Auction Drafts

[stagee 0]

We are voting next week om whether or not to switch to an auction draft this year. A few guys are saying that it will be hard to manage and time consuming.

 

What is everyones thoughts on the auction draft?

 

Thanks

[huskerinct 1]

Write this down.....if you do an auction, none of you guys will want to do a snake draft again.

It is not hard to manage at all. I put a blank card in front of each owner. The track their spendings, so that all of the other owners can see who has what left. As for time consuming.....it can run a little longer. BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT! If the guys in your league are worried about spending an extra hour on the greatest day of the year, the get new owners. lol

Auctions give equal ground to each owner. If an owner wants AP and CJ, they can have them. The rest of their team may suffer, but they have that option. In a snake draft, all you can do is cross guys off a list and wait until it's your turn to pick. The auction also keeps every owner involved on almost every selection.

As for a selection process....we draw cards, to set a nomination order. Then we just go around the table.

Honestly, go to an auction format. We are in our 6th year of auctions, and EVERY owner that has done one in the league LOVES that format.

Hope this helps.

[madd futher mucker 36]

One of my local leagues converted from standard re-draft to auction about 3 years ago on a trial basis. To a man, everyone LOVED it, including those who had the most reservations about doing it.

 

It makes a draft MUCH more fun. I'm the auctioneer. We use poker chips as money to pay for the players. The Commish keeps everything straight (most of the time). His main job is to insure that every owner has enough chips in front of him to pay at least a dollar to complete his 16 player roster. It is easy to see where everyone stands money-wise that way and there are no errors. Another guy in our league is the "treasurer" who collects the chips while still another is the league secretary and records the draft on his lap-top. We rotate who gets to put the next player up for bid.

 

Seriously, if you do it properly, if done well it only takes about 1/3 more time (or even less) than a standard snake-draft league. I agree, once you go to auction format, you will never want to do redraft again.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

they are not as bad as i always thought but i still prefer a snake draft.

 

too much "im going to keep nominating all the 13-14th round sleepers so the guys who think they are all smart bid each other up"

[madd futher mucker 36]

they are not as bad as i always thought but i still prefer a snake draft.

 

too much "im going to keep nominating all the 13-14th round sleepers so the guys who think they are all smart bid each other up"

 

And because you still think that 'sleepers' are those yellow specks you rub out of your eyes when you wake up in the morning, that puts you at a real disadvantage.

[slacker1989 2]

Our league switched 7 years ago with a little show of force by the commissioner. We never looked back.

 

 

We are voting next week om whether or not to switch to an auction draft this year. A few guys are saying that it will be hard to manage and time consuming.

 

What is everyones thoughts on the auction draft?

 

Thanks

[Dr Hook 6]

they are not as bad as i always thought but i still prefer a snake draft.

 

too much "im going to keep nominating all the 13-14th round sleepers so the guys who think they are all smart bid each other up"

 

We have been doing auction drafting in one of my 3 main leagues for many years. We make the first round have a minimum dollar value. You put up a player and must bid a min of 35 bucks (out of 200). round 2 looks about the same with a lower min bid. This goes about 4 rounds then it is a free for all. I love it so much I started a crazy league with contracts and everything. So far that is going pretty good as well.

[kutulu 1,551]

Love our auction league. About 5 years back we decided to try it for a year...never went back. Ours is also a 2 player keeper league. You can keep up to two players for whatever they went at auction the prior draft with FA pickups during the year only counting a buck. You can only keep the player one additional year...then they go back into the pool. Doesn't take too much extra time and since you are involved all the time it seems to go quicker, IMO.

[KeeperCommish 0]

Love our auction league. About 5 years back we decided to try it for a year...never went back. Ours is also a 2 player keeper league. You can keep up to two players for whatever they went at auction the prior draft with FA pickups during the year only counting a buck. You can only keep the player one additional year...then they go back into the pool. Doesn't take too much extra time and since you are involved all the time it seems to go quicker, IMO.

My league is an auction based keeper league. We use a salary cap ($100) as opposed to assigning players a value based on draft position. Auctions are a much fairer way to draft compared to serpentine imo, but they do take more time to complete usually, unless everyone is used to auctions then it can go pretty quickly. There are a bunch of services that offer auction hosting, including espn. Fantasyauctioneer.com is out of business I think.

[huskerinct 1]

We use poker chips as money to pay for the players.

That is an excellent idea! Totally going to steal that one. Thanks! We had previously used folded index cards in front of each owner, and each owner would keep a running tally. Every now and then someone would forget to deduct a player's bid, but we always caught the error. That poker chip idea is gold, Jerry....gold I tell ya!

