Friday Live Chat Starts Now

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:02 am

Guys, I'm here for another 50 minutes, so if you need any information on our growing event, shoot them now. I can't promise I'll be here tomorrow or Sunday exactly at 3 p.m. EST, but I will be here during the day. Let's go.

TBill · Post by **TBill** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:05 am

Is 13 leagues your minimum target and do we now have 12 complete (w/a mixed league included)?

[ March 12, 2004, 02:05 PM: Message edited by: TBill ]

nnoy · Post by **nnoy** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:05 am

So any chance on us jumping the gun as far as draft order is concerned? Or do we just have to sit on our hands until Monday?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:08 am

There is no minimum target for us as a company. We have more than 11 leagues and a lot of phone calls that appear we'll easily fill 12 by Sunday night. I think there's enough interest to get to 13, but we'll see.

To be honest with everyone, on Monday I gave a worst case scenario to our bosses and asked what we should do. They made one suggestion, asked to get feedback from our members and to come back with an answer. Your feedback was awesome. Then a crazy thing happened: We got 26 signups in just over four days, making my worst case scenario a non-issue. So I instigated the discussion, tried to have a plan in place and now our total focus is on completing the 12th and 13th leagues.

[ March 12, 2004, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

TBill · Post by **TBill** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:09 am

Greg, Thanks for your tireless work, you're a natural administrator in the finest sense.

[ March 12, 2004, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: TBill ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:11 am

There will absolutely not be any listing of draft orders before Monday morning. I will let everyone have a chance to sign up online until midnight on Sunday and then we'll see how the numbers play out. My goal is still to announce all of the leagues and draft positions on Monday as I'm flying to Las Vegas on Tuesday for the start of our Fantasy Sports Trade Conference.

I may, however, announce the order of the New York AL Auction League today. That would be the order of the reserve round draft and the order for presenting players. There would be no serpentine order for that. Just a little something to get folks excited about, that's all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:15 am

I am tired, if that matters to anyone. But if we accomplish what we're close to accomplishing in Year One, I will be proudly tired. We have a chance to establish the industry's top high stakes fantasy baseball game from the ground up and create an event that will only continue to grow in number of players and number of hosting cities for years to come.

The best part about it is we're doing it in baseball, a sport that everyone told me I was crazy to debut in. I always knew there was a die-hard fantasy baseball audience still out there and while football is crazy red-hot, I always felt baseball was where we could really make our mark. So doing this first in baseball leads me to believe that administratively and technically, we are doing something right and that we can do the same thing for football in September.

But you guys made this happen, not me. Those of you who signed up in December and January when this was just a pipe dream made this possible. And we're close to completing the cycle. Now let's just have 2 1/2 more good days.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:18 am

Obviously managing this event takes away a lot of your time. What would you be doing if you weren't running this show?

Nevadaman · Post by **Nevadaman** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:19 am

Greg, I second TBill. I can't think of any event I have ever been involved with that has customer service as good as you provide. And since I have your attention, I would like to give one quick opinion. I think the ONLY chink in NFBC's armor is the eligible player list. It just doesn't sit well with all of us to get that one day before we draft. We need that WAY in advance. It doesn't even matter if the positions are 100% accurate - we just would like more time to add those considerations to our drafting startegy well in advance. I'm not thrilled with that strict 20 game stuff either. Ramon Castro NOT qualifying at catcher is just one obvious problem.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:20 am

Somebody asked on another thread about a webcast and we did look into that. For the future, there's no question that a webcast would be ideal for this event. That's where sponsorship dollars and sponsors will come into play to pay for something like that. We did not accomplish everything we wanted from a sponsorship point just yet, but I think that once people see the competition for baseball they will have a better understanding of how they can promote their products to what is undoubtedly the best demographic group in our industry. So we're not done there as we are pitching lots of in-season promotions to national companies.

Again, a webcast is being looked at and there are several meetings I have planned next week in Las Vegas on this and other subjects. Those sponsors naturally talk about being involved in our football event, but hopefully the interest will gravitate back to baseball and forward to baseball in 2005.

TBill · Post by **TBill** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:20 am

Since your worst case senario is a non issue how does that affect the proposed prize cuts? Are we now looking at lesser cuts or has the possibility been completely eliminated.

[ March 12, 2004, 02:31 PM: Message edited by: TBill ]

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:21 am

Originally posted by Nevadaman:

eligible player list. It just doesn't sit well with all of us to get that one day before we draft. We need that WAY in advance. we just would like more time to add those considerations to our drafting startegy well in advance. Ramon Castro NOT qualifying at catcher is just one obvious problem. I second that.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:22 am

Hey Greg - keep up the good work.

