Drew Forte Wins 2023 Rotowire Online Championship & $150,000
Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2023 9:54 am
Drew Forte of Pleasantville, New York won the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship and the $150,000 grand prize as he topped a record field of 2,460 teams for the title. The 30-year-old took an amazing path to the title as he won a $50 Rotowire Online Championship Qualifier league last year and now has turned that $50 into the $150,000 grand prize!!! That's how it's supposed to work.
Drew is relatively new to the NFBC as he first joined our contests in 2019 and didn't join the Rotowire Online Championship until 2021. Last year he finished third in two Rotowire Online Championship leagues, but he won a free entry in the $50 Rotowire OC Qualifier to earn a spot in this year's contest.
He took three Rotowire Online Championship teams this year and won two league titles and finished second in the other league. He not only won the $150,000 grand prize, but his other league-winning team finished 13th overall. I think this guy has the hang of things in this format!! Drew also finished 2nd in a $125 Satellite League, 3rd in a Gladiator League and 6th in a $150 Satellite League. He cashed in five of the six leagues he entered this year and will likely be back for even more leagues in 2024.
His championship team came from the March 12th, 8 pm ET league as he finished with 117.5 points while winning that league title. It was almost a perfect season in that league for Drew as he finished first in his league in eight of the 10 categories, while finishing second or tied for second in the two other categories. Amazing job this year Drew in that league.
Drew moved into first place in the overall standings after Week 14 and held onto the lead over the last three months of the season. That's not easy to do. He finished with 23,117.5 points or 94.0 percent of available points. That's the second-highest winning percentage of points in our 15-year history of the Rotowire Online Championship, second only to Andrew Edenbaum's 94.46 percent winning total in 2019.
Drew finished 669.5 points ahead of Bob Catsiroumpas to win the 2023 title. Bob earned $30,000 for his second place finish and he also finished third overall in the NFBC Main Event. Bob actually had three teams finish in the Top 12 of the Rotowire Online Championship as he also had teams that finished 8th and 12th overall. Rounding out the Top 5 overall were Vlad Sedler ($20,000), Matthew McGuire ($15,000) and Shamir Naran ($10,000). We paid the Top 25 in the overall competition this year.
Drew won from the 8th spot in this league as he started with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. He added Matt Olson, Kevin Gausman and Felix Bautista in the first seven rounds to build a winning foundation and he never fell despite some tough injuries. In fact, he dominated the contest over the last three months of the season to win his first overall title.
Congrats Drew and congrats to all of the overall and league prize money winners. It was a fantastic season in our 12-team format as we crowned yet another new overall champion. Drew now becomes our 15th different overall champion in the Rotowire Online Championship over 15 seasons as nobody has ever won this title twice. That shows you just how tough this format is. Thanks all and congrats to the winners.
Here's the final standings:
2023 Rotowire Online Championship Top 100 Teams:
1 Drew Forte Drew's Crew OC1 23,117.50
2 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC3 __vSP 22,448.00
3 Vlad Sedler Gut OC V 22,323.00
4 MATTHEW MCGUIRE MCGUIRE 22,165.50
5 Shamir Naran Naran 21,979.50
6 Matt Leahy Long Balls OC1 21,964.50
7 Ryan O'Donnell Troublemakers Club 21,954.00
8 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC5__nSLG__vSP 21,653.50
9 Peter Marrero Amazins2 21,304.00
10 Nicholi Knutson Pauline Walnuts 21,174.00
11 Bob Mazur C Minor's 21,117.50
12 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC1 21,064.00
13 Drew Forte Drews Crew OC2 21,029.50
