How It Works
Like snake drafts, people take turns selecting players in a serpentine format. Instead of simply adding players to their rosters, however, participants place them "on the auction block." An opening bid is introduced and auction-style bidding follows ("Going once...Going twice...Sold!"). The league has a preset, imaginary salary cap (e.g. $200) that people cannot go over. The highest bidder adds the player to his or her roster and the winning bid is subtracted from that bidder's salary cap. This process continues until all the rosters are full.

Takes The Draft To The Next Level
As mentioned above, the added dimensions of bidding and salary cap management changes the draft from a relatively slow, wait-and-pick game to one of strategy and guts. The following reasons are why so many savvy fans have switched and have never looked back:

1. Auctions Are Much More Fair. Everyone is on equal footing because they have a chance to get any player, no matter what their draft position is. If you get stuck with the 12th pick in a 12-team snake draft league, you have no chance at any of the franchise players. In an auction, you have as good a chance as any to get players like LaDainian Tomlinson or Priest Holmes - as long as you’re willing to pay the "going market price." Draft position simply doesn’t matter, so it evens the playing field tremendously.

2. Auctions Are More Flexible. In a snake draft, you’re forced to get players evenly distributed throughout the draft (i.e. one 1st rounder, one 2nd rounder, one 3rd rounder, etc.). In an auction, you can build whatever team you want, however you want. You can spend 70% of your cap on two or three can’t-miss 1st-rounders. In an auction, you can have both LaDainian Tomlinson and Randy Moss on the same team or Shaun Alexander and Willis McGahee in the same backfield. If, however, you feel that too many 1st-rounders turn into season-breaking busts year after year, you can skip all of them and go after a bunch of 2nd- to 4th-rounders. How about a lineup of Donovan McNabb at QB, Jamal Lewis and J.J. Arrington at RB, and Chad Johnson and Steve Smith at WR? If you feel a more balanced team is the way to go (like in a snake draft), you can also build such a team, but now you have much more control on which players to target. If you're a big Bucs fan and think their offense is on the upswing, you can make sure they’re all on your squad. If you just have to have Brett Favre on your team, he’s yours. You can pick your battles much more effectively, allowing you to have your "fantasy" team makeup.
   
   
3. Auctions Are More Fun. More than half an hour can go by between picks in a snake draft, making much of it a spectator sport. In an auction, you can bid on players you don't want just to drive the price up. Each time a player is placed on the auction block, the whole league can participate, making the process much more interactive. Not only will everyone’s hearts beat a little faster every time "Going twice" is called out, but there are also more opportunities to turn on each other and talk trash about it.

4. Auctions Are More Strategic. Part of what makes auctions so fun is how much strategy is involved. In a snake draft, the only strategy revolves around "what position should I take in X round," which is followed by the more exciting "everyone after me already has a QB/RB/WR, so I can wait until next round to get mine." The auction draft changes this mindless who’s-next-on-my-cheat-sheet game into one with as much strategy as chess and poker - all rolled into one. Can I drive the price up more or am I going to get stuck with a player I don't want? Should I save my salary cap space for the upcoming bargains or am I going to miss out on all the quality players? When will the bargains be? What kind of a team do I want to build? Should I overpay for the last franchise RB on the board? How do I convince people I want players I really don’t? What other mind games can I play?

Regardless of all these reasons, the best way to convince you is just to have you try it; and it’s never been easier with our online auction rooms at FantasyAuctioneer.com (mock auctions are free). Try it now against 11 computer players or log into our site and join or create a public or private auction to go up against real people. Get auction tips from some of the best fantasy minds in the business and look through the results and analysis of several expert auctions. Here are some great tips for beginners. You’ll quickly find out how easy it is to prepare for your auction. Hop on the auction bandwagon and you’ll never look back!