Possible NFBC Cutline Championship In 2014
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:51 am
This year in our football contest we created a new national contest that turned out to be very successful and the format has us wondering if a similar success story could happen here in baseball. We're looking into this possible game now and seeing what is needed to spend the time to program this and create this if we decide to go forward. That's where you folks come into play: I want your feedback here.
NFFC Cutline Championship: We created this game in football as an entry-level contest to try to get more new users to play with us. It was based on a game that had been successful before and thus there was a history here with some of our players. The format was simple:
10-team leagues, $125 entry fee
9 week regular season
Only 3 free agent moves per season
1 league prize only: $250 for 1st place
Top 2 teams advance to Championship Round, 3 other teams enter a Consolation Round
What happens after that is teams in the Championship Round need to finish above the cutline to advance and each week a team or two from the Consolation Round can move up to the Championship Round. This becomes almost like a survivor contest each week in the playoffs with only 12 teams surviving by Week 16 and playing for the $50,000 grand prize. We believe the "cutline" aspect of this will make the playoffs very enjoyable and a rush in real-time scoring for those owners who have a shot at the $50,000 grand prize.
Despite not unveiling this contest until July 13th, we finished with 1,850 teams or 185 leagues in under 60 draft days. It was a huge success as we brought in many first-time players and the in-season management for our die-hard players has been so minimal that folks wish we had more games with only 3 in-season FAAB moves. There's no doubt that we are planning for a $75,000 or even $100,000 grand prize next year.
We know there are millions of fantasy baseball players who compete in 10-team leagues and we know that many of them play for much lower stakes than we normally offer here in our national contests. So is there a way to attract more new players to the NFBC with a low-level entry fee that still has a very nice grand prize? Well, hopefully there is.
We've been kicking some ideas around and just creating a 10-team, $125 entry fee national contest with regular weekly in-season moves doesn't seem to move the needle for us. FAAB in 10-team leagues would be even more work than deeper leagues because there would be so many good players available each week. So while that might appeal to some new users, we're not sure if we could reach the levels needed for a worthy overall prize pool because it would turn off many of our top players.
Plus we like the Cutline idea where owners have to survive to move on while having minimal in-season management. We think there's a brand to build here and if done creatively it could work in baseball, too. So here's the concept for a potential new game and we'd like your feedback on the prospects and suggestions for any rules tweaks. Some of the features include:
* It's a Best Ball format: The computer picks your optimal scoring lineup each week; you never set a lineup.
* Scoring has to be points based in order for the computer to pick the optimal scoring lineup.
* There are only 3 in-season FAAB periods
* Only 2 of 10 teams advance to the Championship Round; but maybe we'll create a Consolation Round like we have in football, giving those teams a chance to move up to the Championship Round.
* Drafts are 10 teams, 45 rounds to approximate depth of NFBC 15-team leagues. Drafts should take 3+ hours.
* Much of the prize money is in the overall prize pool, paying Top 10 finishers.
NFBC Cutline Championship
OVERVIEW
The Cutline Championship is a points-based league designed to approximate the relative contribution value of batter and pitcher outcomes in standard NFBC rotisserie leagues. The Cutline Championship has a regular season, which concludes just prior to the MLB All-Star Break, and a championship playoff which runs for 9 weeks beginning in the week of the All-Star Break and ending in mid-September.
A starting lineup will consist of 14 hitters and 9 pitchers, with the same positions and position eligiblity of standard NFBC leagues. Scoring is automatic, with each team’s highest scoring players assigned to the available starting lineup slots at the end of each week. Accordingly, each week a team’s highest scoring lineup of 2 catchers, 1 1b, 1 2b, 1 3b, 1 ss, 1 mi, 1 ci, 5 outfielders, 1 utility hitter and 9 pitchers will count towards that team’s points.
DRAFT AND FREE AGENTS
Each league will consist of 10 teams participating in a 45-round draft.
Each team will have a free agent acquisition budget of $1000, but there will be only 3 free agent periods during the regular season and none during the championship playoff. The first free agent period will be at the end of the 4th full week of the baseball season, the second after the 8th full week and the final period after the 12th full week.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff. The Playoff will consist of 3 rounds, each round will be 3 weeks in duration.
Round 1 – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.
Round 2 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 1 will advance to this round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 1 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Round 2 Total Score.
Round 3 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 2 will advance to this final playoff round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 2 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Final Playoff Score.
PLAYER SCORING
Batter Scoring:
HR or SB +6 pts
Hit +4 pts
Run or RBI +2 pts
AB -1 pt
Pitcher Scoring:
Win +6 pts
Save +6 pts
Inning Pitched +3 pt
Strikeout +1 pt
Hit or Walk Allowed -1 pt
Earned Run Allowed -2 pt
ENTRY FEE & PRIZE STRUCTURE
The Entry fee will be either $125 or $150.
The highest scoring team in each 10-team league will be awarded a league prize of $250 (or $300 if entry is $150).
The two highest scoring teams in each 10-team league will compete in the Championship Playoff.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF PRIZES
1st Place – $50,000
2nd Place – $25,000
3rd Place – $10,000
4th Place – $6,000
5th Place – $4,000
6th-10th Place – $1,000 each
Thoughts on this new concept?? Thanks for any and all feedback and we'll plan accordingly on this game over the next month. We are always looking to expand our offerings and to bring in new customers to our online and live events. Innovation is needed in the pay-to-play games space and we think this game has a chance to work. We look forward to hearing from all of you.
