Preface:
Our goal is to have a fair and balanced league consisting of highly active and competitive owners. We’re looking for people that will take it seriously enough to be fair and competitive, but also realize we do this for fun, and don’t take things personally. This document is to put in place the basic framework for the league, and to set out expectations for league members as well as the commissioner.
League Configuration:
The Reel Dynasty League (TRDL) will be hosted on MyFantasyLeague.com.
The TRDL will consist of twelve (12) franchises separated into three (3) divisions of (4) franchises each.
This is a Dynasty league, so all players will be kept until the owner involves that player in a transaction (trade or drop).
Important Dates
| February 1st | Deadline to renew your franchise for the following season |
| February 15th | First day of new season |
| March | Off-season Free-Agency begins on the Wednesday following NFL season start |
| NFL Draft | Rookie draft begins between 5 days and 3 weeks after |
| Thurs Week 1 (Noon) | Last Day to put a player on Development Squad |
| Thurs Week 12 | Trade Deadline |
Annual Fees
The annual fees will be due to the Commissioner, Rick Scott, no later than the 1st of February. No transaction or other league activity will be allowed until fees are paid.
League fees will be $50 per season plus $7 per season to pay for use of MyFantasyLeague website. With twelve (12) franchises, payout will be $600.
For the inaugural season, entry fees are due 1 week prior to the start up draft.
Awards/Payout
Weekly High Score (Reg Season only) – $140 ($10/Week)
Division Winner – $120 ($40/Division)
TRDL Bowl Loser – $110
TRDL Bowl Champion – $230
Divisions
Divisions will be assigned/aligned yearly geographically by longitude, with an East, Central and West divisions.
Divisions will be re-aligned each off-season, if a team is moved (based on Owner address). The cut off-date for re-location is August 1.
Roster
Each owner will carry a maximum of 50 players on their active roster throughout the year. There is no minimum roster requirement.
Each franchise will have a developmental squad which may hold up to 6 players.
Starting Lineups:
All starting lineups will consist of the following:
1 Quarterback
2 Running Backs
3 Wide Receivers
1 Tight End
1 Offensive SuperFlex (QB/RB/WR/TE)
1 Offensive Flex (RB/WR/TE)
2 Defensive Linemen
3 Linebackers
3 Defensive Backs
1 Defensive Flex
Players are locked in at the kick-off of their game. An owner may change the starting lineup status for a player whose game has not yet started.
The starting lineup may not include any players on bye week or players listed as out or inactive according to the league’s final injury report on game day.
Illegal Lineups:
An illegal lineup is any submitted line up that doesn’t have 18 players that played a snap in a game. MFL denotes anyone that doesn’t take a snap with a single 0 in the weekly scoring report.
An illegal line up will result in escalating penalties with could include expulsion from the league (with no refund for that season). Point additions are added to your potential point total for the season to determine draft positions.
1st – No Point Deduction, No Fine
2nd – 75 point addition
3rd/4th – 75 point additions & $5 fine
5th/6th – 75 point additions & $10 fine
7th – Expulsion from the league
Schedule:
The regular season will last from Week 1 of the NFL season until Week 14 of the NFL season.
Each franchise plays the other three (3) franchises in their division two (2) times during the season. Each franchise will play the other eight (8) franchises one time.
Victory Points:
This league will make use of Victory Points (VP). Victory Points make the schedule a little less influential in determining who makes the playoffs, and where they are seeded.
Each team will get 2 VP for a win, 1 VP for a tie, and 0 VP for a loss in their weekly match up.
Teams will also be awarded VP based on the number of points they score relative to the rest of the league. Teams will get 2 VP for being in the top 4 in points for a week, 1 VP for being 5th – 8th in points for a week, and 0 VP for being in the bottom 4 for the week.
TRDL Bowl (Playoffs):
Playoffs begin in Week 15 of the NFL season, and finish with Week 17 of the NFL season.
All playoff positions will be set by Victory Points.
The playoffs will include the top six (6) franchises in the league. Each of the division winners, and the three (3) highest remaining franchises.
The teams will be seeded first by Division winners (#1-#3), then Wildcard teams (#4-#6).
The top two seeds will receive first round byes, and the #3 and #6 seeds and the #4 and #5 seeds will face off. In Week 15, the #1 seed will face the lowest remaining seed, with the #2 seed facing the other remaining franchise.
Consolation Round:
The six (6) franchises that do not make the playoffs, will participate in a consolation round, with franchises seeded in order of finish.
The consolation round will run the same as the playoff round, with the bottom two (2) seeds getting a first round bye, and there being a re-seeding in the 2nd round (opposite of the main playoff draw, so #6 plays lowest available).
The winner of the consolation round will earn a compensatory pick between rounds two (2) and three (3) of the following season’s rookie draft (2.13).
The compensatory pick is eligible to be traded.
Tie Breakers:
During the regular season, any ties will be counted as a tie.
