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1. Franchises
The League consists of
ten (10) franchises. The franchises are
divided into two conferences: the Northern Football
Conference (NFC) and the Southern Football
Conference (SFC).
Each franchise's
overall roster must consist of the following at all
times throughout the NFA season: two (2)
quarterbacks, four (4) running backs, six (6)
receivers, two (2) place-kickers, and two (2)
defenses. For each week of the NFA regular
season, each franchise will submit a starting lineup
that consists of players whose statistics will be
used in head-to-head competition of teams. A
starting lineup consists of the following: one (1)
quarterback, two (2) running backs, three (3)
receivers, one (1) place-kicker, and one (1)
defense. A receiver is defined as either a
wide receiver or a tight end.
2. League Draft
The NFA holds a player selection event called the
NFA Draft on an annual basis. The Draft will
usually be held in August, with the final date and
location of the event to be determined and
communicated by the Commissioner to the franchise
owners.
Each franchise will draft fourteen (14) players and
two (2) defenses for its overall team roster. Thus,
the Draft will be sixteen (16) rounds in length. All
sixteen (16) spots on a franchise’s roster must be
filled with players.
The Draft order for the first round and every odd
round subsequently will be determined from the
reverse order of finish in the NFA last year.
The draft order will also be reversed each round.
A franchise will have two minutes in which to make
its player selection when it that franchise's turn
to select. If a franchise has consecutive
selections of any number, that franchise will have
the number of selections times two minutes in which
to make all of its consecutive selections.
3. Salary Cap
and Franchise Players
A salary cap exists in the NFA. All owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or below the salary cap, which this year has been raised to $128,000,000 (i.e., the
projected 2009-2010 NFL salary cap). Not all of the money designated as salary cap funds has to be used; but any such remaining funds can be utilized in the acquisition of personnel throughout the season as long as (1) the integrity of the team as far as player position breakdown is maintained and (2) the salary cap is upheld. In addition, all owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or above the salary floor, which this year has been raised to $99,453,000. This is the minimum amount of money that a franchise may spend at any point throughout the season.
All 2008 NFA player salaries are based on performance statistics from the 2006-2007, 2007-2008
and 2008-2009 NFL seasons. The translation of the performance statistics includes a baseline salary for a constituent year, below which a player cannot go. The baseline is $722,000 for 2006, $772,000 for 2007
and $827,000 for 2008. Those players that were rookies last year will be assigned a base salary of the corresponding season for the benefit of consistent calculations. Rookies this year will be assigned a base salary of $907,000 for 2009.
If a franchise violates either the salary floor or
the salary cap during the Draft, that franchise will
be penalized one add/drop per violation and will be
forced to correct the floor/cap violation at the end
of the Draft during the Supplemental Draft.
A
franchise player is a player that a franchise
designates as a carry-over from one season to the
next. In so doing, each player kept will also
signify a loss of a second-round draft pick on Draft
Day. That player is offered the average of the
top five calculated salaries for the upcoming draft
at the player’s position or 120 percent of that
player’s calculated salary for the upcoming draft,
whichever is greater. If a franchise player is
released, that player’s salary is maintained at the
franchise tag level.
Once a franchise determines its franchise player for
a given season, that franchise cannot recant its
designation in hopes of using it on another player
on its roster.
If a designated franchise player retires from
football, the franchise will be reallocated its
franchise player designation upon successful
verification that its player has formally retired
from professional football. This verification
will entail confirmation from a reliable print or
Internet source that the player has completely and
successfully field his retirement paperwork with the
National Football League. Such confirmation
will need to be sent to the League Office, either by
email or regular postal mail, for final
confirmation. The League Office will then
notify the League owners that the franchise has been
reallocated its franchise player designation.
4. Scoring
Please follow this link
to the Scoring web page for the actual fantasy point
breakdown for the NFA.
Scoring for each franchise on a weekly basis is
determined by a cumulative fantasy point total
produced by the active players for said week.
All final fantasy point totals for each head-to-head
contest will be divided by fifty (50) to more
closely simulate scores from the NFL.
5. Statistics
The primary source of football statistics that will
be used throughout the NFA season is the National
Football League home page (www.nfl.com).
The USA Today home page (www.usatoday.com)
will also be referred to as the secondary source.
6. Weekly Competition and the Schedule
Competition takes the form of head-to-head contests
between franchises. The franchise with the
higher fantasy point total in each head-to-head game
wins its respective game.
