The NLL Fantasy Football League
Are you interested in joining a fantasy football league with fellow NLL members? If so, read on for all the necessary information, and then head to the discord to find the Google sign-up form!
THE RULES: For simplicity’s sake, the initial rules and scoring will be standard across all leagues, and all leagues will be on the ESPN platform. In general, the league guidelines will be set forth below but we will leave any decisions or modifications up to the individual leagues which are run by individual Commissioners.
Scoring/format
- 12 teams
- .5 Point Per Reception (PPR), 4-points for passing touchdowns
- Waiver wire pickups will be based on a $200 Free Agent Auction Budget (FAAB) budget. If you’re unsure what FAAB means, you can ask your commissioner
- Standard ESPN scoring otherwise
- Roster construction: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex (WR/RB/TE), 1 Defense
- Yes that’s right, NO KICKERS!
- 7 bench spots, 1 IR spot (16 total rounds for the draft)
- 6 teams will make the playoffs. Top two seeds will receive a first round bye
- Draft position will be automatically and randomly assigned by ESPN
League members will be randomly assigned based on preferred stakes, and assignment will be facilitated by the NLL Council. The one exception is that for international members we will attempt to align you with leaguemates in a similar time zone so that you can more easily find a draft time, and are on equal footing when it comes to setting lineups before games. NOTE: This does not guarantee that this will happen, but an attempt will be made.
THE STAKES: You’ll be able to select from a variety of buy-in choices on the Google form — choose based on your preference. Buy-ins will be Top Shot Moments gifted to the NineLivesLounge Top Shot account.
Fair Market Value (FMV) of the Moment will be determined based on LiveToken’s algorithm. You must submit a Moment that is greater than or equal to the buy-in amount. For example, if you’re in a $100 buy-in league, the FMV of the Moment on LiveToken would need to be $100 or greater at the time of gifting. Please do not shortchange your leaguemates by submitting an undervalued Moment. ONE MOMENT PER USER, do not gift multiple Moments in order to get to the required buy-in for your league.
Your buy-in must be gifted to NineLivesLounge THREE DAYS prior to the draft date for your league! It will be up to the commissioner of each league to stay on top of its league members to ensure Moment submission. If you cannot be reasonably reached in the days leading up to the draft, you forfeit your position within the league and a replacement will be found for you. The NLL Council, with assistance from the Commissioners, will be responsible for receipt and tracking of Moment buy-ins received.
THE DRAFT: All leagues will have a snake draft.
The Google form will have a spot where you can volunteer to be a Commissioner of a league. Please only volunteer for this role if you have extensive experience commissioning a league, or if you have played fantasy football for many years.
The draft date and time will be up to the Commissioner of each league to determine based on leaguemate input. It is NOT easy to find a time that fits 12 people on such short notice. Please be as flexible as possible to make a time that works for your leaguemates.
THE WINNINGS: Since FMV of Moments will likely change over the course of the football season, prizes will be assigned to the top 3 winners at random, and NOT based on the FMV of the Moments at the time of distribution. The NLL Council will facilitate the randomization process and the gifting of all moments to the winners.
Third place: 1/12 of the Moments (aka they get their money back, basically)
Second place: 3/12 of the Moments
GRAND PRIZE: 8/12 of the Moments
In addition to the community-generated prizes, the NLL Council will be gifting Cool Cats packs to the top 6 winners in each league!
1st place — Cool Cats 1
2nd, 3rd place — Cool Cats 2
4th through 6th place — Cool Cats 3 pack
The “tl;dr” Roles & Responsibilities
NLL Council
- Google form receipt and assignment of each league based on Commissioner volunteers, buy-in preference, and time zone
- Receipt and tracking of buy-in Moment submission
- Escalated decision-maker for league disagreements/collusion
- Distribution of reward moments and Cool Cats packs
Commissioner
- Initial meet & greet via discord with your leaguemates, figure out a date and time for the draft
- Ensure buy-in Moment submission three days prior to draft date, and escalate any communication issues accordingly to the NLL Council
- Set-up of the actual league in ESPN, and rule modifications as set forth in this article
- Ensure league members set lineups and display activity in the league, as needed
League Participant
- Once assigned to a league, gift your buy-in Moment to NineLivesLounge at least three days prior to your draft date
- Set your lineups every week
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What if a leaguemember leaves the NLL before the season concludes?
A. NLL membership is only required at sign-up. Rewards will be distributed based on positioning at the end of the season and will not take NLL membership into consideration.
Q. What if a leaguemember stops setting their lineup?
A. First of all, please don’t do this. Please make a minimal effort to keep your league competitive, no matter how good or bad your team ends up being. If a leaguemember stops setting their lineup, and every attempt at communicating to them comes up with nothing, then please escalate to the NLL Council and we can talk through a replacement team owner. The original team owner would forfeit any potential prize winnings and the new team owner would be eligible for end of season rewards.
Q. My league had what appears to me to be a lopsided trade. Can I veto?
A. The general rule of thumb is that vetoes will be disabled for all leagues, however each Commissioner can change this if they wish. At the end of the day, we should all be respectful of our fellow NLL members by ensuring no obviously lopsided trades are sent and accepted. If there is evidence of any collusion between leaguemates, escalate the situation to the NLL Council and a determination can be made. Punishments may include forfeiture of any potential winnings and forfeit of their teams. But let’s not do this, please. We are a Lounge of integrity and therefore will have Leagues of integrity.
Q. What if I have a last minute conflict and miss my scheduled draft time?
A. Please make every effort to attend your draft. If you absolutely cannot make it, you have two options: A) Let your team auto-draft, per ESPN default rules, or B) Find someone who can draft on your behalf, and either add them as an owner to your team in ESPN (allowing them to draft), or share your login credentials (not recommended) and let them draft that way.
Q. What if my league wants to change one of the rules set forth above?
A. Ultimately, decisions can be made on a league by league basis and will be handled by the Commissioner of each respective league. It is recommended that in order for a rule to be changed, a majority vote of >50% of owners are in favor of the change.
