change to scoring that makes it interesting in september

[matmat]

I think the "standard" way to make things interesting is to just have there be a prize for all but, say, the last three teams or so.

Another way of making things interesting would be to have something like
1st place 50%
2nd place 30%

and the last 20% of the pot would go to a randomly selected team, but with the probability of that team getting selected for the prize would be proportional to how that team did in the league. In this setup the 3rd place finisher would be more likely to get that share than the 4th, which would be more likely than the 5th etc.
This way the payout is substantial and you improve your odds of getting it by moving up.

[asumikey222]

I think the "standard" way to make things interesting is to just have there be a prize for all but, say, the last three teams or so.

Another way of making things interesting would be to have something like
1st place 50%
2nd place 30%

and the last 20% of the pot would go to a randomly selected team, but with the probability of that team getting selected for the prize would be proportional to how that team did in the league. In this setup the 3rd place finisher would be more likely to get that share than the 4th, which would be more likely than the 5th etc.
This way the payout is substantial and you improve your odds of getting it by moving up.

That's actually a great idea. It could be like NBA Draft Lottery Balls in reverse. That is, #3 gets 10 lottery balls, #4 gets 8, etc. This way being in 5th vs. 8th actually would make a big difference. Then you'd just have to agree on a system to do the drawing (like this one- http://www.random.org/nform.html)- You set the limits (e.g. 1-20), if 1-10 comes up the #3 guy wins, 11-14 the #4 guys wins, etc.. Brilliant!

[Dmville]

We've done a September-only pool within the league where the best team in Sep wins at least his entry back, usually more. Keeps most interested.

[GiantFan666]

I've always liked the leagues that pay out the top 3, but take some of the cash out of the final payout for monthly pools, ie highest Avg for April, most homeruns in May etc.