NFFC Cutline Championship: We created this game in football as an entry-level contest to try to get more new users to play with us. It was based on a game that had been successful before and thus there was a history here with some of our players. The format was simple:
10-team leagues, $125 entry fee
9 week regular season
Only 3 free agent moves per season
1 league prize only: $250 for 1st place
Top 2 teams advance to Championship Round, 3 other teams enter a Consolation Round
What happens after that is teams in the Championship Round need to finish above the cutline to advance and each week a team or two from the Consolation Round can move up to the Championship Round. This becomes almost like a survivor contest each week in the playoffs with only 12 teams surviving by Week 16 and playing for the $50,000 grand prize. We believe the "cutline" aspect of this will make the playoffs very enjoyable and a rush in real-time scoring for those owners who have a shot at the $50,000 grand prize.
Despite not unveiling this contest until July 13th, we finished with 1,850 teams or 185 leagues in under 60 draft days. It was a huge success as we brought in many first-time players and the in-season management for our die-hard players has been so minimal that folks wish we had more games with only 3 in-season FAAB moves. There's no doubt that we are planning for a $75,000 or even $100,000 grand prize next year.
We know there are millions of fantasy baseball players who compete in 10-team leagues and we know that many of them play for much lower stakes than we normally offer here in our national contests. So is there a way to attract more new players to the NFBC with a low-level entry fee that still has a very nice grand prize? Well, hopefully there is.
We've been kicking some ideas around and just creating a 10-team, $125 entry fee national contest with regular weekly in-season moves doesn't seem to move the needle for us. FAAB in 10-team leagues would be even more work than deeper leagues because there would be so many good players available each week. So while that might appeal to some new users, we're not sure if we could reach the levels needed for a worthy overall prize pool because it would turn off many of our top players.
Plus we like the Cutline idea where owners have to survive to move on while having minimal in-season management. We think there's a brand to build here and if done creatively it could work in baseball, too. So here's the concept for a potential new game and we'd like your feedback on the prospects and suggestions for any rules tweaks. Some of the features include:
* It's a Best Ball format: The computer picks your optimal scoring lineup each week; you never set a lineup.
* Scoring has to be points based in order for the computer to pick the optimal scoring lineup.
* There are only 3 in-season FAAB periods
* Only 2 of 10 teams advance to the Championship Round; but maybe we'll create a Consolation Round like we have in football, giving those teams a chance to move up to the Championship Round.
* Drafts are 10 teams, 45 rounds to approximate depth of NFBC 15-team leagues. Drafts should take 3+ hours.
* Much of the prize money is in the overall prize pool, paying Top 10 finishers.
NFBC Cutline Championship
OVERVIEW
The Cutline Championship is a points-based league designed to approximate the relative contribution value of batter and pitcher outcomes in standard NFBC rotisserie leagues. The Cutline Championship has a regular season, which concludes just prior to the MLB All-Star Break, and a championship playoff which runs for 9 weeks beginning in the week of the All-Star Break and ending in mid-September.
A starting lineup will consist of 14 hitters and 9 pitchers, with the same positions and position eligiblity of standard NFBC leagues. Scoring is automatic, with each team’s highest scoring players assigned to the available starting lineup slots at the end of each week. Accordingly, each week a team’s highest scoring lineup of 2 catchers, 1 1b, 1 2b, 1 3b, 1 ss, 1 mi, 1 ci, 5 outfielders, 1 utility hitter and 9 pitchers will count towards that team’s points.
DRAFT AND FREE AGENTS
Each league will consist of 10 teams participating in a 45-round draft.
Each team will have a free agent acquisition budget of $1000, but there will be only 3 free agent periods during the regular season and none during the championship playoff. The first free agent period will be at the end of the 4th full week of the baseball season, the second after the 8th full week and the final period after the 12th full week.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff. The Playoff will consist of 3 rounds, each round will be 3 weeks in duration.
Round 1 – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.
Round 2 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 1 will advance to this round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 1 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Round 2 Total Score.
Round 3 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 2 will advance to this final playoff round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 2 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Final Playoff Score.
PLAYER SCORING
Batter Scoring:
HR or SB +6 pts
Hit +4 pts
Run or RBI +2 pts
AB -1 pt
Pitcher Scoring:
Win +6 pts
Save +6 pts
Inning Pitched +3 pt
Strikeout +1 pt
Hit or Walk Allowed -1 pt
Earned Run Allowed -2 pt
ENTRY FEE & PRIZE STRUCTURE
The Entry fee will be either $125 or $150.
The highest scoring team in each 10-team league will be awarded a league prize of $250 (or $300 if entry is $150).
The two highest scoring teams in each 10-team league will compete in the Championship Playoff.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF PRIZES
1st Place – $50,000
2nd Place – $25,000
3rd Place – $10,000
4th Place – $6,000
5th Place – $4,000
6th-10th Place – $1,000 each
Thoughts on this new concept?? Thanks for any and all feedback and we'll plan accordingly on this game over the next month. We are always looking to expand our offerings and to bring in new customers to our online and live events. Innovation is needed in the pay-to-play games space and we think this game has a chance to work. We look forward to hearing from all of you.