Question for other Commissioners out there...

[Jayfo1317]

...how do other Commishes fill their leagues with quality owners when you have an opening? I've posted in the classifieds section here and on ESPN, CBS and Fantrax but have had mixed results at best.

I run a league for both baseball and football. The Football league hardly ever has any openings and all 15 other GMs are great, active and very competitive. However, every baseball season, I'm looking to fill 1 to 2 spots with better owners. I've been doing this over 10 years now and it just seems like it shouldn't be this difficult to find 15 great owners for baseball too.

Just looking for suggestions from other Commissioners...websites, ideas, advice...any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jay in Ohio
Jay-Estes@att.net

[fast dogs]

The problem is there are so many leagues with openings its just tough for owners to sift thru them all and come up with a league that fits what they are looking for. I've had terrific luck on CBS message board getting good owners, but I post there alot so maybe owners feel more comfortable there knowing I'm a regular. I always try to appeal to the older,more experienced owners; somehow thats worked. Give the important details of your league, try to mention what makes your league unique in your posts. Appeal to your leaguemates to try to bring a friend or someone good that they play with in a different league into yours as well

[corefour]

If it's not already a money league, you should consider making it one, even if it's just 20 bucks. That tends to keep a lot of the bums away. Otherwise, it's mostly trial-and-error where you probably will have to suffer through a season or two of having a few dead teams. But hopefully by the third year you will have a solid core of dedicated managers, and usually at that point it becomes word-of-mouth and guys starting bringing their buddies in, who are much more likely to stick around than random strangers on the internet.

[shawngee03]

i suggest joining a couple extra leagues this year to form new relationships w fellow fantasy baseballers...then when you need an opening you have a bunch more guys that you know how they are alreay from having played w them

i joined 2 20 team dynasties about 4 years ago and i never have a problem getting 1 or 2 of them to join a random league i have when need be. i have never met any of them in person...but feel like ive known them all for years on a personal level

[oleredb]

I have a 16 team h2h points keeper league that I keep filled with quality owners. My solution was to start a 12 team redraft league with identical scoring and looser FA acquisition rules. When I have openings in the 16 team league I recruit from the owners who have played the best in the 12 team league, then I recruit new players to replace them in the 12 team league. As players have dropped out or moved on the quality of both leagues has risen. The one unforeseen result is that the 12 team league is becoming more cohesive and some players wish to remain instead of take the new opportunity in the keeper league (I don't allow players to play in both), so I may have to start another 12 team recruiting league at some point in the future.

[Jayfo1317]

Thanks guys for the replies...all great ideas so far. It is a money league and it's been around for over 10 years. I just get so frustrated with some owners in my league for baseball. I don't understand why some owners pay to be in a league and then do not stay active. It's like a charitable donation or something.

I've played in cake leagues in the past, but I honestly would rather lose a tough, competitive league than win an easy one. So, every year, I find myself seeking 1-3 new better owners for our baseball league and it just gets annoying. Football is not like that. We rarely have openings.

I know baseball is a much larger time investment because ours is a daily league, but it shouldn't be that tough to find 15 guys in the world that our knowledgeable, competitive and on the site daily.

As Commissioners, I'm sure we've all been frustrated like this, so I just wanted other Commish input.

Thanks,
Estes in Kettering, OH

[bigmck]

It might have to do with the format of the league. I have run two leagues for over fifteen years. One is an Auction League with player salaries and contracts where we have Keepers. The other is not a keeper league and it is just a straight Draft of players. Both are Roto Leagues with a small investment of $35 and both we meet in person for the player selection. == The Auction League has had about three openings in the last ten years. The same guys come back each year. The Draft League has about three openings each year I have to fill. I don't believe you said what format you use, but changing it in some way might be the difference.