Live Chat With Greg Ambrosius Friday At 3 ET

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:23 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

C'mon, with all the phone calls I take during the day I can't believe there isn't anyone man enough (sorry Jules) to ask me the tough questions here. Bring it on boys (and girls). I'm ready to hit some home runs tomorrow.

Greg, would you be willing to share any details on the 2010 NFBC league hosting site and stat service? [/QUOTE]Yeah, we are 100 percent running the NFBC at Fanball. Everyone knows how much I like the guys at STATS and how appreciative for what they did for us over the last six years. But the two companies are competitive in many fields and there is a dispute between the two companies that made this tough to do for both companies. It's not worth getting into, but this was a mutual understanding to part ways. We are definitely using STATS for the statistics and live scoring data, so it's not like we're not working together in other ways.

But on the back end, we have created our own engine and it will be unveiled shortly. I'm proud of the work these guys are doing and it's going to be BETTER than before. I really believe that. From what I've seen so far, it's fantastic. Many of the same features are in the same places and we are vigorously doing the free agent bidding setup now and even improving the Conditional Bids process. You'll like it.

As I've said before, creating one contest engine is light years easier than creating a customizable commissioner product where every possible scoring category or setup must be figured in. We are a 5x5 Rotisserie league for all of our games and the only difference is 15 teams or 12 teams. I know we're going to hit a home run with this part of it. I'm proud of what Cory and his team have done so far with the main web site, the MY TEAMS page, the banner ads, everything, and the best is yet to come.

I'm excited, and anyone who knows me knows I'm not B.S.ing. I was worried early on, but I'm very excited about this process now. And you'll love it.

Dirt Dogs · Post by **Dirt Dogs** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:25 am

are you drinking the Alexei Ramirez cool-aid this year? Everyone seemed to chug from the cool-aid last year.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:28 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

As of Friday, 2010 will be 36 days old. Of those 36 days, how many have been spent in:

1) St. Louis, MO

2) Las Vegas, NV

3) Iola, WI Well, let's count through next Friday since I'm heading to St. Louis next week. So of 43 days:

1. 8 days in St. Louis

2. 4 days in Las Vegas

3. A combined total hours of 10 days at home

3a. A combined total of 21 days at work!!!

I love my new office, but this has been crazy. But it's all good. Every trip to St. Louis has been very productive and our trip to Las Vegas was insanely productive. I'm happy with the work we're doing.

However, that being said, the other night I came home late and nobody was home. There were no tire tracks in the snow. No footprints. I thought my family was so mad at me for being gone so much that they abandoned me. Even the dog and cat seemed like they hadn't been fed. But then I realized that if they were kicking me out they would have kept the house and just LOCKED ME OUT!!!

Fortunately they all just left for hairdos/haircuts and returned back home. But damn, I had a bad flash there for a bit. I must spend more time with the wife and kids!!

[ February 05, 2010, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:30 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

All things considered, would you consider yourself to be working the "Dream Job"?

OF COURSE!!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:34 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Who is the best NFBC Beer Pong player:

A) Tom K.

B) Geoff S.

C) Greg A.

D) Charlie W.

E) Ryan E.H. This one is easy.

A) Probably the best one, but I know he can't handle his beer. I just hear from Billy Waz that Tom knows how to play this game.

B) NOBODY drinks beer faster or harder than our newest employee!!

C) I ENJOY my beers dude. Count me out.

D) He's too old for beer games.

E) He most DEFINITELY cannot handle his beer. Man, I had him put to bed in Times Square in November by 6:30 because he tried to keep up with me beer-for-beer. He's a lightweight!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:37 am

Originally posted by mbendar:

Greg,

With the live Double Play being close to halfway towards the goal of 300 teams and not too many full leagues at this time, what is the plan for capping the amount of teams at each time and location?

Thanks,

Mark I know we're way ahead of schedule with the live events, but people shouldn't look at anything else and think we might not fill this or that. We have NEVER had this many signups before the Super Bowl, across the board. So I look at the Live Double Play and say we need to push that more, but honestly I do think a lot of NFBC guys will add that one to their weekend of fun once they have travel secured, hotel secured, and Classic secured. I think we'll hit 300 teams and still have full leagues in all the venues we have set up.

