Advice on getting a league started

[The Bottlenecker]

I am still relatively new to fantasy sports (3 years and counting), and certainly don't have much experience dillying around computers. I really enjoy the keeper I am in, but was inspired by a recent thread to consider what my "perfect" fantasy league would look like. Now, I have these crazy thoughts in my head to start my own league. I would stick with the keeper I am in, but start another where the categories and settings are of my choosing.

The kicker...I don't know where to start?

To all of you, but especially those of you who are the commissioners / creators of your respective fantasy leagues, what advice, websites, tricks and suggestions can you give an inexperienced guy like me looking to start his own league?

[MarmotKing]

If you start a league, I would say to put a good rule book together. We have one a few pages long and it as prevented any kind of trouble so far.
I would say after both parties have accepted a trade, it as to go through the commish. No vetos. The Commish decides (or a commitee).

As for where to start, I think I would decide what kind of league, the stats involved, salary cap or not, farm team or not, etc. I don't have much experience starting a keeper as I joined my in it's 2nd season.

[Axeman33]

http://hockey.dobbersports.com/The-D...ue-hockey-pool

This link is on the front page of Dobber Hockey. Probably a bit dated, but no doubt the meat and potatoes of what you are looking for will be in this link.

[butch]

have the format & brief outline of rules that you intend on using before recruiting otherwise you may waste alot of time debating them with your gm's .

[finminer]

I've been playing fantasy hockey in a money league for 9-10 years. Last year, one of the other owners and I started a new league using the same basic framework with some changes to rules we didn't like. Learned a few things along the way. Here are a few tips:

1) Write up a solid constitution. Get a couple of owners to help you critique, correct & close loopholes. Post it on the site and make sure everyone has easy access to it. You need to be an expert on it, as owners will have lots of questions.

2) I would start with fewer teams and expand as you develop the owner pool and refine the constitution. You will be learning too, so it is easier to manage.

3) REQUIRE that owners are responsive. You want owners who are going to respond to questions and trade offers quickly. They need to be participate actively & be communicative. Require that e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers (for texting) are posted. It may take you a few seasons to weed out the casual non-fanatics though.

4) I agree that vetoing trades is for the birds. As long as there is clearly not collusion, anything goes. You can't protect owners from stupidity and everyone has their own perspective. If you have to worry about collusion, you don't have the right owners, period.

5) This is a REQUIREMENT, especially in light of #3: you need to have some type of mechanism that creates player turnover. While a dynasty league is about building a consistently strong team over time, you can do that while not allowing Toews to be kept by one team forever. You can't build by drafting prospects alone. If you don't have this, more savvy owners will take advantage of lesser owners and build stacked teams that will never be required to unstack, especially if it's not a cap league. The result is that those at the bottom get disgruntled and quit, and new prospective owners have no hope of being competitive in a reasonable amount of time. (this is the major reason I am not in more leagues!)

My leagues are somewhat unique in that we have a salary cap, but salaries are determined by auction draft, not real world salaries, and we play roto rather than points. We can sign players to max 5-year contracts, but they go back into the auction pool after that. Prospects have max 5-year entry-level deals, so are VERY important. Free agent pickups can only be kept one extra year at a higher salary. These leagues are highly competitive. EVERYONE has a chance to win EVERY year, and it is very tough to repeat. (BTW, we are always looking for new owners!)

6) If it's a money league, keep meticulous records on a spreadsheet and share account status with the owners periodically. Require them to be prompt with payments and be prompt with payouts. Some sites have better tracking than others.

[The Bottlenecker]

I've been playing fantasy hockey in a money league for 9-10 years. Last year, one of the other owners and I started a new league using the same basic framework with some changes to rules we didn't like. Learned a few things along the way. Here are a few tips:

1) Write up a solid constitution. Get a couple of owners to help you critique, correct & close loopholes. Post it on the site and make sure everyone has easy access to it. You need to be an expert on it, as owners will have lots of questions.

2) I would start with fewer teams and expand as you develop the owner pool and refine the constitution. You will be learning too, so it is easier to manage.

3) REQUIRE that owners are responsive. You want owners who are going to respond to questions and trade offers quickly. They need to be participate actively & be communicative. Require that e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers (for texting) are posted. It may take you a few seasons to weed out the casual non-fanatics though.

4) I agree that vetoing trades is for the birds. As long as there is clearly not collusion, anything goes. You can't protect owners from stupidity and everyone has their own perspective. If you have to worry about collusion, you don't have the right owners, period.

5) This is a REQUIREMENT, especially in light of #3: you need to have some type of mechanism that creates player turnover. While a dynasty league is about building a consistently strong team over time, you can do that while not allowing Toews to be kept by one team forever. You can't build by drafting prospects alone. If you don't have this, more savvy owners will take advantage of lesser owners and build stacked teams that will never be required to unstack, especially if it's not a cap league. The result is that those at the bottom get disgruntled and quit, and new prospective owners have no hope of being competitive in a reasonable amount of time. (this is the major reason I am not in more leagues!)

