How To Be A Fantasy Football League Commissioner

Plan Early

• Who will play? - Start identifying people to join your league...friends, family, co-workers, etc. Talk with them, let them know you're starting a league and get them interested.
• What type of league? - There are two main variations in fantasy football. You can have a regular league where everyone drafts a new roster each season or a keeper league where each team keeps a number of players from one year to the next.
• How many players? - 8 to 14 is the typical number of teams in a league. Make sure you have an even number of teams so that everyone plays each week.
• What type of draft? - The most common types of draft are the serpentine and auction drafts. Also decide if your draft will be online or in person at some location (your house, a bar, the beach, wherever). For in person drafts, decide where your draft party will be.
• What scoring rules? - Start thinking about the scoring rules you want and talk to a few of your experienced prospective members for their input.
• How will trades and free agency be handled? - Your decision on trade rules will most greatly affect the amount of time you spend doing commish work during the season. You can require that you (or a committee) approve each trade manually; or you can allow the system to auto-approve after 1 or 2 days if no objections are raised by the league.
• What is a good draft date? - Most leagues like to draft towards the end of pre-season to minimize the chance of top picks getting injured before the season starts. Talk with your prospective members and find out what dates they are not available. Then pick a date & time that works for everyone.

Create The League

• Register - Once you have selected a provider, get in and register the league. At a minimum you'll need a good league name and password that members will use to sign up.
• Set Up Scoring - Once registered, you'll be able to specify your league's scoring rules. Most sites will have default values, so just review those and adjust as needed.
• Pick A Draft Type - This is where you specify if you're doing an online or in person draft.
• Pick A Draft Date - With in person drafts, you can select any date, time & location your league prefers. If you're doing an online draft, you'll have to pick from your site's available time slots. Good time slots in the evening go fast so don't waste time, you can reschedule later if needed.

Send Out League Invites

• How to Sign Up. - Provide them a link with the league ID and password from your site.
• Draft Date & Time - Specify if it is an online or in-person draft (include location), what the draft format is and how draft position will be determined.
• Sign Up Date - Make sure to specify a date that players need to be registered in the system. This should be about a week before the draft to give you time to find a replacement if needed. Remember, you want to have an even number of teams.
• Entry Fee Info - Specify the fee amount and what it's for.
• Other Important Dates - Specify any other deadlines for things like entry fee payment and scoring change requests in the invite.
• Copy of League Rules (optional) - It can be helpful to highlight any non-standard rules in the invite but not necessary as long as you communicate them prior to the draft.
  
  
  

  

During the Season

Tips for a good fantasy football season.

• Resolve Any Issues - You are the final decision maker for the league. If issues arise, make your best decision and stick to it. Be fair, consistent and don't ever play favorites. If the issue involves your team, then you may need to have 2 or 3 experienced members of the league make the call to remove any conflict of interest.
• Encourage Competition & Smack Talk - Fantasy leagues are a lot more fun when people are active. If the message boards are getting quiet, jump in with a few posts to get people fired up.
• Be Responsive - Respond to any questions or issues as quickly as possible.
• Take Notes - Keep track of any issues that arise or rules that aren't working out. This will be valuable info when you're setting up your league next season.

After The Season

• End of Season Wrap-Up - It's a good idea to send out an email with the offical league standings, congratulate the winners and get coaches looking forward to next season.
• Distribute Awards - If your league has any kind of trophies or prizes now is the time to deliver them to the winners.

Fun Fantasy League Extras

• Weekly Recaps - After all the games have played, send out a brief recap of each match-up with some funny commentary.
• Post Draft Analysis - Review each player's draft performance and generate projected post-season standings. Highlight any great or horrible picks.
• End of Season Summary - Keep track of fun and unusual stats for your league other than the basic W/L record, then send them out after the championship. These stats can include things like trades proposed/rejected, most free agent pickups, most trash talk posts, most whiny posts, best/worst trade, biggest blowout, etc.
• Weekly Trophy - Get a goofy item that the team with the best record or most points each week can display with pride. This works well for work leagues where everyone can see it.