590+ Teams Signed Up For NFBC Online Championship

[Greg Ambrosius]

We've had an amazing run so far with signups in the NFBC Slow Draft Leagues and the Main Event, with both contests headed well beyond sellouts. We already have more than 900 teams signed up for the Slow Draft Championship and more than 355 teams signed up for the Main Event.

Quietly the NFBC Online Championship is gaining momentum as folks are able to schedule their March draft dates. As I've told many people before, it's hard for people to really sign up for these Online leagues too far in advance because they don't even know what their personal schedules are going to look like in late March. But as of today we have more than 220 teams signed up with a goal of 600 teams. That's well ahead of where I thought we'd be at this point. Last year we finished with 540 teams and I know we'll top that in 2012.

The major goal of splitting off the Live Double Play was to return our Online Championship to its own national contest. We now have a $50,000 grand prize in a contest set for 600 teams. Last year we had a $50,000 grand prize, but it included 780 teams because of the "Double Play" aspect of the live teams. Now the NFBC XII is its own event -- our 12-Team Main Event -- and that contest also has a $50,000 grand prize. We have two, completely separate 12-team formats with more overall prize money and two worthy grand prizes. This is the way it should have been before and I truly believe it's the best way for our players. And both contests are bringing in new players who like the 12-team format and feel more comfortable here rather than diving into our 15-team format.

We also wanted to give all of you plenty of choices in your busy schedules, so we laid out 80 different dates and times. We know that not all of them will fill and Tom will be getting in touch with some of you if you are in leagues that won't fill in the next week. But we'll make sure that everyone finds a home in a full league and after March 16th I'm sure that every scheduled league will fill and even with multiple leagues on certain dates. Our goal is 50 full leagues and I trust we'll get there, and beyond. Thanks for all your support everyone and thanks for the great jump start to this contest. The last week has seen a huge increase in the Online Championship signups and I trust that will continue every week going forward.

May the best team win this $50,000 grand prize.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that you can see every listing of every available league and the people signed up for those leagues here:

http://nfbcforums.stats.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=11162

Our revised Countdown Page will be ready this week and will easily show you the number of spots available in every contest. This page will be a fantastic tool for everyone looking for the latest available spots in the Online Championship leagues. For a preview of how that page will look and for an update on the Online Championship openings, go to:

http://nfbc.stats.com/baseball/contest_capacity.asp

[Greg Ambrosius]

It was another great week of signups in the NFBC as we added 400+ teams among all of our contests over the last 7 days. That's definitely a record for one week in the NFBC!! Let's keep it going.

The one area that is really taking off is the NFBC Online Championship. We had 100+ signups in the last 7 days and now have added 175+ teams over the last two weeks. We already have more than 335 teams registered for the NFBC Online Championship with a goal of 600 teams. With a $50,000 grand prize and a $350 entry fee, this contest has the potential to set a new record in 2012. Keep it going and thanks everyone.

[edelman24]

Greg,
As we draw closer to the season and demand starts to grow are you planning to offer more of these online leagues in a sit and go approach outside of the pre-scheduled ones? ie. Set one up for Tonight right now and start pushing hte countdown page and boards to get it filled? I think if you started that next week if the demand warrants it you would blow the numbers out of the water at the $350 price point.
Mike

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg,
As we draw closer to the season and demand starts to grow are you planning to offer more of these online leagues in a sit and go approach outside of the pre-scheduled ones? ie. Set one up for Tonight right now and start pushing hte countdown page and boards to get it filled? I think if you started that next week if the demand warrants it you would blow the numbers out of the water at the $350 price point.
Mike

We have 80 different draft dates and times, so they are set up as often as possible. If anyone sees new times that we should add we'll do it. Tom has one set up for tomorrow that we'd love to fill. It's not a Sit 'n Go for tonight, but it is for tomorrow. Tonight's is filled.

8 SPOTS LEFT FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT
9 SPOTS LEFT FOR THURSDAY NIGHT

We'll keep those open until they fill. I hear what you're saying, but we kind of have these every night and we'll do all we can to fill them. As you say, closer to Opening Day we need to keep these open on the day of the drafts and even if we fill one keep it open for another one. I do understand what you're saying and we can easily do that now. The Countdown Page is able to announce how many spots are left for each day's contests, too.

Thanks for the suggestion. We're on it.

[southpaw23]

So how does it work if I want to get a 3 pack? I have to decide and know my draft times when I sign up for this, correct?

[Tom Kessenich]

So how does it work if I want to get a 3 pack? I have to decide and know my draft times when I sign up for this, correct?

Yes, you'd pick three dates and times. That will get you set up for the discount. You can change those dates/times as we go along if you want.

[southpaw23]

Thanks Tom.
So I could pick 3 dates I think will work and if I see a "sit n go" I like, I can go in and change one of the dates to the sit n go?

[Tom Kessenich]

Thanks Tom.
So I could pick 3 dates I think will work and if I see a "sit n go" I like, I can go in and change one of the dates to the sit n go?

What do you mean by a sit and go?

[southpaw23]

That's what Greg calls them - the ones where I can decide like the day of to sign up for one that night and set my KDS quickly.
I don't think I'm explaining that right.

