AngryPatriot
Footballguy
Just interested if any leagues have any rules that encourage or reward trading? I was thinking it might make for an interesting league, a different approach to fantasy football. Thanks for your input.
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Any leagues have rules to ENCOURAGE trading? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter AngryPatriot
- Start date
Angus82
Footballguy
If your league is a redraft, I personally haven't seen anything that has enticed owners to trade. Either owners love their teams too much or they are afraid to better another team.Dynasty leagues, on the other hand, almost force owners to trade in order to improve teams.Maybe I am just not creative enough, but I really cannot see how you can promote trading in a redraft. I posted this because I would love to some ideas due to the fact that the league that I have been in for ten has seen, IIRC, 2 trades EVER.
whitem0nkey
Footballguy
I make sure all the owners have updated the contact info, e-mail and especially phone number. nothing is worst than submitting a trade and having it sit there. it also helps if everybody knows each other, as you hang out and talk more fantasy with each other your more likely to have trades.
it also helps if you make you scoring system and lineup format that every team has some weakness and no one has a super team.
the league culture is also important, I was in a league where people vetoed trades because they did not wont a team to improve, you need to weed out those kind of owners. you have to stress that no one should veto a trade unless its clear and obvious collusion, even if you feel that one team is getting the better deal that is no reason to veto. and let them know once you veto a trade you now are more likely to get vetoed from the owner you voted against.
we had 7 trades last year in a redraft. (this was an all time high, usually its between 3-4 trades a season)
1- Winslow, Kellen TBB for Williams, Roy DAL WR
2- Warner, Kurt & Evans, Lee for Ryan, Matt & Hester, Devin
3- Campbell, Jason & Gates, Antonio for Marshall, Brandon & Carlson, John
4- Romo, Tony for Driver, Donald
5- Williams, Carnell for Orton, Kyle
6- Tomlinson, LaDainian for Forte, Matt
7- Manning, Peyton & Bradshaw, Ahmad & Parker, Willie for Ryan, Matt & Peterson, Adrian & Taylor, Chester MIN RB
it also helps if you make you scoring system and lineup format that every team has some weakness and no one has a super team.
the league culture is also important, I was in a league where people vetoed trades because they did not wont a team to improve, you need to weed out those kind of owners. you have to stress that no one should veto a trade unless its clear and obvious collusion, even if you feel that one team is getting the better deal that is no reason to veto. and let them know once you veto a trade you now are more likely to get vetoed from the owner you voted against.
we had 7 trades last year in a redraft. (this was an all time high, usually its between 3-4 trades a season)
1- Winslow, Kellen TBB for Williams, Roy DAL WR
2- Warner, Kurt & Evans, Lee for Ryan, Matt & Hester, Devin
3- Campbell, Jason & Gates, Antonio for Marshall, Brandon & Carlson, John
4- Romo, Tony for Driver, Donald
5- Williams, Carnell for Orton, Kyle
6- Tomlinson, LaDainian for Forte, Matt
7- Manning, Peyton & Bradshaw, Ahmad & Parker, Willie for Ryan, Matt & Peterson, Adrian & Taylor, Chester MIN RB
The following have had some success, but I'm never fully satisfied with trading activity (I think non-auction/bid ff is boring without steady trades):
1. Only invite active members if possible.
2. Make sure everyone in the league has contact info for each other or knows each other.
3. Create position scarcity - 2 QBs, multiple RB slots, etc. The more needs to fill, the more trades will happen because waivers and bench aren't enough.
1. Only invite active members if possible.
2. Make sure everyone in the league has contact info for each other or knows each other.
3. Create position scarcity - 2 QBs, multiple RB slots, etc. The more needs to fill, the more trades will happen because waivers and bench aren't enough.
VaTerp
Footballguy
Every year my main league has more trades than all of my other leagues combined. It is largely due to the fact that we have deep rosters (18 or 20) and limit the number of waiver wire pickups each owner can make to 9 for the whole season.
