2023 Players' Championship Rules and Schedule
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:48 pmThe 2023 tournament will consist of five events and a two-round playoff. In the playoff, the top 36 managers will compete in three 12-team leagues. The playoff teams from those three leagues will become eligible for the Championship Finals. The winner from that final league is recognized as the 2023 Players’ Champion.
The score for the qualifying events will be the sum of the best four scores out of the five events. This provides several benefits for the members of the tournament:
-If someone misses Event 1, but they still want to join up for Event 2, they can do that, and still have a chance of making the playoffs assuming they do not miss any additional events.
- If someone joins for Event 1, but misses only one of Events 2-5, they are still eligible for the playoffs (assuming they make the cutoff score).
- If someone enters all five events, they benefit from being able to drop their lowest score.
Entering Your Teams
This year we will be entering leagues without league assignments. The initial leagues will typically open on a Saturday, and I will open new leagues through a window of about 10 days. At 6 pm EST on the day before the deadline to enter leagues, whatever league is open at that point will be the last league. Generally, there will only be one league open at that time. The name of the game is to get your teams in early to avoid getting shut out. It is my expectation that no league assignments will result in leagues filling quicker, less waiting for you and less work for me.
Players are expected to enter one team, and one team only in each event. Each "Event" will have many leagues, to accommodate the large number of players. So Event 1 will have Leagues 1 through XX (typically seven or so). But you enter JUST ONE team in each “Event” - not one team in each “League”.
Entry deadlines will be strictly enforced as I’ve outlined. I will retain the right to invoke closure on event entries. I intend to avoid fillers as much as possible, although some fillers obviously will be necessary. Leagues will be set-up as private leagues with an entry code needed to join. To keep things simple and moving along, the passwords will be posted in the discussion thread set up for each event. The main idea is to prevent accidental team entries for players who are not participating in the tournament. If someone has difficulty entering a private league, please send me a PM or post openly in the forum threads and I will find a solution for you that works.
Point System / Tiebreakers
The point system will be identical to last year’s simplified point system. One regular season equals one point and one post-season win equals one point. There will be no “bonus” points for this season.
Tiebreakers
1. Championships won
2. Finals made
3. Playoffs made
4. Run differential (four best teams for each manager totaled together)
5. Pick three winner
NOTE: The points accumulated in the semi-finals round will be added to the manager's point total in order to produce the final standings.
Ballpark Requirement
A player must not re-use a ballpark. For example, if a player used Fenway in Event 1, that player may not use Fenway in Events 2-5, nor may the player use Fenway in any playoff round. The same rule applies to ballparks used in later rounds.
There can be more than one player using the same ballpark in the same event and/or league. For example, player X and player Y may both use Fenway in Event I, League 1 (In theory, the same ballpark could be used by all 12 teams in any league or event). The prohibition relates to the same player using the same ballpark twice during the Players’ Championship.
A player who is acting as a "filler" for any event and league may use whatever ballpark that player wants to use. You cannot impose a “penalty” on a team that does not count in the official standings anyway.
If a player re-uses a ballpark in the qualifying events, there will be a 20-point penalty. The penalty will be deducted from the overall score so be careful not to duplicate your stadium. It will very likely end your chance to make the Semi-Finals.
The standard injury system will be in effect for all leagues.
Playoffs
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in three leagues of 12
(All 12 playoff qualifiers advance to Tour Champions League)
There will be a three round non-serpentine draft administered on the forum boards. Round 3 will be a player and a unique ballpark. Players will have the option in Round 3 to defer their ballpark pick. The draft order will be the order of finish in tour points. Semi-finalists may not re-use a ballpark used in the qualifying events.
It is expected that everyone will be ready to draft when the time comes. As such there will be a two-hour clock running (clock will be suspended overnight) from the time we start the draft. The draft start time will be announced upon the start of the last league for Event 5 and will be roughly 2-3 days after Game 7 of the Finals for that league would take place.
Champions League
The 12 Semi-Finals playoffs qualifiers in a single 12-team league
There will also be a three round non-serpentine draft for the Championship League, same as the Semi-Finals, to be administered on the forum boards. Players may not re-use a ballpark in this round.
