NFBC Changes For 2006
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:13 am
First of all, I'd personally like to thank everyone who participated in the 2005 NFBC. The event has grown more in our second year than I ever had imagined as we filled all 300 main event spots, filled 10 auction leagues and added NFBC Ultimate Auction and Draft Leagues at $5,000 per person. We went from 16 total leagues in 2004 to 32 total leagues in 2005. We expect continued growth in 2006, although not at the same percentage of growth.
Through three days of events in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago, we learned a lot about our rules and procedures. Some of them we learned the hard way, but the key is that we learned. We don't need a complete overhaul of the system or the rules, but we do need to tweak some things. Going forward here are some of the changes I plan to implement in 2006:
1) A return to 40-man rosters. I chose to eliminate this in 2005 because there was so much confusion over whether guys like B.J. Upton were actually on 40-man rosters or not last year, but I didn't enjoy seeing Class A pitchers being drafted this year with the hope of not getting any IP from them. It has also been a nightmare to enter some of these rosters since none of the lower minor-leaguers are in STATS' database. We will provide 40-man rosters to each NFBC member next year and stick to them on Draft Day.
2) A Minimum Innings Pitched Rule: I have no problem with people using different strategies on Draft Day, so don't look into this one too much. My minimum IP could be 1 next year or 100 or 250 or 500. It definitely won't be a traditional 900 or 950, that I'm sure of. I want to allow everyone the right to try unique strategies in this contest, but I also don't want to see rosters filled with eight Class A pitchers. Right now you just need 1/3 of an inning to qualify for the pitching categories and I want to modify that slightly in 2006. I'll determine the minimum IP total for 2006 by October.
3) Guest Speakers: I've enjoyed providing guest speakers at our Welcome Receptions these past two years, but it might make more sense to use that expense in another way starting in 2006. Maybe we provide some food (cookies and munchies) during the main event rather than a guest speaker. A little more to bite on, wouldn't you say?
4) Electricity: I had stated several times that electricity was NOT being provided in all three cities and I did not expect any of the outlets in Las Vegas to have power. We dealt with this on an individual league basis on Friday in Las Vegas, but on Saturday I was so busy getting the facilitators up to speed and getting all of the leagues in order that I didn't notice people pulling up floor tiles to hook up to plugs. I apologize for that.
The reason we don't allow electricity is two-fold: 1) The expense for power strips and power would exceed $1,000 per city; and 2) operationally it could be disastrous as people are hooked into power strips that could get unplugged or tampered with. By not allowing any electricity on-site, everyone is on their own to manage their drafts.
Now, that being said it's obvious that we are in the 21st century and people want to use their laptops on Draft Day. We're not going to eliminate technology and force people NOT to use laptops or cell phones. We just have to manage them better and I thought we handled the cell phones well this year. Going forward, we will price out what it costs to have power available and charge $50-$75 per person who wants it. If you think the cost is too high, then bring extra batteries. If you want it, we'll try to make it available at a price that covers our expenses. We are looking into that option now and will have an answer for you about it by season's end.
5) Ultimate Leagues: We will definitely plan for the Ultimate Leagues on Sunday, March 19, 2006 as there is an audience for this type of event. My goal is to have the Ultimate Auction League JUST in Las Vegas, but I'll deal with that later. The teleconference auction worked out, but it sure is a lot easier without the phone hookup. We can definitely do a multi-city Ultimate Draft League and hope to fill two of those leagues next year.
6) Increased League Payouts: As we expand in 2006, my first order of business will be to increase league winnings to $2,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place, leaving $5,000 for first place. I will then increase second through 10th overall prize money. I will announce expected payouts once I decide how many teams we will shoot for in 2006. Right now 375 looks like a good number, depending on whether we expand to more cities in 2006 or not.
7) A 4th City?: If we expand in 2006, it will be to Tampa. I have two great locations I can work with there. But if we do expand to Tampa, we may offer just the Saturday main event there. Trying to fill up auction leagues there on Friday would be too difficult and my goal is to eliminate or minimize the number of teleconference auction leagues we do in 2006. But I like the potential of getting 60-75 more teams in Tampa next year and working some spring training games into the weekend experience.
In an ideal world, we'd have:
1) Projectors and laptops at each draft instead of stickers, but right now it's just not feasible. I'm not even sure visibly it would work. But we'll keep working on this and make the process better.
2) More space at each draft. I understand the noise concern, but I think we did some good things in Las Vegas to eliminate that. We turned the U's in different directions and added a little more space, which seemed to help a bit. We'll continue to use partitions when we can for the auctions, but for the main event there is something special about all of those leagues being open and visible to everyone. We just need to space out the leagues more each year and turn the U's in different directions if possible and then tell the facilitators not to SHOUT out every pick for the whole room to hear.
3) No traffic in Las Vegas: In an ideal world, nobody would be at our hotel in Las Vegas and we could gamble on college games without so many young, vibrant gamblers all around us. But there is something special about hosting this during the first weekend of March Madness and honestly the two weeks before Opening Day is ideal for us to host the drafts and get all of the leagues entered and processed. Some people may not like it, but we'll definitely host the NFBC during the third weekend of March again in 2006.
I don't have the hotels booked for 2006 yet, but the NFBC will definitely be held March 17, 18 and 19, 2006 in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago. And possibly Tampa. I'll post more details here as I finalize them and I'd be interested in your feedback on these points and on the host hotels. We are always trying to improve this event, and while I know that the weekend wasn't PERFECT, I do feel that our staff did an outstanding job and that the drafts and auctions went off well. Now we're working hard to get the lineups entered perfectly and your first week of FAAB off without a hitch.