Some have said this is the best bargain of them all and I think you'll see a lot of folks jumping in soon for this potential $85,000 prize. And again, if we attract new members to the NFBC who love the live drafting idea and want to start out this way, then it's doubly good.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:39 am

Originally posted by swampass:

Greg, question about week 1 in vegas. the last few years we have all drafted from the one giant ballroom. with the smaller attendance will we be moving to single rooms? basically the question is if we stay in the larger room will the tables be spread to cut down on over hearing picks from other tables?

as far as baseball specifically. you somewhat rail j hamilton in mag 1. where do you see him falling to in the draft? to me, for his upside, i have a hard time arguing Rios over him..... i guess its because rios at least stinks while being healthy. thoughts? any sneaky OF plays?

thanks We definitely have the whole ballroom on Saturday and the Flamingo and will use it hopefully. We definitely won't be going into the private smaller rooms. No way. Right now we have almost three full leagues for the main event that weekend at the Flamingo and if we got four I'd be ecstatic. In that case, we might use 2/3's of the ballroom and still have room to spread out. That's fine by me.

I did say in that first issue that I wouldn't draft Hamilton because of his injury history and issues, but that's when I thought he'd go in the top three rounds. He now is going like 75th to 90th and I've grabbed him several times in mock drafts. At that point, I'm seeing upside and value there. I know, I know, he's still the same player who could play only half a season, the same player I said was too injury-prone to count on. But in the fifth or sixth round, I can take that chance.

So I'm not off his bandwagon completely. It just depends on where I can get him.

I like Rios a lot, but damn he sure didn't show me anything with the White Sox. .199-3-9-5 in 41 games??? Wow, he had a chance to star anew and didn't do it. I'm not off his bandwagon, but he is 29 and he better show something RIGHT NOW.

[ February 05, 2010, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:48 am

Originally posted by swampass:

Greg,

2nd Base: Aaron Hill & Ben Zobrist. Fact or Fiction regarding their 2009 seasons?

Same for Outfield: Adam Lind & Andre Ethier?

Thanks. Rock On. I've picked Zobrist as my bust pick mainly because I just don't see him duplicating last season at all. I mean, who has a breakout like that at the age of 28? It just came out of nowhere. I'm taking Aaron Hill there, even though I know he's not going to get 682 at-bats again. Both will have reduced production, but I'll take Hill.

Lind because he's so young and so talented. Ethier is just a real smooth player and someone you can probably count on more for consistent production, but Lind is the superstar in waiting. I remember seeing Ethier in the ARizona Fall League season and just thinking what a real nice, smooth swing he had. That was with the A's. He looks just as smooth now and just a little stronger with that bat.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:51 am

Originally posted by FFBL23:

Greg,

The NFBC has seen growth the last few years going from 195 teams to now 405 teams. Yet the first place league prize and overall prize hasn't changed with the growth. I know the first year there was possibly a loss taken and the 2nd place and 3rd place prizes have gone up, but when do you see the NFBC raising the 1st place league and overall prizes?? Correct. But we also haven't increase the league fees much. Basically from $1250 to $1300 in seven years.

WE started with league prizes of $5,000, $1750, $750. We are now at $5,000, $2,500, $1300. I like the 4x, 2x, 1x payouts. So you are right, it would be good to increase this to $5200, $2600, $1300. And we can do that, but since going from 300 to 405 teams we've tried to boost up the second through 10th overall. I felt we were too low there and still think that area needs a boost.

It's a give and take, obviously, but I agree most people are playing for the league prize and if we can raise that going forward we will. Let's see if we get above 405 (if cities don't fall perfectly with full 15-team leagues) and then what we can do with the extra revenue.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:57 am

Originally posted by FFBL23:

Greg,

Describe what your and Fanball's vision of the NFBC will look like in two to three years. We need details here (TV exposure, bigger prizes, more innovative leagues, etc.) We have a lot of grand plans for the NFBC, NFFC and NFBBC. But those plans are all fiscally responsible. We are not building contests and then telling folks that "we hope the events grow into the prize structure." That's just not fiscally smart. We want you folks to win as much money as possible from us, but we need to make this business a sound one too and continue to use our profits to better the business.

Of course we want to take this to TV. We believe this can and will be a viewable event. We like what we're doing with the live event at Citi Field and the enthusiasm of the Mets and believe that with Liberty owning the Atlanta Braves that maybe we can do that venue down the road. Maybe Seattle. Hell, I'd love to host the NFFC in the luxury boxes at Lambeau Field!!! Can you imagine drafting your team at Lambeau and overlooking the Frozen Tundra in August when you're drafting?

There are lots of visions, but none of them make sense if the participants don't feel secure that what we're doing is a smart business plan. We have to make sure that our business plan pays the highest possible percentage we can to the players while GUARANTEEING the prize money, GUARANTEEING that the event will go off as planned, and GUARANTEEING that this will be a first-class event that you folks will remember forever, win or lose during the season.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:59 am

Originally posted by FFBL23:

Greg,

Will there be any type of NFBC sponsored gatherings for either weekend in Las Vegas? What was this VIP party Ryan was talking about a while back?? Yes, stay tuned. The first weekend at the Flamingo we have enough room in the food and beverage minimum to throw a nice Thursday night NCAA Viewing Party. We're working on that with our "friends" at the Flamingo. They've been tough, trust me.