A tie in the playoffs will be broken by the following:
1. Combined score of 2 highest scoring bench players
In the event of a tie for the division title, the following tie breakers will be used:
- Overall Winning Percentage
- Divisional Winning Percentage
- Head to Head record
- Total points scored
- All Play Winning Percentage
In the event of a tie for a playoff position, the following tie breakers will be used:
- Overall Winning Percentage
- Total Points Scored
- All Play Winning Percentage
Start-up Draft
The initial start-up draft will begin on April 1st (or sooner, if we fill the league fast enough) and will be a 35 round draft with a serpentine format so the franchise with the first pick in the first round picks last in the 2nd around, and all even numbered rounds.
Start-up draft picks may be traded prior to and during the draft. There doesn’t have to be an even number of start up draft picks traded.
The draft order for both the start-up and initial rookie drafts will be selected in a snake draft by franchise owners. The draft order for that will be set by a random number generator. Determination of this draft order will be done by the Commissioner in the presence of at least one other owner and one outside party once the franchises have all been assigned. Owners will select which spot they want to draft in for either the rookie draft or the start-up draft when it’s their turn to pick.
The start-up draft will use a 12 hour clock for each pick. The draft clock will be turned off at midnight, and begin again at 8am.
Trades
All trades must be submitted through the league website, and are pending commissioner approval. Commissioner approval is only to confirm future seasons fees are paid for any draft pick trades.
The trade deadline will be the kick-off of the first game of Week 12 of the NFL season.
Off-season trading is allowed once each franchise has paid their full league fees for the following season. Off-season trading may begin as early as the Monday following the Igloo Bowl.
We will have a league imposed moratorium on trades when we move to a new season on MFL. Basically it just prevents any trades from happening on the old season, and not being reflected on the new season site.
If an owner thinks a deal is unfair, he has 48 hours to bring that to the attention of the Commissioner. The Commissioner will then make a decision regarding the validity of the trade. The only reason a Commissioner will veto a trade is suspected collusion. If that happens, both managers will be removed from the league as well.
Once a player has been traded to a franchise, his former franchise may not acquire through trade, that same player for at least three (3) weeks. This is basically to prevent teams from trading players back and forth to cover byes.
All trades must satisfy roster limits. Teams will have some time to move appropriate players to TS if necessary. Sometimes multi-team deals will require a team to go over their limit temporarily (since the site doesn’t handle 3 team deals). Run these through the Commissioner prior to making the deals, and he’ll assist if necessary.
Waivers/Free Agency
In season waivers will be decided using a blind bidding system.
Each franchise starts each season with $1000 bidding bucks.
All players will go on waivers once their game has started for the week.
If a player is dropped accidentally, that owner has one hour to contact the Commissioner in order to reverse the transaction. The Commissioner will use best judgement to resolve this situation. If the player’s game (or a promoted/added player’s game as a result) has started prior to receiving notification, the request will be denied.
Waivers will remain closed during the rookie draft. Franchises will still be able to drop players to remain within roster and contract limits during this time.
There will be no waiver claims from the end of the season, until the week of the NFL season rollover, with the first waiver processing occurring that Friday.
During the off-season, all ties in blind bidding will be broken by earliest bid (if you change your bid, obviously the bid time changes to reflect that). During the season ties are broken by performance, with worst teams getting preference.
MFL does not give the option to eliminate rookies from off-season bidding, so there will be penalties for attempting to add a player with Rookie designation prior to the TRDL Rookie Draft. The first offense will be a forfeiture of $50BB. The second offense will cost you $200BB. The 3rd offense will have your BB$ emptied (so you wont be able to sign any players other than FCFS), and a $10 fine. In all instances, the player will be returned to the player pool, and any player dropped to sign that player will also be forfeited.
Rookie Draft
The rookie draft will be 5 rounds in length, and non-serpentine (owner of the first pick, picks first in each round).
The draft will begin within 1 month after the completion of the NFL draft, with the date each year being determined prior to the NFL draft.
Any rookie that has been drafted and/or signed by an NFL franchise is eligible to be drafted. The player must have rookie designation on MFL in order to be eligible.
The rookie draft will use a 6 hour clock for each pick. The draft clock will be turned off at midnight, and begin again at 7am.
An owner may use all or none of their picks. Once an owner has decided not to use any further picks, please notify the Commissioner so those picks can be skipped in a timely manner.
If an owner misses his pick, that owner should contact the Commissioner with his pick as soon as possible, and/or post the pick on the message board for all to see. Any picks made in the interim by other franchises are ineligible to be picked. The timestamp on any email/post will be considered official.
Once the final pick in the draft has been made, no other picks can be made or traded, even if picks have been missed.
Trading of draft picks will be allowed up to two (2) seasons in advance. Any trading of first or second round picks will be processed pending Commissioner approval, and will require the owner trading away the pick to pay half of league fees for the year in question.
If the owner trading away draft picks still maintains a pick in the 1st & 2nd round for that draft year, no pre-payment is necessary.
If payment is not received by the Commissioner the trade will not be processed. If it’s getting close to the trade deadline, you may want to pay ahead just in case.