[killersquids 3]

We switched three years ago. I essentially forced it to happen - if it went to a vote, I knew it wouldn't pass. The auction is far superior for so many reasons, most of them already listed above. Every single owner loves it!

 

Our auction draft is actually a little faster than snake. The key is being prepared. We have an auctioneer and a secretary, who keeps track of all the picks and money spent. They are wives of the owners in our league.

[R8RMick 242]

Auction leagues really need some sort of keeper system, or it CAN take forever to draft. We have six keepers, with two of them "franchised." We do two rounds of hostile free agency in the offseason, so there is potential movement. We also have a rookie rule, where if you draft a rookie and carry him on the squad for their entire first season you get his rights franchised for three seasons. It drives up the price on the obvious hyped players, but you still find some gems for a steal if you're willing to take a percieved chance. Now, some guys have up to 10 players on their roster going into this years draft. It really cuts down the time.

 

Auction is great because it's so similar to poker, or maybe liars poker. And the great thing is, if you go keeper and go out and get waiver wire gems (like picking up Aaron Rodgers for $1 during Favre's last year in GB, and stashing him on your bench till the next season) you can really get ahead.

 

You can evolve a league so much when you don't have to continuously blow up the rosters every season. Auction/keeper really is the bomb. I'd never play re-draft again.

[HeirCoryell 0]

I have to agree with the vast majority in this thread. It took some doing on my part but, once we switched we really never looked back. One thing I would warn you about, if you decide to switch, is to make sure that all the owners have an idea of how you are planning on running it ahead of time. Make sure they know all the ground rules so they don't feel overwhelmed. As long as the owners have done their homework, it should be a piece of cake.

[longlurker 0]

Write this down.....if you do an auction, none of you guys will want to do a snake draft again.

It is not hard to manage at all. I put a blank card in front of each owner. The track their spendings, so that all of the other owners can see who has what left. As for time consuming.....it can run a little longer. BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT! If the guys in your league are worried about spending an extra hour on the greatest day of the year, the get new owners. lol

Auctions give equal ground to each owner. If an owner wants AP and CJ, they can have them. The rest of their team may suffer, but they have that option. In a snake draft, all you can do is cross guys off a list and wait until it's your turn to pick. The auction also keeps every owner involved on almost every selection.

As for a selection process....we draw cards, to set a nomination order. Then we just go around the table.

Honestly, go to an auction format. We are in our 6th year of auctions, and EVERY owner that has done one in the league LOVES that format.

Hope this helps.

 

 

Perfectly said. Our draft generally takes 7-8 hours and it is a blast.

[Riddlen 1]

my work leauge is going auction this year. 12 teams, 16 players full redraft PPR. all complete auction newbs. reading this thread it makes me worried that we cant have our draft thursday night after work like last year? are they really that much longer.

[huskerinct 1]

my work leauge is going auction this year. 12 teams, 16 players full redraft PPR. all complete auction newbs. reading this thread it makes me worried that we cant have our draft thursday night after work like last year? are they really that much longer.

It won't be as long as you think. Some players will get bid on longer than others, but as long as your auctioneer keeps things moving quickly, you will be fine. Just tell your commish to have all things ready to roll when people arrive. If you spend an hour discussing rules, scoring, etc.... then you're gonna add more time to your night. Good luck, and have fun!

[Bert 1,091]

my work leauge is going auction this year. 12 teams, 16 players full redraft PPR. all complete auction newbs. reading this thread it makes me worried that we cant have our draft thursday night after work like last year? are they really that much longer.

 

Our league is the same size and our draft takes about 6 hours.

 

Best thing you can do is get someone without a team to be an auctioneer. Makes things move much faster.

[edytwinky 1]

I am the commissioner of my league and the auctioneer. Our draft takes 4 to 5 hours and that's with two keepers.

 

You have to make sure people pay attention, keep things running, and don't let people take too long with bidding or nominating. That's the biggest part of keeping it all in a timely manner.

 

I run three leagues and two are auctions and by far the most fun. You will enjoy it.

[Dr Hook 6]

Our 12 team Auction draft is only about 4 hours long. We do the first 2 to 4 rounds at a min bid level. This helps things get rolling. The auctioneer not having a team makes things go faster as well. We get a hot chick and buy her drinks while she auctions off things. Last years winner gets to drive her home.