Penalties
Salary Dumping: The standard 90% salary floor will be used.
Once official play begins, failure to observe the rules against re-using ballparks in the playoffs will result in a 20-point penalty. However, if the error is detected early enough to be corrected by 365Support before the beginning of official play, then the manager may not be penalized.
Other
Communication
Most of our communication will be held on the Players’ Championship forum, and by occasional private messages. For transparency on overall league matters, let’s discuss things in the forums. For matters pertaining to an individual situation, question, or problem, please send me a personal message.
Cost
The only monetary requirement for the 2023 Players’ Championship is to purchase your required number of teams (no fewer than four, no more than possibly seven). Buying the five-pack option would be a good value purchase.
Use of Fillers
Some qualifying leagues for an event will need "fillers" since we probably won't have a membership that is divisible by 12 and we will probably have some "dropouts" during the season. "Fillers" are non-tournament players who play in the qualifying leagues solely for the experience of playing against tour-level competition as well as tournament players who will play in an extra league just to fill out the league. For such filler managers, only their first team entered in an event will count for points.
Catastrophic Events
In the event there is some malfunction with the game, the official Strat-O-Matic 365 results will be final. If 365Support remedies a situation with some sort of re-play, again, the official Strat-O-Matic 365 results will be final.
Schedule
Event 1: $80M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, April 15 – Tue, April 25
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 2: Choice of $80M or $100M
(Deadline for Tournament Entry)
Leagues open: Sat, May 6 – Tue, May 16
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 or $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 3: $60M, Choice of DH or no DH
Leagues open: Sat, June 3 – Tue, June 13
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
DH Rule: Choice of yes (DH) or no (No DH)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 4: $100M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, July 1 – Tue, July 11
Salary Cap: $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 5: $90M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, July 29 – Fri, August 4
Salary Cap: $90,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in three leagues of 12
Start: late October/early November
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Draft: 3 round non-serpentine draft on forum, then Auto List Draft
Finals
12 playoff qualifiers from 3 semi-finals leagues in a single 12-team league
Start: early to mid-January 2024
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Draft: 3 round non-serpentine draft on forum, then Auto List Draft
The score for the qualifying events will be the sum of the best four scores out of the five events. This provides several benefits for the members of the tournament:
-If someone misses Event 1, but they still want to join up for Event 2, they can do that, and still have a chance of making the playoffs assuming they do not miss any additional events.
- If someone joins for Event 1, but misses only one of Events 2-5, they are still eligible for the playoffs (assuming they make the cutoff score).
- If someone enters all five events, they benefit from being able to drop their lowest score.
Entering Your Teams
This year we will be entering leagues without league assignments. The initial leagues will typically open on a Saturday, and I will open new leagues through a window of about 10 days. At 6 pm EST on the day before the deadline to enter leagues, whatever league is open at that point will be the last league. Generally, there will only be one league open at that time. The name of the game is to get your teams in early to avoid getting shut out. It is my expectation that no league assignments will result in leagues filling quicker, less waiting for you and less work for me.
Players are expected to enter one team, and one team only in each event. Each "Event" will have many leagues, to accommodate the large number of players. So Event 1 will have Leagues 1 through XX (typically seven or so). But you enter JUST ONE team in each “Event” - not one team in each “League”.
Entry deadlines will be strictly enforced as I’ve outlined. I will retain the right to invoke closure on event entries. I intend to avoid fillers as much as possible, although some fillers obviously will be necessary. Leagues will be set-up as private leagues with an entry code needed to join. To keep things simple and moving along, the passwords will be posted in the discussion thread set up for each event. The main idea is to prevent accidental team entries for players who are not participating in the tournament. If someone has difficulty entering a private league, please send me a PM or post openly in the forum threads and I will find a solution for you that works.
Point System / Tiebreakers
The point system will be identical to last year’s simplified point system. One regular season equals one point and one post-season win equals one point. There will be no “bonus” points for this season.
Tiebreakers
1. Championships won
2. Finals made
3. Playoffs made
4. Run differential (four best teams for each manager totaled together)
5. Pick three winner
NOTE: The points accumulated in the semi-finals round will be added to the manager's point total in order to produce the final standings.
