Auction Leagues In 2005

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 8:03 am

I'm seeking input on the Auction Leagues for 2005 and trying to figure out the right formula for getting more leagues in each city. We had two in Las Vegas, one in New York and zero in Chicago in 2004 and we certainly want to promote the fun of Auction Leagues if possible. This year's payout of $7,000 for first place in the AL and $7,500 in the NL were good, but I'm not sure if keeping the entry fee at $1,250 is the right price point or not.

I'll throw out some scenarios to the group and seek input on this thread. I know we did this before, but let's try it again.

Okay, first the schedule:

** Last year we ran the AL and NL Auctions at the same time on Friday night. I know it might be tougher in New York to do this, but maybe we should host the NL Auction Leagues in each city at 11 a.m. and then the AL Auction Leagues in each city at 6 p.m. That would allow all owners to do both if they'd like. Does anyone like the idea of NL Auctions at 10 or 11 on Friday morning, followed by the AL Auctions at 6 p.m. that same day? (I might do the NL Auctions at 6 p.m. in Chicago and AL Auctions at 10 or 11 a.m. if it helps to get more Cubs' fans to join a league.)

** Or we host AL and NL Auction Leagues simultaneously in each city starting at 5 or 6 p.m. Anyone in favor of that?

Price Point:

1) We could certainly keep the entry fee at $1,250 per team and offer: AL 12 team leagues, $7,000 for first place, $2,500 for second place and $1,750 for third; NL 13 team leagues, $7,500 for first place, $2,750 for second place and $1,900 for third place.

2) Or we could go down to $750 per team and offer $4,000 for first place, $1,750 for second place and $1,000 for third place in the AL; or $4,300 for first place in the NL, $1,900 for second place and $1,100 for third place.

3) Or we could go down to $650 per team and offer $3,500 for first, $1,500 for second place and $850 for third place in the AL; $3,750 for first place in a 13-team NL league, $1,700 for second place and $900 for third place.

Any thoughts? I especially want to hear from those who competed in Auction Leagues this year or who are serious about competing in NFBC Auction Leagues next year. Thanks.

Leaderboard Sports · Post by **Leaderboard Sports** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 1:39 am

First off you might want to email this to all the auction people cause I don't think many are reading this board right now.

I like the $750 per team setup. I will participate again regardless but at $750 I might consider doing both AL, Nl if at different times.

I like doing the drafts earlier on Friday so we can enjoy the kickoff party Friday night. The NL draft took 7 hours last year. Having done the Fri. night Auction, Sat. morning NFBC, Sat afternoon WCOFB, and Sat. night Poker marathon last year, I don't think I'll do back to back auctions. I would rather see a Thursday - Friday NL/AL draft. I would do a Thursday NL Friday AL draft.

As I said in another thread I would like to see the bench size reduced to make free agent bidding a little more part of the game and I would like to see the auction leagues allowed to use their smaller bench on a daily basis.

[ September 27, 2004, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Leaderboard Sports ]

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 7:44 am

Leaderboard Sports, The time won't change because it would conflict with the golf. I myself would love to draft at noon on friday. But the industry guys want thier golf after thier meetings all week. So the drafts will be second to the industry meetings for years to come.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 10:31 am

Not true John. I am proposing a 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. Friday Auction League and then another one at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. Not sure how people would like that, but it's an option. I have no problem setting up the golf for our consumers and industry guys on Friday morning and then leaving them out there to play (without me, which hurts badly) and running the morning auction. It's similar to what we did in the NFFC with the Draft Challenge League starting at 1 p.m. You saw me there, even though I would have much rather have been at Royal Links Golf Course!!!

The Friday morning Auction League in Las Vegas is seriously being considered.

KJ Duke · Post by **KJ Duke** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:23 pm

Greg -

For the NL/13-tm, I think this would be a good payout structure.

$800 entry

1st ... $4,000 + free entry (NFBC or NFFC)

2nd ... $1,000 + free entry

3rd ... free entry

Assuming your cost of providing a free entry = 75%, or $937, this would maintain your 75% pay structure ($10,400 revenue, $7,812 payout value), while rewarding the winners with extra value (better for us repeat players) and improving your cash flow ($2,800 less going out the door at season's end - or for people that only want a cash payout, you could offer $900 in lieu of the free entry).

Anyone else like this?

[ September 28, 2004, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: KJ Duke ]

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:20 am

Price Point:

1) We could certainly keep the entry fee at $1,250 per team and offer: AL 12 team leagues, $7,000 for first place, $2,500 for second place and $1,750 for third; NL 13 team leagues, $7,500 for first place, $2,750 for second place and $1,900 for third place.

2) Or we could go down to $750 per team and offer $4,000 for first place, $1,750 for second place and $1,000 for third place in the AL; or $4,300 for first place in the NL, $1,900 for second place and $1,100 for third place.

3) Or we could go down to $650 per team and offer $3,500 for first, $1,500 for second place and $850 for third place in the AL; $3,750 for first place in a 13-team NL league, $1,700 for second place and $900 for third place.

as an outsider very much interested in doing both AL and NL auction leagues for 2005, the lowest of the three entry fees seems to me the most attractive price point, simply because it reduces the cost of playing the game in absolute terms, while still retaining the draw of a modest reward.

seefer · Post by **seefer** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:50 am

I did both the NFBC and the NL auction in Vegas this year. I know from speaking with my best friend that he would do the NL Auction at $650 next season. I would do it as well at the lower $650 as I will also be in the regular NFBC again and don't care to spend $2500 for both again.

