NFBC Message Boards

To our Fantasy Players,



The problems that you have experienced with ESPN Fantasy Baseball to begin this season have been unacceptable, and we are genuinely sorry.



Fixing these problems and restoring your ability to play fantasy baseball, as well as illustrating our appreciation of you - our players - is our responsibility. We will take important steps in the next 24 hours to meet that responsibility.



We have explored and tested every possible solution and it is clear that the nature of the issues leave us with a single, necessary action to get the game back on track and ensure the integrity of the season.



Late on Wednesday night the ESPN Fantasy team will:

1) Revert all teams to their opening day rosters (Sunday, April 1).

2) Set the starting lineup of each team's opening day roster as the active roster for all games played to date (April 1 - April 11).

3) Retroactively apply scoring for the entire season to date based on that roster.

4) Void all transactions to date (trades, waiver pickups, roster moves, etc.).



Following these changes, all players not on a roster will be placed on waivers for 24 hours, and the waiver order for each league will be restored to where it was on Opening Day.



Through extensive testing, this solution - while extreme - has repeatedly shown to restore the game to full and normal operation.



We are sorry to have to make such an aggressive change, and fully recognize the impact this will have. This action was our only option because of the nature of the issues and their potential to compound if not addressed on a fundamental level. Ensuring the integrity of the season ahead for ALL players is tremendously important to us and this solution ensures that all players will be treated equally.



We anticipate that by Thursday morning when you log in, the game will be operating as it should. We will provide another update to you on Thursday morning.



For those with customized leagues, your League Manager will be able to adjust current rosters as they see fit.



This should not have happened and there is no excuse. We will work hard to regain your confidence in our games, and in appreciation for the patience you've already shown we are giving you: - Free ESPN Fantasy Insider, for the entire baseball season. By Friday, you each will have complete access to all of our most in-depth, award-winning fantasy sports content through September. (Current ESPN Insider subscribers will have six months added to their subscription at no charge)

- A full refund for the cost of the 2007 season to any player that has paid for a premium ESPN Fantasy Baseball league.



We also know that many of you play other ESPN Fantasy Games, and are giving you a premium, prize-eligible ESPN Fantasy Football league this fall, at no charge. We hope you'll give us the opportunity to serve you.



Like you, we are also fantasy baseball players at ESPN, and this has been a truly humbling week. Thank you for hanging in there with us while we addressed these issues.



You - the player - are our priority. We will continue to work day and night to deliver the game experience you deserve.



Sincerely,



John Kosner, senior vice president, ESPN.com & the entire ESPN.com Fantasy Team

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

To our Fantasy Players,



The problems that you have experienced with ESPN Fantasy Baseball to begin this season have been unacceptable, and we are genuinely sorry.



Fixing these problems and restoring your ability to play fantasy baseball, as well as illustrating our appreciation of you - our players - is our responsibility. We will take important steps in the next 24 hours to meet that responsibility.



We have explored and tested every possible solution and it is clear that the nature of the issues leave us with a single, necessary action to get the game back on track and ensure the integrity of the season.



Late on Wednesday night the ESPN Fantasy team will:

1) Revert all teams to their opening day rosters (Sunday, April 1).

2) Set the starting lineup of each team's opening day roster as the active roster for all games played to date (April 1 - April 11).

3) Retroactively apply scoring for the entire season to date based on that roster.

4) Void all transactions to date (trades, waiver pickups, roster moves, etc.).



Following these changes, all players not on a roster will be placed on waivers for 24 hours, and the waiver order for each league will be restored to where it was on Opening Day.



Through extensive testing, this solution - while extreme - has repeatedly shown to restore the game to full and normal operation.



We are sorry to have to make such an aggressive change, and fully recognize the impact this will have. This action was our only option because of the nature of the issues and their potential to compound if not addressed on a fundamental level. Ensuring the integrity of the season ahead for ALL players is tremendously important to us and this solution ensures that all players will be treated equally.



