When running a classic or traditional fantasy football league, organising the auction is the most important task. All manner of choices need to be made, and a little planning can make the auction run smoothly and efficiently, ensuring all the participants are happy.
Premiership Fantasy Football Auction Planning
Almost every element of the fantasy football auction can be changed to suit the needs or wishes of the managers taking part. Budgets, bid methods and player lists can be amended or altered as required. Nothing is set in stone and that flexibility is one of the main attractions of traditional fantasy football.
The auction will be a long process. Plenty of time needs to be arranged where all the managers are available. Multiple auctions can work, and this method is particularly useful where the league is between work colleagues. Several 'lunch hour' auctions are likely to be more practical than a longer session. Finding suitable times when all the interested parties are available is often the hardest task for the league organiser.
Once the times and places are confirmed, several decisions need to be made. Many revolve around the budgets. The total transfer budget needs to be set, and from this a suitable increment can be decided for use during the auction. This speeds up the process as the problem of minuscule rises with each bid is removed.
There is no reason to deliberate too long over the total budget. Managers will naturally scale their bids relative to the overall total. A 'Minimum price' also needs to be set. If a manager would like a player, and there is no other interest, what fee, if any does the manager pay? Making these signings 'free' normally simplifies any budgeting problems and avoids managers running out of funds before they have eleven players.
The last planning step is to organise the players list. The order that players are sold often dictates some purchasing strategies and can stir up strong opinions. It is best to consult all participants and get an agreement on how players are auctioned.
One method is to have an auction for each of the 4 areas of a team; Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders and Attackers, and work through the list from the least popular players to those in highest demand (or vice versa). An alternative is to pull players out randomly, from all areas. The random approach tends to suit leagues where there will be more than one auction as the process can be halted at any point without confusion. The player list method is a key decision and is worth spending some time on to get right.
Well before the sales, valid formations should also be agreed. Managers should be made aware of these so that they can keep an eye on their team and think about where they might want to spend their budgets. The fewer formations allowed, the easier teams are to monitor throughout the auction.
Fantasy Football Auction Administration
During the auction itself, it is exceedingly useful to have someone there to act as the auctioneer to take down the details of each sale and to monitor and oversee the teams as they are put together. It would also be beneficial if the individual was not taking part in the league, so they can be entirely independent.
As players are sold to the highest bidder, the price should be recorded and the player added to the correct team sheet. The best method for this is to set up a spreadsheet or similar, so that as players are added to teams, an updated total is calculated. This helps to ensure managers do not inadvertently overspend, do not break formation rules and only bid on players that they are entitled to bid on.
This monitoring of teams becomes more important towards the end of the auction when rosters are almost full. For example, if all but two of the managers have goalkeepers, those are the only managers who can make bids on any goalies who come up for sale. Likewise, managers should not make bids on players who, if they won, would leave the team with an invalid formation.
With good planning the traditional fantasy football auction can be a great social occasion, charged with tension and banter. Trying to operate the league without good organisation can lead to an auction which takes a very long time and leaves managers frustrated, particularly if, after the event, teams are changed because mistakes were missed.
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Tobias Robinson - Toby describes himself in four words; husband, father, sportsman, gambler. A sports enthusiast, Toby enjoyed an unspectacular ...
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