Given the fact that nobody even knows to LOOK for an event like this, it's amazing how many have found it. As your momentum builds and people are aware that 'things like this' exist, you'll find even more people who give it consideration.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:23 am

Gordon, you're the best. You know what, for 13 years I was also an editor in the sports card business and enjoyed my time splitting between two intriguing businesses. In 1991, sports cards generated $1.2 billion in wholesale revenue and fantasy sports was just a blip on the radar. Krause Publications had 5 or 6 sports cards titles at that time and I was the editor of Baseball Cards Magazine and Sports Cards Magazine for a decade, having worked on that for 13 years. Many of the guys in the NFBC remember me from that former life.

But as fantasy sports began to take off and I became more involved in the industry, Krause's allowed me to dive in deeper and deeper. That led us to the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference, our Fantasy Sports Informant newsletter, my role with the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, all of our custom publishing titles with industry companies and now our role with the National Fantasy Baseball Championship and eventually the National Fantasy Football Championship.

So I guess if I wasn't doing this, I might be unemployed because the sports card market is struggling big-time and KP is now down to 3 sports cards magazines. Sports Cards Magazine, in fact, folded 2 or 3 years ago and wholesale revenue will likely be around $300 million this year. So thank goodness for this gig.

[ March 12, 2004, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:25 am

I'm a little ticked that I'm now down to a 3 star rating... who voted me down... bastards

I'm going to pull a Gekko and make myself unrate-able, lol.

D

Racktors · Post by **Racktors** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:27 am

Dyv, i thought you'd be happy that you are UP to a three star rating.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:27 am

I have an eligibility list right on my desk. I promise I'll e-mail that out to everyone when I get back from my 3:00 pickup. I promise.

Everyone will be on the same page with Castro. Same with Bill Hall. Everyone on the bubble.

There will be no confusion on player eligibility because I'll e-mail it today and everyone will get this handout at REgistration. You don't have to agree with it, but it will be in black and white.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:30 am

Prize structure is still being considered. The goal is life goes on as planned and thanks for all the opinions before. But that's for people in white shirts to decide and I'm wearing a baseball jersey today.

Nevadaman · Post by **Nevadaman** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:30 am

Greg, Thanks. We know you're super busy, but this is important!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:30 am

Greg, I do have a concern about some of the stickers and the time devoted to 'making sure everyone has a legal roster'

The stickers will list things differently than your eligibility list. I don't care how the eligibility works, I just want to understand how I can apply it 4 months from now in case I want a hot prospect coming up. In last year's WCOFB they ruled that everyone without 20 major league games was a Utility player and, although frustrating and inflexible, it was clear.

I'm at a disadvantage because I've only been playing fantasy ball for 8 yrs. now and I don't know the history behind the rules. It seems to add a layer of confusion that we'll have sheets saying one thing and stickers saying another. Hard for the draft moderators to necessarily 'nail it' and make sure it's right.

Perhaps it's just me - but I'm genuinely confused. If you get the time, could you gather together the exact rules on player eligibility? There are many posts and threads spread throughout these boards with rulings and lists. Any clarification would be appreciated.

Dyv

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:31 am

Originally posted by Racktors:

Dyv, i thought you'd be happy that you are UP to a three star rating. I knew it was you, Jeff - now I'm going to wear my ugly shirt to poker on Saturday and throw you off your game!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:34 am

Another question - when it comes to the auctions on Friday... do I understand correctly that our $260 is for our 'starters' and that our starters need to fill our rosters perfectly but that in the main event this isn't necessary or did we decide you just had to have a legal auction roster AFTER the 29 players were on your team.

Also - we'll be drawn into an auction order for nominating players... will we then re-draw for the reserve draft or just use the same order. When will we know our reserve position if it's not the nomination order?

Dyv

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:34 am

Dyv, you've been a big help to me, as you already know. In my book you're five stars, but all those smart ass comments have the critics giving you one thumbs down. Such is life.

Thankfully a lot of media guys know me in the fantasy sports industry, so I think we'll get a lot of publicity over the next year with this event and the football event. The multi-city format is the way to go and our staff is big enough to handle multiple cities and multiple sports. We'll get great publicity this next year, just watch and see.

Racktors · Post by **Racktors** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:35 am

Dyv, is that your Tigers shirt or your Lions shirt?

TBill · Post by **TBill** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:36 am

What casino will host the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference and what time will it start?

[ March 12, 2004, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: TBill ]