FBPC Main Event Folds

[Greg Ambrosius]

We are getting a lot of interest in our NFBC Main Event and Primetime openings this afternoon because a competitor in the high-stakes space will no longer have a Main Event. The FBPC was heading into its 2nd season and was touting a $100,000 grand prize, but with only 116 signups management decided to fold that contest today. I give FFPC credit for alerting owners early enough to still get into other contests, like the NFBC.

Here's the email that went out today from Eric Balkman:

I first want to thank you for the support that you have shown the Fantasy Baseball Players Championship. Without it, the FBPC would not have gotten this far in our registrations for 2014.

With that said, I apologize that I, along with Alex Kaganovsky and Dave Gerczak, have made the decision to cancel our Main Event in its current form this year. Even with the record payouts and ROI, I just could not get enough registrations to make the contest feasible.

While we did lose some money last year, we actually were prepared to do so again in 2014 at the risk of building the FBPC slowly and organically like we did with the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). However, what we were not prepared to do is just throw away cash in the neighborhood of a six-figure amount.

I've seen what happened to the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) when it added the World Championship of Fantasy Baseball (WCOFB). At the FFPC/FBPC, we will not allow the same thing to happen to us. And so we made this decision for the benefit of not only our baseball players, but our football players as well. You should feel safe and protected knowing your money is in good hands when you play with us, and hopefully you can see that this is a good demonstration of that.

I wanted to let you know about this now rather than a week-and-a-half from now when there would be no time to register for another high stakes event or make other plans for your draft time(s).


We have openings everyone and we will add league dates if needed. I'll start a thread shortly, but if you have any interest at all in the NFBC Main Event or Primetime, please contact me at [email protected] (715-254-5553) or Tom at [email protected] (715-254-5559). Thanks all.

Competition is part of every business, but this is a tough area of the market as we all know. WCOFB lasted two years and didn't pay all of its winners for that second season and FBPC made it through one year. This is our 11th season and we are so fortunate to have the best customers in the baseball industry. Thanks for all your support through the years and now let's fill up these Main Event and Primetime leagues!!!

[Tom Kessenich]

I know those guys read our boards and Eric plays in our contest so I want to say it was a very classy move by Eric and everyone there to acknowledge part of the reason they were shutting things down now was to give people time to sign up with our contest if they wanted to. That's 180 degrees different than how WCOFF handled things during their demise when they dragged out their decision as long as they could clearly in an attempt to prevent their players from playing in the NFFC or FFPC.

So thanks to Eric, Dave, Alex and Chris for the first-class move in that regard.

[KJ Duke]

I know those guys read our boards and Eric plays in our contest so I want to say it was a very classy move by Eric and everyone there to acknowledge part of the reason they were shutting things down now was to give people time to sign up with our contest if they wanted to. That's 180 degrees different than how WCOFF handled things during their demise when they dragged out their decision as long as they could clearly in an attempt to prevent their players from playing in the NFFC or FFPC.

So thanks to Eric, Dave, Alex and Chris for the first-class move in that regard.

Agreed, Tom. It was a good contest but the bar was just set too high for an online-only contest in it's second year at that price point. Sometimes conservative wins ...

[Glenneration X]

I know those guys read our boards and Eric plays in our contest so I want to say it was a very classy move by Eric and everyone there to acknowledge part of the reason they were shutting things down now was to give people time to sign up with our contest if they wanted to. That's 180 degrees different than how WCOFF handled things during their demise when they dragged out their decision as long as they could clearly in an attempt to prevent their players from playing in the NFFC or FFPC.

So thanks to Eric, Dave, Alex and Chris for the first-class move in that regard.

Agreed 100%. It's disappointing no doubt. However if it was going to happen, it was handled properly.
I'm still a fan of Eric, Dave, Alex, and Chris and their organization over there.

