1.0 The Spokane Fantasy Football League (SFFL), originally organized in 1991 is hereby established as a fun and social way to further enjoy NFL football.
1.1 The objective of the league shall be to defeat other teams in the league through head-to-head statistical match-ups and ultimately win the SFFL Superbowl and the coveted SFFL Trophy Cup. Additional prizes are identified in Section 7.
1.2 Performance of teams and the skills of owners shall be gauged by using the performance results of NFL players as measurements of scoring.
1.3 The SFFL shall be composed of twelve (12) teams. The league will consist of two (2) Conferences of six (6) teams each. Conferences are further subdivided into two (2) Divisions of three (3) teams each.
2.0 The executive committee consists of the Commissioner and Treasurer (elected positions), and the Secretary (appointed position). All elected positions are decided by a majority vote of the Franchise Owners.
2.1 The Commissioner shall handle disputes, represent the Executive Council, and handle all difficult decisions, and make sure everything runs smoothly. The Commissioner will make appointments necessary to fill vacancies on the E.C.
HOWEVER, this authority shall be governed by an appeal process. Any affected owner can appeal any action taken by the Commissioner at any time. Appeals will be decided by majority vote of the Executive Council. If any member of the executive council is a party to the transaction in anyway, they shall excuse themselves (or the Commissioner can excuse them) from deciding on the appeal. Excused executive council members shall be replaced first by former commissioners (in reverse sequence of service) and then, if necessary, by other owners determined via random drawing.
FURTHER, in addition to the appeal process above, any and all Commissioner Interpretations shall be subject to regular full league voting confirmation at the end of the season at the option of any owner. Any owner wishing to propose an alternate solution to an issue addressed by a Commissioner Interpretation may socialize and submit such through trough the processes described in Section 3.4 below.
2.2 The Treasurer is responsible for collecting all the Franchise fees and disbursing funds for operating costs and prize awards. The Treasurer shall keep his books in order and available for inspection by the Commissioner upon demand.
2.21 A unanimous decision of the Executive Council is required to spend league funds on unplanned items.
2.3 The Secretary keeps the records of individual Franchises, takes weekly lineups, tracks trades and waivers, and delivers the weekly results and newsletter. He shall provide information as required to the Commissioner.
2.4 The terms of all elected executives shall expire at the next seasons draft night. The Treasurer shall be considered Vice Commissioner and fill in for the Commissioner in his absence. The term of the Secretary shall expire upon conclusion of the end-of-the-year party, after which time and before the next years draft night, the Commissioner and Treasurer shall appoint a new Secretary, whose term begins immediately.
3.0 Franchise Owners have the responsibility to pay their fees on time; attend the draft; and provide lineups on a timely basis. Active participation in the league is strongly encouraged!
3.1 When the Executive Committee unanimously agrees that a new team is needed to replace a team that has folded, the league owners shall be informed of the vacancy and encouraged to recommend a new owner.
3.2 A unanimous decision of the Executive Council shall be required to accept a new team owner. Priority shall be given to former owners seeking to rejoin the league.
3.3 In order to change the name of a Franchise, a majority of the Executive Council must concur and the Treasurer must acknowledge receipt of the fee (currently $5).
3.4 In order to increase the total number of teams in the league, or alter any existing rule in these bylaws, a supermajority (80% or 10 teams) of Franchise Owners' approval is required.
Further it is shall be the goal of the league to have completed all rule votes prior to draft night and to have fully documented the results. For easy of administration and to foster the greatest level of response, two open windows for rule changes are anticipated, 1) from the SFFL Superbowl to the NFL Superbowl,. 2) from roughly 1 month in advance of draft night. Notice at a minimum will be via multiple e-mail announcements (3 minimum) to the official e-mail address on file in league records over the course of 3 weeks. Rule changes shall be considered accepted unless three (3) "negative" votes are formally received specific to the proposal. Voting must be via e-mail directly from the owners e-mail account or via voice discussion with the commissioner to be considered valid.
4.0 A starting lineup will consist of the following:
4.1 Five Eligibles consist of a maximum of:
4.2 Any player who is listed in the commonly Accepted Sources (i.e. national websites or other authoritative document) as playing at multiple positions may be started at any of the positions by the player. Points will be awarded according to position taken. Any disputes will be referred to the Commissioner.
4.3 Starting Lineups may be reported by phone call, email, web page form, or in person. The latest version of multiple lineups will be used.
4.4 All starting lineups must be turned into the Secretary or designee at least one hour prior to the start of the game. If a team fails to do this, the prior weeks lineup will be used.
