2008 NFBC Plans
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 5:23 am
Okay, the 2007 is nearing a close, which means one thing to me: Time to get 2008 set up. It's hard to believe, but this will be our FIFTH NFBC season and it's time to celebrate NFBC V!! 
We don't have everything finalized yet, but we are close. We will again have four draft locations in 2008. We will again offer Auction Leagues on Friday, the main event on Saturday, the Ultimate League on Sunday, and satellite leagues starting in February. We might have an Online Championship, but nothing is finalized there yet. We will expand the Draft Champions Satellite League concept and maybe we'll even offer one or two Keeper Leagues. All is possible.
The live drafts will be held March 14-16, 2008, two weeks before Opening Day, which is the same as past seasons. We had considered moving the draft date one week closer to Opening Day this year, but Easter weekend is March 21-23 and that just wasn't feasible. For those folks going to Las Vegas, March Madness actually starts March 20th and runs through Easter, so we unfortunately will be missing that. Conference tournaments are that weekend, however, so there will be plenty of basketball, but unlike the NCAA, I just didn't feel it was right to compete with Easter.
This year's drafts will be held in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Orlando, March 14-16. Here's the details:
Las Vegas: We are back at the Flamingo and have the whole Sunset Ballroom again for the main event. All of the Friday auctions and the Sunday Ultimate Leagues are upstairs next to the Sunset Ballroom, so it will be much easier to find everything this year. It's a good setup and we have a room block available right now for $189 per night. ConExpo is in Las Vegas this weekend, so rooms will be tough to find the closer we get to the event, but we have a good room block at the Flamingo right now for our NFBC members. Don't be afraid to secure a room early as you can always cancel it if you need to.
New York: I don't have a hotel secured in Manhattan yet, but I'm close. The New York Hilton is booked for baseball and football in 2008 and the Javitts Center is also booked for both time slots, so we'll have a new venue in the Big Apple this year. The New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street and 8th Ave. is a possibility. We'll know more next week, but it's an incredibly busy weekend in Manhattan and the outlying New Jersey areas and convention space has been incredibly tough to book. Stay tuned.
Chicago: We have space again at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and will be returning there in 2007. It's close to O'Hare and there are good hotels nearby (Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Holiday Inn, Hyatt). Same space as 2007.
Orlando: We are moving from Tampa to Orlando this year and giving folks another chance to prove that Florida is the right southern destination for the NFBC. We have space at the Holiday Inn Orlando Resort on International Drive. We also have a room block at $99 per night, which is incredible in Florida in March. The hotel went out of its way to work with us and we feel this is a good option for our drafters who may want to bring their families for a March vacation. We'll have more details soon, but our room block has a limited number of rooms, so it's first-come, first-served there.
As you already know, you can sign up on Oct. 1st and not have to pay until Feb. 15, 2008. If you are interested in competing in the auction leagues or Ultimate Leagues in 2008, don't hesitate to grab a spot as those seem to fill up the fastest.
We'll have more details about other events, satellites, apparel and more in the coming weeks, but at least this is a starting point to plan for 2008. Thanks everyone for making the first four years a big success and here's to NFBC V.
We don't have everything finalized yet, but we are close. We will again have four draft locations in 2008. We will again offer Auction Leagues on Friday, the main event on Saturday, the Ultimate League on Sunday, and satellite leagues starting in February. We might have an Online Championship, but nothing is finalized there yet. We will expand the Draft Champions Satellite League concept and maybe we'll even offer one or two Keeper Leagues. All is possible.
The live drafts will be held March 14-16, 2008, two weeks before Opening Day, which is the same as past seasons. We had considered moving the draft date one week closer to Opening Day this year, but Easter weekend is March 21-23 and that just wasn't feasible. For those folks going to Las Vegas, March Madness actually starts March 20th and runs through Easter, so we unfortunately will be missing that. Conference tournaments are that weekend, however, so there will be plenty of basketball, but unlike the NCAA, I just didn't feel it was right to compete with Easter.
This year's drafts will be held in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Orlando, March 14-16. Here's the details:
Las Vegas: We are back at the Flamingo and have the whole Sunset Ballroom again for the main event. All of the Friday auctions and the Sunday Ultimate Leagues are upstairs next to the Sunset Ballroom, so it will be much easier to find everything this year. It's a good setup and we have a room block available right now for $189 per night. ConExpo is in Las Vegas this weekend, so rooms will be tough to find the closer we get to the event, but we have a good room block at the Flamingo right now for our NFBC members. Don't be afraid to secure a room early as you can always cancel it if you need to.
New York: I don't have a hotel secured in Manhattan yet, but I'm close. The New York Hilton is booked for baseball and football in 2008 and the Javitts Center is also booked for both time slots, so we'll have a new venue in the Big Apple this year. The New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street and 8th Ave. is a possibility. We'll know more next week, but it's an incredibly busy weekend in Manhattan and the outlying New Jersey areas and convention space has been incredibly tough to book. Stay tuned.
Chicago: We have space again at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and will be returning there in 2007. It's close to O'Hare and there are good hotels nearby (Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Holiday Inn, Hyatt). Same space as 2007.
Orlando: We are moving from Tampa to Orlando this year and giving folks another chance to prove that Florida is the right southern destination for the NFBC. We have space at the Holiday Inn Orlando Resort on International Drive. We also have a room block at $99 per night, which is incredible in Florida in March. The hotel went out of its way to work with us and we feel this is a good option for our drafters who may want to bring their families for a March vacation. We'll have more details soon, but our room block has a limited number of rooms, so it's first-come, first-served there.
As you already know, you can sign up on Oct. 1st and not have to pay until Feb. 15, 2008. If you are interested in competing in the auction leagues or Ultimate Leagues in 2008, don't hesitate to grab a spot as those seem to fill up the fastest.
We'll have more details about other events, satellites, apparel and more in the coming weeks, but at least this is a starting point to plan for 2008. Thanks everyone for making the first four years a big success and here's to NFBC V.