Mark Gannon Wins 2024 NFBC Gladiator Championship & $10,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

Mark Gannon of Dublin, Ohio won our second annual NFBC Gladiator Championship and the record $10,000 grand prize. This unique contest had drafts throughout November, December, January and February last year and teams drafted their 23 starters and then let that roster ride during the year. There were no Free Agent pickups. There were no Set Lineup decisions. What you drafted is what you had for the entire year and that was that.

Mark's team stayed healthy long enough to capture the national championship against a field of 1,800 teams. That was up 300 teams from the year before. He drafted three Gladiator teams, with his best one being drafted on January 5th. That team won its league title with 129.5 points and it won the national title with 16,061.5 points, which was 89.2 percent of all available points. The 53-year-old first joined the NFBC in 2013 and he won his first national championship in a year where he competed in the Main Event and the CLQ Championship.

I met Mark in Arizona last year as he attended the Arizona Fall League Symposium and won the AFL Best Ball league we held out there. He was feeling the player pool early last year and it ended up producing a couple of championships. Great job Mark.

Mark's winning total of 16,061.5 points was 59.5 points better than that of Brian Edwards, who finished second with 16,002.0 points. Brian won $2,500 for his runner-up finish. Rounding out the Top 5 were Jon Clairmont ($2,000), Drew Morris ($1,500) and Jerry Kirby ($1,400).

Mark drafted from the 12th spot in this 15-team, 23-round draft. Remember, there are no reserves; what you draft is what you have scoring for you the entire year. Drafting healthy players is almost as important as drafting good players!!! Mark started with a foundation of Jose Ramirez and Yordan Alvarez. I'll post his full draft shortly.

This is a great, great format and we'll expand on it slightly this upcoming season. We'll try to condense all drafts into the November, December, January timeframe and still shoot for a few more leagues. Thanks all and congrats to all the prize winners in this format.

Here's the final standings:

2024 NFBC Gladiator Championship Top 100 Teams:
1 Mark Gannon Gannon_GLD1 The Gladiator #240 16,061.50
2 Brian Edwards Edwards G12 12.4 The Gladiator #134 16,002.00
3 JON CLAIRMONT G_4 The Gladiator #272 15,994.00
4 Drew Morris Morris The Gladiator #159 15,915.00
5 Jerry Kirby Kirby GLAD9 The Gladiator #177 15,909.00
6 Brian Edwards Edwards G15 12.16 The Gladiator #188 15,860.50
7 SPENCER FARMERY GRM Glad 4 The Gladiator #150 15,684.50
8 Ross Berg VCFS G1-23 The Gladiator #206 15,668.50
9 Todd Macey The Catchers are Willing The Gladiator #102 15,665.50
10 Joe Iwanski JoeyI The Gladiator #249 15,657.50
11 Matt Hurley Dusty's Toothpick - G1 The Gladiator #201 15,555.50
12 JIMMY VENTURA VENTURA The Gladiator #156 15,474.50
13 Jason Duponte D Lowe The Gladiator #69 15,399.00
14 Thomas Durst Durst The Gladiator #211 15,336.00
15 Drew Morris Morris The Gladiator #180 15,329.50
16 RICHARD ZITO ZITO The Gladiator #119 15,299.00
17 Randall Haines Haines The Gladiator #135 15,282.50
18 Todd Macey Noodle House Strikes Back The Gladiator #123 15,183.00
19 Timothy Pamperin Lights Out The Gladiator #132 15,097.50
20 Vlad Sedler Vladiator IV The Gladiator #178 15,050.50
21 Zachary Waxman Waxman The Gladiator #233 14,998.00
22 Jonathan Reynolds Reynolds G2 The Gladiator #200 14,972.00
23 Patrick Gagne Game over! The Gladiator #169 14,846.50
24 JACOB MAISH Charcuterie G1 The Gladiator #69 14,815.50
25 Jason Duponte crisp The Gladiator #254 14,801.00
26 Robert DiPietro Something in the Orange G2 The Gladiator #59 14,790.50
27 Brian Edwards Edwards G5 11.16 The Gladiator #76 14,789.00
28 Joseph Leo Toth Dangers Gladiator The Gladiator #258 14,768.00
29 adam fisher Kenzo The Gladiator #197 14,755.00
30 Mathew Adams Smada GF3 The Gladiator #233 14,748.50
31 SCOTT SLEZAK Nitro The Gladiator #113 14,617.00
32 Robert DiPietro Tourniquet G4 The Gladiator #72 14,573.00
33 Gary Durbin Dumb and Dumber V The Gladiator #205 14,366.00
34 Mathew Adams Smada GF1 The Gladiator #52 14,363.00
35 Bill Gaffney Gaffney The Gladiator #68 14,321.50
36 RYAN WELBORN FOLEYGL4 The Gladiator #267 14,310.00
37 Scott Gilroy Gilroy The Gladiator #100 14,254.00
38 Sam Thornton Fat Toads G6 The Gladiator #272 14,251.50
39 Brandon Gavett Jeez Don't Zap the Geek The Gladiator #113 14,219.00
40 Brandon Gavett Where Are Those Hickory Sticks The Gladiator #178 14,196.00
41 Gary Durbin Dumb and Dumber IV The Gladiator #188 14,147.00
42 RICHARD ZITO ZITO The Gladiator #144 14,098.50
43 RICHARD ZITO ZITO The Gladiator #94 14,068.50
44 Robert Kahn Bobbibus Maximus The Gladiator #138 14,056.00
45 ANTHONY HAMLEY HAM G4 The Gladiator #126 14,038.00
46 JASON HELMAR FAST TIMES The Gladiator #68 14,019.50
47 Josh Pettersen Pettersen Gladiator 2 The Gladiator #226 14,010.00
48 John Miller Ken Erdedy The Gladiator #80 14,008.00
49 Matthew Davis mattywood The Gladiator #180 13,954.50
50 Andrew Viglietti Viglietti The Gladiator #76 13,949.00
51 TD Linhart Achilles 1.4 The Gladiator #203 13,922.50
52 Brock Boner Boner Jams 010 The Gladiator #262 13,904.50
53 Dan Thompson MXC Foxian Empire Gladiator 2 The Gladiator #190 13,894.00
54 Zachary Waxman Waxman The Gladiator #184 13,890.50
55 James Lewis Lewis The Gladiator #126 13,870.50
56 Roscoe Myrick Young Buck The Gladiator #141 13,863.00
57 Dominic Rello DR - Gladiator 1 The Gladiator #52 13,858.00
58 Jason Perkins Perkins The Gladiator #87 13,832.50
59 Vlad Sedler Vladiator VI - live The Gladiator #244 13,768.50
60 Tom Rodriguez TRod Gladiator 5 The Gladiator #275 13,748.00
61 James Goldberg jamgol Gladiator2 The Gladiator #81 13,717.50
62 Roscoe Myrick BoooooD The Gladiator #119 13,658.50
63 Jody Ryan Ryan Witt DeLa Cruz Glasnow The Gladiator #232 13,651.00
64 Dennis Gahry Funnies-2-B The Gladiator #77 13,643.50
65 Matt Poole DW Glad 1 The Gladiator #138 13,642.00
66 Jason Duponte dmx The Gladiator #88 13,632.50
67 Ryan MacNeil Deep Left Field 2 The Gladiator #198 13,586.50
68 Marty Tallman Marty Tallman The Gladiator #115 13,579.00
69 Robert DiPietro Sober Side of Sorry G10 The Gladiator #100 13,549.50
70 Ian Fitzgerald Fitzgerald The Gladiator #71 13,545.00
71 Rick thomas thomas The Gladiator #72 13,526.00
72 Brandon Gavett This is Existentialism 101 The Gladiator #267 13,521.00
73 William Whitlock Whitlock The Gladiator #244 13,518.00
74 Zachary Waxman Waxman The Gladiator #205 13,502.50
75 Jason Duponte esasky The Gladiator #177 13,470.50
76 John Miller Dr. Charles Tavis The Gladiator #112 13,465.50
77 Aaron Metcalf DZ Lucky G The Gladiator #201 13,452.00
78 Drew Forte Drews Crew Glad2 The Gladiator #260 13,383.50
79 John Pacca DEAD PUPPIES G 1-22-24 The Gladiator #270 13,379.50
80 Nathan Edmunds Gringotts The Gladiator #272 13,367.50
81 Matthew Mattingly ZULETA G3 The Gladiator #98 13,355.50
82 heath comstock Whiz Kids The Gladiator #109 13,353.00
83 Chris Uram Glad The Gladiator #118 13,350.50
84 John Lyons Ronald McDonald The Gladiator #268 13,348.00
85 Timothy Pamperin W-Rod The Gladiator #144 13,341.50
86 Brock Boner Boner Jams 07 The Gladiator #197 13,338.00
87 Jason Duponte reese The Gladiator #195 13,293.00
88 Roscoe Myrick ALL CAPS The Gladiator #189 13,286.50
89 kyle chorba Fonzinoons The Gladiator #162 13,263.00
90 Cam Picyk Rat King G-3 The Gladiator #130 13,256.00
91 BRANDON SHEPARD SHEPARD The Gladiator #62 13,249.50
92 Bob Catsiroumpas Seneca The Gladiator #220 13,245.50
93 Zachary Waxman Waxman The Gladiator #161 13,213.00
94 Nathan Edmunds Marchbanks The Gladiator #178 13,207.50
95 Brandon Gavett Hell Bent For Pleather The Gladiator #195 13,126.00
96 Ryan Beck Beck The Gladiator #79 13,121.00
97 Ryan Beck Beck The Gladiator #104 13,103.50
98 RICHARD ZITO The Easter Basket The Gladiator #163 13,102.50
99 Jason Duponte stuck in the league of dummies The Gladiator #207 13,064.00
100 Robert Lester 504 to LAX The Gladiator #173 13,055.00