14 Kevin Giardino Kamikaze Bingo 21,024.50
15 John Rundle Townies 20,861.00
16 Andrew Geller Da Gildz WonTime!!!! 20,678.00
17 STEVEN PASKOVER PASKOVER 20,672.00
18 Toby Guevin BatFlip Crazy OC1 20,666.50
19 Shelly Verougstraete Verougstraete 20,606.50
20 Andrew Eckert The Bo Sho 20,595.50
20 Danny Bronski Dot Dash VII 20,595.50
22 SCOTT SLEZAK Outside Corner 20,552.00
23 Mike Burton Juiced Ball ERAs OC8 20,540.50
24 Daniel Baker Baker 20,526.50
25 Andrew Pelaez Pelaez 20,519.00
26 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball IV 20,449.00
27 Thomas Warner LEATHERNECK 7 20,429.00
28 Rick Bay PandaOL1 20,408.00
29 Brian Edwards The Ghost of Jacoby Ellsbury 20,342.00
30 Andrew Moody Moody 20,274.00
31 Robert Dvorchik ArizonaSnakeBite 20,228.00
32 Chris Candido The Balking Dead 20,202.50
33 Ryan Whytsell OC1 20,158.00
34 Mark Friedrich Horseville 20,156.00
35 Brent Grooms No Balls No Babies V 20,130.00
36 Douglas Gruber Dougs Dawgs OC10 20,039.00
37 Robert DiPietro Two Moes OC1 20,038.50
38 Daniel Prepas VenPrep OC1 20,029.50
39 Steve Tebbe Carson City 20,000.00
40 Justin Aspite Aspite 19,976.50
41 nicholas durrell Timber Owls 19,963.00
42 James Anderson Thatch 19,923.50
43 Chris Sandberg Throw Ball Hard Run Fast 19,921.50
44 Chris Oliver Mr. Robot 19,910.00
45 damien passalacqua passalacqua 19,907.50
46 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 9 19,881.00
47 David Wright Fast Forward 19,844.00
48 Emmett Ruland Ruland 19,798.00
49 David Whilden Whilden 19,793.50
50 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 8 19,767.50
51 Danny Bronski Dot Dash X 19,732.50
52 Brad Bevil Bevil 3 19,726.50
53 John Pausma JP OC12 19,682.50
54 David Broughton Broughton 19,680.00
55 Dustin McComas 2018 Red Sox 19,667.50
56 Douglas Gruber Dougs Dawgs OC4 19,625.50
57 Ken Magner Sack OLC II 19,541.00
58 Fred Spinder Maddie Luck OC 19,478.50
59 George Kohlweiler Mesa City Thunderboars 2.0 19,466.00
60 Richard Kulaski Rockwell and Mama Braves 19,426.00
61 Kyle Miller Miller 19,387.00
62 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XI 19,383.00
63 Nicholi Knutson Saul Goodman 19,311.00
64 Darren Parrott Parrott 19,299.00
65 John Pausma JP OC11 19,297.00
66 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 7 19,294.50
67 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 5 19,290.00
68 Russell Withers Planet Gore ManBearPigs ' 19,287.50
69 steve midzor Retchy BBall 19,283.00
70 Aaron Jones Jones ROC1 19,273.00
71 Andrew Eckert I've Maeda Huge Mistake 19,250.50
72 J.R. Walsh Walsh 19,246.00
73 Bob Mazur F Troop 19,238.00
74 Joseph Dieffenbach Ahead of the Curve 19,237.00
75 Paul Gromek Gromek 4 19,225.50
76 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball III 19,219.00
76 nicholas durrell Lunatic Pandora 19,219.00
78 Scott Gilbert Gilbert Oh See 1 19,210.00
79 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball II 19,201.00
80 Jessica Ryan Ryan 19,192.50
81 James Allen Allen 19,169.50
82 Bill Schwartz Schwartz 19,157.50
83 Scott Ross Rudy & Son II 19,129.50
84 Tim Sansome Sansome OC5 19,126.50
85 Ron Kraus Kraus 19,091.50
86 Chris Hoyler Hoyler 19,085.00
87 TIMOTHY BUETHE BUETHE OC 19,076.50
88 JOSEPH HICKMAN All Betts Are Off 19,070.00
89 Jeffrey Bryl Deadwood Pioneers 2 19,019.50
90 ROBERT NORTON NORTON ROTO OC1 19,000.00
91 Stephen Goodwin Stevoswerve - OC 0110 18,987.00
92 Jason Anthony Booms OC 3 18,980.00
93 Dan Thompson MXC For Fox Sake OC1 18,975.50
94 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XVI 18,961.50
95 Dave Petroziello Petro OC 1 18,951.50
96 Marc Siciliano Cheeks - THE OC 18,909.50
97 Todd Whitestone Free Mook 18,891.50
98 Stephen Goodwin Stevoswerve - OC 1010 18,887.00
99 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XIV 18,859.00
100 Jordan Ramirez ElGreatRambino 18,847.00
Drew is relatively new to the NFBC as he first joined our contests in 2019 and didn't join the Rotowire Online Championship until 2021. Last year he finished third in two Rotowire Online Championship leagues, but he won a free entry in the $50 Rotowire OC Qualifier to earn a spot in this year's contest.