4.5 If the NFL schedules games prior to Sunday, there are four situations that can occur.
4.51 You did have players from an early game in your lineup last week, and you do want to play them this week. Solution: You may submit your lineup any time before Sunday.
4.52 You did have players from an early game in your lineup last week, but you don't want to play them this week. Solution: You must submit your lineup before the early game.
4.53 You didn't have players from an early game in your lineup last week, but you do want to play them this week. Solution: You must submit your lineup before the early game.
4.54 You didn't have players from an early game in your lineup last week, and you don't want to play them this week. Solution: You may submit your lineup any time before Sunday.
4.6 In post season play, three sequential tie breakers shall be designated in order of usage. These tiebreakers are selected from those players not in the current lineup.
4.7 The Secretary bears no responsibility for invalid lineups, but will attempt to interpret the wishes of the owner the best way possible.
5.0 Franchise Owners may waive a player on his/her current roster and add any available player. There shall be a limit of one waiver per week, which cannot be accrued.
5.1 The waiver wire process will replace the "Supplemental Draft" which will no longer be used. Instead, players will have the option to waive players starting after the 4th full week of league play. Each week, the secretary will post the leagues' results as usual with a list of the top twenty five free agents.
5.2 Waivers cost $3.00 each. This fee must be paid prior to the start of the games that week. (i.e. 10:00am Pacific Time on Sunday.) In case of Thursday games, the waiver must be paid by Thursday if that newly acquired player is playing in the Thursday game. If a an owner fails to pay this fee as specified, the player will be released and considered a free agent, subject to restrictions noted below in Rule 5.53.
5.3 The waiver wire for the week will open on Tuesday at 6:00 PM, Pacific Time. This time is targeted for at least twelve hours after the secretary's posting of Free Agents. (If there are complications with posting, the Commissioner can rule on a fair change for the week's wavier period.)
5.4 The waiver wire for the week will close on Wednesday at 6:00 PM Pacific Time.
5.5 In cases where multiple owners make a waiver requests for the same player, the following methods shall be used to determine which team acquires the desired player.
5.51 If the waiver request is made after the waiver wire opens on Tuesday at 6pm, the waiver will be determined based on who made the request first.
5.52 If the waiver request is made before the waiver wire opens on Tuesday at 6pm, the following "tie-breaker" mechanism shall be used to determine which team shall acquire the player in question.
5.53 If an owner fails to pay for a waiver as specified above in rule 5.2 and if one or more other owners had also bid for that player, the second place runner up will have the opportunity to pick-up the player in the next week before any other waiver picks are made.
5.6 The right to waiver in a given week may be traded, but must be used within that week.
5.7 The final waiver wire closes at Wednesday at 6:00 PM Pacific Time, after week 13 of the season.
5.8 Newly acquired players may be put into the lineup immediately.
6.0 Franchise Owners may trade one or more players from one Franchise to another. The only limitation on any arrangements made between Owners is an approval of majority of the Executive Council. Traded players may start "immediately" upon confirmation of the trade.
For purposes of efficient running of the league, all trades will automatically be approved by the system. However, this will be considered a "conditional approval". If any executive council member wishes to raise a concern about a trade transaction, they will be required to surface that concern no later than 3 days (72 hours) following the trade. In that case, a majority opinion of the executive council will be reached and the trade will be confirmed or not. If no concern is raised within 72 hours, the trade is considered "final approved". So in this case "no news, is good news". In the rare event that a player trade is "voided" based on executive council action within the 72 hour approval window, but after games are played then those points will be removed from the team score and no substitute players will be allowed to be played in their stead.
6.1 Trade submissions are permitted from the beginning of the Draft until the lineup deadline for the eleventh week of the regular season.
7.0 There are a few Franchise fees associated with being an owner:
7.1 Half the Franchise fee must be paid on or before Draft Night, and the remaining balance is due before the end of week 4. If the balance is not paid, the team will forfeit all games after that point until the due amount is paid.
7.2 All fees must be paid to the Treasurer, who shall be responsible for any receipts.
7.3 The Secretary shall pay only 1/2 the dues of the Franchise Owner fee, out of gratitude for the hard work done.
7.4 The Spud Bowl winner at the end of each year shall pay only 1/2 of the dues of the Franchise Owner fee for the next year, as reward for winning the Spud Bowl.
7.5 The total expected Incoming Fees are:
7.6 The total expected Outgoing Fees are:
8.0 It is imperative that each Franchise Owner attend draft night. If unable to attend, it shall be the Owners responsibility to choose somebody else to draft for them.