We anticipate that by Thursday morning when you log in, the game will be operating as it should. We will provide another update to you on Thursday morning.



For those with customized leagues, your League Manager will be able to adjust current rosters as they see fit.



This should not have happened and there is no excuse. We will work hard to regain your confidence in our games, and in appreciation for the patience you've already shown we are giving you: - Free ESPN Fantasy Insider, for the entire baseball season. By Friday, you each will have complete access to all of our most in-depth, award-winning fantasy sports content through September. (Current ESPN Insider subscribers will have six months added to their subscription at no charge)

- A full refund for the cost of the 2007 season to any player that has paid for a premium ESPN Fantasy Baseball league.



We also know that many of you play other ESPN Fantasy Games, and are giving you a premium, prize-eligible ESPN Fantasy Football league this fall, at no charge. We hope you'll give us the opportunity to serve you.



Like you, we are also fantasy baseball players at ESPN, and this has been a truly humbling week. Thank you for hanging in there with us while we addressed these issues.



You - the player - are our priority. We will continue to work day and night to deliver the game experience you deserve.



Sincerely,



John Kosner, senior vice president, ESPN.com & the entire ESPN.com Fantasy Team



I am sure there are a lot of guys like me who got their first taste over on ESPN, my only non nfbc league is a league I have been in for about 10 years there. Great group of guys and ESPN has just bent us all over.



Mathew Berry loves to quote movies and pop culture. I think Sugar may want to take Matt Berry to lunch in the very near future. Alright KOQ will get my Jerry Maguire reference...

In a crowded restaurant...

I've never played on ESPN, but have played for years on Yahoo...and can't recall any problems there.



It seems Yahoo does a great job...yet they are not given much credit, and never considered for major level leagues.



~Lance

It would be one thing if this didn't happen very frequently on ESPN but this has been par for the course at ESPN. I won 5 leagues last year on ESPN and what do I have to show for it? 5 of the ugliest azz t-shirts that have yet to be delivered to me. The competition for the most part is nothing like at NFBC (although there are some really good players), at $19.99 for a team most folks out of it by the All-Star break tanked their teams and it just wasn't enjoyable for me. Until ESPN offers a high-stakes game, they'll toil in mediocrity as a second class service. It's a shame, but their interests do not lie in fantasy.....they lie in the almighty dollar. They raked in on average $200 per league and rewarded you with a $5 t-shirt made in some sweat shop in Pakistan. It wasn't until I ventured out on the web a little before I realized how badly I was being cornholed.

Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Mathew Berry loves to quote movies and pop culture. I think Sugar may want to take Matt Berry to lunch in the very near future. Alright KOQ will get my Jerry Maguire reference... Jay Mohr and Matthew Berry kind of make a cute couple, don't you think?

This is just anecdotal and only one person's experience, but my leagues at ESPN and for that matter CBS have been similarly bad. Generally no customer service followed by some debacle where they lose stats compounded by 0 customer service. Worst was at CBS when they froze our daily transactions league the last 5 days of the season, so no one could do anything with their rosters, in a close race to the finish. I had to retroactively input 5 days of transactions for 13 teams re-running stats in between to make sure each roster change was actually posted properly, and the winner was decided by 1.5 points.



Second-worst was when ESPN impounded a team because they got hs expiration date on his credit card, and we had to make a complaint to the fantasy sports trade association to get them to release it.



I have had much better experiences of course here and also at All-Star Stats.

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:

I've never played on ESPN, but have played for years on Yahoo...and can't recall any problems there.



It seems Yahoo does a great job...yet they are not given much credit, and never considered for major level leagues.



~Lance Agreed Lance. Yahoo quietly goes about their business and has ALWAYS had the free game available. Their site is easy to navigate and it is highly unusual when problems arise. Next to the NFBC it is the first site I recommend to newbies and first site for any folks looking for a free league. 11x11 leagues are even available.