Our waiver wire is first come first serve and you can pick up players at anytime but you have to be judicious with your pickups b/c once you hit 9 you are done for the year. This really encourages trading b/c you have to seriously consider making trades to improve your roster and not just rely on picking up the flavor of the week all year.
Our waiver wire is first come first serve and you can pick up players at anytime but you have to be judicious with your pickups b/c once you hit 9 you are done for the year. This really encourages trading b/c you have to seriously consider making trades to improve your roster and not just rely on picking up the flavor of the week all year.
Neil Beaufort Zod
Footballguy
The only way to encourage trading is to limit the waiver wire. Most leagues aren't going to do that.
Edit: Didn't see the post above mine. I guess it does work in some leagues.
Edit: Didn't see the post above mine. I guess it does work in some leagues.
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Angus82
Footballguy
This is an excellent reason for a lack of trading. It is a double edged sword though. We had an owner 4 years ago who was not able to start a QB in his play-off game because his waivers were used up. We changed the rule to exempt play-offs but it was too late for him. (But not for me.)
az_prof
Footballguy
How about these ideas?
1) In order to win the money league rules state that a team must complete X number of trades in a season by a certain week.
2) Draft Order for the next season is determined by number of trades completed. The guy with the most trades drafts first and so on....
3) If you are in a league that uses Blind Bidding, award X blind bid points to teams that complete a trade. This is a small incentive, but valuable nonetheless, depending on how many blind bid points would be awarded.
1) In order to win the money league rules state that a team must complete X number of trades in a season by a certain week.
2) Draft Order for the next season is determined by number of trades completed. The guy with the most trades drafts first and so on....
3) If you are in a league that uses Blind Bidding, award X blind bid points to teams that complete a trade. This is a small incentive, but valuable nonetheless, depending on how many blind bid points would be awarded.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
The problem with these is that people are just going to swap kickers and backups to boost their trade count.
Angus82
Footballguy
You are way too smart, I am glad that you are not in my league.
I disagree that is the "only" way to encourage trading, maybe in a redraft league but in a dynasty league simply use a salary cap that way no matter how much you love a player you're going to have to trade him at somepoint. And be sure to set a cap for a team's roster. That way one owner can't get every stud whose contract expires
rocketsauce
Footballguy
I think its most about the culture and feel of the league. My redraft, now in its 10th year, only has 2 original owners out of 12. We have 2 other guys that joined in our 2nd year, but otherwise the rest of the league is 2-4 old in the league's history.
However, last year we set a record for trades in our league, and we always have a ridiculously active market. We have 20 man rosters, no flex, start 2 rb, 3 wr, and no positional limits. PPR, if it matters for this discussion.
Anyway, out entry is 100 dollars, plus 100 dollars worth of FAAB budget (yes, its REAL money and part of the entry. If you don't spend it all, you get it back.) We also charge 5 dollars per team for each trade. Myself and 2 of the other elder members of the league heavily encourage trading, and send our fair share of offers. This year, prior to kickoff, we've had 7 trades already, including 3 draft pick trades just prior and during the draft.
Last year we had 53 trades, including 4 draft pick trades. (53 trades x 2 teams each x 5 dollars each = An additional 500 dollars in our pot) Many of the new owners have simply joined into our culture of never being afraid to make a deal, and always looking to improve your team, whether its starters or just depth, or looking forward to playoff scheduling. If anything, we've done the opposite of most leagues as we make you PAY 5 dollar to make a deal. Perhaps someone is less worried about making a deal when they know its improving the pot, which they of course think they will win if they make this deal.
On our site (through MFL) we have chat right on the front page, and popups that enable you to see when an owner signs on. I think moving to MFL last year directly influenced the huge amount of trades we had, thanks to these communication tools being so easy to access right there on the main page. I think this is a VERY underrated part of the discussion. I'm a free league on ESPN, and for the life of me, it takes me 10 minutes just to figure out where to go make a damn trade. Everything you need to trade in our league is right there on our main page, and you even get a popup if you have a trade offer waiting for response.