Ballpark Requirement
A player must not re-use a ballpark. For example, if a player used Fenway in Event 1, that player may not use Fenway in Events 2-5, nor may the player use Fenway in any playoff round. The same rule applies to ballparks used in later rounds.
There can be more than one player using the same ballpark in the same event and/or league. For example, player X and player Y may both use Fenway in Event I, League 1 (In theory, the same ballpark could be used by all 12 teams in any league or event). The prohibition relates to the same player using the same ballpark twice during the Players’ Championship.
A player who is acting as a "filler" for any event and league may use whatever ballpark that player wants to use. You cannot impose a “penalty” on a team that does not count in the official standings anyway.
If a player re-uses a ballpark in the qualifying events, there will be a 20-point penalty. The penalty will be deducted from the overall score so be careful not to duplicate your stadium. It will very likely end your chance to make the Semi-Finals.
The standard injury system will be in effect for all leagues.
Playoffs
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in three leagues of 12
(All 12 playoff qualifiers advance to Tour Champions League)
There will be a three round non-serpentine draft administered on the forum boards. Round 3 will be a player and a unique ballpark. Players will have the option in Round 3 to defer their ballpark pick. The draft order will be the order of finish in tour points. Semi-finalists may not re-use a ballpark used in the qualifying events.
It is expected that everyone will be ready to draft when the time comes. As such there will be a two-hour clock running (clock will be suspended overnight) from the time we start the draft. The draft start time will be announced upon the start of the last league for Event 5 and will be roughly 2-3 days after Game 7 of the Finals for that league would take place.
Champions League
The 12 Semi-Finals playoffs qualifiers in a single 12-team league
There will also be a three round non-serpentine draft for the Championship League, same as the Semi-Finals, to be administered on the forum boards. Players may not re-use a ballpark in this round.
Penalties
Salary Dumping: The standard 90% salary floor will be used.
Once official play begins, failure to observe the rules against re-using ballparks in the playoffs will result in a 20-point penalty. However, if the error is detected early enough to be corrected by 365Support before the beginning of official play, then the manager may not be penalized.
Other
Communication
Most of our communication will be held on the Players’ Championship forum, and by occasional private messages. For transparency on overall league matters, let’s discuss things in the forums. For matters pertaining to an individual situation, question, or problem, please send me a personal message.
Cost
The only monetary requirement for the 2023 Players’ Championship is to purchase your required number of teams (no fewer than four, no more than possibly seven). Buying the five-pack option would be a good value purchase.
Use of Fillers
Some qualifying leagues for an event will need "fillers" since we probably won't have a membership that is divisible by 12 and we will probably have some "dropouts" during the season. "Fillers" are non-tournament players who play in the qualifying leagues solely for the experience of playing against tour-level competition as well as tournament players who will play in an extra league just to fill out the league. For such filler managers, only their first team entered in an event will count for points.
Catastrophic Events
In the event there is some malfunction with the game, the official Strat-O-Matic 365 results will be final. If 365Support remedies a situation with some sort of re-play, again, the official Strat-O-Matic 365 results will be final.
Schedule
Event 1: $80M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, April 15 – Tue, April 25
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 2: Choice of $80M or $100M
(Deadline for Tournament Entry)
Leagues open: Sat, May 6 – Tue, May 16
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 or $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 3: $60M, Choice of DH or no DH
Leagues open: Sat, June 3 – Tue, June 13
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
DH Rule: Choice of yes (DH) or no (No DH)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 4: $100M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, July 1 – Tue, July 11
Salary Cap: $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Event 5: $90M, DH
Leagues open: Sat, July 29 – Fri, August 4
Salary Cap: $90,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in three leagues of 12
Start: late October/early November
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Draft: 3 round non-serpentine draft on forum, then Auto List Draft
Finals
12 playoff qualifiers from 3 semi-finals leagues in a single 12-team league
Start: early to mid-January 2024
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20% (standard)
Draft: 3 round non-serpentine draft on forum, then Auto List Draft