The head-to-head NFA schedule is determined through
a rotational system. Each franchise will play
a total of eight (8) games within its conference and
six (6) games against the opposing conference.
Within its conference, a franchise will play a total
of one (1) game at home and one (1) game on the road
against each of the other four teams. Against
the opposing conference, a franchise will play one
(1) game against four (4) of the five (5) teams and
two (2) games against the fifth team (one home and
one away game).
Through this home/away game schedule, a system of
home field advantage will be implemented. A
bonus of three (3) points post-reduction (i.e.,
after the fantasy point total is divided by fifty)
will be awarded to each of the “home” teams each
week of the season.
In the event that there is a tie between two teams
after the respective fantasy points have been
divided by 50, the winner will be determined by the
original fantasy points; the team who has the higher
original fantasy points will win that game. In
the event that two teams tie both before and after
the respective fantasy points have been divided by
50, the game will be considered a tie.
7. Starting Lineups
For each week of the
NFA regular season, each franchise will submit a
starting lineup that consists of players whose
statistics will be used in head-to-head competition
of teams. A starting lineup consists of the
following: one (1) quarterback, two (2) running
backs, three (3) receivers, one (1) place-kicker,
and one (1) defense. A receiver is defined as
either a wide receiver or a tight end.
The official NFL injury report for a given week is
typically available to the public on Fridays. Thus,
franchises will be allowed to submit weekly lineups
by 9:00 PM EST on Fridays.
Please note that there are a number of weeks
throughout the NFL season that have games on
Thursdays and Saturdays. For those weeks, franchises
will need to submit weekly lineups on the day
specified by the NFA League Office.
8. Weekly Procedures
Typically, the Friday before each NFA schedule week
each franchise will submit a weekly starting lineup
sheet to the Commissioner. This can be done in
a variety of ways: (1) by use of the Weekly Lineup
Submittal Form on the respective franchise’s page,
(2) by voice-mail, (3) by electronic mail through
the Internet, and (4) direct conversation with the
Commissioner. In the event that there is a
Thursday night NFL game, the lineup (and, if
necessary, the transaction) sheet must be submitted
by Wednesday to the Commissioner.
One lineup change per week per franchise will be
allowed. This must be done prior to the first
NFL game that week. On Sundays between 11:00
A.M. EST and 12:00 PM EST (the normal situation),
any franchise may call the Commissioner with its one
lineup change. The lineup change is legitimate
if and only if the Commissioner is contacted
directly (no messages) prior to the start of the
first NFL game.
No carryover of any player statistics will be
allowed in the NFA.
Each franchise must be able to field a viable squad
for its weekly lineup each and every week of the NFA
season.
There are penalties associated with a franchise not
submitting a weekly starting lineup throughout the
season. For the first occurrence, a franchise
will be allocated the prior week’s starting lineup.
For any other occurrence after the initial
non-submittal, a franchise will be allocated the
prior week’s starting lineup and a $10 fine,
increasing in step fashion for each offense by $10.
This fine will be added to the monies utilized for
the season prizes.
9. Transactions
During the course of the NFA season, a franchise may
elect
to pick up or trade for another player. This
can be done, provided that the franchise’s roster
never exceeds the sixteen (16) players/defense
ceiling, that the total roster salary never exceeds
the salary cap and that the total roster salary
never falls below the salary floor. For every
player added to the franchise’s roster, another must
be dropped.
Add/drops consist of adding and subsequently
dropping one player for a same-position player who
is in the availability pool. Trades
consist of a franchise swapping one or more of its
players for one or more players or draft position in
the following year’s draft of another franchise.
Franchises will report all add/drops to the
Commissioner between the hours of 12:01 AM EST and
9:00 PM EST on Wednesdays for approval.
Approval will be sent to the franchises by e-mail.
Franchises may make add/drops subject to the
following restrictions:
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If a franchise add/drops a player to the waiver wire,
the original franchise may not reacquire that
player at any time during the current season.
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Add/drops are valid only if they are reported to the
Commissioner via the NFA e-mail account (commissioner@thenfa.com)
by the franchise involved.
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If two or more franchises submit add/drop requests for
the same player, the franchise with the worse
won-lost-tied record will be awarded the player.