Just thought I'd share.
However, last year we set a record for trades in our league, and we always have a ridiculously active market. We have 20 man rosters, no flex, start 2 rb, 3 wr, and no positional limits. PPR, if it matters for this discussion.
Anyway, out entry is 100 dollars, plus 100 dollars worth of FAAB budget (yes, its REAL money and part of the entry. If you don't spend it all, you get it back.) We also charge 5 dollars per team for each trade. Myself and 2 of the other elder members of the league heavily encourage trading, and send our fair share of offers. This year, prior to kickoff, we've had 7 trades already, including 3 draft pick trades just prior and during the draft.
Last year we had 53 trades, including 4 draft pick trades. (53 trades x 2 teams each x 5 dollars each = An additional 500 dollars in our pot) Many of the new owners have simply joined into our culture of never being afraid to make a deal, and always looking to improve your team, whether its starters or just depth, or looking forward to playoff scheduling. If anything, we've done the opposite of most leagues as we make you PAY 5 dollar to make a deal. Perhaps someone is less worried about making a deal when they know its improving the pot, which they of course think they will win if they make this deal.
On our site (through MFL) we have chat right on the front page, and popups that enable you to see when an owner signs on. I think moving to MFL last year directly influenced the huge amount of trades we had, thanks to these communication tools being so easy to access right there on the main page. I think this is a VERY underrated part of the discussion. I'm a free league on ESPN, and for the life of me, it takes me 10 minutes just to figure out where to go make a damn trade. Everything you need to trade in our league is right there on our main page, and you even get a popup if you have a trade offer waiting for response.
Just thought I'd share.
Angus82
Footballguy
Our problem may be roster size. We have 15 man rosters in order to force player transactions. It doesn't force trades but it forces owners to pick up players.
Neil Beaufort Zod
Footballguy
The NFL is a salary cap, dynasty league and they hardly ever trade. It's hard to get shrewd dynasty owners to eat a big cap number. Wouldn't you just cut the guy and hope to pick him up cheaper in an auction?I disagree that is the "only" way to encourage trading, maybe in a redraft league but in a dynasty league simply use a salary cap that way no matter how much you love a player you're going to have to trade him at somepoint. And be sure to set a cap for a team's roster. That way one owner can't get every stud whose contract expires
Easy Money
Footballguy
We play in a keep 5 starters and 2 developmental players league. There are a few trades that go on through out the year but we have and active offseason were most of our trades happen. We can trade players, draft picks or keeper spots and there is always lots of action the day of the draft before we have to turn in our final roster and dump our nonkeepers back into the draft pool.
LittlePhatty
Footballguy
In redraft, introduce a few keepers. Even just 1, but 2 or 3 is better, and have them kept next year at +X draft rounds(2 or 3 rounds is a good number). For example, a player drafted this year in Round 5 can be kept next year as your Round 3 pick (or Round 2, depending on how you set it up). We started this a few years ago and it is a lot of fun, and I have seen trades increase too. We also limit the number of times an owner can keep the same player consecutively at 3 seasons.
This makes player values more debatable and trades more interesting.
A player like Reggie Bush seems to be a Round 5 type of guy every year, so he's not likely to be chosen as a keeper next year for the price of a Round 3 pick.
But later round picks like Mike Williams (TB) can have perceived value added above and beyond their "redraft" value because they can be kept next year as a late round pick. So if Williams is drafted in Round 13 and he has a couple of good games to start the season, it's not far fetched that someone could get Reggie Bush back in trade for him because Williams could be a much better keeper value next year.
This makes player values more debatable and trades more interesting.
A player like Reggie Bush seems to be a Round 5 type of guy every year, so he's not likely to be chosen as a keeper next year for the price of a Round 3 pick.
