Here's Tentative Schedule For 2018 NFBC Live Events

[Greg Ambrosius]

Now that payments have gone out to the vast majority of our 2017 NFBC winners, it's time to turn the page and get started on the 2018 NFBC season. We are putting the finishing touches on our new SportsHub 2018 NFBC site and look forward to unveling it in November.

Best of all, we're happy to be unveiling plans for NFBC 15 -- our 15TH SEASON OF THE NFBC!!

Damn, that's a proud moment. It seems like a lifetime ago that we announced plans for the debut National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Now we've given away more than $19 million in prizes in the NFBC and by the end of the football season we will have given out over $40 million in prizes. That's the good news for all of you.

So let's do it again in 2018 and get this season started.

We are still working on hotels, but we definitely will be in Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago March 16-18 and in Las Vegas again March 22-27. We need to work together on the upcoming schedule because this is the first time since the NFBC was formed that Major League Baseball is starting the season on a Thursday. All 30 teams are playing on Thursday, March 29th, so let's make sure we have the best schedule possible for all of our players.

This is our tentative schedule, but it is the plan we are working on for the new web site. We will take input on whether some contests should be added to the schedule or if some should be switched to different dates and times, but I think the new schedule does give us some leeway before Opening Day. Let's have a good dialogue and finalize this in the next 7-10 days and get the site live.

So let's start with Las Vegas, which returns to the First Weekend of March Madness in Las Vegas. That should be a very, very busy weekend and hotel rooms will be pricey and scarce. St. Patrick's Day is on Saturday of that First Weekend and Las Vegas is always busy on that day, so plan accordingly. Also, on the Second Weekend there is some chatter to add live events on the Monday and Tuesday after the weekend live drafts in Las Vegas and I'm open to that if there are enough people willing to stick around and draft. We can discuss that further if you'd like.

Here is the tentative schedule for all three cities and Online for our high-stakes events:

2018 NFBC SCHEDULE
LAS VEGAS
Friday, March 16
10 am PT $1300 AL Auction
10 am PT $1,300 Auction Championship
4 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship Plus
4 pm PT $1,300 Auction Championship
4 pm PT $1300 NL Auction

Saturday March 17
10 am PT Main Event
4 pm PT Super
4 pm $750 Rotowire Online Championship

Sunday March 18
10 am PT Main Event
10 am PT $1,300 Auction Championship

LAS VEGAS
WEEK 2
Wednesday March 21
7 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship Plus

Thursday March 22
5 pm PT $1300 Auction Championship
6 pm PT Main Event

Friday March 23
10 am PT $1,300 Auction Championship
10 am PT $1,300 NL Auction
10 am PT $1,300 AL Auction
10 am PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
1 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
4 pm PT $1,300 AL Auction
4 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
4 pm PT Ultimate Auction
4 pm PT $1,300 Auction Championship
8 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship

Saturday March 24
10 am PT Main Event
4 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
4 pm PT $1,300 Auction Championship
4 pm PT Super
5 pm PT Platinum

Sunday March 25
10 am PT $1,300 Auction Championship
10 am PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
10 am PT Diamond
4 pm PT Super
4 pm PT $750 RotoWire Online Championship
4 pm PT Diamond Auction

Monday March 26
5 pm PT Main Event

Tuesday March 27
10 am PT $1300 Auction Championship
4 pm PT Main Event

NEW YORK
Friday March 16
9 am ET $1,300 Auction Championship
2:30 pm ET $2,500 Auction Championship
4 pm ET $1,300 Auction Championship
8 pm ET Ultimate League (15 Teams)

Saturday March 17
1 pm ET Main Event
6 pm ET $750 RotoWire Online Championship Plus
6 pm ET $1,300 Auction Championship

Sunday March 18
9 am ET Main Event
1 pm ET $1,300 Auction Championship
1 pm ET $750 RotoWire Online Championship Plus

CHICAGO
Friday March 16
4 pm CT $1,300 Auction Championship

Saturday March 17
Noon PM CT Main Event
5 pm CT $750 RotoWire Online Championship Plus

ONLINE MAIN EVENT
Saturday March 17 1 pm ET
Wednesday March 22 8 pm ET
Thursday March 23 9 pm ET
Saturday March 24 1 pm ET
Monday March 26 8 pm ET
Tuesday March 27 7 pm ET

ULTIMATE
Online Monday March 26 7 pm ET

SUPER (15 TEAMS)
Saturday March 17 7 pm ET
Tuesday March 20 8 pm ET
Saturday March 24, 7 pm ET
Sunday March 25, 7 pm ET

SUPER (12 TEAMS)
Tuesday, March 27, 8 ET

A couple of discussion points:

** Someone mentioned a later draft in Las Vegas on Friday night of Second Weekend. I'm all for that if there's interest, but starting at 9 or 10 PT makes more sense than later than that. Let me know.

** I'd like to give the Chicago folks more for their travel if possible. Would there be interest in a second Auction Championship? Would Friday morning work or would Saturday after the Main Event work? Just throwing it out there as we've had full Main Events and Auction Championships, but finding that third event has been more difficult. I'm open if there's demand for one more live event there.

** Again, we are willing to stay and host more live events after the Second Weekend if there's interest on Monday and Tuesday for live events. I don't think we'll host anything right before Opening Day.

One other point: The first FAAB will take place on Sunday, March 25th. With four full days before the next Sunday FAAB, it's only fair to do this for all drafts and auctions that have taken place by the 10 pm ET deadline on Sunday, March 25th. We know many of you will be at live events on that date, but it's no different than past years when FAAB ran on that Sunday. This allows everyone who drafts early fair access to the same players who are being drafted before Opening Day and can be used for those four days.

Hope this helps. Let the discussions begin. Thanks all.

[Wolfpac]

Greg,

When can we sign up? I see my name on 4 drafts on consecutive days in Vegas!

nWo

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg,

When can we sign up? I see my name on 4 drafts on consecutive days in Vegas!

nWo

Good to hear. Give us a few more weeks to get the site live. We are making good progress and should be live soon enough AND drafting soon enough. Thanks.

[MadCow Sez]

Why did the Ultimate Auction move to Friday?

It used to be a nice way to wrap the weekend

[rickerbockerNFBC]

No Super in New York???

[Greg Ambrosius]

Why did the Ultimate Auction move to Friday?

It used to be a nice way to wrap the weekend

We did have trouble filling that one the last couple of years, so we are trying a Friday night offering. You can still do that one on Friday night and the $1300 Auction Championship on Saturday night, which is just a flip of what you've done in the past. Some owners in the Platinum also were interested in doing the Ultimate Auction and both were scheduled at the same time. Hopefully it works out.

[Greg Ambrosius]

No Super in New York???

We have the $2500 Auction Championship on Friday afternoon and the Ultimate on Friday night. The Ultimate replaced the Super last year in New York. If there's interest for a Super we can offer that on Saturday at 6 pm ET. We're game if there's interest.

[morons]

I think the 4pm events on SUN March 25 should be moved up till 1or 2pm, I know last year several of us flew home after the Diamond Auction ended, would be easier if those started a bit earlier