[Greg Ambrosius]

Mark Gannon drafted from the 12th spot in his January 5th, 10 pm ET Gladiator League. Here were his draft results:

Gannon_GLD1
1 12 Ramirez, Jose 3B Gannon_GLD1
2 19 Alvarez, Yordan OF Gannon_GLD1
3 42 Gallen, Zac P Gannon_GLD1
4 49 Clase, Emmanuel P Gannon_GLD1
5 72 Yelich, Christian OF Gannon_GLD1
6 79 Eflin, Zach P Gannon_GLD1
7 102 Gimenez, Andres 2B Gannon_GLD1
8 109 Imanaga, Shota P Gannon_GLD1
9 132 Naylor, Josh 1B Gannon_GLD1
10 139 Naylor, Bo C Gannon_GLD1
11 162 Santander, Anthony OF Gannon_GLD1
12 169 Pivetta, Nick P Gannon_GLD1
13 192 Estevez, Carlos P Gannon_GLD1
14 199 Adames, Willy SS Gannon_GLD1
15 222 Gurriel Jr., Lourdes OF Gannon_GLD1
16 229 Sanchez, Cristopher P Gannon_GLD1
17 252 Wacha, Michael P Gannon_GLD1
18 259 Rengifo, Luis MI Gannon_GLD1
19 282 Suarez, Eugenio CI Gannon_GLD1
20 289 Siri, Jose OF Gannon_GLD1
21 312 Gomes, Yan C Gannon_GLD1
22 319 Graterol, Brusdar P Gannon_GLD1
23 342 Westburg, Jordan UT Gannon_GLD1

[Greg Ambrosius]

We had 300 more teams in 2024 than we had in the 2023 NFBC Gladiator Championship and thus we were able to increase the prizes across the board. Mark Gannon won $10,000 for winning the second annual NFBC Gladiator Championship and we paid the Top 26 overall. Here were the prizes:

2024 NFBC Gladiator Championship
Overall Prizes:
1 - $10,000
2 - $2,500
3 - $2,000
4 - $1,500
5 - $1,400
6 - $1,300
7 - $1,200
8 - $1,100
9 - $1,000
10 - $900
11 - $850
12 - $800
13 - $750
14 - $700
15 - $650
16 - $600
17 - $500
18 - $450
19 - $400
20 - $350
21 - $300
22 - $250
23 - $200
24 - $150
25 - $100
26 - $50

$50 League Prizes:
1 - $250
2 - $125
3 - * Free 2024 Gladiator Entry

[Greg Ambrosius]

Even though this is a unique format where no moves can be made after Draft Day, it's still fun to see where the Top 20 teams drafted from. Interestingly, only 9 of the 15 draft spots were represented in the Top 20. Here's a look at where the Top 20 teams drafted from:

No. 1 - 0 teams
No. 2 - 1 team
No. 3 - 4 teams
No. 4 - 2 teams
No. 5 - 3 teams
No. 6 - 0 teams
No. 7 - 0 teams
No. 8 - 0 teams
No. 9 - 1 team
No. 10 - 2 teams
No. 11 - 4 teams
No. 12 - 2 teams
No. 13 - 0 teams
No. 14 - 0 teams
No. 15 - 1 team

Nos. 1-5: 10 teams
Nos. 6-10: 3 teams
Nos. 11-15: 7 teams

[Greg Ambrosius]

Mark Gannon joins Robert Orr as the only national champions of the NFBC Gladiator Championship. We look forward to adding more through the years, but for now the list starts and ends with Orr and Gannon!!! Let's keep the list here:

NFBC Gladiator Championship Overall Champions:
2023 - Robert Orr
2024 - Mark Gannon