[Tom Kessenich]

That's what Greg calls them - the ones where I can decide like the day of to sign up for one that night and set my KDS quickly.
I don't think I'm explaining that right.

No worries. If you sign up for any date with the Online Championship you can switch to another date/time if you want. Just email me the new date/time and I'll get that done for you.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that the NFBC Online Championship is definitely headed toward a record year. We already have 380+ teams signed up for this competition and the early offerings are selling out faster than any year before. Last year we had only 7 full leagues before March 16th and we will have our 8th sold out league being drafted over the weekend. This is a great, great start and with the MLB season starting a week later this year it gives us even more time to top our goal of 600 teams. Great start everyone and get your spot secured soon if you want to compete for this $50,000 grand prize.

And remember, if you have a Main Event team you can win a $75,000 cash bonus by also winning this overall title. It's called "The Lindy" because Lindy Hinkelman did just that in 2009, winning the Main Event overall and the Online Championship overall enroute to a $241,300 payday. Thanks all.

We'll be over 400 teams soon. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We hit the 400 team mark today in the NFBC Online Championship and I think it's safe to say that we are going to sell out this year at 600 teams and go beyond that. I can feel it. We're filling up the early leagues and that's a good sign that the later dates will also sign up. The Countdown Page is also allowing us to sell out more leagues a day or two before they are scheduled to begin. And then of course MLB is starting a week later, giving us 7 more days of drafts compared to last year.

We're going over 600 teams, I can feel it. Be ready for a bump in the prizes and don't be left out this year. We're going to have a record year in this event as well. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Last year the NFBC finished with 540 Online Championship teams and we already are closing in on that mark before mid-March. We topped 460 teams this afternoon and have plenty of time to reach and even top our goal of 600 teams. The Countdown is showing too many teams because of the number of available Online Championship teams, but rest assured the prizes are based on 600 teams and that will be a sellout when we reach that total. We had more than 120 Online Championship signups over the last 7 games, so the entries are pouring in. I like it.

Go to this link to see the remaining available spots for all Online Championship leagues:

http://nfbc.stats.com/baseball/contest_ ... oduct=1087

You can see the remaining spots for all of our contests on that page by just pulling down the links at the top. All contests have a Countdown Page built for them. Enjoy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We could hit 500 teams by the weekend!!! Now at 480 and counting....

[bankerboy]

Tick...tick....tick....

[Greg Ambrosius]

490 now....Sellout is 600 teams!! Let's hit 500 TODAY!! Amazing job all. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

WOW!!!! DOUBLE WOW!!!

We reached 500 teams in the Online Championship this morning and could reach a sellout of 600 teams before the First Weekend!! AMAZING. If we go above 600 teams -- which is likely since we need to fill every league perfectly -- we will increase the overall prize pool. We will announce that new prize structure shortly after all leagues are finalized and a final team count is determined. But everyone wins with the additional teams.

Also, the Countdown Page is working perfectly for the individual league totals showing how many signups we have for each one plus how many spots are remaining. The total number of teams signed up is also accurate. For this contest only, however, ignore the Total Capacity number. It's tied to the number of offerings we have on the list x 12 teams each and as you know not every offering has filled up. Tom and I put as many dates and times on the Registration page as we could and we let you folks determine which ones worked best. We knew we'd never fill all 80 offerings, but it was a good way to get the season started and you folks did the rest. Unfortunately, we need to tweak the Total Capacity numbering ability once leagues don't fill and we'll do that in the off-season. But a sellout is 600 teams and anything more than that will increase our prize pool.

Thanks all and let's keep things rolling. The Countdown Page lets you know exactly how many spots are left for each contest. Use it wisely:

http://nfbc.stats.com/baseball/contest_ ... oduct=1087

[Greg Ambrosius]

A big push yesterday has us at 520+ teams today for the NFBC Online Championship. Again, this prize pool is based on 600 teams. We have never had more than 600 teams in the NFBC Online Championship, so I think we're headed toward another record in this event. This Countdown Page tells you exactly how many spots are left in each contest, so use this as your guide:

http://nfbc.stats.com/baseball/contest_ ... oduct=1087

We will take off certain draft dates and times as they fill, so don't delay if you see something you like. These are going fast and we just can't have too many at one time if we expect to monitor each and every one. So don't delay because these could sell out soon. If we do go above 600 teams as expected, we'll expand the prize pool under the same prize percentage. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We finished with 540 teams in the NFBC Online Championship last year and we are about to pass that figure today. With over 550 teams at this point, we are definitely closing in on our goal of 600 teams. Don't wait much longer if you want to get into this competition because spots are going fast. Like almost two dozen a day. We are going to start shutting off this week's leagues once they are full and the same with early next week. We can still keep open some leagues the week of April 1-4, but soon those will be the only offerings left on the Registration page. Thanks all for another great, great season and it will be fun to watch this race for the $50,000 grand prize.

[Greg Ambrosius]

WOW, we'll top 600 signups today. We received 30+ signups yesterday alone. Grab a spot before they are all gone because there's only so many we can offer on those final days before Opening Day!!! This baby is selling out....AND THEN SOME!!! GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!