ESPN v. Yahoo as host

[LSUtiger 9]

So our 10 year old fantasy league has been hosted by Yahoo since its inception. I, as the commish, have been floating the idea of switching over this season to ESPN from Yahoo. Many of the league members are merely concerned with the loss of familiarity rather than any other rationale reason.

 

Can someone who has used both, or has at least been pleased with what ESPN has to offer, give me a brief rundown on the pros of using ESPN over Yahoo (or just ESPN in general)?

 

From what I've seen already, the mere aesthetics of the ESPN interface is vastly superior. Do I understand correctly that ESPN offers a similar free weekly Stattracker feature? The main benefit I see is that ESPN gives you about three options to regulate free agent pickups while Yahoo really doesn't give you any beneficial option.

 

Appreciate any help or insight so I can ease this potential changeover in my league.

 

[thekid65 0]

I brought our league online in 02, prior to that it was all Excel spreadsheets, and emails. ESPN struggled mightily with their software for the first 3 years or so, especially at the beginning of the season. Yahoo was miles ahead. Slowly ESPN closed the gap, and for the last 3 years or so, has preformed flawlessly. Yes, they offer free live scoring/stat-tracker, with a very cool interface, much better than the one Yahoo had that I remember. I thought you had to pay for Yahoo's live scoring, but they may have changed that...havent been in a Yahoo league for the last 2 years. ESPN has a smack feature (chat)for live trash talking, as opposed to the message board format that Yahoo uses/used. ESPN's homepage allows the Commish to insert imgs, HTML, widgets and the like...which is fun to keep the league page looking fresh. I have yet to finish setting up our page, but if you'd like I could pm you a link to get a feel for what you can do (page has some NSFW img's, so I wont post the link here).

 

I think the customizable settings for both leagues are very similar, but I've never Commished a Yahoo league. So basically, for me, it comes down to enjoying the cool stuff that ESPN allows you to do to make the league a bit more fun.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, if your's is a money league, ESPN has a "transaction counter" which allows you to keep track of the league finances. Quite handy if you charge for trades, waiver p/u's, and losses as my league does. I dont recall Yahoo having that feature.

[LSUtiger 9]

I brought our league online in 02, prior to that it was all Excel spreadsheets, and emails. ESPN struggled mightily with their software for the first 3 years or so, especially at the beginning of the season. Yahoo was miles ahead. Slowly ESPN closed the gap, and for the last 3 years or so, has preformed flawlessly. Yes, they offer free live scoring/stat-tracker, with a very cool interface, much better than the one Yahoo had that I remember. I thought you had to pay for Yahoo's live scoring, but they may have changed that...havent been in a Yahoo league for the last 2 years. ESPN has a smack feature (chat)for live trash talking, as opposed to the message board format that Yahoo uses/used. ESPN's homepage allows the Commish to insert imgs, HTML, widgets and the like...which is fun to keep the league page looking fresh. I have yet to finish setting up our page, but if you'd like I could pm you a link to get a feel for what you can do (page has some NSFW img's, so I wont post the link here).

 

I think the customizable settings for both leagues are very similar, but I've never Commished a Yahoo league. So basically, for me, it comes down to enjoying the cool stuff that ESPN allows you to do to make the league a bit more fun.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention, if your's is a money league, ESPN has a "transaction counter" which allows you to keep track of the league finances. Quite handy if you charge for trades, waiver p/u's, and losses as my league does. I dont recall Yahoo having that feature.

 

Much appreciated! I would definitely like to check out your league page if you want to send me a PM.

 

Thanks again for the rundown. For anyone else out there I'd love any additional insight.

[Cstriker 2]

Yahoo has free live scoring. Infact you dont have to pay for anything at all starting this year.

[LSUtiger 9]

Yahoo has free live scoring. Infact you dont have to pay for anything at all starting this year.

 

ESPN has it as well...

[thekid65 0]

Much appreciated! I would definitely like to check out your league page if you want to send me a PM.

 

Thanks again for the rundown. For anyone else out there I'd love any additional insight.

 

PM sent. If I were you, I'd just go ahead and set up a league... that way you can check out all the league setting options and such...and play around a bit. If you decide not to use it, no harm, no foul. Doesnt cost ya a dime. Unfortunately, you really cant check out the live scoring or chat features yet as they arent active until it gets closer to the season start.

[gimethedamnball 2]

I'm a commissioner of a Yahoo league for the past 5 years and also have an ESPN team for that time. I prefer Yahoo.

 

Pros for Yahoo:

 

Better way to look up player/team stats and history. The way its formated is like Excel so you can click on any of the headings and perform sorts (u can't do that on ESPN)

 

Easier to lookup future matchups. Again, they have a better method for drop downs to check coming schedules and opponentsm (ESPN does not)

 

The only Con I have for Yahoo is their lack of ability to customize playoffs. I prefer a two week/round playoff system and Yahoo won't allow that. (ESPN does)

 

As far as the live scoring/stat tracker, both are good but I still give the edge to Yahoo because you can go to an actual game and follow along (ESPN does not have this feature).

 

I could careless about customizing the way a league page looks or adding pictures. I care about functionality so my pick is Yahoo.

[LSUtiger 9]

I'm a commissioner of a Yahoo league for the past 5 years and also have an ESPN team for that time. I prefer Yahoo.

