All NFFC Checks To Go Out Jan. 8th

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:36 am

Just a heads up to all NFFC winners that we are planning to send out all NFFC checks on Friday, Jan. 8th from our St. Louis offices. These will be dated 2010, so it might allow some flexibility for you as far as taxes are concerned.

In the past we have sent out the regular season checks first and then the post-season checks. But with the addition of the Online Championship and so many new winners without W-9s it just made sense to run all of them at once. We are still receiving W-9s and if you won more than $600 this year and haven't sent a W-9 to us in the past, please do that ASAP so that you can get your winning check sent in that first batch.

Send your W-9's to:
Fanball.com
c/o Tom Kessenich
105 Pine Crest Lane, Suite E
Iola, WI 54945

Thanks for all your patience and good luck to everyone this weekend in the final week of what has been a very fun, very interesting and very productive 2009 NFFC season. We'll have details about our 2010 plans shortly after the NFL season concludes and hope to have our new site up shortly. Look for all of that soon.

And we still have plans to run the NFFC Post-Season contest with entry levels of $30, $60, $120 and maybe even $250 if there is interest. That contest is very unique as it is progressive scoring throughout the four weeks of playoffs. The rules are on a separate thread within NFFC General Discussion.

Happy Holidays all and Merry Christmas!!! Congrats to all the winners and look for your checks shortly after the season concludes. You earned it, so we'll get it out to you quickly. Thanks all.

Coltsfan · Post by **Coltsfan** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:47 am

Are we going to be able to pre-pay for our leagues next year out of or winnings?

Wayne

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:48 am

Hello Greg....the WCFF just started something I think the NFFC/Fanball should look into....

Instead of immediately sending out checks, they opened individual accounts for all their prize winners and deposited the winnings into these accounts.

The owners of these accounts then have the option to order a check for all these funds, part of these funds, or just leave the funds in the account to be utilized for future entry fees.

The best part of the whole process is that the WCFF only issues W-9's for any part of the funds that is cashed out. For instance, if you won $5000 and only ordered a check for $1000, your W-9 would only be made out for $1000. The balance if just used for future entry fees, etc. would not be reported.

Considering the fact that unless you win one of the major grand prizes, a large fraction of your winnings would just be returned to the contest once the new season begins, I believe this to be a major asset for the player as it will help with any tax concerns as noted in the thread under the non-football forum.

Should be easy enough for Fanball to apply as they placed my winnings from a CDM league last year into an account I had to order a check from....

Can we make this happen?

Thanks,
Glenn

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:16 am

Originally posted by Glenneration X:
Hello Greg....the WCFF just started something I think the NFFC/Fanball should look into....

Instead of immediately sending out checks, they opened individual accounts for all their prize winners and deposited the winnings into these accounts.

The owners of these accounts then have the option to order a check for all these funds, part of these funds, or just leave the funds in the account to be utilized for future entry fees.

The best part of the whole process is that the WCFF only issues W-9's for any part of the funds that is cashed out. For instance, if you won $5000 and only ordered a check for $1000, your W-9 would only be made out for $1000. The balance if just used for future entry fees, etc. would not be reported.

Considering the fact that unless you win one of the major grand prizes, a large fraction of your winnings would just be returned to the contest once the new season begins, I believe this to be a major asset for the player as it will help with any tax concerns as noted in the thread under the non-football forum.

Should be easy enough for Fanball to apply as they placed my winnings from a CDM league last year into an account I had to order a check from....

Can we make this happen?

Thanks,
Glenn Glenn, we looked into doing this payout method many years ago with Krause Publications accountants and later with F+W's accountants and both times we were advised against this. We talked about this yesterday with Fanball's hierarchy and again felt this was not legally correct.

I can't speak for WCOFF because they've obviously looked at this from a legal standpoint and feel this is legit, but I'm not sure the IRS will agree. If we all felt there was no issue with the IRS, heck, every business would pay out this way. Who wouldn't want to keep all of your money back in the business? Keeping all this money for the next 12 months and then not paying out again next year would be ideal from a game operator's standpoint, right? I'd do this in a heartbeat.

I will ask again and get a response from Fanball and Liberty's accountants. I will make this same deal with you if they feel there is no issue paying out this way, I guarantee you that. Heck, I'd LOVE TO DO IT. Fair enough?

I can only speak from our side, but I'll let you know what our accountants say because the last thing we want is to have our winners dealing with the IRS down the road.

Gordon Gekko II · Post by **Gordon Gekko II** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 4:00 am

Personally, I'm not sure how this can legally be done. However, I'm not an attorney (even though I have a few in my immediate family, and I was accepted to law school many years ago)

Tread carefully my friends.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 4:38 am

Glenn, we checked again on this today and Liberty's CFO says this is not legal. We CANNOT do this. We are committed to paying our winnings and our taxes on a timely fashion.

I can't speak for other contests and I hope WCOFF has fully looked into this because this could affect a lot of players and other businesses in this fine industry. The last thing we need is legislators being involved later on because of this. Trust me, we'd LOVE to do this, not only for your sake but ours as well. Who wouldn't want to keep the prize money rather than pay it out?!! But we can't follow suit on this one.

Good luck all and look for your NFFC checks in full after Jan. 8th.

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:47 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Glenn, we checked again on this today and Liberty's CFO says this is not legal. We CANNOT do this. We are committed to paying our winnings and our taxes on a timely fashion.

I can't speak for other contests and I hope WCOFF has fully looked into this because this could affect a lot of players and other businesses in this fine industry. The last thing we need is legislators being involved later on because of this. Trust me, we'd LOVE to do this, not only for your sake but ours as well. Who wouldn't want to keep the prize money rather than pay it out?!! But we can't follow suit on this one.

Good luck all and look for your NFFC checks in full after Jan. 8th. I know I'm known as a conspiracy theorist, but...

I can't be the only one with red flags going up?

[ December 23, 2009, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: sportsbettingman ]

da bears · Post by **da bears** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:56 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Glenn, we checked again on this today and Liberty's CFO says this is not legal. We CANNOT do this. We are committed to paying our winnings and our taxes on a timely fashion.

I can't speak for other contests and I hope WCOFF has fully looked into this because this could affect a lot of players and other businesses in this fine industry. The last thing we need is legislators being involved later on because of this. Trust me, we'd LOVE to do this, not only for your sake but ours as well. Who wouldn't want to keep the prize money rather than pay it out?!! But we can't follow suit on this one.

Good luck all and look for your NFFC checks in full after Jan. 8th. Thanks Greg for checking on this. I'm going to play it safe and request all my WCFF winnings this year be sent to me in form of a check.

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 3:48 pm

Hello Greg....thanks for looking into this.
I can't blame you for following the advice of your attorneys & accountants.

I will say this though....the FFPC also is allowing this option.
I'm sure they and the WCOFF both sought the counsel of their attorneys & accountants as well.
If you want, I can get their contact info for you..... .

Not trying to bust balls here....just think this is an option that can only help the customers.

Talk to you soon & Merry Christmas,
Glenn

Coltsfan · Post by **Coltsfan** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:34 am

Glenn,

I don't believe that the ffpc is allowing this. Alex made a fairly long post on his boards as to why he couldn't do it this way.

Wayne