But later round picks like Mike Williams (TB) can have perceived value added above and beyond their "redraft" value because they can be kept next year as a late round pick. So if Williams is drafted in Round 13 and he has a couple of good games to start the season, it's not far fetched that someone could get Reggie Bush back in trade for him because Williams could be a much better keeper value next year.
The Future Champs
Footballguy
There's a bunch of good points in here. Creating need at TE and QB by starting two of each will encourage trades, and eliminate all flex starting slots! Keepers with draft pick costs (per LittlePhatty) is another good idea. Larger benches will also help water down the WW.
The Future Champs
Footballguy
Also, if it costs $ for transactions, make the WW cost more than trades, and allow the option for one of the two teams involved in the trade to pay all the costs.
lynx4ben
Footballguy
Most peeps got it right here but one pt was missed.
Unbalanced rosters facilitates trading. I can trade a wr for a rb or a two for one much easier without having to worry about fixed positional roster requirements.
To summarize others that I strongly agree with
Dynasty >> redraft for trades
A GOOD COMMISH RECRUITS ACTIVE OWNERS
Unbalanced rosters facilitates trading. I can trade a wr for a rb or a two for one much easier without having to worry about fixed positional roster requirements.
To summarize others that I strongly agree with
Dynasty >> redraft for trades
A GOOD COMMISH RECRUITS ACTIVE OWNERS
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Max Fischer
Footballguy
Deep bench. Shallow starting positions. For example only start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 DST, 1 K. Inevitably, you will end up having top 20 RBs and WRs riding the bench for certain teams each week.
A league I was in last year did this. Players involved in trades included MJD, Chris Johnson, Fitzgerald, Wes Welker, Ryan Grant, Ced Benson, as well as many lower-level players.
The drawback is that it becomes more about who hits the jackpot with a super-stud as opposed to who has the best overall team.
In the off season, we voted to add more starters.
A league I was in last year did this. Players involved in trades included MJD, Chris Johnson, Fitzgerald, Wes Welker, Ryan Grant, Ced Benson, as well as many lower-level players.
The drawback is that it becomes more about who hits the jackpot with a super-stud as opposed to who has the best overall team.
In the off season, we voted to add more starters.
whitem0nkey
Footballguy
since we added Blind Bidding for waivers moves we had more trades, as people run out of fantasy dollars and trades will give then better talent then they could get as they have less fantasy dollars.
Trig2U
Footballguy
We have a Keeper league, but with 3 features that encourage trades:
1) We have a Salary Cap (ie a maximum amount that a team can spend to retain all of it's Keepers).
2) Each player's salary is pre-determined and based on years of service. The first season a player is retained his salary is low: only 10% of the entire cap. But every consecutive year that a player is retained his "salary" is automatically increased by a predetermined increment.
3) Then, after being retained for four consecutive seasons, a player becomes a Free Agent. Any team can bid on the player, and the team owning his rights has the option to match the bid. There's a maximum bid allowed on a Free Agent, but it's very high: 70% of the entire cap.
Escalating salaries and Free Agency definitely creates interesting scenarios and opportunities, adding a layer of value to players based on how expensive they are to retain.
A cheaper player, one who hasn't been a Keeper for too many seasons, like say DeAngelo Williams, Lamaar Charles or Matt Schaub gains in value somewhat compared to an expensive veteran like a Steven Jackson, Peyton Manning, or Randy Moss. Teams will sometimes trade their more expensive Keepers to clear cap space.
For example, our current champ has MJD *and* Adrian Peterson, but to stay within the cap next season one of those two stars will have to be dealt, either by this year's Trade Deadline, or at the latest, by next summer. Antonio Gates became a Free Agent this year and signed with a different team when his previous owner decided to use the cap space on retaining Aaron Rodgers. Benson, and Greg Jennings.
