Beast league "living rules document"

Welcome to the BEAST Fantasy Football League (BFFL). This is a 16-team league that was formed in 2016 by myself (Sean Connors) and owners who all live in the UK. This league is a money league and all owners are expected to pay their league fee before a date decided by the commissioner. This is usually 1st May.

This league is designed to be a competition between owners, but it not a cut-throat league where anything goes. The rules described below are designed to act as a guideline for overall league play and any disputes will be handled by the Executive Committee of the league.

Ultimately by joining the league you have signed yourself up to the rules as described below.

Please remember that the overall goal of this league is to have fun and enjoy the game of football. If you have any question or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.

[1.1 Executive Committee]
The Executive Committee for BFFL for 2017 consists of:
• Commissioner Sean Connors 01327 612 159 [home] sean.connors45@icloud.com
• Co-Commissioner Alan Roberts 07951 335370 [mobile] alanroberts1987@live.co.uk
The Executive Committee will be responsible for resolving all disputes that are not expressly covered by this constitution. If a committee member is involved in the dispute, that member will excuse themselves from the decision process. Sometimes for impartiality another owner(s) may be asked to serve on the Executive Committee. While all owners are encouraged to submit suggestions to the committee, the committee’s decision on all matters is final.

[1.2 Living Constitution]

It is important to note that this is a living, breathing constitution that will change and evolve over the lifetime of this league. Changes will happen between seasons as often as possible and will be effective from that point onwards. If you have suggestions for changes, please submit them to one of the Executive Committee members.

[2.0 LEAGUE FINANCING]

The league fee for the Beast will be charged to each team owner and committee member, payable to the commissioner on or before 1st of May each year. An owner will forfeit their place in the league if the league fee is not paid by this date and the next person on the waiting list will get a chance to take your place.

The Executive Committee may use their discretion and allow other arrangements for payment before the season starts.

[2.1 League Fee]

The Beast league fee for the 2017 season will be £125 from each owner. This fee is due before May 1st each year.

[2.2 Prize Money]

League prize money will be paid out by the second week of January 2018 after the completion of the Beast Super Bowl. Money will be held in a bank account owned by the commissioner and will be paid out in the following manner:

• League Champion receives £1000
• League Runner-Up receives £300
• Division winners £250 (£125 each)
• Overall high score through season excluding playoffs Automatic free entry to next years league. If you decide to leave you can take the prize money instead.
• The remaining funds will be used for room hire, spot draft prizes and draft board

Winning a division entitles the coach to rename that division for the next season.
Winning the league entitles the coach to rename the league for the next season.

[3.0 LEAGUE SETUP AND COMPETITION]

The Beast league will consist of 16 different teams, broken into two divisions of eight teams each. The schedule will be randomly generated, with each team playing every other team in their division once in a head-to-head match-up and six other teams from the other division. This makes a 13-game regular season.

[3.1 Division Rankings]

Teams will be ranked within each division based on the following criteria:

  1. Overall Win/Loss record
  2. Total points scored year to date
  3. Division Win/Loss record
  4. Head to Head record
  5. Commissioner coin flip

[3.2 Playoffs]

After the completion of the regular season, eight teams will make the playoffs. Both division winners will be awarded a playoff spot and the six highest ranking non-division winners from either conference will be awarded a wildcard spot.

For the 2017 season, the top seeds will be allowed to pick their first round opponents.

For example, if you’re the first seed you could pick any of the remaining 7 seeds to play in the first round of the playoffs. After the first seed has picked their opponent, the highest remaining seed will then pick their opponent until all match ups are known. As there are no byes, this makes finishing a high seed a nice advantage entering the first round of the playoffs.

After the first round of the playoffs all opponents are computer generated.

[4.0 ROSTERS AND LINEUPS]

Rosters in the Beast consist of 16 active players from any NFL team or free agent looking for a team. There are no position limits, and owners are free to have as many players from any position as they like. Only players from the active roster may be used as part of a team’s starting lineup.

[4.1 The Draft]

The commissioner will designate a draft day each season. This is usually the first Saturday in August. For the 2017 season this is 5th August at the Beefeater Turnpike-Harpole The Turnpike Beefeater Steak Restaurant in Harpole, Northamptonshire | Beefeater

Owners are expected to attend the draft in person.

The draft order will be determined by a random draw.
All owner names will be put in a ‘hat’. The champion from the previous season will pick out the first owner’s name from the ‘hat’. This owner chooses their preferred draft position and then their preferred division.

This person then picks the next name from the ‘hat’ who then has the remaining draft positions to choose from and chooses their division. This continues until all draft positions are filled.

The division winners from the previous season will be in the divisions they have named.

The draft will be a banzai draft (also known as 3rd round reversal). The draft is a normal snake draft for the first 2 rounds. In the 3rd round the order is reversed with team 16 picking 1st and team 1 picking last. The draft continues as a normal snake draft from then on with Team 1 picking 1st in Round 4.

The commissioner will designate a timekeeper.
When it is an owner’s turn to draft, they will have 90 seconds to make their pick. If an owner makes their selection within the 90 seconds, the clock is reset for the next owner’s selection. If an owner has not made a selection within the 90 seconds, the next owner is ‘on the clock’ and can make their selection. After this owner has made their selection the original owner will have another 30 seconds to make their pick or the next owner will be on the clock.

Each owner has three timeouts during the draft. These can be used to either
a) Have an extra 90 seconds to make their pick or
b) Have 5 minutes to discuss a trade with another owner

For example, an owner could take three 90 second timeouts, three 5 minute trade windows or a combination

[4.2 Free Agency]

The league operates a waiver priority system based on your draft position. For example, if you have the first pick in the draft, you will have waiver wire sixteen and if you have last draft pick you have waiver wire one.

