Advice for Starting a Franchise League

Hi All!

Apologies if this has been a common question but I need to lean on those of you who have far more experience in this world than I. I wanted to start an ATG8 Franchise League and I wish to bounce my thinking off you to see if it sounds rational and/or if you have any suggestions.

Also, I assume that making owners adhere to these rules is more of an "honor system" thing - correct?

1) When you sign up for the league use the real franchise name (e.g. Tigers) - all franchises are available EXCEPT The Yankees (more on that below)
2) Put only players that played for your franchise in your draft queue. You must use the card of that player with the franchise you've chosen (Example, Frank Robinson as a Red must be 1961). Following the draft and into the season, you are still limited to the card of that player for that team.
3) Following the draft/during the waiver period, you must rid yourself of players who aren't from your franchise EXCEPT that the Yankees are now available during the waiver period.

Does this make sense and what have I missed? Many thanks.

You may want to also address the NEL players - are they to be excluded from your league, or treated like the Yankees?

JoeyC

I would also strongly suggest that you use a random generator for the selection of franchises and then have at least a one round draft that reverses the draft order. For example, if I get first pick of franchises, I would then get the 12th pick in the free agency round. This will supplement the teams with low draft picks among franchises. Many of the leagues I've played in have a two-round supplemental draft to assist in leveling the franchises.

You should be specific on players who are carded on multiple teams; does my selection of the Giants guarantee me Barry Bonds because his highest salary is as a Giant, or can the Pirates owner try to draft him also? You can do it either way but be specific in your rules establishment. Also, this would seem obvious, but I've just joined a league where two teams selected the same franchise; I would recommend in the most overwhelming terms not to allow that!

Because it will likely be a league comprised of established teams, the squads from the expansion era rarely get chosen and usually are part of the free agency. Here, it will help to decide in advance what will happen with certain cards; Clemens top card is as a Blue Jay, but if they are not one of the teams drafted and the Red Sox are, which is highly likely, is he Bosox property or a free agent? You can go either way, but spell it out in advance.

In closing, as a general rule, the more care you exercise in establishing the league parameters, the fewer problems you will experience and the more competitive your league will be. Good luck!

I play mostly in franchise leagues, the majority of them started by Andy Cummings. All of them involve multi-season commitments, usually 12, in which everyone rotates through the 12 teams finally selected. That is by far the most fair method. not to mention the most challenging. And each of the leagues has strict rules as to which players are eligible for each franchise, either by chronology (say, 1967-92 cards only), or price (say, most expensive card wins when players are carded to, or played for, more than one franchise), or specifically assigned by the commissioner to a franchise for which they would otherwise be ineligible.

One franchise league started by warrenbob is somewhat similar to your intentions toward the Yankees: Each of the other 11 franchises (all of the original 16 teams except for the Senators, Browns, Phillies and Pirates) in the league are ranked according to strength. The six lowest ranked get to add three players from the expansion teams, NeL or the four unchosen franchises) in non-serpentine rounds. The four middle-ranked teams get to add two players in the second and third rounds while the Giants (ranked second in strength) get to add only one player at the end of the third round. The Yankees, of course, get no such free agents.

There are many different ways to organize such leagues, but the object should be to make them competitive no matter how the franchises are selected. As Harry points out, it is almost mandatory to lay out strict eligibility rules.

Thanks guys - this is all sound advice and food for thought. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond!

Just another thought on the franchise league set-up... many of the leagues pair up franchises. For example, you could establish a primary draft order - in your case, let's say the first pick is the Giant franchise - and then reverse the order in the second round so that the Giants owner gets to add the 24th franchise, while the owner picking 12th in the first round - let's just say he picks the White Sox - would then be able to lead off the second round picking from the remaining franchises.

Some tweaking is usually required here, because some franchises have so few players. Often the league establishes combinations such as Rockies/Marlins as an option to go along with popular expansion squads like the Astros and Expos, so you could get - again using the above examples - a Giants/Marlins/Rockies squad and a White Sox/Astros squad.

Another idea might be this ;

Allow any player to play for that franchise who played for them in real life (even if it was a short stay)

There was a franchise league where the franchises were set up already- (Sparky's reds, Billy Martin's Yankees etc) that one looked pretty cool. Sad I missed it.

Lobby AndyCummings to make 3 more of his Alt Franchise leagues- they are as addictive as crack.