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If two or more franchises submit add/drop requests for
the same player and have the same won-lost-tied
record, the franchise with the fewer fantasy
points for will be awarded the player.
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It is possible that in the case of one franchise
submitting a one-player add/drop and another
franchise submitting a multiple-player add/drop
that the latter franchise will be granted only
part of its transaction request, based upon
multiple-franchise transaction request rules.
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If a franchise is denied its add/drop transaction
request for a given week, that franchise will be
given until 5:00 PM that Thursday (i.e., the
following day) to submit a new add/drop
transaction request. If that request is
similarly denied, that franchise must wait until
the next transaction day to submit a new
transaction request.
A limit of six (6) add/drops before the final player
transaction deadline will be enforced.
A franchise can trade a player to another player for
either a player or players of any position. If
the two franchises involved exchange players of
different positions, both franchises are allowed to
perform the necessary add/drop at no cost (i.e., the
add/drop will not count as one of the six allowed in
a season) in order to enforce team integrity by
position. If the two franchises involved
exchange players of the same position, any
subsequent add/drops will be counted as normal
transactions (i.e., the add/drops will count as part
of the six allowed in a season).
A franchise is allowed to trade a player to another
franchise for that franchise’s draft pick’s position
in the following season’s draft. If this is
done, both franchises are allowed to perform the
necessary add/drop at no cost (i.e., the add/drop
will not count as one of the five allowed in a
season).
Franchises will report all trades to the
Commissioner between the hours of 12:01 AM EST and
9:00 PM EST on Wednesdays for approval.
Approval will be sent to the franchises by e-mail.
The following rules are in effect regarding trades:
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If a franchise trades a player to another franchise, the
original franchise may not reacquire that player
at any time during the current season.
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Trades are valid only if they are reported to the
Commissioner via the NFA e-mail account (commissioner@thenfa.com)
by all franchises involved.
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The
Commissioner will decide if there is to be a
rejection of any trade whatsoever that may be
deemed grossly unequal or unfair.
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A limit of one trade between two franchises will be
allowed in a given season.
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In the event of a two-for-one trade, where one franchise
offers two players in exchange for one better
overall player, each franchise involved must
still maintain the integrity of the sixteen man
/ team roster. This means that the
franchise receiving the two (2) players must
drop an additional player besides the one it
traded; the team giving up the two (2) players
and receiving only one (1) must acquire another
player from the player availability pool.
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Any players involved
in a trade must remain with the teams to which
they were traded for one full week before being
involved in any personnel move (i.e., add / drop
or trade). If a player is traded during
the Week 10 transaction period, that player must
remain on the roster of the team to which he was
traded for the remainder of the season or placed
on injured reserve, if said player is placed on
injured reserve in the NFL.
A limit of six (6) add/drops before the final player
transaction deadline will be enforced.
The last day for all player transactions (i.e.,
add/drops and trades) will be the Wednesday after
Week 10 of the regular season.
Each transaction, be it a trade or the first five
add/drops, will carry an operational fee of $5 to be
paid by the franchise. The sixth add/drop will
carry an operational fee of $10 to be paid by the
franchise. Any transaction fee will be added
to the League Treasury for use in League financial
matters.
Personnel transactions performed during the
preseason do not count against a franchise’s regular
personnel transaction count (6 add/drops and 1 trade
with any other franchise each for 9 trades).
The preseason transaction, be it an add/drop or a
trade, still carries an operational cost of $5 each.
Any player that is dropped as part of an add/drop or
trade will revert back to the player availability
pool. That player will remain unclaimed until
the next transaction day, on which any franchise can
file claims to obtain the player, by submitting an
add/drop or including the player as part of a trade
proposal, or waive the opportunity to do so.
10. Injured Reserve
A franchise can place a player incurring a
season-ending injury on injured reserve with no
impact on the number of personnel transactions for
that year. In addition, the franchise must
acquire a new player to replace the injured player.
But, in so doing, the franchise will only be allowed
to spend 50% of the injured player’s salary on the
acquisition of a new player; the remaining 50% of
the injured player’s salary will still count against
the franchise’s overall roster salary for that given
year.
This option can only be used if the player is
allocated to injured reserve in the NFL. If a
franchise submits an injured reserve allocation
request, that franchise must also provide proof that
the player has been allocated to injured reserve in
the NFL.
Also, a processing fee of $10 will be assessed for
the entire transaction. The injured reserve
option is available to the franchise through Week 12
of the NFA season.