As the league drafts early it has been decided by a league vote (14/08/2018) that waiver priority starts as soon as teams are loaded. So once used you move to the back of the que,so please be mindful this will now not be reset as the season starts.

The waivers will follow the NFL.com official waiver guidelines including player locks.

[4.3 Trades]

Trading is allowed and encouraged in The Beast, and may be conducted between any owners. Trades may include multiple players from any position, as well as draft picks. Trades must include the same number of players or draft picks from each side to avoid any roster limit. Owners may discuss and agree trades at any time. Trades will be subject to NFL.com guidelines so if a player has already played, the trade will not take effect until all games of that week are completed.

If a trade is accepted in error, the owner who has accepted the trade in error must notify the Executive Committee within one hour. No trades will be allowed after Week 12 of the fantasy football season.

[4.3.1 Trade Veto]

Everyone enjoys the freewheeling nature of trading and waiver wire pickups. For the 2017 season a mechanism is being introduced to challenge a perceived bad trade.

Each coach in the 2017 season will have one red flag. This allows each team to ask for a trade to be put to the vote.

Nine other coaches will need to agree to the vote to stop the trade and get it reversed. If the coach using their red flag fails to gain the required support then the red flag fails and that coach cannot challenge any further trades for the remainder of the season. However, if you are successful, just like the real NFL, you will get your flag back for a second and final challenge for that season.

If a red flag is used all parties must explain their reasons about the trade and the reasons for the flag.
All reasons must be aired openly and will be voted on quickly. It is expected that this process will take no longer than 48 hours from start to finish.

[4.4 Starting Lineups]

Starting lineups in Beast will consist as follows:

• 1 quarterback
• 2 running backs
• 2 wide receivers
• 1 tight end
• 1 flex (running back, wide receiver, or tight end)
• 1 place kicker
• 1 defense / special teams

Owners must submit their starting lineup each week, even if the lineup does not change from the previous week. Players may be added or removed from the starting lineup up until the start of the first NFL game. On weeks where the NFL has a Thursday game, owners may make changes to their lineups up to the start of the second NFL game, but may not change a player that has already played. Once the Thursday game begins, players from that game may not be started or benched.
For example, if you started your quarterback on Thursday night and he has a bad game, you cannot switch him out for a quarterback who has not played. Also, if you did not start a wide receiver who played on Thursday night and he scored three touchdowns, you cannot add him to your lineup on Friday.

[4.4.1 Position Designations]

From time to time, the NFL.com may change their designation of a particular player from one position to another or a player may line up in multiple positions throughout the game. For example, a wide receiver may be switched to a tight end and vice versa. For the purposes of Beast, a player may have only one official designation; any disputed designations will be resolved by the Executive Committee, using the official designations on NFL.com as a guide. Players may only start and score points based on their NFL.com designation. See the League Scoring section for more details. This sounds complex however in reality if you’re a designated wide receiver then that’s the position you must be put in for line up purposes.

[4.5 Active Ownership Requirements] Spam Rule

Each owner is expected to actively manage their team each week, even if they are eliminated from any playoff consideration and even if their lineup is the same as the previous week. Owners who do not submit a lineup by the start of the first Sunday NFL game will carry-over the previous week’s lineup and will not be allowed to change it. If an owner does not submit a Legal lineup for two consecutive weeks the Executive Committee will have the right to assume control of the team and manage it for the rest of the season. This effectively gives up your right to take part in the league. A committee run team will not make any trades and is only allowed to add or drop players if the team cannot field a legal starting lineup due to injury or bye weeks. Any prize money won by a committee-run team will not count and can only be won by active owners in the league.

[4.7 Anti-Tanking Provision]

Beast is a competitive league, created for the league owners to have fun playing fantasy football. While the competition may be fierce, this is not considered a cut-throat league. In the spirit of competition and league fairness, owners are not allowed to intentionally create a illegal starting lineup that gives the opposing team a clear advantage. The Executive Committee reserves the right to step in and adjust the starting lineup of a team that is clearly trying to intentionally lose a game. Owners will be assessed on a case by case basis. If the committee must adjust a team’s lineup in two consecutive weeks or for three or more weeks in any one season, the team will be considered inactive and the Executive Committee may assume ownership of the team as detailed in the active ownership requirements section.

Just for clarity, using a bye week strategy is not tanking. It’s all about intent. If in doubt please explain your actions openly.

[5.0 SCORING SYSTEM]

Scoring in Beast will be computed to two decimal places. This will allow points to be awarded or deducted for every positive or negative play and will dramatically reduce the chance of a tie game. Players are awarded fantasy points for each week that they are included in the team’s starting lineup. Players may only start at one position in any given week and will only be awarded points as described by their position designation below.

[5.1 Point Totals and Final Scores]
Beast will be hosted on My NFL.com Fantasy Leagues. Head to head scoring will be determined each week by the stats from that website. Sometime stat corrections will be made by NFL.com and this could change the outcome of a match up, but this is a rare occurrence.

Player scoring has not changed from last year and can be found under the league settings on NFL.com.

[6.0 OFFSEASON ACTIVITIES]

Owners are strongly encouraged to maintain their current contact information as part of the league software. Please make sure to include your name, phone number and email address in the event that we need to reach you during the off season. You should expect to be updated near the end of the season with information about next year’s draft.

Thanks and welcome to Beast!!

Finally let me thank alan and Chrissy for helping me get my idea down In a format that works.