Fantasy Football Commissioner Advice: players not setting lineups (1 Viewer)

[Pinesol13]

I'm wondering what other commissioners have done in similar situations, any advice is appreciated!

10 person league, $100 buy-in. All are good friends.

Week 14, last week before playoffs. 5 of the 6 playoff spots have been locked up. The final spot is between Player A and Player B. Both have the same record, Player A is ahead on Points Scored.

Player A loses his matchup. Player B, who is up against Player C, wins his matchup. But Player C (who has been out of playoff contention for several weeks) started a QB who is out injured, and a RB on a bye week. Player C had two other QBs on his bench, and playing either of them would have been enough to beat Player B.

So now I have a situation where a lazy players disregard for the integrity of the league has directly affected which player gets into the playoffs, for a chance to win $700.

Has anyone ever done anything about this? It really annoys me. I've thought about adding a rule that if you don't set your lineup, you owe $xx to the prizepool pot.

We have a group text for the league, should I publicly shame him?

Any other thoughts/advice are welcome. Thank you

 

[ChipFinderSK]

Unless there already is an established rule in place, there’s nothing you can do about it now, unfortunately.

2 things you can do to avoid this in the future:

1) Establish a rule for these situations (managers not setting lineups, intentionally tanking, etc.), and penalties, if any.

2) Remind the lazy manager before the week that he needs to set his lineup, or that you will set his lineup based on projections (something else that you need to establish before the season, IMO).

If the lazy manager was intentionally tanking, I’d also consider replacing him next year.

 

[Pinesol13]

Unless there already is an established rule in place, there’s nothing you can do about it now, unfortunately.

2 things you can do to avoid this in the future:

1) Establish a rule for these situations (managers not setting lineups, intentionally tanking, etc.), and penalties, if any.

2) Remind the lazy manager before the week that he needs to set his lineup, or that you will set his lineup based on projections (something else that you need to establish before the season, IMO).

If the lazy manager was intentionally tanking, I’d also consider replacing him next year.

Thanks!

Sad that I need a rule/penalty, but I will definitely be adding one for next season. I think I'll name the rule after the player, just to shame him more.

I'm thinking $20 penalty per roster spot violation. I will add some sort of disclaimer to account for situations where one shouldn't be penalized.

I feel ever so slightly responsible as the commish. In the last few weeks of the regular season, I feel like I should've sent some reminders about this, or checked everyone's teams Sunday morning to try to see this situation coming.

I'm not sure how I feel about going in and editing their lineup after the fact, I'll have to think about that one.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I played in a competitive FF league for about ten years, and we didn't have a specific rule to handle it.

That said, there were a couple incidents over the years where players did the same thing and were heavily shamed via the league's email over it. I actually did it once in a non-consequential end of season game, and I caught hell from my opponent even though he won handily.

Nothing wrong with a rule if you think it's necessary, but reminding players each week and calling out those who don't set a valid lineup might be all you need.

 

[Rieguy]

Has anyone ever done anything about this? It really annoys me.

Yes, I am commish for two leagues now (by vote) with both going on for over a decade, so feel free to reach out whenever. Both leagues have different players and rule-sets, but the most common tools unfortunately are just public shamming, reminder(s), and threatening removal (careful with this one; some people you wouldn't expect become giant babies).

That said, we raised the buy-in a little some years back to pay out the high score of the week for regular season games, to incentivize full lineups even when you are out of contention. One of the leagues is also a keeper one, so an egregious lineup error when there was plenty of player notice and time, can result in that keeper moving up a round earlier, although just using a reminder and the preemptive threat as the season nears the end helps a lot.

I'm not sure how I feel about going in and editing their lineup after the fact, I'll have to think about that one.

I would not consider doing this at all. I never touch other player's lineups unless they text me before kickoff to make a move for them and I have that in writing. I will then text the opponent to let them know.

 

[timinater]

It's not cool, but it happens all the time. Ship has sailed in this situation unfortunately.

My first question, does anyone in the league care?

I don't think there's a ton that you can do to force someone to set their lineup, but you can build the expectation that it's a courtesy to the league to field a reasonably competitive team. I'd be most frustrated by the fact that it was a QB. If everyone has two QB's rostered there are still 12 starting QB's available to grab. I've seen lots of leagues where the commish might set a lineup based on projections/healthy players for absentee players.

Ultimately, tell player A to be better if they don't want to be at the mercy of a final week matchup. They lost their matchup and now suffer the consequences. Thinking of the real world analogue, we don't riot when teams that are clinched rest starters while playing a bubble team where there could be playoff consequences.

Ideas on preventing it in the future:

• winner of consolation bracket gets 1st overall pick. This gives you an incentive to win every week. Has worked wonders for me in various leagues.
• shame
• commish takeover of eliminated teams
• $$ penalty for not setting lineup

I'm thinking $20 penalty per roster spot violation. I will add some sort of disclaimer to account for situations where one shouldn't be penalized.

