jblank wrote:If its so wonderful, why do estimates show that 80-90% of fantasy baseball players play Roto? I suppose those same 80% of players don't get bored year after year after all.
That's a good question. What estimates are you talking about? How good are those estimates? Do you have links?
I'd seriously be surprised if that's is correct.
If you will read the link I put in earlier, its listed in there.
Although I’ve warmed to the format myself, all three members of my “panel” noted that it lags rotisserie in popularity. Luciani estimates that no more than 10% of the questions he receives are related to the head-to-head format, although he added that “this may not be reflective of what percentage of people are playing because our own site is more focused in the direction of rotisserie-style fantasy leagues.”
Roberts also estimates a 10% popularity rating for head-to-head. “However, that number is increasing as certain sites allow owners to play head-to-head for free," he observed. "Many prefer the sudden change of head-to-head standings and the volatility in the standings.” Ray Murphy concurs, adding, “I think the minority that play head-to-head are quite attached to the format” – something I’ve noticed as well.
Thanks for the link.
Those statements dont back up your point at all since its based on feedback to a roto centric site:
“this may not be reflective of what percentage of people are playing because our own site is more focused in the direction of rotisserie-style fantasy leagues.”
So while it may be true, and I dont believe it is, these guys arent actually saying more people are playing roto then h2h, just that's its more popular at their site.
We can probably find out from Yahoo or CBS what percentages are playing what, but I'm not sure how.
swyck wrote:We can probably find out from Yahoo or CBS what percentages are playing what, but I'm not sure how.
I just got an e-mail back from Yahoo.
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.
At the moment, the information you are requesting is not available. Reports that break down this type of information are not run until the season concludes since we are still registering users for Mid-Season leagues.
We may be able to supply the data you are requesting when the season is over, I would email us back and we will see what we can provide.
jblank wrote:If its so wonderful, why do estimates show that 80-90% of fantasy baseball players play Roto? I suppose those same 80% of players don't get bored year after year after all.
That's a good question. What estimates are you talking about? How good are those estimates? Do you have links?
I'd seriously be surprised if that's is correct.
If you will read the link I put in earlier, its listed in there.
Although I’ve warmed to the format myself, all three members of my “panel” noted that it lags rotisserie in popularity. Luciani estimates that no more than 10% of the questions he receives are related to the head-to-head format, although he added that “this may not be reflective of what percentage of people are playing because our own site is more focused in the direction of rotisserie-style fantasy leagues.”
Roberts also estimates a 10% popularity rating for head-to-head. “However, that number is increasing as certain sites allow owners to play head-to-head for free," he observed. "Many prefer the sudden change of head-to-head standings and the volatility in the standings.” Ray Murphy concurs, adding, “I think the minority that play head-to-head are quite attached to the format” – something I’ve noticed as well.
Thanks for the link.
Those statements dont back up your point at all since its based on feedback to a roto centric site:
“this may not be reflective of what percentage of people are playing because our own site is more focused in the direction of rotisserie-style fantasy leagues.”
So while it may be true, and I dont believe it is, these guys arent actually saying more people are playing roto then h2h, just that's its more popular at their site.
We can probably find out from Yahoo or CBS what percentages are playing what, but I'm not sure how.
Possible, but considering the "Roto" named sites are decidedly more popular, I would gather the numbers aren't too off.
I like head-to-head because it's like playing 22 roto leagues in one season!
Besides, the thing that everyone's missing here is that taking first place in the regular season of an H2H league still gives you an advantage in the playoffs. My league pays out to three places, with 6 teams making the playoffs. First place and second place get byes, then just has to win at least one series to get in the money.
I don't feel like going back, but someone mentioned how the majority of the time that the "best" team doesn't win in H2H leagues. I think that is complete BS, because it can happen in any format. My team got hot in the final three weeks of my money roto league last year and went from fifth to first, culminating with a Hail Mary on the final day to win the league. I did not have the best team in that league.
In other words, the formats really aren't very different. The four or five teams near the top of a competitive roto league are essentially in the playoffs at the end of the season. If a team gets hot, they can just as easily steal the prize from the "best" roto team as they can from the "best" H2H team.
I agree that H2H is more about luck than roto. Roto does breed boredom, though, especially for the bottom teams. No matter what, in H2H leagues, you have a new matchup every week. That makes it more exciting. Roto is more like a full season matchup. The people using the luck card are usually solid teams that get beat in the playoffs by weaker regular season teams. I understand the frustration and it sucks when your stud pitchers only go once to your opponent's twice but those are the breaks. Upsets happen in real-life and they can happen in fantasy as well.
Roto sucks. I was in a 12-man league last season, and somehow I finished 12th and was there pretty much all year with some of these guys on my team:
all drafted, incl. the two biggest surprises of the year, Roberts and DLee:
C: JLopez (granted, injuries)
1B: DLee
2B: Roberts
SS: Young
3B: Glaus
OF: CLee
I don't remember my pitching since it was pretty mediocre, but a team with guys like that shouldn't be 12th all year in any league. That's why I like H2H better, because it better reflects the best team, not the manager who had a huge run first half and then skidded into the close of the season.
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by swyck » Thu May 25, 2006 12:16 pm 