Thanks again everyone and good luck in the hunt for the $100,000 grand prize. We look forward to following the league and overall races and awarding the prize money the day after the 2005 regular season is completed. Again, THANK YOU!
Through three days of events in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago, we learned a lot about our rules and procedures. Some of them we learned the hard way, but the key is that we learned. We don't need a complete overhaul of the system or the rules, but we do need to tweak some things. Going forward here are some of the changes I plan to implement in 2006:
1) A return to 40-man rosters. I chose to eliminate this in 2005 because there was so much confusion over whether guys like B.J. Upton were actually on 40-man rosters or not last year, but I didn't enjoy seeing Class A pitchers being drafted this year with the hope of not getting any IP from them. It has also been a nightmare to enter some of these rosters since none of the lower minor-leaguers are in STATS' database. We will provide 40-man rosters to each NFBC member next year and stick to them on Draft Day.
2) A Minimum Innings Pitched Rule: I have no problem with people using different strategies on Draft Day, so don't look into this one too much. My minimum IP could be 1 next year or 100 or 250 or 500. It definitely won't be a traditional 900 or 950, that I'm sure of. I want to allow everyone the right to try unique strategies in this contest, but I also don't want to see rosters filled with eight Class A pitchers. Right now you just need 1/3 of an inning to qualify for the pitching categories and I want to modify that slightly in 2006. I'll determine the minimum IP total for 2006 by October.
3) Guest Speakers: I've enjoyed providing guest speakers at our Welcome Receptions these past two years, but it might make more sense to use that expense in another way starting in 2006. Maybe we provide some food (cookies and munchies) during the main event rather than a guest speaker. A little more to bite on, wouldn't you say?
4) Electricity: I had stated several times that electricity was NOT being provided in all three cities and I did not expect any of the outlets in Las Vegas to have power. We dealt with this on an individual league basis on Friday in Las Vegas, but on Saturday I was so busy getting the facilitators up to speed and getting all of the leagues in order that I didn't notice people pulling up floor tiles to hook up to plugs. I apologize for that.
The reason we don't allow electricity is two-fold: 1) The expense for power strips and power would exceed $1,000 per city; and 2) operationally it could be disastrous as people are hooked into power strips that could get unplugged or tampered with. By not allowing any electricity on-site, everyone is on their own to manage their drafts.
Now, that being said it's obvious that we are in the 21st century and people want to use their laptops on Draft Day. We're not going to eliminate technology and force people NOT to use laptops or cell phones. We just have to manage them better and I thought we handled the cell phones well this year. Going forward, we will price out what it costs to have power available and charge $50-$75 per person who wants it. If you think the cost is too high, then bring extra batteries. If you want it, we'll try to make it available at a price that covers our expenses. We are looking into that option now and will have an answer for you about it by season's end.
5) Ultimate Leagues: We will definitely plan for the Ultimate Leagues on Sunday, March 19, 2006 as there is an audience for this type of event. My goal is to have the Ultimate Auction League JUST in Las Vegas, but I'll deal with that later. The teleconference auction worked out, but it sure is a lot easier without the phone hookup. We can definitely do a multi-city Ultimate Draft League and hope to fill two of those leagues next year.
6) Increased League Payouts: As we expand in 2006, my first order of business will be to increase league winnings to $2,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place, leaving $5,000 for first place. I will then increase second through 10th overall prize money. I will announce expected payouts once I decide how many teams we will shoot for in 2006. Right now 375 looks like a good number, depending on whether we expand to more cities in 2006 or not.
7) A 4th City?: If we expand in 2006, it will be to Tampa. I have two great locations I can work with there. But if we do expand to Tampa, we may offer just the Saturday main event there. Trying to fill up auction leagues there on Friday would be too difficult and my goal is to eliminate or minimize the number of teleconference auction leagues we do in 2006. But I like the potential of getting 60-75 more teams in Tampa next year and working some spring training games into the weekend experience.
In an ideal world, we'd have:
1) Projectors and laptops at each draft instead of stickers, but right now it's just not feasible. I'm not even sure visibly it would work. But we'll keep working on this and make the process better.
2) More space at each draft. I understand the noise concern, but I think we did some good things in Las Vegas to eliminate that. We turned the U's in different directions and added a little more space, which seemed to help a bit. We'll continue to use partitions when we can for the auctions, but for the main event there is something special about all of those leagues being open and visible to everyone. We just need to space out the leagues more each year and turn the U's in different directions if possible and then tell the facilitators not to SHOUT out every pick for the whole room to hear.
3) No traffic in Las Vegas: In an ideal world, nobody would be at our hotel in Las Vegas and we could gamble on college games without so many young, vibrant gamblers all around us. But there is something special about hosting this during the first weekend of March Madness and honestly the two weeks before Opening Day is ideal for us to host the drafts and get all of the leagues entered and processed. Some people may not like it, but we'll definitely host the NFBC during the third weekend of March again in 2006.
I don't have the hotels booked for 2006 yet, but the NFBC will definitely be held March 17, 18 and 19, 2006 in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago. And possibly Tampa. I'll post more details here as I finalize them and I'd be interested in your feedback on these points and on the host hotels. We are always trying to improve this event, and while I know that the weekend wasn't PERFECT, I do feel that our staff did an outstanding job and that the drafts and auctions went off well. Now we're working hard to get the lineups entered perfectly and your first week of FAAB off without a hitch.
Thanks again everyone and good luck in the hunt for the $100,000 grand prize. We look forward to following the league and overall races and awarding the prize money the day after the 2005 regular season is completed. Again, THANK YOU!