Only applies to eliminated teams, and it will likely need to be a judgement call on your end. Won't hurt to list a few examples but I'd add in a league vote component if it doesn't seem cut and dry.

I feel ever so slightly responsible as the commish. In the last few weeks of the regular season, I feel like I should've sent some reminders about this, or checked everyone's teams Sunday morning to try to see this situation coming.

Nah, it's literally 5 minutes to set a roster or make a player add. No fault of yours.

 

[Pinesol13]

In this league I'd say it happens 2-3 times a season. Its usually just an honest mistake. This season for example one players TE was playing Thursday night, but was listed OUT an hour before the game. The player was on vacation and just forgot to check. I get it when something like that happens. But it's never actually affected anything concretely until now.

I can't officially rule out collusion here either. It's possible Player B asked Player C to tank. I don't think it's likely, but you can't rule it out

 

[Mandos]

Honestly the best solution to this is having a penalty for last place in the league, which keeps everyone playing to the end to not end up in last. Aside from that, there should be some sort of consequence for not setting a lineup like moving down a spot in the next year's draft, monetary fee, etc. but if you haven't established that up front there's not much you can do.

 

[Mandos]

There are obviously situations where a guy is ruled out last minute, but if you're playing guys on bye or who have been injured all week there's no excuse.

 

[pokerplayingpisces]

Honestly the best solution to this is having a penalty for last place in the league, which keeps everyone playing to the end to not end up in last. Aside from that, there should be some sort of consequence for not setting a lineup like moving down a spot in the next year's draft, monetary fee, etc. but if you haven't established that up front there's not much you can do.

Yeah, this is something that one of my leagues agrees on before the season starts.
If you put in a something like “last place pays 3rd $50”, it tends to take care of this issue.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

Honestly the best solution to this is having a penalty for last place in the league, which keeps everyone playing to the end to not end up in last. Aside from that, there should be some sort of consequence for not setting a lineup like moving down a spot in the next year's draft, monetary fee, etc. but if you haven't established that up front there's not much you can do.

My league did the opposite and awarded a small prize to last place - something like $5-10 - but you were subject to good-natured needling for all of the next season.

People still fought pretty hard not to come in last.

 

[Mandos]

There are some pretty creative last place punishments out there: https://www.profootballnetwork.com/fantasy-football-punishments-for-last-place-teams/

 

[Frogzilla]

I’m in player A, I’m watching the matchup between B and C, and reminding player C to set his lineup against B if necessary

 

[RowlettTexasChipGuy]

We fine owners that do not set a starting lineup

 

[Pinesol13]

My first question, does anyone in the league care?

I think they guy who missed out on the playoffs will be pretty unhappy.

Thanks for all the feedback. Some things I've been thinking about since posting:

- removal from the league will not be an option. We're all close friends, just doesn't feel right.

- I've had bonuses for the last few years to try to keep people involved even when they're out. $10 per week for the highest score for example.

- another thing we do is after 15 waiver wire additions, you have to pay $2 per transaction. This additional money usually goes towards the regular prizepool, maybe having it go towards the consolation bracket winner would be better?

- Not sure how I feel about a punishment for last place, seems a bit odd to me, but willing to explore it

- I like the idea of a consequence going into next season, like draft order. I'll have to play around with that idea.


I think I'm going to start with a penalty for ignoring your lineup. $5 for the first offense, and it doubles each time after that.

 

[timinater]

I’m in player A, I’m watching the matchup between B and C, and reminding player C to set his lineup against B if necessary

Absolutely.

 

[Tonysquander]

I sent a reminder to everyone last week and followed up with one specific person last Thursday to make sure he complied and had starters in.

 

[Pinesol13]

Playing around with a rule to post before next season, named after the offending player

This is just a draft, and intentionally long winded and over complicated for both humor, and to help my editing process later.

 

[timinater]

That very first example "starting a player who was ruled out within 30 minutes" sounds like a headache for everyone involved.
Same with "starting a player who has been benched and is not expected to play a significant role"

I'd leave those off and just include a "we know it when we see it" type thing, examples of which, depending on the scenario could be "xyz"

 

[CraigT78]

From a guy in 5th place who forgot to fill his kicker slot this week, shit happens. I don't like rules and/or penalties - but then again this isn't a competitive league, just me and 11 poker buddies with $100 each on the line.

 

[mike32]

I suggested a rule in our league a few years ago to combat this and it works I think. Ours is a lower stakes league ($100) and every regular season game whoever has low score owes $5. You could adjust the amount accordingly.

 

[KBNYY]

We have a meager $10 penalty that goes to the champion’s pot if it becomes a recurrence but also I check all lineups one hour prior to kickoff on Sunday and send reminders. Never utilized to date as the prior two mitigating actions seem to work, but I also have a clause that the commish can set the lineup and start the higher projected players for each position.