Questions
The ones actually worth asking before you pay a stranger on the internet. If yours isn't here, ask it and it probably ends up on this page.
The money
What does your $50 actually buy me?
More of your money back, and a league that gets run. Concretely: 97.9% of a $200 pot goes back to players here, against the 92% Fantrax prints on its own lobby — that difference alone is $200 more in prizes on one league. Past that you are paying for the boring things that decide whether a season is worth playing: a scheduled live draft with a person running it, 90-second picks, waivers that clear on time, a written rule for every dispute, and an answer when you message me. I am not selling you analytics — there is free software that does that better than I would. I am selling you a league that is administered.
How do you make money on 2.1%?
Barely, on one league. $50 — capped there, and never more than that at any buy-in — for a season of running a $200 league is not a business; it is about the cost of my time being worth it because I wanted to play in a well-run league anyway. It becomes worth doing across a lot of leagues, which is the plan, and that only works if people come back. That is the actual incentive here: a host who needs you next season behaves differently from one who took $250 up front.
What stops you taking the pot?
I never hold it. Every pot is held by LeagueSafe on majority-approval payout, which means the commissioner cannot move the money alone — the league votes to release it. I submit the exact printed figures to LeagueSafe within 48 hours of the final game — the only payout I will ever submit — and it goes out as soon as the majority approves, normally inside a week. My fee is one line inside that same approved payout, so it is released by the identical vote that releases your prize — I cannot be paid unless the league is.
Do you play in your own leagues?
In 3 of the 3 currently open — each league's page says whether I'm in that one, and when I play it is at full buy-in, with no free seat. That is a real conflict and the bylaws handle it rather than pretend otherwise: any dispute involving my team is decided by a poll I do not vote in, administered by a co-commissioner the league elects — and if nobody wants that job, it is a straight majority of the other 11 managers, binding on me, published either way.
When do I get paid?
I submit the payout to LeagueSafe within 48 hours of the final game — to the top 3 finishers, at the exact figures published before anyone joined, and it is the only payout I will ever submit. The league approves it by majority vote and the money goes out as soon as it does, normally inside a week. That approval is what moves the money, and it is not something I can do alone.
Joining
Can I get a refund?
Full refund any time before the draft begins, no reason needed. After the draft the buy-in is committed, because a mid-season refund takes money out of a pot the other 11 are still playing for. That cut-off is in the bylaws and it is the same for everyone.
What if the league doesn't fill?
Then it does not draft. If a league has not filled by its draft date I either move the date or cancel and refund in full — I will not quietly run a 12-team league with nine managers and three autodrafting ghosts, because that is a worse season for everyone including me. You are never stuck in a half-empty league.
I've never used LeagueSafe or Sleeper. Is this complicated?
No, and they do different jobs. Sleeper is the free app the league runs in — draft, lineups, waivers, trades, chat. LeagueSafe is where the money sits, and it is a separate site with a separate account, which is the point: joining on Sleeper costs nothing and commits you to nothing, and paying is a deliberate second step. Both are free to join.
How the season is run
What happens if someone quits mid-season?
Persistent inactivity gets a warning, then a locked roster, then removal — in that order, and announced in league chat. From the warning on I set that team's lineup to its best available healthy starters each week — the only lineup I will ever touch — because an abandoned team should never decide somebody else's playoff spot with two players on bye. I would rather tell you the escalation exists than promise it never happens.
Who decides a dispute involving your team?
Not me. The poll runs without my vote and I do not administer it: the league elects a co-commissioner from its own managers before the draft, and that person runs any vote I am a party to. If nobody is elected, it is a straight majority of the other 11 managers, binding on me, and I publish the result whether it goes my way or not. While I am here that is the co-commissioner's only power — the one exception is if I go silent for fourteen days in-season, when they run the league's operations for the rest of the season, and even then the money still only moves on the league's majority vote.
The format
Why no kicker and no defense?
Because both are close to coin flips and neither is a decision you actually make. Cutting them means more of the result comes from the roster you drafted and the lineup you set. Every league at $100 and above runs the identical format, so this is not a per-league surprise — every league at $100 and above runs this exact format — same roster, same scoring, every time. Leagues under $100 can vary, and any difference is shown on that league before you join.
Is the draft really live?
Yes — scheduled, snake, with me on the call. No instant drafts and no best ball. Draft order is randomised live where everyone can watch, three times, no less than an hour before we start, and you get 90 seconds per pick. This is the part that justifies charging anything at all: in a best-ball league there is nothing for a commissioner to do.
Everything above is the short version of the bylaws, which are the actual rules and are published in full before you pay.