So in our league it's not rare to see big name players get traded (Moss, Witten, Boldin, McNabb were all traded this off-season) as do lesser names (Arian Foster was just traded before kickoff on Tuesday for DeSean Jackson). I packaged Mendenhall and Colston in a deal for a high draft pick, and I also had to let go of Fitzgerald so I could afford to Keep Burner Turner. Peyton Manning has been traded twice in his career. On the other hand, in my league Clinton Portis is still on the same team that drafted him as a rookie.
It's pretty fun, and if you like trading this type of wrinkle keeps a lot of owners open to making a deal.
1) We have a Salary Cap (ie a maximum amount that a team can spend to retain all of it's Keepers).
2) Each player's salary is pre-determined and based on years of service. The first season a player is retained his salary is low: only 10% of the entire cap. But every consecutive year that a player is retained his "salary" is automatically increased by a predetermined increment.
3) Then, after being retained for four consecutive seasons, a player becomes a Free Agent. Any team can bid on the player, and the team owning his rights has the option to match the bid. There's a maximum bid allowed on a Free Agent, but it's very high: 70% of the entire cap.
Escalating salaries and Free Agency definitely creates interesting scenarios and opportunities, adding a layer of value to players based on how expensive they are to retain.
A cheaper player, one who hasn't been a Keeper for too many seasons, like say DeAngelo Williams, Lamaar Charles or Matt Schaub gains in value somewhat compared to an expensive veteran like a Steven Jackson, Peyton Manning, or Randy Moss. Teams will sometimes trade their more expensive Keepers to clear cap space.
For example, our current champ has MJD *and* Adrian Peterson, but to stay within the cap next season one of those two stars will have to be dealt, either by this year's Trade Deadline, or at the latest, by next summer. Antonio Gates became a Free Agent this year and signed with a different team when his previous owner decided to use the cap space on retaining Aaron Rodgers. Benson, and Greg Jennings.
So in our league it's not rare to see big name players get traded (Moss, Witten, Boldin, McNabb were all traded this off-season) as do lesser names (Arian Foster was just traded before kickoff on Tuesday for DeSean Jackson). I packaged Mendenhall and Colston in a deal for a high draft pick, and I also had to let go of Fitzgerald so I could afford to Keep Burner Turner. Peyton Manning has been traded twice in his career. On the other hand, in my league Clinton Portis is still on the same team that drafted him as a rookie.
It's pretty fun, and if you like trading this type of wrinkle keeps a lot of owners open to making a deal.
Insein
Footballguy
Position scarcity and a large roster are the easiest ways to encourage trading. My league has 2qb, 2RB, 3WR, 1 Flex, 1TE, 1Def, 1K and 9 bench. 20 roster spots leaves hardly anything of value on the WW. People have to trade or get lucky as hell to get the hot commodity off of the WW.
Ruffrodys05
IBL Representative
I commish a 12 team keeper league......keep 6 players, no more than 3 per position. (For 8 years it used to be keep 5, max 2 per position, but we voted for the change this off-season which takes effect at the end of this year. We just started a waiver process this year for the first time also. It used to be FCFS each week starting Tuesday mornings at 9:00 AM. Now waivers will be processed Wednesday morning approx. 1:00 AM.)
Anyway, a few of things that help with encouraging trades in my league, or rather DO NOT DISCOURAGE trading:
A: All transactions cost $5.00 for a 24 hour period, per team - any team can make as many moves as they like in a 24 hour period and it only costs $5.00. Trades, waivers, FCFS add/drops after waivers have run - it doesn't matter how many. The 24 hour period runs from 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM each day. One move = $5.00, or 10 moves = $5.00 all in the same day.
B: All trades cost each team involved $5.00 - no matter how many players or draft picks are involved.
C: All trades are completely FREE during the offseason - Second weekend in February through last weekend in August.
D: There are no league votes nor commissioner approval rules for trades - Any team can make any trade they see fit - they paid good money to be the GM and it is their team so they are permitted to run it as they see fit. There is no micromanaging of any team's rosters and nobody, including the commish, has the right to tell anybody else how to value any player or draft pick.
