Erie Fantasy Sports Classic Leagues - Rules - Great Lakes Fantasy Football Leagues

GREAT LAKES FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUES

Erie Fantasy Sports Classic League Rules

Section I - General

1. The Franchise Fee is $75.00.

2. Each of the three (3) divisions will consist of four (4) teams.

3. All teams must maintain minimum roster requirements (i.e. a Quarterback, 1-2 Running Backs, 3-4 Wide Receivers, a Tight End, a Place Kicker and a Team Defense) during the regular season.

4. Off-Season Rookie and Remaining Free Agent drafting periods begin each year on May 15th and continue four more times before the start of the regular season (June 15, July 15, August 1 and August 31). The teams with the worst regular season records the previous season will have the first opportunity to select rookies and free agents in May. Each draft round will follow the same order as there is no use of the serpentine format.

5. Teams may request a replacement selection for a missed draft pick, provided the current draft round has not been completed. For example, an owner who misses the 5th overall pick in May, can only request a replacement selection up until the time the final pick is made during May's round. Missed draft picks may not be traded, beginning with the 2006 season.

6. Any player on the roster may be traded during the off-season. Before trades are approved, both owners participating must pay a $37.50 down payment of their $75 entry fee to ensure that they will return for the upcoming season.

Section II - Scoring

1. The scoring method will be combined (basic + performance) with points awarded as follows:

RUSHING - 1 point every 10 yards, 5 every touchdown, 2 for conv., 1 point every 10 carries
RECEIVING - 1 point every 10 yards, 5 every touchdown, 2 for conv., 1 point every 2 receptions
PASSING - 1 point every 25 yards, 5 every touchdown, 2 for conv., 1 point every 8 completions
KICKING - 3 points every field goal (0-49 yards), 4 points every field goal (50 yards plus), 1 point every PAT
NFL TEAM - 5 points for Special Teams and Defensive TDs (Fumble, interception, blocked punt, blocked FG return, punt return, kickoff return), 2 points for safeties, 1 point for interceptions, 1 point for fumble recoveries, 1 point for sacks, 8 points for team shutout; Total Net Yards Allowed - 0 to 199, 8 points; 200 to 259, 6 points; 260 to 319, 4 points; 320 to 379, 2 points

2. Points for kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns will only be awarded to the NFL Team, not individual players.

3. Tie games are possible during the regular season. During the playoffs, the tiebreaker used to decide the contest will be the highest scoring starting player (not the defense), second highest scoring, etc.

Section III - Trading and Transactions

1. All transaction requests must be submitted via the web site to the commissioner's office no later than 11 p.m. EST on Thursday night. Free agents will be awarded to teams on a worst-to-first basis (record, total points, power ranking). These requests will be processed and posted to your respective teams immediately after transactions are processed. You can select up to TWO Free Agents per week. If adding a player or players will take you over the roster size limits for this league, you will also need to designate a player to be dropped for each player you are requesting to add. Leaving the dropped player field blank will cause the following to happen - the system will SKIP OVER anyone who would be in violation of the roster size restrictions by adding a player. You could be the first owner on the waiver priority list but you WILL NOT get your player if you fail to designate a drop at the same time.

2. All trades must be approved and forwarded to the commissioner's office no later than Saturday evening at 9 p.m. EST in order to ensure that the players involved are available for Sunday's games.

3. If a trade is made with an uneven combination of players (2 for 1, 3 for 2, etc.), the team receiving the extra player must immediately notify the commissioner's office regarding who will be dropped to keep the roster size at 20. While teams are permitted to start play with a roster size below 20, they are not allowed to go above that number. Failure to report a drop to the commissioner in this circumstance will result in the trade being voided.

4. Both teams need to give approval and list terms of the trade for it to be confirmed. This must be done through the league's web site. Once approved by the league commissioner, the trade will be official. Trade results will be posted on the web site for each league. As a trade is approved, the team(s) rosters will automatically be updated and a transaction record will be listed.

5. A player cannot be traded back to a team until four (4) games have passed.

6. The league has the ability to call for a trade veto within 48 hours of the trade becoming official during the regular season and 72 hours of the trade becoming official during the off-season. Making a case to call for a veto vote must consist of something more substantial than "I don't agree with the trade and I want to vote against it." The owner calling for the veto should post a rationale on the league message board and send out an email to the commissioner for consideration by the entire league. Once this occurs, the trade will be voted on by a 12-member panel of the GLFFL's Board of Directors, consisting of the owners who have the longest tenure and most representation in the GLFFL. This way, deals can be decided by individuals who are unbiased since they are not a part of the league in question. In the event that members of the Board of Directors are involved in the trade in question, they must abstain from the voting procedure. Trades will be vetoed if 60 percent (seven panelists) vote for a reversal within the 48-72 hour period.

