NBC Sports Partners With The NFFC

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:01 am

I’m proud to announce today that F+W Publications and NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com have reached an agreement to partner on all live fantasy sports events and online drafts associated with those leagues. The joint venture will enhance and expand our existing National Fantasy Baseball Championship and our National Fantasy Football Championship, while allowing us to add new live events, including a second fantasy football event this summer.

The partnership starts with the upcoming football season and NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com will be involved heavily in the promotion and hosting of the 2008 NFFC. The NBC Sports peacock logo has been incorporated into the NFFC logo and the company is now the presenting sponsor as our event is called NBC Sports Presents: The National Fantasy Football Championship. At a time when consumers want reassurance that the games they are playing are legal and that prize money will be awarded on time, the addition of a major media company like NBC Sports along with the already strong history of F+W Publications in this space should make all current and new customers feel comfortable when they sign up for these events. NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com will also be the presenting sponsor of the NFBC starting in 2009 and will also help us promote and expand our reach in the fantasy baseball market.

This partnership will also allow us to expand our offerings this year as we have added a new live draft over Labor Day weekend. The debut NBC Sports Fantasy Football Championship will be held at the same four locations as the NFFC – Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Orlando – on Aug. 29-31 and will include a $100,000 grand prize and a top league prize of $5,000. For die-hard fantasy football players, you now have “Two Chances To Win $100,000 On The Same Day.” It will become the ultimate fantasy football weekend.

The NBC Sports FFC will consist of 12-team leagues, 396 teams, 20-man rosters, 13-week regular seasons and a Championship Round with the top 70+ teams vying for the grand prize. We will include 12-team Auction Leagues and Draft Champions Leagues on Friday in each of the four cities and Super and Ultimate Draft Leagues on Sunday. Those events will run at the same time as the NFFC scheduled events, but will be switched so that when the NFFC Draft Champions Leagues start at 11 a.m. in Las Vegas, the NBC Auction League will start, and when the NFFC Auction League starts at 4 p.m. the NBC Draft Champions League will be held. That allows folks who specialize in one format and may want to compete in both events the chance to do so. On Sunday, when the NFFC Ultimate League is being held, the NBC Sports Super Draft League will be hosted and vice versa in the afternoon.

Entry fee for the NBC Sports FFC will be $1,300 for the main event, and we’ll provide $650 and $1,300 Auction Leagues and Draft Champions Leagues. League prizes for the main event will be $5,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place and $700 for third place. Scoring will be the same as the NFFC and there will be a 13-week regular season as teams play everyone once during the first 11 weeks, with an all-play format in Weeks 12 and 13. The top six scoring teams in each league during Weeks 12 and 13 will earn a win, and the six lowest scoring teams will get a loss. The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Round and a three-week league playoff will be held in Weeks 14-16 just like in the NFFC if two teams split the head-to-head and total points titles. Each team would then earn $2,000 after Week 13 with the remaining $3,000 being decided during the league playoff.

We will also provide NBC Sports FFC Satellite Leagues this summer at $150, $250, $500 and $1,000 levels, with similar payout percentages as the NFFC. We will also provide a national online contest under the NBC Sports brand where league prizes and a grand prize will be awarded. We are still working out the details there, but obviously there is demand for such a product at the $150, $250 and $500 levels and we will lead the way in this area of the market where folks have been burned in the past by companies that weren’t able to pay their prize money when the season was finished.

We are creating a separate web site for the NBC Sports Fantasy Football Championship and that will be finished shortly. That site will have a separate Message Board and will host all of the rules, prizes, schedule of events, etc., associated with our live events and online events. Registration will be done there as well, but if you want to be one of the first signups for our debut season just contact me at [email protected]. We’ll get you set up and even have a goodie for the first 100 signups of the NBC Sports event.

While I’m ECSTATIC to have NBC Sports as our flagship partner, I’m equally excited to be working with Rotoworld.com. I will have a weekly column on Rotoworld.com starting this week and Tom will also write a weekly column. The exposure we’ll have to those serious fantasy sports players who go there every day for player news, advice, projections and more will be invaluable to the promotion of our live events. We will promote our events to the masses and bring in new players who may not have heard about this area of the market in the past. This partnership is designed to grow this area of the marketplace, not take away from other companies’ successes.

And in the future, we feel this model we have created in baseball and football will lend itself to other sports as we have every intention of being the leader in the live drafts events. Going forward, NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com and F+W Publications will explore every sport and see if our winning model can be carried over into basketball, hockey and the other major sports.

It’s the start of a new day for all of us here. NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com is now at the forefront of the live events model and the future for this area is extremely bright because of their presence. I can only imagine the possibilities down the road. Right now, I’m excited about what we have in front of us, everything from the two live fantasy football events in August and the addition of our online contests all summer long.

With NBC Sports/Rotoworld.com’s promotional power, we feel the present and the future is much brighter than it was before. We can now reach new customers 24/7/365 and will have plenty of promotional forums to get the word out about our events and contests. Recruiting sponsors will be easier. Expanding to video on the web will be easier. And maybe – who knows – maybe one day televising our fine events will take place.

It’s a marriage made in fantasy heaven and I’m glad to be a part of it. Now let’s get busy. Who’s ready for some football??

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:03 am

Congrats on this fantastic news. It couldn't have happened without the hard work of Greg and Tom -- kudos to you both!

da bears · Post by **da bears** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:07 am

Awesome news!! Great job Greg and Tom!!!!!

Sound Advice · Post by **Sound Advice** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:07 am

Sweet. Sounds great!

KOTRAX · Post by **KOTRAX** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:07 am

THIS IS AWESOME!!!! THIS NEWS WAS WELL WORTH THE WAIT. GREAT JOB GREG AND TOM!!!!

hammer · Post by **hammer** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:10 am

Wow. We're not in Kansas anymore.

Congrats!

[ April 22, 2008, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: hammer ]

da bears · Post by **da bears** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:10 am

Let the signups begin!!!

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:15 am

Congrats Greg and Tom on getting this done!

Truly a monumental day in the high stakes sports arena!!!!!

edelman24 · Post by **edelman24** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:23 am

Congrats guys nice job!!

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:26 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
For die-hard fantasy football players, you now have “Two Chances To Win $100,000 On The Same Day.” It's like crack cocaine, I tell you, crack cocaine!