More on the Bellagio stuff to come. We're working on multiple events there and may have some goodies to talk about soon. Maybe a general gathering on Thursday night and a special Saturday night gig, but we'll see. Stay tuned.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:01 am

Originally posted by Da bears:

Hi Greg,

Will there be a weekly NFBC podcast/radio show this season? Gekko, Roundtrippers, and the King of Queens did a great job last year hosting a weekly podcast for a couple of months!!

Thanks for prodding me on this. Yes, Geoff and Tom are going to create an NFBC weekly podcast on blogtalkradio.com. Look for more details soon with NFBC member interviews and more. This is going to be fun. They are trying to pick the time of week and day it will happen. Stay tuned, but those guys are on this and they will double-team for this gig. It will be fun and informative.

Again, we want to make our NFBC players the stars of this event. This podcast will take that to another level.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:04 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

Greg,

My number one question in November remains my number one question in early February, what is the timeframe on when we can test out the FAAB system we will be using for this season?

We are only 8 weeks away and a demo FAAB site would likely calm a lot of fears out there and enable skeptical owners to sign up for more leagues (given that the FAAB interface works fine).

Thanks. Trust me, it was my number one question in November too. But it's not anymore. I've been assured this is going to be better than what we had before and Ryan has seen it and said it's awesome. I'm going to St. Louis next week to see it as well and help out where I can.

I just asked Cory for a timetable. I hope to have an answer to this before the end of the live chat. Very good question and one we will address here on the timetable.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:10 am

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Greg, Who is the biggest thorn in your side besides me.

I vote Geeko! It's like asking which child was worse during their Terrible Twos?

I get tired of people who doubt things about us before they even happen. I mean, I can understand when folks get mad at me if I consciously make a screwup. But when folks quit our event or say they won't return because they think this might happen, that bothers me. As for folks who constantly want this better or this right or that improved, they don't bother me. They are trying to make our event better. Trying to improve our format. Trying to push me harder. I like that, even if it takes a lot of my time away from other things I should be doing.

I guess I'm upset with anyone who didn't give Ryan a second chance after he tried to show everyone how excited he was about this space. Some of you were mighty tough on him and that's okay if you feel you know the guy from a first impression. But hopefully in Las Vegas you'll be able to sit with Ryan and me and have a beer and give him a second chance. He's done a lot of good for the NFBC behind the scenes and very few people even realize that. Those are the thorns that hurt me as much as anything else.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:10 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

greg - which of your contestants takes the most meds? i vote waldo waldo

I have enough trouble keeping up with my own meds and beer supply. I can't worry about others' problems.

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:15 am

Originally posted by Finkel:

I'm laughing with him (walla walla)

with one post to your credit, i wouldn't be surprised if walla pimped his mom to join the MB and post that!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:16 am

Originally posted by la Jolla:

Greg, since you guys have worked so hard these past years to build your brand in this space, combined with the resources of Fanball now, has there been any thoughts of doing something creative (dream job) to counter the competition and stop them from gaining traction? Hah, no we can't do anything about plans that try to beat us by losing more money than we ever dreamed of in 2004. We have a sound business plan in place for baseball and if folks want to lose money to enter this space we can't prevent them. But if it looks too good, then, maybe it is too good.

I've talked to a few folks who say getting a discounted entry and winning tons of money while the plan loses money is too good to be true. All I will say is that in today's economy, no business plan that is set up to lose tons of money is a good one. This is a scary, scary time for our industry and you can't succeed in this space without distribution, distribution, distribution. You must have contacts with hundreds of thousands of fantasy players to reach your goals and anyone who thinks they can just enter this space, say they are giving away the most money and wa-la, they're in, is crazy.

JBLADE · Post by **JBLADE** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:17 am

Your on the clock who would you take BJ upton or Andrew Mccutchen? Can Bj possibly out due Justin? Could Mccutchen be a bust due to rising adp?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:17 am

Originally posted by la Jolla:

What's on tap as far as nightlife in Vegas? The menu has something for everyone in Sin City!!

Diamond League members may have a special treat from Ryan, so stay tuned Scott!!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:23 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

Greg - With two fantasy football companies going bankrupt in the past two years (and not paying their winners), what do you personally think about other companies (ffpc and wcoff) offering to "roll over" winnings into "an account" with the company and NOT providing a 1099 to you or the government for "rolled over" money? Is there a possibility of "Ponzi-like" situations going on?

