When a fantasy football league is firing on all cylinders, its members are engaged, and competition is off the charts. It is truly special. Unfortunately, not all fantasy leagues maximize the experience, and far too many fantasy players miss out on the best aspects of the game. The league experience. If you have some years under your belt playing in fantasy leagues, you know precisely what I am talking about. Some leagues get it, and others do not.
Engagement is the key to fantasy league success. It is the oxygen of the game. When fantasy players are not actively involved, their participation in trades, transactions, and trash talk is diminished, and the league suffocates. A league cannot survive if only a few people care about making it thrive. When attention is lost in a stale and boring fantasy league, its members will focus on other leagues that are more involved and worthy of their attention.
Taking full advantage of opportunities that spark league engagement is critical for the health of the league in the short and long term. To keep the fire burning in a fantasy league, the flames must be stoked. Below are ten keys to maximizing engagement in fantasy football.
1. Leadership
A fantasy league is essentially a small organization that should operate as such. Leadership is vital to ensure that the entity functions appropriately. The commissioner has to be a trusted and well-respected individual that sets the tone for the league. League dysfunction is all but certain if the commissioner is rough around the edges and volatile during interactions with league members. Stability is crucial. It is a necessity in fantasy football to have a commissioner that can work well with a variety of people and is influential in leading the group toward the greater good, which is creating an extraordinary fantasy league.
2. Rules
When rules are set and defined within a formal league constitution, an issue rarely arises that damages the league beyond repair. When league rules are not clearly defined, turmoil, drama, and frequent bickering can be a dark cloud that hovers over a league giving a sense of impending doom. This results in spikes of negative engagement and disengagement amongst other members that want to avoid the negativity. Proactively addressing common issues that arise in fantasy leagues fixes problems before they develop, so establishing extremely specific rules is always a good idea.
3. Communication
The commissioner needs to review the league's rules with its members before the season and ahead of key points within the season, such as the trade deadline and fantasy playoffs. In today’s world, there is no reason not to have active communication with your fantasy football league. Take advantage of technology. Forming a group text or utilizing apps such as WhatsApp, discord, and many other platforms will help your league stay connected and engaged. Open social media accounts for your league to enhance connectivity.
4. People
There are several components to consider when establishing a fantasy league or growing an existing one. There is no room for obnoxious people. If someone has a disruptive personality or is an individual with questionable integrity, they do not belong in your league. Shed the bad apples, and your leaguemates will thank you. The wrong mix of people will invite drama and negativity that often results in disengagement or, worse, league implosion. Checking out mentally from a league that is perceived as a circus is just something that happens, and taking steps to avoid this outcome is imperative.
Fantasy leagues should also be created with competitive balance in mind. Generally, league members should not be focused on how others manage their rosters. However, it is natural to experience frustration when questionable roster moves are made. It is best to avoid mixing skilled and competitive players with casual and inexperienced players. Keeping skill levels in the same stratosphere is important to reduce the potential of league members getting irritated with the roster management of others that they deem inadequate.
5. Bonding
Playing in a fantasy football league with others creates a truly unique bond. The season-long journey is filled with the ups and downs that create exciting memories together. The better the league members know each other, the more likely the league will be a success. If your league is local, you have so many opportunities to strengthen the league bond. Take advantage of this with league outings and experiences. Golfing, barbecues, game viewing parties, Super Bowl parties, and countless other events can be shared with your leaguemates that expand your relationships and fuel your fantasy league’s connections.
If your league is based online with league members scattered across the country, there are ways for you to improve your bond as well. The tenth key listed below will undoubtedly help your league maximize engagement, so do not be discouraged.
6. Hype
Once the Super Bowl is over, sights can be set upon next season’s fantasy football draft. It is never too early to connect with league members. The more your leaguemates interact with each other during the offseason, the better your league will be positioned to transition into the season with great anticipation and positive energy. As the summer approaches, hyping up the draft and upcoming season greatly creates excitement for your league. Getting the draft date on the calendar as early as possible helps to ensure the entire league can turn out for the event without scheduling conflicts. So set a date for the draft in advance and talk trash all year round.
Determining draft order can be done in several ways. Offseason events such as the Kentucky Derby, NCAA tournament, The Masters, and other events can be incorporated into creatively selecting your league’s draft order. You could also execute a bingo ball draft lottery ahead of the big day to set the draft order ahead of the season. Advanced knowledge of the draft order also gives league members a chance to plan and prepare for the draft more strategically than in most typical drafts where names are simply drawn from a hat at the event.
7. Draft
The live fantasy football draft is the most impactful event to enhance engagement within your fantasy football league. In a recent article, I discussed Live Fantasy Football Draft Day Essentials. I encourage you to check that out if you are drafting live and local. Make sure to capture video content and plenty of pictures from the draft. Interview leaguemates before and after the draft. This content can fuel other forms of engagement during the season and beyond. If you cannot draft in person, there are still ways to enhance your draft experience, such as creating a Zoom chat with your league members during the draft.
8. Glory
League engagement thrives when there is a prize on the line. The fantasy football league must have a trophy to battle for. This hardware is a symbol of dominance over your leaguemates, and it can even be more important than monetary winnings in leagues that focus on legacy and fun. The longer the league exists, the more the magnificence and lore of the league’s championship trophy will grow.
9. Celebration
Beyond the league champion, several other awards can be implemented within a fantasy league to enhance engagement and competition levels. Implement these awards into your league; you will love seeing how much they spark engagement.
Last Place Award- When last place is uniquely celebrated with a shameful and hideous trophy or an embarrassing punishment, excitement is created at the bottom of the standings. Battling out of that spot can draw even more attention than the championship round!
Toilet Bowl Champion- A toilet bowl championship award for the winner of the consolation bracket adds a fun element to the loser bracket in the playoffs. An exciting trophy idea for this is a blinged-out toilet bowl scrubber. These come in an assortment of colors and finishes and are a blast to create.
Points Champion- Recognition of a points champion creates another race to the top in a fantasy football league. Points matter. Awarding weekly high points with a small portion of the pot is another way of recognizing points as an important aspect of league play and grasping the attention of league members every week. Engagement flourishes when awards are on the line; honoring these accomplishments can go a long way.
10. Entertainment
The best way to maintain a high level of league engagement is through consistent entertainment. When a league regularly provokes laughter and genuine fun, its members yearn for more and more of it. Implementing entertaining components within your league will set it apart from other leagues that compete for the attention of your leaguemates. With creativity, the options are limitless. Below are some fun ideas I have experienced throughout my years playing fantasy football that dramatically impacts weekly engagement.
Social Media- Nowadays, setting up Facebook and Instagram pages for your fantasy league just makes sense. These offer fun ways to post videos, memes, gifs, and pictures your league collects over the years. Start a YouTube channel or a podcast for your league, and your leaguemates will wait for the next drop with great anticipation.
Power Rankings- The commissioner can break down league power rankings in written or video form every week. These can be done with advanced and objective analytics or with complete bias and the goal of delivering strategically disguised trash talk. If it is too much of a task for the commish to get these done weekly, each league member can be assigned a week during the season where it is their turn to deliver the goods. If you want to take it to another level, create fake analysts to break down the league. This approach adds next-level entertainment that will get league chatter buzzing.
Weekly Results- Similar to league power rankings, a weekly results report or video breaking down league action keeps league members dialed in on the latest news and developments.
When you implement these elements to maximize league engagement, you will create a league that everyone wants to participate in. A waiting list will develop just to get into the league. When you embrace the opportunity to create a memory-making fantasy football league, you and your leaguemates will cherish each moment you share.