He took three Rotowire Online Championship teams this year and won two league titles and finished second in the other league. He not only won the $150,000 grand prize, but his other league-winning team finished 13th overall. I think this guy has the hang of things in this format!! Drew also finished 2nd in a $125 Satellite League, 3rd in a Gladiator League and 6th in a $150 Satellite League. He cashed in five of the six leagues he entered this year and will likely be back for even more leagues in 2024.
His championship team came from the March 12th, 8 pm ET league as he finished with 117.5 points while winning that league title. It was almost a perfect season in that league for Drew as he finished first in his league in eight of the 10 categories, while finishing second or tied for second in the two other categories. Amazing job this year Drew in that league.
Drew moved into first place in the overall standings after Week 14 and held onto the lead over the last three months of the season. That's not easy to do. He finished with 23,117.5 points or 94.0 percent of available points. That's the second-highest winning percentage of points in our 15-year history of the Rotowire Online Championship, second only to Andrew Edenbaum's 94.46 percent winning total in 2019.
Drew finished 669.5 points ahead of Bob Catsiroumpas to win the 2023 title. Bob earned $30,000 for his second place finish and he also finished third overall in the NFBC Main Event. Bob actually had three teams finish in the Top 12 of the Rotowire Online Championship as he also had teams that finished 8th and 12th overall. Rounding out the Top 5 overall were Vlad Sedler ($20,000), Matthew McGuire ($15,000) and Shamir Naran ($10,000). We paid the Top 25 in the overall competition this year.
Drew won from the 8th spot in this league as he started with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. He added Matt Olson, Kevin Gausman and Felix Bautista in the first seven rounds to build a winning foundation and he never fell despite some tough injuries. In fact, he dominated the contest over the last three months of the season to win his first overall title.
Congrats Drew and congrats to all of the overall and league prize money winners. It was a fantastic season in our 12-team format as we crowned yet another new overall champion. Drew now becomes our 15th different overall champion in the Rotowire Online Championship over 15 seasons as nobody has ever won this title twice. That shows you just how tough this format is. Thanks all and congrats to the winners.
Here's the final standings:
2023 Rotowire Online Championship Top 100 Teams:
1 Drew Forte Drew's Crew OC1 23,117.50
2 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC3 __vSP 22,448.00
3 Vlad Sedler Gut OC V 22,323.00
4 MATTHEW MCGUIRE MCGUIRE 22,165.50
5 Shamir Naran Naran 21,979.50
6 Matt Leahy Long Balls OC1 21,964.50
7 Ryan O'Donnell Troublemakers Club 21,954.00
8 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC5__nSLG__vSP 21,653.50
9 Peter Marrero Amazins2 21,304.00
10 Nicholi Knutson Pauline Walnuts 21,174.00
11 Bob Mazur C Minor's 21,117.50
12 Bob Catsiroumpas BC OC1 21,064.00
13 Drew Forte Drews Crew OC2 21,029.50
14 Kevin Giardino Kamikaze Bingo 21,024.50
15 John Rundle Townies 20,861.00
16 Andrew Geller Da Gildz WonTime!!!! 20,678.00
17 STEVEN PASKOVER PASKOVER 20,672.00
18 Toby Guevin BatFlip Crazy OC1 20,666.50
19 Shelly Verougstraete Verougstraete 20,606.50
