Re: New to dynasty? What to look for in a league.
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:17 am
New to this forum, but am a seasoned dynasty and modified dynasty commissioner. I have been running multiple leagues for better than twenty years. You all have shared a lot of great thoughts. The two I currently run are on RSO (Reality Sports Online). The league message board there is rarely used. The exception to the rule is when a new owner may come on board and introduce himself, or if potential league charter changes are being discussed. The majority of our activity - and there is a ton of it - is handled on Group Me in one of my leagues, in a private Facebook group in another. A prospective owner could also request and receive a compilation of league transactions.
My own biggest issue with turnover over the last two decades have been owners that don't pay or engage. League Safe has made most of the no-pays go away. I had to let one go this year for non-payment after hounding him from the League Safe deadline forward via auto-nag and personal messages. I also have an expectation that every owner will set their line-up on a weekly basis. In one league, I set aside a portion of prize money as an incentive for the highest average power ranking from week 5 forward. This incentive is only available to teams that miss the playoffs. An owner with more than one occurrence of missing a bye week fill in or playing a guy on IR is ineligible for the award. The owners in this league are outstanding at setting their line-ups. Over twenty years, I have averaged about one team turning over per league per year.
It's true that not every owner and commissioner are a good match. I have also played in leagues under awful, low engagement commissioners. Low-engagement commissioners tend to lead low-engagement leagues with high turnover - at best. After about fifteen years of commissioning, I needed a bit of a sabbatical to finish my grad studies. I still wanted to play, so I jumped into two dynasty start-ups that didn't get past the first year - both due to disengaged commissioners and other owners that didn't set line-ups. Frustrated, and with my son old enough to appreciate and enjoy the hobby - I dove back into commissioning.
So with my own experience on the other side, the owner definitely should check the track record of the commissioner - and the commissioner should have nothing to hide. If it is a start up league, a commissioner with a track record is important. I wouldn't join a start up league with a first time commissioner - unless I was convinced that commissioner would be engaged and very selective of owners. As at least one other mentioned, the prospective owner should also understand the league expectations and necessary commitment before jumping in. If a commissioner doesn't elaborate on commitment expectations for the owner - that's a red flag for me. The commissioner is simply trying to fill a league with bodies - and not necessarily the right bodies. Ask to read the league charter. Question anything that may be confusing - or maybe even contradictory. If it is a salary cap league, a big question to raise is how player retirements are handled if it isn't specifically addressed in the charter.
My own biggest issue with turnover over the last two decades have been owners that don't pay or engage. League Safe has made most of the no-pays go away. I had to let one go this year for non-payment after hounding him from the League Safe deadline forward via auto-nag and personal messages. I also have an expectation that every owner will set their line-up on a weekly basis. In one league, I set aside a portion of prize money as an incentive for the highest average power ranking from week 5 forward. This incentive is only available to teams that miss the playoffs. An owner with more than one occurrence of missing a bye week fill in or playing a guy on IR is ineligible for the award. The owners in this league are outstanding at setting their line-ups. Over twenty years, I have averaged about one team turning over per league per year.
It's true that not every owner and commissioner are a good match. I have also played in leagues under awful, low engagement commissioners. Low-engagement commissioners tend to lead low-engagement leagues with high turnover - at best. After about fifteen years of commissioning, I needed a bit of a sabbatical to finish my grad studies. I still wanted to play, so I jumped into two dynasty start-ups that didn't get past the first year - both due to disengaged commissioners and other owners that didn't set line-ups. Frustrated, and with my son old enough to appreciate and enjoy the hobby - I dove back into commissioning.
So with my own experience on the other side, the owner definitely should check the track record of the commissioner - and the commissioner should have nothing to hide. If it is a start up league, a commissioner with a track record is important. I wouldn't join a start up league with a first time commissioner - unless I was convinced that commissioner would be engaged and very selective of owners. As at least one other mentioned, the prospective owner should also understand the league expectations and necessary commitment before jumping in. If a commissioner doesn't elaborate on commitment expectations for the owner - that's a red flag for me. The commissioner is simply trying to fill a league with bodies - and not necessarily the right bodies. Ask to read the league charter. Question anything that may be confusing - or maybe even contradictory. If it is a salary cap league, a big question to raise is how player retirements are handled if it isn't specifically addressed in the charter.