Introduction:

The Seinfeld League was designed by myself (Brian Kreklau) after playing numerous and often subpar fantasy football games. It is very simple and similar to other leagues with the one exception, the Wild Card Player. Basically, each owner, that's you, drafts a team of football players and scores points based on how they perform each week on the football field. There are 12 franchises in the Seinfeld League, 3 teams in four separate divisions in two conferences. You are pitted against an opponent each week, in which case you earn either a win or a loss. There are no ties in the Seinfeld League (see tie-breakers for more details). You can trade players, drop players, and add players at will. The Seinfeld League is not a keeper league, it is re-drafted after each season. The draft is held sometime in August, online. This league is an Internet based league, and members must have email access and are encouraged to participate in trade talks via AOL's Instant Messenger with other owners. The cost of the Seinfeld League is $75 per season. There are no other costs associated with the Seinfeld League and 100% is paid out to the league. This league uses MFL (MyFantasyLeague) as it's league software.

Rosters:

Each Seinfeld League franchise is allowed a roster limit of 16 players. There is no injured reserve system. The only limitation to your roster is that each team can field no more than 3 QB's on their roster.

Team Names:

Each team will make up a team name to be used to distinguish itself from the other teams in the league. Any offensive team names can be vetoed by the commissioner, team names cannot be changed once the schedule is set.

Schedule:

The commissioner will post and email a league schedule before the start of the regular season. Each team will play it's division opponents twice and every other member of the league. There is a 13 week regular season in the Seinfeld League and a 3 week playoff schedule.

The Draft:

The draft will be held in a MFL draft room sometime in August. Each franchise must attend the draft or will be dropped from competition in the Seinfeld League. The draft order will be determined at the end of the regular season (see bottom of page) by a random number generator. The draft will consist of 16 rounds. The draft order will be posted well in advance of the draft so that each team has a chance to prepare and make trades.

Starting Lineups:

Each team must turn in a starting lineup of the following positions:

(1) QB, (2) RB's, (3) WR's, (1) TE, (1) K, (1) DEF/ST, (1) Wild Card Player

The Wild Card Player can be any position that the owner chooses including Kickers and DEF/ST. Game time of that players game is the deadline to turn in the lineups. Certain weeks in the NFL season cause lineups to be turned in on Thursday's. The commissioner will inform all teams of this schedule change during the season. If there is a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday game, and the player you are switching in AND out have not played, then it is legal.

Scoring:

Players score points as follows, in decimal format:

Passing Touchdown: 4 points
Each 20 yards passing: 1 points
Any Touchdown Scored: 6 points
Receptions by RB/WR/TE's: 0.5 points
Each 10 yards rushing or receiving: 1 points
Each 2-point run, pass, or catch: 2 points
Interceptions: Minus 2 points
Fumbles Lost: Minus 2 points
PAT: 1 point
Missed PAT:  -1 point
Field Goal: (0-39 yards:  3 points, 40-49 yards:  4 points, 50+ yards:  5 points)
Missed Field Goals:  (0-39 yards:  -3 points, 40-49 yards:  -2 points, 50+ yards:  -1 point)
Defensive scores (fumble/interception return for a TD: 4 points
Blocked Punt not returned for a TD:  4 points
Blocked FG not returned for a TD:  3 points
Blocked PAT:  1 point
Special teams scores (kick return/block kick return): 6 points
Safety: 5 points
Two points for each turnover caused by a defense or special teams.
1/2 point per sack recorded by a defense
Offensive Points Allowed:
   0-10 points allowed:  5 points
   11-20 points allowed:  3 points
   31-40 points allowed:  -3 points
   41+ points allowed:  -5 points

Trades:

A team can make any trade with any other team in the league. Trades can be for multiple players or multiple teams. Any trade made, must be confirmed by all parties to each other and to the commissioner. Any trade made after the starting lineups are turned in for the week will take effect the following week. Teams are not allowed to trade waiver wire spots.  The weekly trade deadline is Saturday midnight EDT. The trade deadline is Thursday Noon EST before Week 14 of the NFL regular season. If a trade is deemed "unequal" the Smart Guy Sports trade veto process can occur. Three well-known leaders from the fantasy football Internet field that are not members of Smart Guy Sports can be called upon. If three owners feel a trade should be vetoed, the commissioner will introduce the trade to these three members and they will vote on whether it should be allowed or not. Their majority determines the trade's future. This rule is in place to prevent lopsided trades, and to also overrule a trade that may be deemed lopsided involving the commissioner.

Free Agents:

Teams can pick up as many free agents as they want each week. Bids for free agents are put in up to Wednesday at 9:00 PM EDT. At this time the league software will run a free agent draft with the worst team getting the first pick, and so on. After this free agent draft is run, then free agents can be picked up on a first come, first serve basis the rest of the week.  Once teams have been eliminated from the playoffs or Toilet Bowl they can no longer pickup free agents.

Tie-Breakers:

Each week, each team will pick a tie-breaker player off his/her bench to determine the tie-breaker.

Tie-breakers for records will be based on the following:

Total Points
Divisional Record
Points Scored Head-to-Head

Playoffs:

After the season is over, the top team in each conference is awarded a first round bye in the playoffs. The top remaining division champions are seeded #3 and #4 based on tie-breaker rules.  The next two best teams based on record will be seeded #5 and #6.  The playoffs occur during weeks 14, 15, and 16.  In the first round the matchups are #3 vs #6 and #4 vs #5.  The rest of the playoffs the lowest side always plays the highest seed.  Teams that don't qualify for the playoffs are seeded just as playoff teams in a Toilet Bowl tournament.  There will be a Toilet Bowl playoff system for non-playoff teams to be used for draft order (see below).  This will be seeded and played out the same way the real playoffs work.

Fees:

The fee to compete in the Seinfeld League is $75. 100% of the money is paid back to the league in prizes. All fees must be paid to the commissioner before a team is allowed to compete in the Seinfeld League.

Prizes:

The prizes are paid out as follows:

Division Winners Seeds 1 and 2:  $100 each
Division Winners Seeds 3 and 4: $75 each
Wild Card Teams: $50 each
Toilet Bowl Tournament Winner:  $25
League Software/PayPal Fees: $75
League Runner-Up: $100
League Champion: $250

The prizes are mailed out immediately following the playoffs. Some members of the league have opted to apply their league winnings to other Smart Guy Sports fantasy games or future seasons. This is acceptable.

New Rule change for 2004-beyond:

The entire draft format will be revamped. Instead of 1 random draw, I'm going to put in an NBA style lottery system. This sounds more complicated than it really is. Here's how it works. For both the regular playoffs and the Toilet Bowl playoffs, each round that a team advances, earns them 1 extra random draw in the draft order. So for example, Dirtbag wins the Toilet Bowl. He would get 4 chances in the random draft draw for the 2004 draft. Let's say John Murray is the #1 seed in the playoffs but loses in the 2nd round. He would get 2 chances because his first round he won based on a bye. Let's say Brad Kreklau is seeded 4th in the playoffs and loses in the 1st round, he would get 1 chance in the draft lottery. So the Toilet Bowl winner and the league champion are going to get 4 chances at the top spot in the draft lottery, the league runner-up and toilet bowl runner-up are going to get 3 chances, and so forth. Here is how the random draw works:


I have a website that will throw a 1000 sided dice x number of times...The highest number gets Pick 1, etc. Obviously the more chances you have in the drawing, the better your odds are for a higher pick (which can or cannot be a curse at times).


Final Comments:

The commissioner reserves the right to alter or change any rules in the best interests of the league. This league requires a commitment and participation from each owner. I work very hard to make this one of the best fantasy football leagues on the internet, make sure to turn your lineups in according to the rules, and have fun. Any owner that violates the league rules is subject to expulsion from the league without a refund of league fees. Basically you really have to drive me insane to get kicked out, but don't push the envelope too much.

Amendments and Revisions:

1/18/07:  New Defensive Scoring Rules Adopted
1/18/07:  New Kicker Scoring Rules Adopted
1/18/07:  New League Format, Scheduling, and Prize Structure Adopted
2/1/08:  Defensive Scoring Adjustments
2/1/08:  RB Scoring for Receptions Adjustment
2/1/08:  Trade Policy Adjustment
2/1/08:  Conference Division Prize Money Adjustment
2/1/08:  Toilet Bowl Prize Money Adjustment
2/1/08:  Yardage Adjustment (Passing from .04 to .05, Rushing/Receiving from 0.8 to .1)