7. During the off-season, you can make as many trades per month as you wish. They also have to be submitted via the web site by both parties to the league commissioner. Upon approval, they will be listed on the web site.

8. Owners are permitted to submit the names of starting players up until the respective player's game time. Once a game has begun, all players participating in that game are either locked in as a starter or as a bench player. Lineups should be submitted through the league's web site.

9. Owners are not permitted to trade transaction slots.

10. You will be responsible for fielding a complete team during bye weeks. No carryover points will be awarded for position players or NFL teams.

11. No trades will be permitted following the kickoff of Week Eleven's games. The Thursday after the 13th regular season game is the last week to make drop/add transactions, meaning rosters will be locked for the duration of the playoffs.

Section IV - Playoffs and Payouts

1. In order to determine division championships and playoff seedings, the following tiebreaker system will be used:

1.) Best W/L Record,
2.) Head to Head Competition,
2a.) Best Division Record,
3.) Most Points Scored All Games,
4.) Best Net Points Head to Head,
4a.) Best Net Points Division Games,
5.) Least Points Allowed All Games,
6.) Coin Flip.

2. Division statistics (2a,4a) are used to resolve division ties only. Playoff seedings WILL NOT consider these values. With playoff seedings, once the division winners have been seeded, all other teams will be seeded based on overall record, head-to-head and then total points scored. In the event of a tie involving three or more teams, head-to-head can only be used as the tiebreaker if one team has a definitive advantage over the others (i.e. Team A defeated both Team B and Team C, therefore they earn the higher seed based on head-to-head.) If no definitive advantage can be derived for any one team (teams split season series, some teams involved in the tie did not play), the tiebreaker will automatically be decided using total points scored.

3. Three (3) division champions and three (3) wild-card teams will qualify for the playoffs. The two division winners with the best records will receive a first round bye and the first and second seeds. The other division winner will be the third seed and the wild-card teams will be seeded fourth, fifth and sixth using the tiebreaking formula above. Division Winner (#1 seed) plays #4 and the #2 seed plays #3. Wild-card weekend will be held during week #14 of the NFL season.

4. The winners advance to the conference semi-finals. The lowest seed to advance plays the highest seeded division winner, with each successive seed taking on the lowest advancing seed. This action will take place on week #15 of the NFL season.

5. The winners will square off for the Erie Fantasy Sports League Championship. This action will take place on week #16 of the NFL season. The champion will receive a check for $400 while the runner-up receives $150. The two other teams finishing in the final four will receive $50 each. The two other playoff teams will receive $25 each. GLFFL is not responsible for the taxes on the prizes of the winner.

Section V - Miscellaneous Items

1. All lineups must consist of a Quarterback, 1-2 Running Backs, 3-4 Wide Receivers, a Tight End, a Place Kicker and a Team Defense.

2. Rosters will consist of 20 players. The eleven (11) reserves on your roster may consist of any number of quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, kickers, or NFL teams. It is your responsibility to maintain your roster at all times. If a team goes over the 20 spots (by free agent pickup or trade) the transaction or transactions will not be processed for that week. Teams in the Erie Fantasy Sports Classic Leagues keep their entire ENTIRE roster from season to season. New players are added during the off-season drafting periods, and your team will need to drop a player (if at 20 players on roster) if you're acquiring one.

3. The act of "throwing games" (losing on purpose by turning in a lineup filled of players that normally would not play) is not tolerated in the Great Lakes Fantasy Football Leagues. We will revert your starting lineup back to a typical lineup for games that are tried to be thrown and further action will also take place (i.e. possible removal from the league without refund).

In every instance where a team has found to intentionally lose a game by submitting a bogus lineup, that owner will immediately be REMOVED from the league in question. When other instances arise, teams will be REMOVED the moment the indiscretions are discovered, whether they happened this year or in a previous year.

The REMOVAL involves the leagues in question only. After one year has passed, the offending owner has the opportunity to apply for reinstatement to that league. Reinstatement can only take place if 60 percent (seven panelists) of the GLFFL's Board of Directors vote for REINSTATEMENT. Other leagues are not impacted, although a meticulous study will begin on those other franchises to see if tanking games occurred at any time in the history of that club.

In addition, the offending owner will be placed on a PERMANENT PROBATIONARY STATUS in all other leagues, meaning any other incident of intentionally throwing games will result in PERMANENT EXPULSION from ALL GLFFL LEAGUES for LIFE.