My leagues are somewhat unique in that we have a salary cap, but salaries are determined by auction draft, not real world salaries, and we play roto rather than points. We can sign players to max 5-year contracts, but they go back into the auction pool after that. Prospects have max 5-year entry-level deals, so are VERY important. Free agent pickups can only be kept one extra year at a higher salary. These leagues are highly competitive. EVERYONE has a chance to win EVERY year, and it is very tough to repeat. (BTW, we are always looking for new owners!)

6) If it's a money league, keep meticulous records on a spreadsheet and share account status with the owners periodically. Require them to be prompt with payments and be prompt with payouts. Some sites have better tracking than others.

What sites are best? I hear a lot of talk about Fantrax and Yahoo, but are there other ones?

[The Bottlenecker]

http://hockey.dobbersports.com/The-D...ue-hockey-pool

This link is on the front page of Dobber Hockey. Probably a bit dated, but no doubt the meat and potatoes of what you are looking for will be in this link.

I followed your link, but the links within it all take me back to the home page. The idea was there, just not the info. Maybe I will PM Dobber to update it for newbies like me.

[Savvy1982]

There is Fantrax - and then there is everything else.

Fantrax is simply the gold standard; if someone tells you otherwise, they've never had a Fantrax Premium league before.

The settings are nearly infinite, and if it doesn't exist Fantrax will write code such that it does!

Want to count Corsi/Rel as a stat? They would do that for you.

They are the best site by such a wide margin that it's almost alughable.

[MarmotKing]

We're using CBS. It works fine for our needs, has a message board and live chat in season with live scoring updates.

Our league is a points only limited keeper, so I don't know how it works for other leagues.

It also runs all year around, so it makes it easier to follow what's going on, trade, etc.

[The Bottlenecker]

Bumping this thread in the hope of getting more input as to what sites to use for tracking, trading and running a league.

[butch]

Bumping this thread in the hope of getting more input as to what sites to use for tracking, trading and running a league.

I switched my leagues from CBS to fantrax in 2010 without any regrets .

I'm not sure what type of improvements CBS have made since then but fantrax listened to their users over the years and added many features that have made things so much easier to run a league.Draft pick trading , listing of pretty much all nhl prospects , ability to customize farm team eligibility by age/gp's are the main features that help me .I dont use a salary cap in my leagues so I cant vouch for that part .

cbs was approx 100 US back in 2009 , fantrax is 79.99 .

once in awhile fantrax offers a lifetime league pass for approx 200 bucks

[Artamus]

The others posters have pretty much summed it up, but maybe I can add some reinforcements....

- Not only must you have a detailed constitution, but it must be a living document. You may have taken all precaution necessary to close loopholes, but new ones will undoubtedly pop up. Pencil in the small tweaks you intend to make, and in the offseason, make the tweaks (there may have to be a vote involved), and republish the constitution every offseason with changes in effect.

- If you commission the league, dont allow yourself to be bullied by argumentative GMs. The constitution is your friend and bible. If someone has a problem with a rule, let him propose a rule change (which may require a vote). Establish right off the bat that what the commish says, goes.

-Be tactful, and diplomatic yet firm when dealing with GMs. Foster a sense of organization. Fantasy GMs dont want to feel like you are winging it off the cuff.

- Be selective when bringing GMs into your league. Dont waste time with guys who aren't going to be responsive, or guys who dont have the depth of knowledge to compete (even if they are good friends of yours). You'd only be creating work for yourself for the future because these types of guys will drop out and you'll be looking at headaches associated with that. (ie.....incompetent GM destroys his team with bad trades/drafting, then loses interest because he cant seem to have any success....then drops out, saddling you with finding a GM that is interested in a 3 yr fantasy rebuild....good luck with that....especially if money is involved)

- Be transparent in every move you make. Dont leave any room for the perception that you may be working the rulebook to favour your own team.

Like I said, there are some really good responses already in this thread, but as commish of two leagues, and as a GM in two others I figured I could offer up some stuff....

[keytolife]

There is Fantrax - and then there is everything else.

Fantrax is simply the gold standard; if someone tells you otherwise, they've never had a Fantrax Premium league before.

The settings are nearly infinite, and if it doesn't exist Fantrax will write code such that it does!

Want to count Corsi/Rel as a stat? They would do that for you.

They are the best site by such a wide margin that it's almost alughable.

I concur with everything said. I dumped all leagues not on fantrax throughout the years since they are simply lackluster in comparsion to fantrax.

[dooley89]

The biggest thing is the people who you invite to join the league with you.
I have been in leagues that were setup extremely well with settings I loved but a few terrible GM's can ruin the whole thing.
If you are going to run it and be the commissioner I think knowing who the other GM's are personally is a great way to start!

[glorybe23]

The biggest thing is the people who you invite to join the league with you.
I have been in leagues that were setup extremely well with settings I loved but a few terrible GM's can ruin the whole thing.
If you are going to run it and be the commissioner I think knowing who the other GM's are personally is a great way to start!

This.

The people make the league, you can eventually massage the rules and settings in the offseasons to improve upon what you started, but establishing a great foundation of committed and "interesting" personalities is what makes a good league great.