Welcome to the first of our weekly looks inside the world of high-stakes fantasy football. The two big games are the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) with a first prize of $100,000 and the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) with a first prize of $300,000. The CREATiVESPORTS crew will field teams in both events in 2007.
Each week one of our CREATiVESPORTS participants will chime in on a topic relevant to the NFFC and/or WCOFF. The topics are free-form and our writers have no problem speaking their minds.
A little background on each event…
The NFFC will hold their drafts on Saturday September 1st with over 350 teams in four cities. Drafts will be held simultaneously in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, and Tampa. The NFFC is not your typical 12-team per league get together. No way. The NFFC, run by Greg Ambrosius, is truly on the leading edge of creating a unique high-stakes fantasy football game. The NFFC has been on the leading edge of enhancements to the game, starting with 14-team leagues, moving to “Kentucky Derby Selection (KDS)” draft order, and the introduction in 2007 of “3RR.” The Kentucky Derby method for selecting your draft spot gives each player more control over having their preferred draft slot. Instead of the first name out of the hat receiving the first pick and the second receiving the second pick, KDS allows each owner to set their own preferences. Maybe I really do not want the first or second draft pick but would rather have the 12th, 13th, or 8th pick. I can pre-set my preferences to have the 12th, 13th, and 8th slots as my first three choices and fill out the list from their. Then if they pull my name out of the hat first, I receive my first choice (the 12th pick) instead of the 1st pick. Not everyone receives their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choices but a whole lot more receive them as opposed to random selection.
Do you think the player with the 1st or 2nd draft slot has an unfair advantage? Recent history shows a bias towards the teams selecting near the top of the draft. As a possible method to even the odds, the NFFC is introducing 3RR in 2007. In a typical snake draft, the first four rounds go 1-14, 14-1, 1-14, and 14-1. Under that scenario, the team with the first pick also receives picks 28 and 29. Under 3RR rules, the first four rounds go 1-14, 14-1, 14-1, and 1-14. In 3RR, the team with the first pick does not receive the 28th and 29th picks, but rather the 28th and 42nd picks. It is not know whether there will be a real impact or not, but the introduction of an alternative method forces players to think harder about where they want to draft.
The WCOFF is the bigger of the two events, expecting to field close to 1,000 teams in 2007 after hosting 840 teams in 2006. The WCOFF originated as a Las Vegas-only league before expanding to Atlantic City in 2006 and adding Orlando in 2007. I had the opportunity to participate in the WCOFF in 2004 and 2005 when all the teams drafted in Las Vegas and there was nothing quite like it. Image a fantasy draft with 800 of your closest friends, all in one huge room. That was the WCOFF in 2005. The atmosphere was absolutely tremendous. The entire weekend is great, starting with auction leagues on Friday, the main event drafts Saturday morning, and the ESPN Zone party on Saturday night. Then the games begin the very next day. Emil Kadlec and Lenny Pappano created an incredible event (or series of events) and now turn over the reigns to Jesse Herron and Dustin Ashby from Gridiron Fantasy Sports LLC. The WCOFF introduced the concept of playing head-to-head and total points at the same time. With 12 teams per league, the WCOFF plays an 11-week head-to-head schedule with league championship games in week twelve. One other unique feature of the WCOFF is holding the draft after the NFL has played one regular season game, the Thursday night opener. You can still select the players from that game, and you receive their stats from the game retroactively. In the past those games have not had a significant impact on the outcome of the event or movement of many marquee players. 2007 figures to be different as two of the highest scoring offenses get together on Thursday. The Colts-Saints game features eight players that are already guaranteed to go high in any fantasy draft. The intrigue around how a very good or very poor game affects the likes of Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister, and Marques Colston is fascinating. The season goes by quickly and you better have your game face on opening day or it could be too late to recover.
Draft day for the NFFC is just one week away and draft day for WCOFF is just two weeks away. I am having trouble sleeping at nights going through draft scenarios.
Good luck and have fun!