I would think you'd get a much greater turn out if you do the lower priced entry fee due to the fact that not that many fantasy baseball players have ever done an auction before (they just aren't available on the internet).

While I did the NL this season (and I am doing very poorly), it was my first auction draft of any type and I've been playing fantasy baseball for 9 or 10 years now.

Overall it was a great experience and the lower priced entry fee would attract many more players.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:02 am

You could so easily manage this by setting up 2 price point auction leagues and calling them Gold Auction or Silver Auction and coin some fresh language in the big stakes industry.

I'd play in any of them, so makes no difference to me. The only thing I might consider is that you re-work how the final 5 rounds works. Making that a straight draft to stock your bench was stupid and had nothing to do with any other part of the draft or league management throughout the year. If it's done that way because 'well, they always do that' then I'll just put in my vote to end the repeated stupidity. I'm well aware that at the end of an auction draft it often degenerates into a single list draft as people are out of money, but I don't understand why I would be penalized if I had $18 left... I should be able to stretch that to it's fullest advantage. (Incidentally, this didn't happen to me, I spent every penny and had my full roster long before the draft ended, I'm just making a point that it seemed stupid)

Dave

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:05 am

I now see on another thread this has already been suggested (i.e. 2 different entry fees)

Sorry

D

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:23 am

Dyv, I am pretty sure that on Monday I will offer a $1,250 entry fee Auction League and a $650 entry fee Auction League for the AL and the NL. Gold and Silver sounds good as I hadn't thought of naming them. My only concern is that we will have difficulty filling the $1,250 leagues, but I think there is more interest this year and hopefully we'll equal and even surpass last year's totals in each city. It sure seems like there's plenty of interest for Auction Leagues at $650 a pop.

I'm not sure I fully understand your complaint about the reserve rounds. The $260 is for your 23 players in the auction and you don't get to use any extra money you have as an advantage in the reserve round. I've never heard of a league doing that and I don't understand the logic of rewarding someone in the reserve round who didn't fully bid in the regular draft. Are you suggesting we bid again for the reserve rounds using another budget? I don't get it. I'm all ears, but a straight draft for the reserve spots is what I'm only familiar with.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 5:59 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Dyv, I am pretty sure that on Monday I will offer a $1,250 entry fee Auction League and a $650 entry fee Auction League for the AL and the NL. Gold and Silver sounds good as I hadn't thought of naming them. My only concern is that we will have difficulty filling the $1,250 leagues, but I think there is more interest this year and hopefully we'll equal and even surpass last year's totals in each city. It sure seems like there's plenty of interest for Auction Leagues at $650 a pop.

I'm not sure I fully understand your complaint about the reserve rounds. The $260 is for your 23 players in the auction and you don't get to use any extra money you have as an advantage in the reserve round. I've never heard of a league doing that and I don't understand the logic of rewarding someone in the reserve round who didn't fully bid in the regular draft. Are you suggesting we bid again for the reserve rounds using another budget? I don't get it. I'm all ears, but a straight draft for the reserve spots is what I'm only familiar with. This is my first baseball auction ever. I don't know if this is an 'open forum' on what I did or did not like or sacrilege for tampering with 'the laws of auction drafting', but...

I didn't like the end of the draft for the reserve roster. Let's not kid ourselves, that's a bench. And EVERY manager in the league used his bench on a regular basis. It is part of your team, not some taxi squad for minor leaguers who may never be used.

Why not let me round out my entire 29 positions with my cash and use it as I see fit? The cash for 23 spots also hampered my flexibility significantly. I would have loved to get an extra OF and taken my chances on finding a pitcher later, but I wasn't allowed to do that. I had to buy 23 players that fit into the grooves the right way... I understood that going in, didn't catch me by surprise - I just wanted more flexibility and it chafed all season. AND I still can't figure out why it had to be that way.

Dave

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:23 am

How can I sign up for a $650 auction league? The official registration page is still displaying only the $1,250 option. Also, will $650 AL and NL auctions overlap? Many thanks.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:39 am

Originally posted by :

How can I sign up for a $650 auction league? The official registration page is still displaying only the $1,250 option. Also, will $650 AL and NL auctions overlap? Many thanks. We're working on getting the registration page fixed so that it reflects the change. If you want, you can contact us directly to sign up. Contact Greg Ambrosius via e-mail ([email protected]) or phone 715 445-4612 ext. 284 or contact me via e-mail ([email protected]) or by phone 715 445-4612 ext. 653. We look forward to hearing from you.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:43 am

We will be offering a $1,250 AL Auction League and a $650 AL Auction League for each city and we'll also be offering a $1,250 NL Auction League and a $650 NL Auction League for each city. I haven't figured out the times for each, but my goal is to NOT overlap the two leagues. In other words, we might run the two NL Auction Leagues starting at 10 a.m. in each city and the two AL Auction Leagues in each city starting at 5 p.m. I am going to start a thread on this soon to get feedback on this, but that's my original thought.

Sorry about not having the $650 Auction League spot on the registration page yet. We have requested that from our IT department and hopefully we will get that added soon. Right now the Registration Page is a pickup from 2004 and in the next week or so we'll have the two $650 Auction Leagues added to the registration page online plus a spot to order all of our baseball magazines in advance of Draft Day if you're willing to pay the $10 shipping/handling fee. Look for that soon, but contact me at the info Tom provided above if you need more immediate assistance.