I can see is Mattews Bery's face every second on those corny comercials with ESPN.

ESPN FANTASY BASEBALL IS FREE AND IT ROCK'S.

YEAH IT ROCK'S BUT DOESNT WORK.

Originally posted by eddiejag:

I can see is Mattews Bery's face every second on those corny comercials with ESPN.

ESPN FANTASY BASEBALL IS FREE AND IT ROCK'S.

YEAH IT ROCK'S BUT DOESNT WORK. for private leagues, TQSTATS is the place to be...great site, great service and very reliable...Why would anyone pay ESPN $20 with no prize money..seems like a waste of time....



another joke is cbs leagues..they take 60% of the money and dont even pay for 2nd....



i think NFBC should increase their satelitte leagues, they could basically put cbs and espn out of the market...

your comments about TQStats appear to be spoken by someone who is not using them this year.



I would find it very hard to recommend them right now. Their "new and not-so-improved" site rivals ESPN in its failure to test ahead of the start of the season or work even as I type.

I have to agree with Viper. I am using TQ Stats for a league I am commissioner of, and it has been one problem after another.



They do seem to be getting their act together, but the problems are something that testing would have solved ahead of time.



Also, each service I looked into (admittedly, was only a few, force you to add your name as a co-owner of a team if you are league commissioner and not actually participating. Otherwise, you have no access.) I'm sure it may look funny to a couple of owners. Will be looking for a better service next year.

Originally posted by fandango:

quote:Originally posted by eddiejag:

I can see is Mattews Bery's face every second on those corny comercials with ESPN.

ESPN FANTASY BASEBALL IS FREE AND IT ROCK'S.

YEAH IT ROCK'S BUT DOESNT WORK. for private leagues, TQSTATS is the place to be...great site, great service and very reliable...Why would anyone pay ESPN $20 with no prize money..seems like a waste of time....



another joke is cbs leagues..they take 60% of the money and dont even pay for 2nd....



i think NFBC should increase their satelitte leagues, they could basically put cbs and espn out of the market... [/QUOTE]Scott, the plans are already being put in place for a bigger expansion into online leagues for the NFBC in 2008. We had 38 satellite leagues this year and I trust we'll have a slight increase in that format next year as we ramp up personnel-wise to handle those. But I have an additional plan in place that will be interesting as well and will create an overall prize pool for online players. Should be fun and exciting next year, so stay tuned.

I agree ESPN has screwed the pooch this year. Not only have they screwed up a fantastic interface, they reduced the number of players on each team making it a farce to draft. Then they go and freeze up the system. Pretty sad



As for ESPN vs. Yahoo, I have found that prior to this year, ESPNs interface was far superior and the level of players much better. The $19.99 made more serious players join the drop in leagues. Perhaps for private leagues Yahoo was ok, but for any type of drop in, it was a disaster.



It is sad to see ESPN fall apart!!!



Spy

Originally posted by viper:

your comments about TQStats appear to be spoken by someone who is not using them this year.



I would find it very hard to recommend them right now. Their "new and not-so-improved" site rivals ESPN in its failure to test ahead of the start of the season or work even as I type. i do admit that this is the first season in a while i do not have a TQ league...wasnt aware of the problems they are currently having, disregard my recommendation...



Greg, cant wait for the new idea you have....maybe a sort of Overall Satellite champion, similar to the Main Event champion..



also, i wonder if it is possible to have an overall Baseball Auctions Champion, similar to the football method...

I do not believe stats have been updated for two days. I have two auction leagues there and the commissioner is currently locked out for unknown reasons. He is ready to switch to CBS even though that means we miss 3 weeks or trash the entire season. I can get in but apparently 3 or 4 of the 15 different owners cannot.



That is how bad it is.

viper,



IF you switch to CBS, you won't miss the first 3 weeks. The Commissioner can back date all of the rosters to opening day. And he can date any transactions since then to their appropriate dates. CBS will back date the stats/standings.