The order for the rookie draft for the first season will be determined as mentioned above.
In following seasons the draft order will be determined in this fashion:
1. 6th in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
2. 5th in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
3. 4th in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
4. 3rd in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
5. 2nd in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
6. 1st in Potential Points of Non-Playoff Teams
7. Lower Potential Points of 1st round losers
8. Higher Potential Points of 1st round losers
9. Lower Potential Points of semi-finalists
10. Higher Potential Points of semi-finalists
11. League Runner-up
12. Champion
**Note: positions 1 through 10 will include any penalties in the potential points calculation.
There will be a compensatory pick at the end of the 2nd round (2.13) for the winner of the consolation playoff round.
Development Squad
Instead of assigning rookies directly to the roster, owners may choose to place the rookie on the franchise’s development squad.
The development squad can hold up to six (6) players in total.
Only rookies may be assigned to your development squad. Undrafted free agents may be assigned to your squad, but they must be designated by MFL as rookies.
Any rookies added after the listed deadline must go on the active roster, with the exception of a trade for a player on another franchise’s taxi squad.
A player may be activated to the active roster from the development squad at any time, but they must fit within your active roster.
Players may stay on a development squad for up to two seasons. They must be added to your active roster, or dropped at the end of their 2nd season in the league.
Players on the active roster may not be moved back to the development squad once activated.
Players on the development squad may be traded. The owner receiving the player has to decide whether to put them on the active roster or their development squad (if a spot is available).
In the initial season (2014), you will be able to put 2nd year players on your development squad (as players are allowed to be on it for 2 seasons, and there was no 2013 season). They will have to be added to your active roster or released at the end of that season. They don’t get 2 years on the development squad, as rookies are eligible for.
Owner Activity
All owners are expected to be active year round.
Owners should vote in each poll initiated by the Commissioner on the league website
Owners should participate in league discussion through email or the league message board.
Owners should respond to all trade offers in a timely manner. Any trade offers that go without response for one week’s time should be reported to the Commissioner.
Owners should select the option to receive an email notification of trade offers.
Owners will receive a warning for if it becomes a problem. After the official warning, the owner will be fined $5 for the next violation, and $10 for the next violation. The third strike in a season is expulsion from the league.
If an owner is removed from the league for any violation of league rules or by his own choice, the Commissioner will take charge of the franchise until a replacement owner can be found and approved.
The Commissioner will not perform any transactions on behalf of the abandoned franchise and the line up will be entered based on projections for the week.
New owners require a majority vote to be approved (7 votes, or 6 if the Commissioner chooses to abstain).
Tanking
Tanking in any form will not be tolerated in this league.
Starting lineups should be submitted as complete and in the best interest of the franchise.
If an owner is accused of not submitting the best lineup, the Commissioner will make a ruling.
If an owner is guilty of tanking, he will be removed from the league immediately.
Commissioner
The Commissioner will act in the best interest of the league at all times.
The Commissioner accepts the following responsibilities:
Interpret and enforce rules.
Settle all disputes between owners.
Removing the Commissioner is a serious situation and should be considered a last resort.
Should the need arise for the Commissioner to be removed, a 75% majority would be required.
If the Commissioner needs to step down and requires replacement, 8 votes will be required for the replacement.
Rule Changes
This section applies after the first season as we may try to get some kinks out during the first year.
Rule changes may be proposed by any league member at any time.
Rule changes will only be voted on during the off-season and require a 2/3 majority (8 votes) to pass.
Scoring changes (or fee/prize changes) will only be voted on during the off-season and require 3/4 majority (9 votes) to pass.
Rule change discussions will begin the Saturday after the TRDL Bowl.
If a rule change receives 100% approval it may be implemented immediately. Otherwise franchises will have a 1 season grace period prior to the rule taking effect (other than scoring change).
Owner Leaving
If an owner chooses to leave a poor franchise and they have traded away their draft picks (thus having paid for seasons in advance), they will forfeit the entry fees for those seasons, in order to give an owner willing to take over a franchise that has been gutted of draft picks a grace period to get the franchise back in order.
If the owner has left the franchise in reasonable shape, they will be awarded their money for future seasons back. This will be determined by a poll of no less than 5 seasoned Dynasty Football players external to the league (basically I’ll set up a poll of owners in one of my other leagues).
Franchise Expansion/Change of Ownership
If more than one prospective owner is applying to join the league, all prospective owners will give us reasons why they should be given a franchise and the entire league will vote on who gets the available franchises.
If there are 2 prospectives for one franchise, a straight vote will be held with the majority (7 votes) winning.
If there are more than 2 prospective owners or available franchises an X place ballot will be held with X points for a first place vote down to 1 points for an Xth place vote. The prospective owners with the most votes will be awarded the available franchises.
If there is only one franchise changing ownership, the new owner will take over the franchise as is.
If there are multiple franchises available at one time, the new owners will hold a dispersal draft of the available assets (players with contracts and draft picks) for the open franchises. A random number generator will decide the order of the draft, and it will be a serpentine format.