I know your company response is that they are doing something illegal. I personally agree with that btw. I wish I could do that!!! I asked Krause's lawyers if we could do that in 2005 and was told no. I asked F+W's lawyers as late as last year if we could do that and was told no. I asked Liberty's lawyers in November if we could do that and was told no. I'm not saying it's not legal, three sets of lawyers have told me it's not legal.

I think every company is looking for an edge today and the players feel this is such a great benefit to them. I get it. I wish I could help them avoid paying full taxes on prize winnings. But if we could do this we would. Call it what you want, but I just wish we all played under the same rules.

I wish someone would address this at an industry conference but those lovefests are too filled with backpatting to address a serious issue like this. Someone needs to stand up and tell everyone what is right and what is wrong and make sure that the government doesn't come down on all of us for playing games with the tax law. Maybe we're wrong here and they are right. But this area scares me because folks are doing some fringe things that could cause all of us to pay down the road.

The Mighty Men · Post by **The Mighty Men** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:26 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

quote:Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Greg, Who is the biggest thorn in your side besides me.

I vote Geeko! It's like asking which child was worse during their Terrible Twos?

I get tired of people who doubt things about us before they even happen. I mean, I can understand when folks get mad at me if I consciously make a screwup. But when folks quit our event or say they won't return because they think this might happen, that bothers me. As for folks who constantly want this better or this right or that improved, they don't bother me. They are trying to make our event better. Trying to improve our format. Trying to push me harder. I like that, even if it takes a lot of my time away from other things I should be doing.

I guess I'm upset with anyone who didn't give Ryan a second chance after he tried to show everyone how excited he was about this space. Some of you were mighty tough on him and that's okay if you feel you know the guy from a first impression. But hopefully in Las Vegas you'll be able to sit with Ryan and me and have a beer and give him a second chance. He's done a lot of good for the NFBC behind the scenes and very few people even realize that. Those are the thorns that hurt me as much as anything else. [/QUOTE]No doubt. People were way too hard on Ryan.

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:26 am

Hi Greg,

I think you may have missed my question so I'll post again:

A great add on to the current Free Agent system would be having the ability to export the free agent list into excel. We've asked for this the past few years. The STATS system was top notch in the industry with all the add ons and tweaks you helped to implement. Can we please add this one? It would help out a lot for the folks with multiple teams. I don't think I'm alone when I say that the only reason I don't add a team or two more is that Sundays have become insane. Anything to help Sunday out is a welcome addition. Thank you in advance

Jason

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:26 am

Originally posted by Fast Money:

How about some insight on Free Agent Auction strategy's? Spend early? Save for late? Thanks. You'll have to ask an NFBC player for that. But I do have the listings of every free agent bid for every contest last year and if you want that you can have it. Here's where you can find it:

Just go to General NFBC Discussion Forum

In the upper right hand corner pull down the screen that says "Show Posts From Last 45 Days" to "Show Posts From Last Year"

Then you'll have like 31 pages or something. Find the first weekend of the baseball season, like April 11th date. There you'll see a thread called Week 1 Winning FAAB Bids. All of them are listed there. And then just keep going back each week (April 18, April 25, etc.) and you'll find all of the week's listings. There you'll see where some guys like David Aardsma went before they became fantasy stars and how much they went for. Things like that.

I hope this helps.

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:27 am

Originally posted by Red Sox Nation:

Hi Greg,

I think you may have missed my question so I'll post again:

A great add on to the current Free Agent system would be having the ability to export the free agent list into excel. We've asked for this the past few years. The STATS system was top notch in the industry with all the add ons and tweaks you helped to implement. Can we please add this one? It would help out a lot for the folks with multiple teams. I don't think I'm alone when I say that the only reason I don't add a team or two more is that Sundays have become insane. Anything to help Sunday out is a welcome addition. Thank you in advance

Jason DITTO

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:30 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

Greg,

Will participants in both main events be able to get their draft slot for the 1st main event AND THEN set their KDS for the 2nd main event? thx! Very possible that the first weekend is locked in advance of the second weekend. Not definite yet, but probably yes.

Just an FYI: I've had a few folks not return this year because as they say "Shawn Childs now has two chances to win the overall." Take a look at the lists and you won't see a big surge in teams taking two main event teams. If anything, we are saving ourselves from losing some folks who just can't draft the second weekend. And they are ecstatic that they can still go to Las Vegas for the first weekend of March Madness with their friends and still do the NFBC Classic.

I get it and it's everyone's choice, but drafting two different weekends isn't like drafting three times on one weekend.

This is going to be tough for those owners doing both weekends.