8.1 On Draft Night, each Owner shall draft a total of 16 players. The positions and numbers of players are:
8.2 The draft will be 16 rounds and any Owner may draft any position during any round. There will be a somewhat firm one minute time limit set for each pick. If each owner takes one minute per pick, that draft would last just over three hours. Owners exceeding the time limit will have their pick skipped, and skipped picks can be made up at the end of the draft.
8.3 Existing Franchises may protect up to four players from the previous years roster. These players will occupy the first draft slots of the protecting franchise. Owners must notify the Secretary of protected players prior to the start of the draft. Upon commencement of the draft, all Owners will be notified of any protected players.
8.4 Draft Order is based on the final standings of the previous year, in reverse order, with ties to be broken first by division record and second by overall league points scored. Post season standings are considered, thus the Superbowl Winner picks last. New Franchise Owners will pick at the end of the first round.
8.5 Banks' Rule: If a player drafted is cut or injured before the season, the Owner will be allowed to draft another player of the same position without having to pay a waiver fee. This must happen before the start of the regular season.
8.6 Each Owner shall be responsible for their own list of players. Any player may be drafted. Only NFL statistics will be considered.
8.7 The Secretary will keep a master list of players. Please make sure the Secretary hears your name, position and player picked.
8.8 Draft picks may be traded.
8.9 Each additional round shall reverse the order of the prior round.
9.0 The NFL plays a 17 week schedule, hence the SFFL plays a 14 week schedule, followed by a 3 week post-season.
9.1 The regular season schedule shall consist of each team playing the other teams in its conference twice (4 games), and each of the other teams once (9 games). Assignments of matchups in the extra regular game are at the whim of the Executive Committee.
9.2 The teams with the best overall records in each division shall be declared Division Winners. Of the four remaining teams in each conference, the two best records shall be declared Wild Card teams. Ties shall be determined by record within the division first, then overall league points scored second.
9.3 Within each Conference, the Division Winner with the best record shall play the Wild Card with the worst record, and the Wild Card with the best record shall play the Division Winner with the worst record.
9.4 During the next week of playoffs, the two remaining teams from each Conference shall vie for the Conference Champion title.
9.5 During the final week of the season, the two Conference Champions shall play for the SFFL Championship in the Superbowl.
9.51 Ross' Rule: The SFFL Superbowl trophy is designated as a treasured icon and shall never, ever be placed in a dishwasher. The penalty for using the dishwasher upon the mug shall be the burden of polishing it into brightness again.
9.6 During the final week of the season, the remaining 10 teams shall vie for the Spudbowl Title. The team lineup with the highest point total for that week shall be declared "Spud" and shall be required to pay only 1/2 dues in the next NFL season. If the "Spud" team leaves the league, that reward shall go unused.
10.0 The SFFL uses a scoring system based on a combination of touchdowns and performance. For League purposes, the "Red Zone" should be defined as the area between the goal line and the twenty-yard line. Scoring plays that result in a touchdown of twenty yards or more shall be considered to be outside or beyond the "Red Zone".
| Quarterback | Red Zone | Outside |
|---|---|---|
| Run, Pass or Kick Return for TD | 6 | 9 |
| Catch for TD | 9 | 12 |
| 2 Point Conversion | 2 | |
| Every 10 yards of offense (rushing/passing/receiving) after the first 200 at 1 point per 10 yards (e.g. 248 yards = 4 points) | ||
| Running Back, Wide Receiver | Red Zone | Outside |
|---|---|---|
| Run, Catch or Kick Return for TD | 6 | 9 |
| Pass for TD | 9 | 12 |
| 2 Point Conversion | 2 | |
| Every 10 yards of offense (rushing/passing/receiving) at 1 point per 10 yards (e.g. 136 yards = 13 points) | ||
| Tight End, Kicker, Defensive Team | Red Zone | Outside |
|---|---|---|
| Run, Catch, Pass or Kick Return for TD | 9 | 12 |
| DT Interception/Fumble Recovery for TD | 9 | 12 |
| 2 Point Conversion | 2 | |
| For the Tight End, every 10 yards of offense (rushing/passing/receiving) at 1 point per 10 yards (e.g. 72 yards = 7 points) | ||
| Note: Defensive Team not eligible for 2 point conversion | ||
| Kicker | 0-39 yds | 40-49 yds | 50-59 yds | 60+ yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field Goal | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Each Extra Point is worth 1 point | ||||
| Defensive Team | Shut Out | Offense < 201 yds | Offense < 301 yds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 15 | 7 | |
| Note: Defensive Team only qualifies for one of the above categories | |||
| A Safety is worth 9 points | |||