I’ve decided to try my hand at high-stakes fantasy football this year, after taking a number of years off from spending little more than a pittance on league fees in the couple of annual money leagues I do compete in. I see that big grand prize up for grabs and think, why not me?
Sure, it sounds like my parents’ retirement plan to win the lottery, but in this case my odds are considerably better. Plus, even if I crash and burn, I’ve written some articles for FFToday and you guys can have a good laugh at my expense.
In terms of just weighing the options, the Footballguys contest operated by Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) does set itself apart by escrowing the prize fund. I find the 1.5 points per reception for TE interesting, but I’m not sure I’m that in love with the TE position being so valuable that they jump off the draft board before players normally more worthy.
The National Fantasy Football Championship Online Championship (NFFC), despite its tongue-twister of a name, seems to strike a great balance between unique rules and strong payouts. I like the Kentucky Derby Style (KDS) draft preference system, which gives you some opportunity to choose your draft pick. The jury is still out for me on 3rd Round Reversal (3RR) draft order. I’d probably just prefer a regular serpentine draft order.
WCFF has a nice-looking smaller-scale contest here, as it is capped at 144 teams. And for those who love head-to-head competition rather than total points deciding things, this is the one to go with. The league championship is a head-to-head game between the top two teams through eleven weeks, and the championship bracket uses a 16-team head-to-head elimination bracket to determine the grand prize winner. Honestly, I don’t mind total points, as I do think it reduces the luck associated with head-to-head matchups and better recognizes the best teams.
RotoBowl doesn’t appear to be associated with FHM anymore, but Ray Rice is the commissioner. Yes, that Ray Rice! That is pretty cool, but really not a huge consideration here. No offense to the RotoBowl players out there—although I’m not sure how this can come off any differently—but I have a feeling the competition in RotoBowl may be not quite as tough as the other contests. Hey, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right? That is a good thing for someone planning to win. What I’m not crazy about is the uncertainty about the number of teams in RotoBowl. Those estimated payout percentages may be too low, but they may just as easily be too high depending on how RotoBowl entries are selling.
As mentioned last time, some of the decision about which contests to enter is going to come down to scheduling. For example, the WCFF draft dates and times just didn’t work for me. Ultimately, I decided to join the FFPC drafting on Thursday August 26 at 10:00pm Eastern, and the NFFC drafting Monday September 6 at 9:00pm Eastern.
Wish me luck! I’ll be back with draft reviews from each event.