E: Trading is permitted throughout our playoffs which run through week 17. (This may seem like a bad idea, but in reality it works quite well and nobody complains about it - we are all well aware that a team in contention for the title could go out and get another player to help out and the teams that are out of the running have a chance to get great value for players they might otherwise not be able to get anything at all for.)
F: 18 player rosters with an additional 3 slots allocated for any injured reserve needs a team may incur.
G: No fixed positional limits.
Nobody has ever complained about the costs involved. All transaction monies collected are split 15 ways - 14 regular season weekly high scores and 1 regular season team high scoring leader. Last year we split $500.00 in transaction monies, which equaled $33.33 per week. Of that money, $140.00 was from 14 trades during the season (some teams made multiple trades on given days and paid nothing for other trades, so there were more than 14 trades during the season) - 11 free trades were made in the off-season prior to the start of the 2009 season. So, that's a minimum of 25 trades last year alone and it is usually near that number each year.
These certainly are not the best rules, nor will all folks agree with them but they do work very well for us. We are a very competitive league, even if there are a few perennial cellar dwellers. Hope this post helps in any way.
Rody
Anyway, a few of things that help with encouraging trades in my league, or rather DO NOT DISCOURAGE trading:
A: All transactions cost $5.00 for a 24 hour period, per team - any team can make as many moves as they like in a 24 hour period and it only costs $5.00. Trades, waivers, FCFS add/drops after waivers have run - it doesn't matter how many. The 24 hour period runs from 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM each day. One move = $5.00, or 10 moves = $5.00 all in the same day.
B: All trades cost each team involved $5.00 - no matter how many players or draft picks are involved.
C: All trades are completely FREE during the offseason - Second weekend in February through last weekend in August.
D: There are no league votes nor commissioner approval rules for trades - Any team can make any trade they see fit - they paid good money to be the GM and it is their team so they are permitted to run it as they see fit. There is no micromanaging of any team's rosters and nobody, including the commish, has the right to tell anybody else how to value any player or draft pick.
E: Trading is permitted throughout our playoffs which run through week 17. (This may seem like a bad idea, but in reality it works quite well and nobody complains about it - we are all well aware that a team in contention for the title could go out and get another player to help out and the teams that are out of the running have a chance to get great value for players they might otherwise not be able to get anything at all for.)
F: 18 player rosters with an additional 3 slots allocated for any injured reserve needs a team may incur.
G: No fixed positional limits.
Nobody has ever complained about the costs involved. All transaction monies collected are split 15 ways - 14 regular season weekly high scores and 1 regular season team high scoring leader. Last year we split $500.00 in transaction monies, which equaled $33.33 per week. Of that money, $140.00 was from 14 trades during the season (some teams made multiple trades on given days and paid nothing for other trades, so there were more than 14 trades during the season) - 11 free trades were made in the off-season prior to the start of the 2009 season. So, that's a minimum of 25 trades last year alone and it is usually near that number each year.
These certainly are not the best rules, nor will all folks agree with them but they do work very well for us. We are a very competitive league, even if there are a few perennial cellar dwellers. Hope this post helps in any way.
Rody
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az_prof
Footballguy
Simple; trades involving kickers and Defenses alone do not count; to count a trade has to involve a position player. Now could people just move backups? Sure. But at least they are trading. And that will open up the possibility for many more interesting trades.FreeBaGeL said:
massraider
Footballguy
I think I like this a lot. I think my first thought is hey, if wanna cut my guy I should be able to. And the NFL doesn't restrict number of signings, and blah, blah, blah. But restricting waivers is one of those things that can add an element of strategy for owners. No more multiple owners playing the drop a D, pick up a D every week move. It's one more thing that can make a league more unique, and more difficult to win by just rolling into the draft with a cheatsheet.Neil Beaufort Zod said:
