Owners Leaving/Free League vs. $ League

[chargersdiehard]

In 2010 I joined a league that had what I wanted to a tee. That was a league with year round activity. After the 2010 season and with the whole CBA league and nothing happening I was not surprised that there was no activity going on. However, once football was returning no one was coming to the site including the commissioner. It was a free league.

I went to the site administrator and was able to get the league turned over to me. I recruited a new 9 owners as only three of the 12 owners returned. I kept it as a free league and paid the site fee on my own.

Now we are starting off-season activity and I have had five owners disappear and after attempting to get responses by way of email, pm, phone messages and text messages have received no response. I had a waiting list so have filled four of the five spots and am starting the search for the other team today.

My question is: Do commissioners that charge a fee see this type of turnover on a annual basis? And my second question is: Do owners that charge a fee have a hard time recruiting owners versus those that have a free league?

Any input would be appreciated.

[Hags888]

I haven't ever participated in a $ league, so I can't really say. What I can tell you is that I've been a part of 2 free leagues that have existed for the past 2-3 years with mostly the same team owners. One league had a couple of minor changes as a guy quit, and the other league started as a 10-team league and all 10 returned, plus 2 new owners. We'll see what happens going into next season with both leagues. But, turnover hasn't been a huge issue in those free leagues. Who knows if that's the norm or not, and I can't speak for $ leagues.

[sorcerer]

I have played in free leagues on CBSsportsline and I have been the commissioner of a $$ league for many years. What I found about the free leagues is that a number of players quit after seven or eight weeks of losing. Once eliminated from any hope of the playoffs, they simply stopped managing their teams and a number of active owners get “free wins” as the season moves towards the playoffs. In my opinion, this is not an ideal situation. I’m not saying it is like this in all free leagues, just the public ones I have played in.

I learned quite a bit from observing this. It was pretty commonplace in my $$ league as well until I instituted a small weekly payout for the high scorer in the league. This keeps everyone involved. Even if they are eliminated from playoff contention, if they make the right waiver moves and choose a good starting lineup they have a chance to take the weekly pot.

As far as continuity from year-to-year goes, unless you have a full league of fantasy football fanatics, you will always be looking for players to fill in. The top reasons that I have had players drop out over the years is divorce, financial difficulties, time commitments and inability to compete with the best players in the league. I had to come to grips with this. Some players aren’t “all in” and think this fantasy thing is going to be easy money and when it isn’t they say the hell with it.

However in my overall opinion, if you risk nothing it’s much easier to walk away. I hope this helps.

[sorcerer]

Let me also say that it is much easier retaining owners from year-to-year being a keeper league. The owners have something to come back to. Finally, it is much easier to recruit new players in a free league. In a $ league, the commissioner must be trusted by the owners or something like League Safe must be set up.

[DeathStar]

I've been the commissioner of a money league for 9 years now. I find that no matter what kind of league you run you will always have some turnover issues. I find in money leagues there is alot less turnover. Because people who put up money generally care more about it than average fantasy players.

There will always be turnover in fantasy leagues. There are however some things you can do as commissioner to limit turnover(especially in a money league).

1. Take it seriously - There is nothing serious managers hate more than a commissioner who doesn't care about the league.
2. Have clearly defined rules - WRITE them out and post them on your leagues homepage. And this should cover everything from league operations, scoring, manager removal, and code of conduct.
3. Have a good scoring system - The better the scoring system the more likely managers are to stick around.
4. Recruit to your league - Recruit managers that match the personality of your league. If you have a hyper-competitive league people who are more laid back are less likely to return.

My league is full of managers who love fantasy football and want to have fun playing it. So I endeavor to provide them with a league that is excellence to play in and has big $$$ for the winner.

[murphysxm]

Every league I participate in is for money. I used to do a couple freebies, but found it frustrating to have so many owners not vested and not making transactions. There is always turnover, but having skin in the game helps ensure those owners in the league are going to care at some level.