Because 50% of the injured player’s salary counts
against a franchise’s overall roster salary, that
player remains on the franchise roster but does not
count against the overall roster as far as
compliance with the Team Integrity Rule.
11. The Postseason and Tiebreakers
The NFA postseason consists of the Conference
Championship Games, one per conference, in Week 15
and the NFA Bowl in Week 16. The top two (2)
teams in each conference will advance to the
Conference Championship round of the postseason.
The first-place team in each conference will hold
home-field advantage in the Conference Championship
Games.
The winners of the Conference Championship Games
will compete in the NFA Bowl. Neither
franchise will entertain home-field advantage as far
as obtaining extra points, but the team with the
better won-loss-tied record will have the home-field
advantage in name.
To break a tie between two franchises, the system
for determining the participants in the NFA Playoffs
is as follows:
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Better won-lost-tied record
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Head-to-head competition
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Better won-lost-tied percentage in conference games
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Better average
points for in conference games
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Better average
points for in all games
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Coin flip
To break a tie among three franchises, the system
for determining the participants in the NFA Playoffs
is as follows:
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Head-to-head competition
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Better won-lost-tied percentage in conference games
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Better
won-lost-tied percentage in common games
excluding multiple games against teams
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Better average
points for in conference games
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Better average
points for in all games
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Strength of
victory (i.e., combined overall records of teams
defeated)
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Strength of
schedule (i.e., combined overall records of all
teams played)
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Coin flip
If two franchises remain tied after the third or
other franchises are eliminated during any step, the
tiebreaker process reverts to step 1 of the
two-franchise format.
12. Fees and Prizes
The entry fee for the NFA is fifty (50) dollars, and
the operational fee for any transaction, except the
sixth add/drop is five (5) dollars; the fee for the
sixth add/drop is $10. These fees will cover
administrative expenses and prizes, as well as the
variable salary for the Commissioner.
Prior to the NFA
Draft for the upcoming season, each owner will
submit to the Treasurer money to cover both the
entry fee and all transactions (add/drops).
After Week 12, the Treasurer will refund any unused
money to the respective owners, based on remaining
transactions still available to the owners.
Monies will be utilized as prizes to fund the
following:
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The NFA League
Champion will receive 50% of the final jackpot
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The NFA League
Runner-up will receive 25% of the final jackpot
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The
Commissioner will receive 25% of the final
jackpot
13. The Treasurer
Each year prior to the regular season, the
Commissioner will select an owner to serve in the
capacity of League Treasurer. The primary
responsibility of the Treasurer will be to handle
all financial matters for the League. Tasks
associated with this include, but are not limited
to, the following:
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Emailing owners of full fees to be collected for the
upcoming season
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Establishing
viable methods of payment for owners
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Managing of all
fees collected throughout the season to ensure
no loss of monies
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Refunding of
unused fees collected throughout the season
after all transactions and injured reserve
designations are completed (i.e., Week 12)
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Processing of
prizes as money distribution to NFA Bowl
participants
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Processing of
variable salary for the Commissioner
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Transitioning
of any relevant Treasury materials to successor
and the Commissioner
The Treasurer's responsibilities are considered
complete for the season once all monies for the
season are distributed to the appropriate people.
14.
The Commissioner
The Commissioner of the National Football
Association is Daniel J. Yip. The ruling of the
Commissioner on any and all NFA matters is final.
The Commissioner may be contacted on any League
matter through any of the following means:
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Telephone, home
or cell anytime before 2:00 AM EST
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Voice-mail, if
telephone is busy
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E-mail
(commissioner@thenfa.com)
15. Replacement Owners
If an owner leaves the NFA, he or she will still be
held accountable for any expenses he or she has
incurred up until his or her departure. A
replacement owner bears no responsibility for any
expenses incurred prior to his or her becoming the
new owner of a franchise. A replacement owner
assumes all responsibility for any expense incurred
after his or her becoming the new owner of a
franchise. Lastly, a replacement owner assumes
all responsibility for the operations of the
franchise. Thus, if the franchise has no
personnel transactions remaining, the replacement
owner is not awarded any personnel transactions
simply because he or she is a new owner.
Any potential replacement owner must be presented to
the Commissioner by a sponsoring League owner.
The Commissioner and sponsoring League owner will
interview the prospective replacement owner prior to
entrance into the League.
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