Our Founding Fathers drafted a document we know today as the United States Constitution, which is considered to be the law of the land and home to our revered Bill of Rights. It was with tremendous foresight and creativity that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, et al. drafted this document to encompass just about anything and everything that required protection from tyranny and oppression.
Now, I am not trying to compare the American Revolution and ratification of the U.S. Constitution to fantasy sports (oh who am I kidding, yes I am). Fantasy sports is an activity that people participate in for entertainment, competition, and economic gain. In most cases, leagues are comprised of individuals who know each other. However, the opportunity is there for anyone to join a random league of unknowns as well. Within these leagues are latent and patent issues that arise throughout the course of a season – i.e., trade disputes, lineup deadlines, roster requirements, entry fees, prize money, transactions, etc. Most league commissioners rely on whichever fantasy sports host they use (CBS Sports, Yahoo, ESPN) to set the guidelines and parameters of the league. Despite that, there are dozens upon dozens of issues and rules that are left open for interpretation and fall squarely in the lap of the league commissioner to resolve. This is usually not a position the commissioner wants to be in.
A fantasy sports league commissioner most likely is also a league member and knows the people in his/her league on a personal level. So when a commissioner is confronted with an issue that requires a decision, someone will ultimately not be pleased and the commissioner’s integrity can be brought into question. So how can this be resolved? Look no further than George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, et al.
A Constitution is an absolute must for competitive fantasy sports leagues that cost money to participate in. Delineating rules that apply to everyone and codifying them in writing is the best way for a commissioner to run a fair league, maintain impartiality, and cover one’s own ass.
I learned the hard way why a Constitution is necessary and beneficial. When I created my fantasy baseball league in 1999, I basically just emailed everyone what the points structure was for each stat category, roster and lineup requirements, and some general guidelines regarding transactions and trades. This worked until 2002 when I was confronted with a collusion scandal. One of the league members, who I was friends with since high school, was already eliminated from playoff contention. He began attempting to negotiate a deal with other league members to trade away his good players in exchange for receiving a share of the other team’s playoff money prize. How do I know this? Because that ass-clown did his negotiating on AOL Instant Messenger, and the people he was talking to were also my friends and had integrity. So they alerted me to this and I acted swiftly by kicking him out of the league (and I haven’t spoken a word to him since). For the following 2003 season, I drafted a Constitution which specifically included an Anti-Collusion Rule. The rule stated that once a team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they are no longer allowed to make trades with other teams. I realize that some people have pride and still wanted to compete, but creating this rule prevented any potential collusion or questions about the fairness of a deal involving an eliminated team. This spawned an expanded set of rules taking into account things that happened during the year that were of first impression, such as how to handle a transaction for the team that owned Darryl Kile when he died.
Having a fluid Constitution that is continually amended when new issues arise helps maintain law and order in my league. I also have provisions regarding issues of first impression that are not accounted for, such as when C.C. Sabathia’s 1-hitter was protested in 2008 and the outcome of a fantasy playoff game could have been changed.
If you want any advice on how to draft a fantasy sports league Constitution or if you have any stories you would like to share about disputes that arise within your league, feel free to email me at Michael.Stein@fantasyjudgment.com. If I get a bunch of questions, I will post them along with my responses in my next article.
Now, I am not trying to compare the American Revolution and ratification of the U.S. Constitution to fantasy sports (oh who am I kidding, yes I am). Fantasy sports is an activity that people participate in for entertainment, competition, and economic gain. In most cases, leagues are comprised of individuals who know each other. However, the opportunity is there for anyone to join a random league of unknowns as well. Within these leagues are latent and patent issues that arise throughout the course of a season – i.e., trade disputes, lineup deadlines, roster requirements, entry fees, prize money, transactions, etc. Most league commissioners rely on whichever fantasy sports host they use (CBS Sports, Yahoo, ESPN) to set the guidelines and parameters of the league. Despite that, there are dozens upon dozens of issues and rules that are left open for interpretation and fall squarely in the lap of the league commissioner to resolve. This is usually not a position the commissioner wants to be in.
A fantasy sports league commissioner most likely is also a league member and knows the people in his/her league on a personal level. So when a commissioner is confronted with an issue that requires a decision, someone will ultimately not be pleased and the commissioner’s integrity can be brought into question. So how can this be resolved? Look no further than George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, et al.
A Constitution is an absolute must for competitive fantasy sports leagues that cost money to participate in. Delineating rules that apply to everyone and codifying them in writing is the best way for a commissioner to run a fair league, maintain impartiality, and cover one’s own ass.
I learned the hard way why a Constitution is necessary and beneficial. When I created my fantasy baseball league in 1999, I basically just emailed everyone what the points structure was for each stat category, roster and lineup requirements, and some general guidelines regarding transactions and trades. This worked until 2002 when I was confronted with a collusion scandal. One of the league members, who I was friends with since high school, was already eliminated from playoff contention. He began attempting to negotiate a deal with other league members to trade away his good players in exchange for receiving a share of the other team’s playoff money prize. How do I know this? Because that ass-clown did his negotiating on AOL Instant Messenger, and the people he was talking to were also my friends and had integrity. So they alerted me to this and I acted swiftly by kicking him out of the league (and I haven’t spoken a word to him since). For the following 2003 season, I drafted a Constitution which specifically included an Anti-Collusion Rule. The rule stated that once a team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they are no longer allowed to make trades with other teams. I realize that some people have pride and still wanted to compete, but creating this rule prevented any potential collusion or questions about the fairness of a deal involving an eliminated team. This spawned an expanded set of rules taking into account things that happened during the year that were of first impression, such as how to handle a transaction for the team that owned Darryl Kile when he died.
Having a fluid Constitution that is continually amended when new issues arise helps maintain law and order in my league. I also have provisions regarding issues of first impression that are not accounted for, such as when C.C. Sabathia’s 1-hitter was protested in 2008 and the outcome of a fantasy playoff game could have been changed.
If you want any advice on how to draft a fantasy sports league Constitution or if you have any stories you would like to share about disputes that arise within your league, feel free to email me at Michael.Stein@fantasyjudgment.com. If I get a bunch of questions, I will post them along with my responses in my next article.
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