It's been a remarkable run and we've grown bigger and better than I ever imagined when we started this contest in the fall of 2003. In the past year, the NFBC was also part of a major sale in which our entire fantasy sports division was sold to Fanball.com. Tom Kessenich and I now work for Fanball.com and are VERY HAPPY to be part of their vision and plans for this area of the businesss. Fanball.com is part of Liberty Media, which owns DirecTV, the Atlanta Braves, the Discovery Channel, the Game Show Network and plenty more. They see good potential for the live events model and feel we can do a lot more than we've already done in this space.
So it's an exciting time for all of us involved with the NFBC and we are ready to enter the next phase of this contest. In the next month, we'll unveil our new NFBC web site and you'll see in full everything that we are doing this season. It's going to be an exciting season and there's no question we'll give out more than $1 million again in 2010. In fact, we'll give out even more prize money in 2010 than in any previous NFBC season. GET READY FOR A HISTORIC NFBC SEASON!!
Okay, the first bit of information to unveil is the draft weekend and location of the drafts. Since 2004, we've held the draft on the third weekend of March, March Madness weekend. We did this for two reasons: 1) At the time I was also hosting the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference at the Rio and it worked out perfectly for our staff in Las Vegas; and 2) the two weeks before Opening Day was ideal for entering rosters, getting everyone set up on their NFBC home pages, and quite selfishly, it was perfect in Las Vegas during March Madness weekend.
But if we're really trying to create the best contest, then we really need to get Draft Day closer to Opening Day. Two weeks prior to Opening Day isn't the best solution, to be honest. But we can't host it the weekend of Opening Day because the first game is on Sunday and you just can't turn around the draft data fast enough to please everyone, plus you never know when MLB is going to open the season days before in Japan or London or wherever. So the best option is the weekend prior to Opening Day.
And we agree with that. So this year NFBC drafts will be held in Las Vegas, Chicago and New York on Saturday, March 27th with a full session of drafts and auctions all three days, March 26-28. We are going to take the Las Vegas March 26-28 event to a premiere location on The Strip, a place where the NFBC DESERVES to be at!!! The very best deserves the very best!!!

Now hold on. We already announced that we were returning to the Flamingo Las Vegas on the weekend of March 19-21 and yes we have a signed contract there. We also know that many folks love going to Las Vegas that weekend rather than the next weekend. And quite honestly, we've also heard from some folks who have their local league drafts on the weekend of March 27th and would prefer the NFBC the week before that. We understand all of that and will pick up the extra costs to hopefully appease all parties.
So we haven't abandoned March Madness for 2010. In fact, we'll host main event drafts, auctions and other side events in Las Vegas and even on the East Coast the weekend of March 19-21 if that weekend works best for you. Those drafts and auctions will be part of the national contests we are running as long as you don't mind drafting a week ahead of the others. All results will be held private and FAAB for everyone will be the Sunday of Opening Day. Everyone in your league will be in the same situation, so there are no advantages or disadvantages to drafting early or late. In fact, you could draft on both weekends of the main event, although that's not the purpose of this plan.
Just so you know, we are only budgeting for 405 main event teams – one more league than in 2009 – so obviously multiple teams is not the goal. And we had thought about raising the entry fee this year to increase the overall prize pool, but in today's economy we decided against it. The entry fee is $1300 per team with the same league prizes and similar overall prize pool ($100,000 grand prize). We thought long and hard about going to $1400 but yesterday we made the decision to hold tight for another year.
So let's take a look at the schedule:
Friday, March 19th (Las Vegas & East Coast):
Special national auction contest and national live draft to be announced soon
Saturday, March 20th (Las Vegas & East Coast):
10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST: NFBC main event
4 p.m. PST/7 p.m. EST: Super League & other live drafts to be announced
Sunday, March 21st (Las Vegas & East Coast):
To Be Announced Soon
Friday, March 26th
Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago (stay tuned):
9 am: Auctions and special drafts, all to be announced soon.
Saturday, March 27th:
Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago (stay tuned):
10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST/noon CST: NFBC Main Event
4 p.m.: Super League + special draft to be announced
Sunday, March 28th:
10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST: Ultimate League Draft, Super League Draft, 1 more Draft to be announced, plus special draft to be announced
The schedule of drafts and auctions are still subject to review. Same with our draft locations as we unfortunately don't have any contracts finalized yet. The reason is simple: We are working on a much bigger plan for locations that possibly won't get finished in time for baseball 2010, but is the way to go in the future. Stay tuned for all of that, but we're working on something that could be the ideal ticket for all of us at the NFBC.
Okay, let's chew on this one for a bit. Give us your feedback on the switch to the final weekend of March for the main event and your thoughts about also hosting the main event the weekend before. We are going to create something very special in Las Vegas for both weekends, that much I know. But we want to hear from you. Thanks all.
I'm excited about covering all our bases on this one. Next up I'll announce the details to the debut NFBC Auction Championship contest. Stay tuned!!