FANTASY DRAFT LEAGUES - Recipe for Success!

by GREENERRRR Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:09 am

Its no secret that its difficult to run a Fantasy Draft league. You can count on 1 hand the number of year round Fantasy Draft leagues that have 32 players and advance at least 3 times a week (with a respectible particpation rate)

Its difficult to find one of these leagues but when you do its a lot of fun!!!

The community at maddenfantasydraft.com (formally ps3maddengroup) have dedicated themselves to FANTASY DRAFT leagues in madden. We run Fantasy Draft Leagues that play year round with a full 32 player membership... We advance every 48 hours and have participation rates around 90% - and we have done this 6 years running!!!

All we do is FANTASY DRAFT - we are good at it!!!!

Every September we are over-whelmed with players trying to get a spot to draft in 1 of our leagues. We never have capacity to give all the players who want in a quality fantasy draft league a spot...

here are some tips on what makes a great Fantast Draft league and how to get started - my only hope is to see more successful 32 player Fantasy Draft leagues that play year round...

Two things that make Fantasy Draft Leagues a Success (beyond the obvious)

1) CREATE A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS

* Fantasy Draft leagues are a huge commitment! Before you even play a game, a 32 player draft (with humans making 65% of their picks) will take over 10 hours!!!

This is a big commitment! Nobody wants to dedicate that much time to a draft then see the league fall apart within 3 seasons! Therefore to help convince players to attend such a long draft, a commish must have a track record that assures owners that they league will be around for the long haul and the gameplay is something they will enjoy.

2) HAVE 32 "humans" at INITIAL FANTASY DRAFT

* it is critical to have 32 human players attend the opening draft (and they must stay until at least round 15 hopefully longer)... If there is a `no-show' the team selected by the CPU will be sub-standard... The player assigned to this team will leave the league and you will have trouble finding a replacement owner because the squad sucks!

When there is a `draft day no-show` they are removed and replaced by a player on our `wait list` (who will be standing by ready to take over any team that becomes available - aka "draft day stand by player" - it's critical to have a handful of "draft day stand by players". With a group of 32 people (even if they are highly committed) unexpected things come up (guys get called into work, internet goes down etc). When this happens you must replace those players (even if it's your best buddy) because there is no way he is going to like the team drafted and your just creating a hole in your league that will take 3 to 4 seasons to fix...

TIPS ON CREATING A TRACK RECORD (which leads to a great league)

Creating a track record is never easy and without this history of success it can be difficult to find 32 guys to commit to your FD league... To over come this here are some suggestions:

- BE PATIENT! Set a clear expectation to members that you will not begin the league until you have the right 32 players! Explain to them that you value their time and don't want to waste it by setting up a league that will crash and burn (if the players are the right ones they will respect your patience...

- PLAY IN OTHER LEAGUES - Not everyone will be a FD supporter in standard roster leagues but you may find a few (and u get to pre-screen the player to be sure they are a good fit).

If you can find another quality Fantasy Draft league to play in, be upfront with the commish about your goal of ultimately creating your own FD league (if he is a solid guy he will help you out - possibly create a refferal network)

- PLAY MADDEN ULTIMATE TEAM - Their are many similarities between FD and MUT. This could be an excellent source of players

- ASK MEMBERS OF YOUR LEAGUE FOR REFERALS - be sure to only ask when you are certain that you have gained their respect.

Explain to them that you need their help to help make the league the best that they can. Be clear in the type of player you are looking for (your not looking for just anybody - you want players that they will stand behind) The league is a community affair and you need their help to make the league a success!

- WRITE MADDEN ARTICLES & OFFER THEM TO SITES - You want to show others that you are a center of influence. Obviously you have to speak knowledgeably on topics but if you show others through various forum articles that you have knowledge / experience that they respect, this will make it more likely they will possibly join your league...

- PARTNER WITH A NON DRAFT LEAGUE - Many Madden players will play both types of leagues. Find a non draft league that reflects the same madden play ideals as you and make an agreement to refer players between your two leagues.

You should look for a league that is in the same growth cycle as yours (An established league will be less likely to openly refer player to a "new" league)

- BE ACTIVE ON MESSAGE BOARDS - When someone is asking a question - help them out!!!

- ALWAYS HAVE YOUR COMMISH FACE ON - Every "play now" game or post on a chat be respectful to others (you never know who could end up being a long term player in your league)

- DO NOT RELY ON FORUM ADS TO BRING IN PLAYERS - those boards are flooded with other leagues (most of which are terrible)... Better to avoid this so you do not get lumped in with the weaker leagues...

Of course this advice could be used to help run all leagues but I hope it helps a few Fantasy Draft leagues get started this year...

If you have other advice that i didnt cover - i WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IT - please reply!!! 32 player Fantasy Draft leagues are a great form of play that i would love to see more guys enjoying!!