20 Andrew Eckert The Bo Sho 20,595.50
20 Danny Bronski Dot Dash VII 20,595.50
22 SCOTT SLEZAK Outside Corner 20,552.00
23 Mike Burton Juiced Ball ERAs OC8 20,540.50
24 Daniel Baker Baker 20,526.50
25 Andrew Pelaez Pelaez 20,519.00
26 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball IV 20,449.00
27 Thomas Warner LEATHERNECK 7 20,429.00
28 Rick Bay PandaOL1 20,408.00
29 Brian Edwards The Ghost of Jacoby Ellsbury 20,342.00
30 Andrew Moody Moody 20,274.00
31 Robert Dvorchik ArizonaSnakeBite 20,228.00
32 Chris Candido The Balking Dead 20,202.50
33 Ryan Whytsell OC1 20,158.00
34 Mark Friedrich Horseville 20,156.00
35 Brent Grooms No Balls No Babies V 20,130.00
36 Douglas Gruber Dougs Dawgs OC10 20,039.00
37 Robert DiPietro Two Moes OC1 20,038.50
38 Daniel Prepas VenPrep OC1 20,029.50
39 Steve Tebbe Carson City 20,000.00
40 Justin Aspite Aspite 19,976.50
41 nicholas durrell Timber Owls 19,963.00
42 James Anderson Thatch 19,923.50
43 Chris Sandberg Throw Ball Hard Run Fast 19,921.50
44 Chris Oliver Mr. Robot 19,910.00
45 damien passalacqua passalacqua 19,907.50
46 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 9 19,881.00
47 David Wright Fast Forward 19,844.00
48 Emmett Ruland Ruland 19,798.00
49 David Whilden Whilden 19,793.50
50 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 8 19,767.50
51 Danny Bronski Dot Dash X 19,732.50
52 Brad Bevil Bevil 3 19,726.50
53 John Pausma JP OC12 19,682.50
54 David Broughton Broughton 19,680.00
55 Dustin McComas 2018 Red Sox 19,667.50
56 Douglas Gruber Dougs Dawgs OC4 19,625.50
57 Ken Magner Sack OLC II 19,541.00
58 Fred Spinder Maddie Luck OC 19,478.50
59 George Kohlweiler Mesa City Thunderboars 2.0 19,466.00
60 Richard Kulaski Rockwell and Mama Braves 19,426.00
61 Kyle Miller Miller 19,387.00
62 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XI 19,383.00
63 Nicholi Knutson Saul Goodman 19,311.00
64 Darren Parrott Parrott 19,299.00
65 John Pausma JP OC11 19,297.00
66 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 7 19,294.50
67 Brandon Waddell CORKED WOOD 5 19,290.00
68 Russell Withers Planet Gore ManBearPigs ' 19,287.50
69 steve midzor Retchy BBall 19,283.00
70 Aaron Jones Jones ROC1 19,273.00
71 Andrew Eckert I've Maeda Huge Mistake 19,250.50
72 J.R. Walsh Walsh 19,246.00
73 Bob Mazur F Troop 19,238.00
74 Joseph Dieffenbach Ahead of the Curve 19,237.00
75 Paul Gromek Gromek 4 19,225.50
76 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball III 19,219.00
76 nicholas durrell Lunatic Pandora 19,219.00
78 Scott Gilbert Gilbert Oh See 1 19,210.00
79 Cooper Rushing RushingBaseball II 19,201.00
80 Jessica Ryan Ryan 19,192.50
81 James Allen Allen 19,169.50
82 Bill Schwartz Schwartz 19,157.50
83 Scott Ross Rudy & Son II 19,129.50
84 Tim Sansome Sansome OC5 19,126.50
85 Ron Kraus Kraus 19,091.50
86 Chris Hoyler Hoyler 19,085.00
87 TIMOTHY BUETHE BUETHE OC 19,076.50
88 JOSEPH HICKMAN All Betts Are Off 19,070.00
89 Jeffrey Bryl Deadwood Pioneers 2 19,019.50
90 ROBERT NORTON NORTON ROTO OC1 19,000.00
91 Stephen Goodwin Stevoswerve - OC 0110 18,987.00
92 Jason Anthony Booms OC 3 18,980.00
93 Dan Thompson MXC For Fox Sake OC1 18,975.50
94 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XVI 18,961.50
95 Dave Petroziello Petro OC 1 18,951.50
96 Marc Siciliano Cheeks - THE OC 18,909.50
97 Todd Whitestone Free Mook 18,891.50
98 Stephen Goodwin Stevoswerve - OC 1010 18,887.00
99 Danny Bronski Dot Dash XIV 18,859.00
100 Jordan Ramirez ElGreatRambino 18,847.00