On the other hand, Greg mentioned the way the WCOFB was handled. They still owe me almost $70K that'll I'll never see.
Now Dustin, Jesse, Peter Pinto and the clan there.....fan is probably not the word I'd use when describing my feelings towards that group.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

I know those guys read our boards and Eric plays in our contest so I want to say it was a very classy move by Eric and everyone there to acknowledge part of the reason they were shutting things down now was to give people time to sign up with our contest if they wanted to. That's 180 degrees different than how WCOFF handled things during their demise when they dragged out their decision as long as they could clearly in an attempt to prevent their players from playing in the NFFC or FFPC.

So thanks to Eric, Dave, Alex and Chris for the first-class move in that regard.

Agreed 100%. It's disappointing no doubt. However if it was going to happen, it was handled properly.
I'm still a fan of Eric, Dave, Alex, and Chris and their organization over there.

On the other hand, Greg mentioned the way the WCOFB was handled. They still owe me almost $70K that'll I'll never see.
Now Dustin, Jesse, Peter Pinto and the clan there.....fan is probably not the word I'd use when describing my feelings towards that group.

What happened? Wcoff owes people?

[Cocktails and Dreams]

In all seriousness, I liked those rules and I really like Eric. I am somewhat surprised they were not able to get it rolling. Just goes to show that the NFBC guys have a dominant product and incredibly loyal fan base. And fantasy baseball is a game for purists. They don't like different rules. Give em 15 teams and lets go. You have to respect those people. As for the FFBC, some of the owners over there(okay, only one owner) are a bit too arrogant for their own good. It hurt them here and it won't help down the road either.

[Gekko]

Agree with chad about the ownership over there. LOL

People probably saw this coming. Baseball contest backed by non-baseball guys. Not a good combo IMO

[Greg Ambrosius]

In all seriousness, I liked those rules and I really like Eric. I am somewhat surprised they were not able to get it rolling. Just goes to show that the NFBC guys have a dominant product and incredibly loyal fan base. And fantasy baseball is a game for purists. They don't like different rules. Give em 15 teams and lets go. You have to respect those people. As for the FFBC, some of the owners over there(okay, only one owner) are a bit too arrogant for their own good. It hurt them here and it won't help down the road either.

I think a lot of things were learned here, but the big one is that there is a limit to the size of the fantasy baseball market. It takes a special person to play this game this intently for 26 straight weeks, not counting the off-season prep. There's not an unlimited number of players out there who can do it at this price level. All the marketing in the world won't turn a casual baseball fan into a Main Event participant. Football is more of an impulse buy sometimes split by two buddies, but baseball reaches an older demographic that has to have a deep passion for baseball.

We know how hard it is to grow this market. We've had to create new games and try new things to grow our baseball business. The live events model gets tougher and tougher each year, but there's still nothing like a live event or auction. We don't ever want to abandon that model. But I really wonder if there is a big enough market for two high-stakes events, especially with the growth of the daily fantasy games.

And without any side revenue from satellites or online championships or private leagues, I know it's impossible to make ends meet with just a Main Event. There was no way to build a brand without early online drafts, DCs, onlines, etc. You need that revenue to make it a business and that just wasn't happening over there. The one thing we've done really well over the last 11 years is grow all of this side revenue leading up to the Main Events and that's helped our business become more profitable and allowed us to take some other chances.

The good news is that nobody got hurt and everyone still has time to find a game to play in. We appreciate that. We're glad nobody lost money in this space. Everyone can move forward. And while we know the consumer is disappointed because they want more choices, we'll do all we can to be creative in the future and continue to give you new games to play in. Our menu won't include a 14-team contest with streaming pitchers, but something like the Cutline Championship is going to appear in 2015 and we'll keep online auctions on the radar as well. There's still a lot we can do to fill your needs without having someone else come in and do it instead of us. The future remains very bright for high-stakes fantasy baseball players and you will have plenty of game options for years to come in the NFBC.

Good luck all and welcome to all those owners from the FBPC who are looking for a new home in 2014.

And Chad, I promise we will NEVER address you the way you were addressed on those other boards in your request to poll the participants. Wow, that's just downright crazy to do that to you or any other customer in a public forum. But not unexpected, either.