 

Pros for Yahoo:

 

Better way to look up player/team stats and history. The way its formated is like Excel so you can click on any of the headings and perform sorts (u can't do that on ESPN)

 

Easier to lookup future matchups. Again, they have a better method for drop downs to check coming schedules and opponentsm (ESPN does not)

 

The only Con I have for Yahoo is their lack of ability to customize playoffs. I prefer a two week/round playoff system and Yahoo won't allow that. (ESPN does)

 

As far as the live scoring/stat tracker, both are good but I still give the edge to Yahoo because you can go to an actual game and follow along (ESPN does not have this feature).

 

I could careless about customizing the way a league page looks or adding pictures. I care about functionality so my pick is Yahoo.

 

Good advice and relevant as well...thanks!

[thekid65 0]

I'm a commissioner of a Yahoo league for the past 5 years and also have an ESPN team for that time. I prefer Yahoo.

 

Pros for Yahoo:

 

Better way to look up player/team stats and history. The way its formated is like Excel so you can click on any of the headings and perform sorts (u can't do that on ESPN)

 

Easier to lookup future matchups. Again, they have a better method for drop downs to check coming schedules and opponentsm (ESPN does not)

 

The only Con I have for Yahoo is their lack of ability to customize playoffs. I prefer a two week/round playoff system and Yahoo won't allow that. (ESPN does)

 

As far as the live scoring/stat tracker, both are good but I still give the edge to Yahoo because you can go to an actual game and follow along (ESPN does not have this feature).

 

I could careless about customizing the way a league page looks or adding pictures. I care about functionality so my pick is Yahoo.

 

I'd have to correct you on the actual game comment, ESPN does offer that on their Fantasycast™ feature (i.e. stat tracker) Other than that, good points. However I do think it's cool to be able to customize the home-page.. it's one of the things my league-mates look forward to every year. Especially "Da'Babe of the Week"

[Cstriker 2]

I'd have to correct you on the actual game comment, ESPN does offer that feature on their Fantasy cast feature (i.e. stat tracker) Other than that, good points. However I do think it's cool to be able to customize the home-page.. it's one of the things my league-mates look forward to every year. Especially "Da'Babe of the Week"

 

have any spots in your league?

[truebigdog 0]

I think ESPN is far better. After the second year, I haven't had any real issues with it. I like the ability to customize nearly anything. Our league is fairly active, so the "smack talk" board it a big plus as well. There are often 5 or more of us on it during Sunday or Monday night busting on each other. Another plus to being able to customize the league home page is that you can add pertinant links (IE league bylaws or league scoring history) to it as well.

[thekid65 0]

have any spots in your league?

 

No sir, plus, it's a local thing here in I-dee-ho..we get together for an offline draft every year.

[thekid65 0]

I think ESPN is far better. After the second year, I haven't had any real issues with it. I like the ability to customize nearly anything. Our league is fairly active, so the "smack talk" board it a big plus as well. There are often 5 or more of us on it during Sunday or Monday night busting on each other. Another plus to being able to customize the league home page is that you can add pertinant links (IE league bylaws or league scoring history) to it as well.

 

Here's a link to the league at the end of last season, though it's kinda weak since the commish (me) really just threw up a handful of really lame post-game reviews:

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=478&seasonId=2009

 

Hey bigdog, where'd you get your helmets at? We had to abandon ours after helmet-depot went ###### up (I didnt have the foresight to save the imgs). Was a shame, as they had some pretty good ones.

[truebigdog 0]

Hey bigdog, where'd you get your helmets at? We had to abandon ours after helmet-depot went ###### up (I didnt have the foresight to save the imgs). Was a shame, as they had some pretty good ones.

Most of those came from

link

They have almost everything that's ever been used in college or pro ball:

another:

link

and my absolute favorite for viewing (has MANY high school helmets as well):

link

[steelers2101 7]

Yahoo is better than ESPN.

 

CBS is also better than ESPN, especially if you would enjoy the feature of being able to post messages in story format with a picture with caption, or even a video (e.g. youtube highlights of your favorite player).

[thekid65 0]

Most of those came from

link

They have almost everything that's ever been used in college or pro ball:

another:

link

and my absolute favorite for viewing (has MANY high school helmets as well):

link

 

Thanks! Although it means a bit more work for me in editing the homepage, it sure looks cooler for the match-up hype that I do every week.

[thekid65 0]

Yahoo is better than ESPN.

 

CBS is also better than ESPN, especially if you would enjoy the feature of being able to post messages in story format with a picture with caption, or even a video (e.g. youtube highlights of your favorite player).

 

Screw CBS... you can do the same with ESPN, and better yet, it's free.

[truebigdog 0]

Here are a couple of MUCH better league pages than mine, just to show what you can do with ESPN

 

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=11623

 

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=189250&seasonId=2009

[thekid65 0]

1st one was pretty decent, I've changed my background as well (got the BSU smurf-turf going on). But in the case of the second one, ya gotta be careful as to not get too excited and over-clutter your page.

[buffgeoff 1]

Here are a couple of MUCH better league pages than mine, just to show what you can do with ESPN

 

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=11623

 

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=189250&seasonId=2009

 

This will probably come across very noobish, but how do you customize the ESPN league manager note to this level? I just see the simple commands like link, image, formatting. How do you get widgets and menu dropdowns like that?

 

Update - I answered my own question... Here's a guide, http://www.thecodeguide.com/ffguide/ff_HOME.html

[truebigdog 0]

This will probably come across very noobish, but how do you customize the ESPN league manager note to this level? I just see the simple commands like link, image, formatting. How do you get widgets and menu dropdowns like that?

Some of it, I have no clue....I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to CPU stuff:

Here's a site that explains most of it:

link thingy

 

Mine is very tame compared to those (just updated it for 2010):

'nother link thingy