests and certainly works hand-in-hand with the players. Hand-in-hand in everything involving trust. Not blind loyalty. Good luck Glenn and hopefully all will work out. And the beers...never a problem there with me!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:49 am

Another day starts over on those boards with silence from management and more rants from customers who swear they are leaving this space forever. I'm now sucked into that vacuum because I see a growing part of our industry being forever affected by this mess. And while some owners are starting to commit to other contests like ours or the FFPC, many are still awaiting that promised payout. It's an incredible mess filled with subtle updates that so far haven't been fulfilled.

I can tell you that Tom and I are working our butts off to make sure we have all of our badges, draft sheets, menus, BEOs completed, deposits in, room blocks finalized, etc., and none of that gets done quickly. I'm not sure how long it takes to whip up a new contest, but I know it takes time. This all seems so bizarre and without any updates either way it's hard to imagine what the potential new owners are thinking. How could you read those boards now and think all will be good? How could you see the competing contests announce their new participants and not realize those used to be your customers? How much is needed to pay off past football winners, the current baseball winners AND next year's football winners? I guess the fact that many loyalists are still hanging on with hope it's enough to go forward, but wow. It's getting late, isn't it?

Don't abandon the industry or the HSFF space everyone over this. We've seen this happen to consumers before and it's time to stop this madness. Game operators need to be held accountable to the consumers once and for all. I'm not sure how we do it, but the remaining game operators need to get on the same page to make sure it never happens again. Count me in for the first sit-down and I know I can count on another fellow Cheesehead to join me. This is CRAZY what is happening now. Hopefully we can all weather this storm.

FFBL23 · Post by **FFBL23** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:14 am

I have the same feeling as Glenn. I'm chasing an Ultimate Auction title in the NFBC and I get much more excitement out of that than my other teams, which stand to be owed an enormous sum of money in another contest. This summer has sucked the life out of me and I don't know how much more I can take. I just want this to be over before I can even think about playing football.

Kevin

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:24 am

Originally posted by FFBL23:
I have the same feeling as Glenn. I'm chasing an Ultimate Auction title in the NFBC and I get much more excitement out of that than my other teams, which stand to be owed an enormous sum of money in another contest. This summer has sucked the life out of me and I don't know how much more I can take. I just want this to be over before I can even think about playing football.

Kevin Kevin, from what others are saying your WCOFB team has been a monster from the start. It has to suck to dominate like that and then not have fun in the chase for the grand prize. You and Glenn are both NFBC members who like the competition as much as the prize money (okay, maybe not!!) and I know this has to be painful. Just keep running those teams and hope for the best.

The way you are feeling about leaving the space and taking a break from football sucks for everyone. You guys are all great players who have great track records and here we are hoping you play in the future. This has the potential to take hundreds of thousands of dollars out of this space (and actually more than that) and hundreds of good players out of this space. How damaging would that be? At this point it's hard to imagine how this plays out well for the players -- who could see all of these type of posts and feel like they could resurrect this with the past dues and no idea on future revenue? It would take a philanthropist now to make it work, not an entrepreneur.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be negative, but Kevin you are a good guy, as is Glenn and Pete and Greg and so many others affected here. This pains me to no end. I have 8 years of good times with some of you and here we are hearing so many admitting that they might need to leave the space for awhile because the pain is too much. This is a very critical time for our space, an area of the market has grown every year since 2002. WHAT A SHAME.

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:54 am

Originally posted by A.A:
nice Q.

a picture says a 1000 words...

AA In your case Mike the lovely Mrs Cole gets half (at least) since she's the brains and beauty of the outfit

You back in NYC this year ?

nolencole · Post by **nolencole** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 8:16 am

Although I really enjoy NYC we are going back to vegas....

AA

Jersey Dawg · Post by **Jersey Dawg** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 12:48 am

Greg - Thanks for the kind words. Yes, what is happening over there is very frustrating and depressing. If I leave fantasy football this season because of it I know my winter will not be the same, but I will feel that I have to do it. Right now it's hard to even get excited enough to notice who was traded where and what implications that has on playing time, etc.

I know if I walk away it will be hard to return. But, if and when I do, you know where I will put my hard earned money. Right here, with someone I know I can trust.

Pete

[ August 10, 2011, 07:38 AM: Message edited by: Jersey Dawg ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:45 am

Originally posted by Jersey Dawg:
Greg - Thanks for the kind words. Yes, what is happening over there is very frustrating and depressing. If I leave fantasy football this season because of it I know my winter will not be the same, but I will feel that I have to do it. Right now it's hard to even get excited enough to notice who was traded where and what implications that has on playing time, etc.

I know if I walk away it will be hard to return. But, if and when I do, you know where I will put my hard earned money. Right here, with someone I know I can trust.

Pete Pete, I totally understand your position right now. This is a double whammy because not only did you and others not get paid for your accomplishments last year, but you are preparing for the upcoming season as if that is going to happen too and there's no guarantee of that. How can those players honestly prepare for the upcoming season with so much uncertainty in the air and so many negative feelings for the way they've been treated over the last 8 months? This SUCKS, plain and simple.

And I wouldn't blame you a bit for taking this season off. Just read that thread and you can see dozens of people saying the same thing. This is a serious, serious concern for our industry because once you leave there's no guarantee that you'll ever return at this level. And we all agree that there is only a finite pool of available HSFF players right now, so shrinking that pool isn't ideal for this space. If it happens though, we as an industry have no one to blame but ourselves. We didn't police this space well enough and players bought into the endless promises even though they could do the math and see that it wasn't adding up. I guess we're all to blame.

I don't know what else to say about this situation. Someone from the old management team or someone who is involved in the potential new management team HAS TO SAY SOMETHING SOON. There hasn't been an update since Ian's post last Thursday and now there's even more concern and frustration than before. Posts last night talked about legal action, federal intervention and more. You have hundreds of players already planning to be in Las Vegas that weekend for a draft and not a single word on if there can even be one. Who can read those boards and say this is going to work out? And if it's going to work, how does everyone get paid in full in such a short time?

Whatever the entity was worth before it can't be more valuable than it was a week ago. The silence has been painful and somebody HAS TO SAY SOMETHING. Someone has to man up and inform folks on what the final verdict is going to be and let folks like Pete free. This is insane. I don't think it's hard to figure out what is going on, but it's time to say it out loud.

Pete, I apologize for what you're going through. Yes, this is terrible for the players and I don't blame anyone for leaving our space after this. But there are other game options that you can trust and if players still want a first class contest and want to get paid in full and on time they know where to turn. And I'll push our 15% discount again for those players who haven't been paid and do all we can to keep those players in the space. This is bad for everyone, but nobody wants to see all of you guys go because once you're gone it's unlikely that you'll ever return. Bummer for all of us. BIG BUMMER.

da bears · Post by **da bears** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:14 am

It appears from posts on the WCOFF message boards today that the proposed deal to buy WCOFF fell through.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:39 am

Originally posted by da bears:
It appears from posts on the WCOFF message boards today that the proposed deal to buy WCOFF fell through.

Matt, I just don't understand why all of the information is coming from players. It just doesn't make sense that someone from the current ownership group doesn't honestly post what is happening. That's not the responsibility of those looking to acquire these assets. Someone still owns this contest, someone still is responsible for the unpaid prizes and morally someone still owes some answers to the players. Even if they aren't the answers everyone wants to hear, those questions should be answered in some way. I feel bad for everyone affected by this.

But it's time to get some answers and move on one way or another.