[buffgeoff 1]

I'm the commissioner of my league and we're going to an auction draft for the first time this year. I'm working on drafting out some rules and I have got a lot of good info from this topic already. I have one question - is it necessary to have a player pool of like 150-200 for owners to only choose from or can any player be nominated?

 

What are some other best practice rules that I can incorporate into our draft?

 

Thanks for your help!

[huskerinct 1]

I'm the commissioner of my league and we're going to an auction draft for the first time this year. I'm working on drafting out some rules and I have got a lot of good info from this topic already. I have one question - is it necessary to have a player pool of like 150-200 for owners to only choose from or can any player be nominated?

 

What are some other best practice rules that I can incorporate into our draft?

 

Thanks for your help!

Every player should be available.

[RamslovaMartzhata 3]

Question... How does it work with say for a player someone nominates at $1 of $2 (probably guys who would be in the last 4 rounds of a 16 round draft)?

 

I presume you take turns nominating players... so someone will nominate so and so at a low dollar amount... say $1. Three other owners want that player and are willing to pay $2... but none of them want to, or can't pay $3. How do you decide which of the three owners gets said player first... by whoever puts the bid in verbally first? That just seems like it would be problematic?

[huskerinct 1]

Question... How does it work with say for a player someone nominates at $1 of $2 (probably guys who would be in the last 4 rounds of a 16 round draft)?

 

I presume you take turns nominating players... so someone will nominate so and so at a low dollar amount... say $1. Three other owners want that player and are willing to pay $2... but none of them want to, or can't pay $3. How do you decide which of the three owners gets said player first... by whoever puts the bid in verbally first? That just seems like it would be problematic?

It's just like any other auction. 1st to act gets the bid. If the bid is $1, and someone bids $2, they now have the high bid. If no one else bids higher, that player is bought for $2.

[Masterminds 5]

Question... How does it work with say for a player someone nominates at $1 of $2 (probably guys who would be in the last 4 rounds of a 16 round draft)?

 

I presume you take turns nominating players... so someone will nominate so and so at a low dollar amount... say $1. Three other owners want that player and are willing to pay $2... but none of them want to, or can't pay $3. How do you decide which of the three owners gets said player first... by whoever puts the bid in verbally first? That just seems like it would be problematic?

In my auction league, we use a poker style nominating/bidding system. Before the auction starts, we determine the nominating and bidding order for the managers (#1-#n). If, for example, manager #9 nominates a player, they also have to place a bid on that player of at least $1. Manager #10 then has the option to bid $2 on the player. If he does, then manager #11 has the option to bid $3 on the player. If manager #10 doesn't want to bid on the player, then manager #11 can bid $2 on the player. This process continues until no one wants to bid on the player. If no one wants to bid $2 on the player, then manager #9 gets the player. In this example, if a manager didn't have enough auction money left to bid on a player, then they should have managed their auction money better.

 

You always need to be aware of how much money your opponents have and how much they can bid on a player. This is part of the strategy with auction drafts.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Bumped.

[NAn 39]

It's just like any other auction. 1st to act gets the bid. If the bid is $1, and someone bids $2, they now have the high bid. If no one else bids higher, that player is bought for $2.

 

This is a judgement call but usually, it's who actually makes bid first, meaning whoever calls it first ala 'I got shotgun!'

 

In this example, if a manager didn't have enough auction money left to bid on a player, then they should have managed their auction money better.

 

You always need to be aware of how much money your opponents have and how much they can bid on a player. This is part of the strategy with auction drafts.

 

Definitely part of stragety. Early on, one related stragety is to nominate high profile players when it's your turn...that you really don't want. essentially getting others to use up their funds. Meanwhile not nominating your target 'sleepers' or 'value players' hoping they slip. Then towards end of draft, if you play it right, will have enough funds to outbid anyone or most anyone. That's how you last year you could have gotten a Ray Rice for $3 and a Desean Jackson for $2.

[brtdud7 0]

i really like auction drafts. Everyone has an equal chance at everyone, and everyone can draft according to who they like, not just who's there

[huskerinct 1]

This is a judgement call but usually, it's who actually makes bid first, meaning whoever calls it first ala 'I got shotgun!'

Exactly. 1st to act. We have had a couple of close calls, where the announcement "sold" was made, just as an owner tried to bid. In that case the mob rules. If enough guys say he got the bid in, in time, bidding continues.

[buffgeoff 1]

I'm a co-commish of my league and we're going auction for the first time this season. We're trying to put together the rules right now and we're stuck on whether owners should be required to use all of their $200 cap to fill their 15 player roster during the draft or whether they can use all of their cap to lets say draft 13 players and then use their add/drop transactions post draft to complete their roster. What do you guys think?

 

BTW, here's our current set of rules. DRAFT RULES. Any comments or feedback are appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

[Stewburtx8 67]

I'm a co-commish of my league and we're going auction for the first time this season. We're trying to put together the rules right now and we're stuck on whether owners should be required to use all of their $200 cap to fill their 15 player roster during the draft or whether they can use all of their cap to lets say draft 13 players and then use their add/drop transactions post draft to complete their roster. What do you guys think?

 

BTW, here's our current set of rules. DRAFT RULES. Any comments or feedback are appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

Every owner MUST draft 15 players or whatever the minimum roster size is. This is part of the strategy. You must always have at least $1 left for each player you need to fill out your roster. You do NOT have to spend all $200 if you don't want to, but that is just poor auction strategy if you leave ANY money on the table at the end of the draft.

[edytwinky 1]

We have players to leave extra money cause we have a $500 salary cap and leftover money is whhat is used for FAAB during the regular season.

[Rynoman 0]

I'm commish and have 12 teams and we've been doing it for the past 6 years

 

We use this software: http://www.fandraft.com/

 

It's easy and takes about 4 hours

Keeps everyone on the same page.

[huskerinct 1]

I'm a co-commish of my league and we're going auction for the first time this season. We're trying to put together the rules right now and we're stuck on whether owners should be required to use all of their $200 cap to fill their 15 player roster during the draft or whether they can use all of their cap to lets say draft 13 players and then use their add/drop transactions post draft to complete their roster. What do you guys think?

 

BTW, here's our current set of rules. DRAFT RULES. Any comments or feedback are appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

We have a $200 cap, with a 17 man roster. All roster spots must be filled. Owners don't have to spend all $200, but you cannot take any with you for add/drops. We have a silent auction for add drops, during the season. Each owner gets $100 for add drop bids. If a player is wanted, bids are submitted to the commish (me). High bid wins the player. I ALWAYS record my bids 2 days before the deadline, and do not let anyone else place bids, until my bids are in. This eliminates any wrongdoing. But, I digress. As for your original topic, we have separate draft & add/drop caps. That said, owners can spend as little as they want, but all 17 spots must be filled. We always allow free, 1st come 1st serve add drops before the season starts. During the season, add drops cost $2 real money. Once an owner burns through their $100 cap, they can still do add drops, but they go to bottom priority, and each move costs $10 real money. If 2 or more owners run out and want the same player, record then pts scored is the tie break. Sorry that I got a little off topic. HTH

[donkeybalboa 2]

I'm a co-commish of my league and we're going auction for the first time this season. We're trying to put together the rules right now and we're stuck on whether owners should be required to use all of their $200 cap to fill their 15 player roster during the draft or whether they can use all of their cap to lets say draft 13 players and then use their add/drop transactions post draft to complete their roster. What do you guys think?

 

BTW, here's our current set of rules. DRAFT RULES. Any comments or feedback are appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

The 30 second rule on nominating seems a bit harsh....if you've been in an intense auction for a top player, 30 seconds would seem pretty quick to get it together to nominate. Have it as a guideline, perhaps.

 

I don't know how much drinking goes on at your draft, but we also give penalty shots of alcohol for slow drafting and other blunders.

[R8RMick 242]

We have a $200 cap, with a 17 man roster. All roster spots must be filled. Owners don't have to spend all $200, but you cannot take any with you for add/drops. We have a silent auction for add drops, during the season. Each owner gets $100 for add drop bids. If a player is wanted, bids are submitted to the commish (me). High bid wins the player. I ALWAYS record my bids 2 days before the deadline, and do not let anyone else place bids, until my bids are in. This eliminates any wrongdoing. But, I digress. As for your original topic, we have separate draft & add/drop caps. That said, owners can spend as little as they want, but all 17 spots must be filled. We always allow free, 1st come 1st serve add drops before the season starts. During the season, add drops cost $2 real money. Once an owner burns through their $100 cap, they can still do add drops, but they go to bottom priority, and each move costs $10 real money. If 2 or more owners run out and want the same player, record then pts scored is the tie break. Sorry that I got a little off topic. HTH

 

 

 

We're a keeper league year-to-year, and do a blind bid waiver wire system throughout the season as well. We just set a salary cap of $160 for 20 players and whatever a manager has leftover they can use for ww picks once the season starts. Sure, it constrains guys who use up their $$ in the draft, but hey, that's what managing a roster is all about.