This has been something that has been tossed around since we started the site. Hosting pay leagues for Madden and (potentially) other sports titles. I know it is cause for concern for some because they feel the level of cheese to win goes up, but I think I have a solution.
woodsmall12 and I played in a "sim" pay league that was hosted on Facebook. The level of play was much what many would expect: cheese win at all costs (at least by many of the guys). However, the one thing with that league is that guys took their punishments and, even though many complained of the play level, very few of them left. Why was that?
I think part of the reason was that guys had money tied to their teams. They did bidding on their teams and some guys paid up to $100 for the right to play with a certain team. Every team that joined after was a flat $20. I think many guys did not want to abandon a team they had money invested in even though they may not have been happy with the league. The commish was a reasonable enough guy too so that helped.
The problem is that no money was given back to the players. They had a league site on Daddy Leagues and a sporadic "radio" show that they would run occasionally. They also called the fee for your team a "donation." Apparently, they gave out a free copy of the new version of Madden to the Super Bowl winners but it was nowhere near what they collected.
My proposal is to do a similar bidding system for teams. However, we would split the revenue 50/50 between the site and the players. I know what it costs to run a website and host a league on Daddy Leagues. I also have an idea of what goes into running a "radio" show online and know first hand what it takes to run a league. I can't fathom how guys would pay so much with no hope of earning it back, even if the league were really good (which I didn't think that one was.)
So we would give 50% of all proceeds back to the players. I was thinking that we would give out a certain amount to the Super Bowl winner BUT also have a Sim Player of the Year which the league would vote on. Let's say that the Super Bowl winner got $75 and the Sim POY got an extra $50. Ideally, the SB winner would get both pots but if some guys felt he didn't play truly "sim" ball then maybe he wouldn't get the full pot. Also, we would have a policy in place that states if you do not follow the sim guidelines and the League's Competition committee votes in favor, you could forfeit your claim to any prize money.
I think that could offset guys that just wanted to cheese to win. I think it could also keep guys engaged longer. As an added benefit, the site would generate some revenue which would allow us to grow and expand.
I'm interested in what you guys think. I'm trying to plan ahead for next year and see what kind of league offerings we will have so thought I would start to gauge interest now. Let me know what you think of having Madden pay leagues by posting a comment below!
woodsmall12 and I played in a "sim" pay league that was hosted on Facebook. The level of play was much what many would expect: cheese win at all costs (at least by many of the guys). However, the one thing with that league is that guys took their punishments and, even though many complained of the play level, very few of them left. Why was that?
I think part of the reason was that guys had money tied to their teams. They did bidding on their teams and some guys paid up to $100 for the right to play with a certain team. Every team that joined after was a flat $20. I think many guys did not want to abandon a team they had money invested in even though they may not have been happy with the league. The commish was a reasonable enough guy too so that helped.
The problem is that no money was given back to the players. They had a league site on Daddy Leagues and a sporadic "radio" show that they would run occasionally. They also called the fee for your team a "donation." Apparently, they gave out a free copy of the new version of Madden to the Super Bowl winners but it was nowhere near what they collected.
My proposal is to do a similar bidding system for teams. However, we would split the revenue 50/50 between the site and the players. I know what it costs to run a website and host a league on Daddy Leagues. I also have an idea of what goes into running a "radio" show online and know first hand what it takes to run a league. I can't fathom how guys would pay so much with no hope of earning it back, even if the league were really good (which I didn't think that one was.)
So we would give 50% of all proceeds back to the players. I was thinking that we would give out a certain amount to the Super Bowl winner BUT also have a Sim Player of the Year which the league would vote on. Let's say that the Super Bowl winner got $75 and the Sim POY got an extra $50. Ideally, the SB winner would get both pots but if some guys felt he didn't play truly "sim" ball then maybe he wouldn't get the full pot. Also, we would have a policy in place that states if you do not follow the sim guidelines and the League's Competition committee votes in favor, you could forfeit your claim to any prize money.
I think that could offset guys that just wanted to cheese to win. I think it could also keep guys engaged longer. As an added benefit, the site would generate some revenue which would allow us to grow and expand.
I'm interested in what you guys think. I'm trying to plan ahead for next year and see what kind of league offerings we will have so thought I would start to gauge interest now. Let me know what you think of having Madden pay leagues by posting a comment below!
