National Fantasy Baseball Championship

Super Leagues

Official Rules and Regulations of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Super Leagues

1. OVERVIEW
The National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) Super Draft and Auction Leagues are comprised of 15 teams/managers. The NFBC Super League's regular season will extend from Opening Day of the MLB regular season through the final game of the regular season (including a season-ending tie-breaker if needed). Teams will compete for accumulative stats in five offensive and five pitching categories, with each category weighted equally. Categories include: (for hitters) Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, Stolen Bases and Runs; (for pitchers) Wins, Saves, Earned Run Average, Strikeouts and WHIP Ratio (Walks plus Hits divided by Innings Pitched). The team at the end of the year with the most cumulative points in each league wins the league title and the $20,000 grand prize. Second place finishers in each league will earn $7,500 and third place finishers in each league will earn $3,750. Cost of entry is $2,500 per team and there is no overall prize structure in the Super Leagues.

2. DRAFT
Super Leagues will hold their drafts simultaneously at the Flamingo Las Vegas, Donald E. Stephens Center in Chicago, The Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, and the Holiday Inn Orlando Resort on Sunday, March 16, 2008. Each league will be comprised of 15 teams, and each draft will last for 30 rounds, with each team selecting a player from the AL or NL in each round in a serpentine fashion for the Draft League (team 1 through team 15 in odd-numbered rounds, team 15 through team 1 in even-numbered rounds). In the Super Auction League, teams will have $260 to acquire 23 required starters and a 7-round serpentine draft will follow for the reserve rounds. Owners must use their $260 to fill out the 23 required starting spots and can add reserves from any position after that. Each team must start a weekly lineup of 23 players with required positions and maintain a reserve roster (which includes DL players) of seven players. There is no position requirement necessary for your reserve roster and you can change your starting lineup at the start of each week. In the Super Draft League, you don't need to fill your 23 required starting positions with your first 23 picks; your No. 2 catcher could be selected with your 30th overall pick if you choose. Players will be selected from all 30 Major League Baseball teams and minor-league prospects are eligible to be selected on Draft Day. Free agent pickups during the season will include players who are on major-league rosters at the time or players who were selected on Draft Day and later dropped. Even players who were originally selected on Draft Day, cut and then sent to the minors are eligible during the regular season FAAB bidding period as once they are a part of that league they continue to be part of the free agent listing. If they were good enough to be selected on Draft Day, they are then good enough to remain in that league's free agent pool.

If an NFBC participant does not show up at the draft in time, a surrogate owner will be installed and that owner will use the latest Cheat Sheets from Fantasy Sports Magazine's online rankings to draft players, going in order of the Top 200 regardless of position. Should that owner not show up at all, the surrogate owner would be able to pick players at required positions when those needs are obvious.

Seating: Every team will have two draft spots available at the table and each team will be seated in their draft order. If you don't have a co-manager, we will remove the second chair and you'll have more room to spread out.

Electronic Equipment: Participants can use electronic equipment during the draft as long as it fits in the allotted draft spot at the table. There will be NO Internet connections or electrical outlets, so participants bringing laptops will have to supply their own power. Cell phones are allowed at the draft table, but we encourage participants to use them sparingly and not in a way that interrupts the draft process. We request that users limit their usage to outgoing calls during the draft, not incoming calls, and anyone planning to remain on the phone for the entire draft needs to inform the NFBC about that ahead of time.

Smoking/Drinking: Smoking will not be allowed in the Draft Room. There will be a cash bar available in the Draft Room, but we ask that each participant drink responsibly. Breaks: There will be a 15-minute break after Round 10 and another 15-minute break after Round 20, and we will finish the draft after the final break. The Super Auction Leagues will take breaks and have money checks when needed.

3. ROSTER REQUIREMENTS: Maximum of 30 players at all times.

4. STARTING LINEUP REQUIREMENTS: Starting lineups will consist of:
1. 2 Catchers 2. 1 First Baseman 3. 1 Second Baseman 4. 1 Shortstop 5. 1 Third Baseman 6. 1 Middle Infielder (2B/SS) 7. 1 Corner Infielder (1B/3B) 8. 1 Utility Player (any offensive position) 9. 5 Outfielders 10. 9 Pitchers

There is a 700 innings pitched minimum requirement for all NFBC leagues, including the auction leagues, but no minimum requirement for number of starting pitchers or relief pitchers on each roster. Should any team not reach the required limit of 700 innings pitched by the end of the season, the rankings will be altered to show that team getting 1 point in both ERA and WHIP. No other teams will switch positions in the standings, but the team that didn't reach the minimum IP will automatically earn 1 point in ERA and WHIP. All players must have played 20 games in 2007 or 10 games during the 2008 season to qualify at a certain position. Minor-leaguers who did not play 20 games at any position in 2007 but who still played at least one game in the majors last year, will qualify at the position they played the most at in the majors in 2007. Other eligibility guidelines can be found under Section 6 in the Rules. If a player returns from retirement or rehab after missing the previous year, his position eligibility will be his previous year's eligibility. If no Week One lineup is submitted, the NFBC will determine your starting lineup. After Week One, if no starting lineup is submitted, your starting lineup will be that of the previous week.

A. League Management Web Address: You can access your league via the Internet by going to http://www.fantasybaseballchampionship.com/. You will need a username and a password to access the game site. Contact nfbc@mail.stats.com if you are signed up for the contest and don't have a username and password.

B. Lineup Submission: All lineups may be submitted on the league web site and are due five minutes before the first game starts each Monday. If the first game of that Monday starts at 7:05 EST, your starting lineup must be designated by 7:00 EST.

C. NFBC Phone In: STATS LLC, one of the largest and most respected stat providers in the fantasy sports industry, will be handling all transactions via phone at 888-450-2730. Please acknowledge that you are calling in transactions for the NFBC when you call the toll-free number. You will need your username and password to submit transactions via phone.

5. SCORING:The National Fantasy Baseball Championship will use a 5x5 Rotisserie scoring setup. Cumulative totals will be used for the following categories:

1. Batting Average 2. Home Runs 3. RBIs 4. Runs 5. Stolen Bases 6. Wins 7. Saves 8. Earned Run Average 9. Strikeouts 10. WHIP Ratio (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched)

6. POSITION ELIGIBILITY:The NFBC will use the following position eligibility rules in 2008:
a) Players who played at least 20 games at any position in 2007 will qualify at that position for the entire 2008 NFBC season. Players who play 10 games at a new position in 2008 will be eligible at that position after they have played for the 10th time there this year.
b) Players who played less than 20 games total in the majors last year will be eligible at the position they played the most games at, not including DH or pinch-hitting.
c) Those players who only pinch-hit in the majors in 2007 will be position eligible according to their minor-league games played status in 2007. They would qualify at the position they played the most games in the minors.
d) Players who played all of 2007 in the minor leagues will be awarded position eligibility for 2008's NFBC season based on the most games played at all levels in the minors. STATS will determine that one eligible position before Draft Day and that will determine that players' status for 2008 once he is called up to the majors. Those players who only pinch-hit or DH in the minors will only be UT-eligible.
e) Players who played 20 or more games in the majors last year and didn't play 20 or more games at one position will be deemed UT-only eligible in 2008 unless otherwise designated by the NFBC Commissioner. The NFBC Commissioner will rule on player eligibility prior to the draft as he deems necessary. Those eligibility lists are final.
f) Additional position eligibility will be awarded during the season when a player has played a new position 10 times which he was not previously eligible.

7. FREE AGENTS:Any player who is not on a team roster within your league and is on a major-league roster or once was on an NFBC team in your league is considered a free agent for that league. Even players on the MLB disabled list are eligible to be picked up during the FAAB bidding process. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday at 7 a.m. EST before the FAAB bidding deadline. Participants should note that MLB unsigned veteran free agents at the time of Draft Day are eligible to be picked up or bid on in the Super Draft and Auction Leagues.

8. FREE AGENT ACQUISTIONS:The free agent system will be a "blind bidding" process for each individual league. Each team will start with 1,000 free agent "dollars" for the season, and will be permitted to bid for free agents on a weekly basis with a minimum bid of $1 per player. Teams will not be able to see other team's free agent bids. The team with the highest bid on any given player will be awarded that player. The amount of the winning bid will be deducted from the winning team's free agent dollars. For each winning bid, the winning team must drop a player to make roster room for the free agent acquisition. If a team's free agent dollars goes to zero, that team will no longer be allowed to bid for the rest of the season. No bid will be accepted that is larger than a team's free agent dollars. All bids must be in increments of dollars (no cents). Only winning bids and the runner-up bids on each player will be shown after the FAAB bidding period for each NFBC league.

9. BIDDING TIME FRAME:The bidding process starts just prior to Opening Day and ends at the completion of Week 26 (there is no new FAAB period if there is a regular-season tie-breaker game). Bids will be accepted on the league web site from Monday at 3 p.m. ET until Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in each of these weeks. If you are submitting by phone, you must submit your bids by 5 p.m. on Friday. Rosters will be updated by 8 p.m. ET on Sunday with the results of all successful bids and starting lineups for the upcoming week must be finalized five minutes before each game every Monday.

10. CONDITIONAL BIDS:

Conditional bids can also be offered. In the event you may lose out on a player, you can place conditional bid(s) for other players during the bidding time frame. The first conditional bid will become relevant only if you lose out on your primary bid. Subsequent conditional bids will become relevant only if the previous conditional bid fails. Bids do not require conditional bids. Bids may have several sequential conditional bids. Participants should note that the computer takes the HIGHEST BIDS and processes each bid in that order if you have multiple FAAB acquisition bids. Putting a larger bid on a conditional bid than a primary bid also isn't allowed.

Example:
Acquire Phil Nevin, $19, cut Tony Clark
Acquire Lance Niekro, $16, cut Tony Clark
Acquire Hee-Seop Choi, $2, cut Tony Clark

11. NUMBER OF BID LIMITS:

There is no limit to the number of bids each week in which bids are permitted.

12. TIED BIDS:If there is a tie bid, the team that receives the player will be determined in order by:

1. Worst league record.
2. Lowest standing the previous week.
3. Coin toss.

13. SETTING STARTING LINEUPS: The weekly NFBC deadline for setting starting lineups is 6:55 p.m. ET each Monday. Any game that occurs before that, NFBC owners are required to get those players involved in their starting lineups five minutes before the start of those games. Owners are also allowed to remove a player (or players) who is officially on the DL from their starting lineup with one of their players from their reserve roster before each Friday's first game as long as the position eligibility works out. Players must officially be on Major League Baseball's DL list according to STATS and the NFBC by 12:01 a.m. on Friday for this move (or moves) to take effect for the weekend games.

14. TRADES BETWEEN MANAGERS:To minimize the possibility of collusion, there will be no trading allowed. All drops are also subject to review by the commissioner of the NFBC and can be revoked if the dropped player is deemed too valuable to be offered to that league's free agent pool, thus damaging the credibility of the overall contest. In the case of a "star" player being dropped in a league for a valid reason, the NFBC commissioner does reserve the right to allow the cut but keep the player out of that league's free agent listing for any length of time, possibly the entire season. All decisions by the NFBC commissioner will be final.

15. LEAGUE STRUCTURE:Each league will consist of 15 teams competing in a Rotisserie style mixed-league format for the league championship. All prizes are individual league prizes only.

16. SETTING KDS PREFERENCES:In 2008, the NFBC will implement KDS, which stands for Kentucky Derby Style preferences, for draft preferences in the Super Draft. All owners can set their Draft Preferences by going to their team on the game site, then going to MY SETTINGS (way to the right) and then pulling down to the link that says DRAFT PREFERENCES. There you'll see a list of 1 through 15 in order.

Here's what KDS does: The KDS process allows owners to rank their order of preference for Draft Day, ranking their preferences 1 through 15 BEFORE the leagues are randomly selected. Some owners would rather draft in the middle, if they are selected early in their league; others like to stay near the top and others like to move down to the lower end. KDS allows that if you're fortunate enough. A sample KDS from an owner could look like this: 3, 2, 1, 7, 6, 8, 15, 14, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. If an owner wants the third pick if he is selected No. 1 overall in his league, he would choose 3 as his top option and he would then be moved to third in that league on Draft Day if he was picked first out of the hat. NFBC officials will look at every owner's Draft Preferences after the leagues and orders are randomly selected and then announce the draft orders for each league.

17. PRIZE BREAKDOWN:

First Place = $20,000
Second Place = $7,500
Third Place = $3,750

18. TIME LIMIT FOR DRAFT:There will be a 1-minute time limit for each owner to make his/her pick during each round of the NFBC Super Draft League and a 1 minute time limit to nominate a player in the Super Auction League. If a participant does not make a selection in the allotted time, he is passed over until the next participant makes a player selection. The passed-over participant follows after the next person's pick and again has one minute to make his/her pick. All decisions by the league facilitator are final. Each participant who selects a player who no longer is available will get an additional 15 seconds by the draft facilitator to select a new player and if that participant again selects someone who is off the board his/her turn will be skipped and they will be allotted a full minute to make another selection after the next team's selection has been made.

19. COMMISSIONER DECISIONS:All decisions made by the Commissioner of the NFBC are final. Tough decisions sometimes must be made about eligibility rules, lineups, etc., and NFBC participants must accept the unbiased ruling of the NFBC Commissioner.

20. REFUNDS:Once a participant submits valid payment, no money will be refunded to participants or co-managers unless The National Fantasy Baseball Championship Super League is canceled. A team spot is considered filled when the entire $2,500 entry fee is paid. Krause Publications reserves the right to cancel any entries not comprising a full 15-team league. When a participant agrees to finish the registration form and submit payment, that participant has demonstrated his/her acceptance of the official rules and regulations for the NFBC.

At its sole discretion, Krause Publications also reserves the right to terminate The National Fantasy Baseball Championship in its entirety if there are an insufficient number of teams by March 10, 2008. In this unlikely event, Krause Publications will refund all entry fees within 48 hours of cancellation notice and/or provide a new application form with the newly stated prize figures. All pre-registered applicants would have the right to a full refund or agree to play for the newly announced prize structure. Krause Publications is not responsible for any loss or liability incurred by any participant or co-managers due to cancellation of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, including but not limited to travel or hotel expenses, time taken off from employment, etc.

21. TAXES:If the principal participant's prize winnings exceed $600.00, The National Fantasy Baseball Championship must file a Form 1099 with the IRS at the end of this calendar year. We will request your social security number and signature on this form. The Form contains the amount paid to you and you will receive a copy of the Form for tax purposes. You are responsible for paying any taxes that result from your cash prize. Please consult your income tax advisor for filing advice.