Birthing a viable fantasy football league

By - Jeff Mertes

Giving birth to fantasy football leagues has a long tradition dating back to a Manhattan (now Milford) Hotel room in 1962 when a bored Oakland limited partner, Bill Winkenbach, PR man Bill Tunnell and Oakland Tribune sports reporter Scotty Stirling concocted a diversion from the reality of chronic losing by the Raiders. They needed fantasy football to make the dreadful on-field play of their team palatable.

The original league, the GOPPPL (Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League), actually began competition in the 1963 season with the inaugural draft in Winkenbach’s basement during August. It had a very basic scoring system, but included a defensive lineman and linebacker/defensive back among nine player starting lineups.

So, where to begin? With so many scoring templates in use today, you don’t have to worry about inventing stats to include. However, with a mind-boggling array of statistics available today, the tendency to make scoring overly complicated traps, and ultimately destroys, many leagues. Here are a few basic suggestions.

Instead of making scoring so convoluted that no one has a clue of who wins or loses until the league report comes out, subscribe to the standard that an owner should be able to watch games and mentally have a good idea how his players are doing during the course of action. At the same time, the stat categories used should be reflective of player performance in addition to solely accounting for scoring.

Keep offensive yardage points at meaningful increments. There’s a tendency to tighten the increments so much that less than average performance is often rewarded. Establish standards of minimal achievement to warrant points – for example, quarterbacks must pass for 200 yards before earning any performance points, rushers must gain a minimum of 50 yards and receivers must also surpass 50. Beyond those minimums, the increments to achieve points should be large enough to indicate a next level of meaningful performance (25 or more yards, but not less than 20) while small enough to create some separation between competing teams.

Absolutely, include individual defensive players in the mix. The original founding fathers of fantasy football realized that IDPs were important ingredients in the strategy of weekly competition. Again, it should be emphasized not to make defensive scoring overly complex. Adopt the idea that big plays, obviously visible to fans in the stands or watching on TV, are the ones that count. Getting overwhelmed with mundane tackles, for example, may be the equivalent of deciding to reward offensive players for blocking.

Decide how many players will make up rosters and the number at each position that needs to be retained by all teams. One common decision that needs to be made is how to treat tight ends. Now, they are becoming likened to fullbacks – a position that has become defunct in fantasy football. If utilized, fullbacks are generally lumped into the “running back” category. The same is becoming increasingly popular for tight ends that are being incorporated into a “receiver” category. The reason is that few tight ends are productive in the realm of fantasy football (like fullbacks) and therefore don’t warrant a specific roster position. A typical breakdown of roster positions is: Offense - QB: 2, RB: 4, REC: 5, PK: 2; Defense - DL: 2, LB: 2, DB: 2, or if IDPs aren’t used, DEF/SPECIAL TEAMS: 2. However, there can be many variations including punters and even coaches as well as the amount at each position. Try to keep the total number of roster spots at less than twenty to allow a pool of players for pick-up during the course of the season.

Once roster size is determined, weekly lineup parameters need to be established. A typical lineup might include: QB: 1, RB: 2, REC: 3, PK: 1, DL: 1, LB: 1, DB: 1 (DEF/SPECIAL TEAMS: 1). Again, many variations can be implemented including the declaration of a formation (pro set, run & shoot, etc.) for each game that allows for the use of different combinations of players.

Don’t include too many teams in your fledgling league. Although associations exist with as many as 32 franchises, the average is about a dozen with 8, 10 or 12 ideal. One reason that smaller associations often fare better is that it allows each squad to have more established stars and point productive players on its roster. Also, when injuries hit, or suspensions occur, a larger unclaimed pool exists for replacement players. The idea is to keep team managers in the game – nothing kills league competition more than an owner who loses interest and gives up because “there isn’t any hope.” When the “towel is thrown-in” an unfair advantage is created for teams that are scheduled to play against them and often skewers league standings.

Also, to keep juices flowing, establish two conferences for leagues of up to twelve teams (two or three conferences to accommodate twelve teams). Competition works best if divisions are made up of at least four franchises. The philosophy of conference structure is again to peak interest for more teams while battling for the division title as well as seeding into a post-season tournament and a berth in a league championship game.

Implement two post-season tournaments – a championship series and a consolation series. To make conference competition important, only have the title winners and runnerups (or best second place record in three division leagues) qualify for the championship round. Somehow, it doesn’t seem logical to allow a team that finishes the regular season in the lower half of the league, to be able to make it to the title game and perhaps be declared champion – it often happens in leagues that don’t make ‘Super Bowl’ playoffs more exclusive.

Make sure your championship game occurs prior to the final week of the NFL regular season. Preferably, it should take place on week #15 or before when NFL teams that have achieved post-season playoff positions aren’t tempted to hold stars out of action to protect their health. Invariably, leagues scheduling championship games for week #17 come away with a result that isn’t quite right.

Don’t be tempted to have entry into the league be gratis. Leagues that survive usually charge a meaningful franchise fee each season. That fee should be thought of as a deposit to declare that the franchise owner is committed to compete throughout the course of the campaign – to the bitter end, if necessary. In the event that interest is lost and the team obviously becomes a ‘lame duck’, then the fee is forfeited in total (and is already in league coffers). If teams compete throughout the season, then an opportunity to receive a portion of the deposit back should be built into the payoff system. One of the best ways to achieve a commitment to competition is to include a weekly amount earned by the winner of each game to be paid at the end of the season.

Once birth has been given, a dedicated commissioner needs to be selected (you, more than likely) to father (or mother) it along and an on-line stat management service chosen to keep the commish somewhat sane. Unlike childbirth, this baby league needs to be weaned and off and running at the opening kickoff of the season. If due attention has been given to the construction of the new league, then chances for it to provide years of enjoyable, and, yes, even friendly competition is substantially increased.