There are a number of ways you can set up your postseason fantasy football league. This blog post will introduce you to the most popular formats, and also guide you through the required setup. As a reminder, our leagues are fully customizable, so commissioners are encouraged to review the league setup options to determine the best setup for their particular league. For questions, feel free to reach out to admin@fantasypostseason.com, as we're always available to review league setup questions.

 

Elimination Player Pool

This traditional survivor pool format is probably the simplest way to play postseason fantasy football. Managers enter their own teams and their team is frozen throughout the postseason. This is a 'set it and forget it' type of league. No trades or free agency is allowed. As teams are eliminated, the players on those fantasy teams are eliminated as well. In order to implement this league format, use the following options: 

1. Choose your league type (either Premium or Premium Pool) based upon the number of participants that you anticipate. If you have 20 or fewer choose Premium, otherwise choose Premium Pool.
2. After entering basic league information such as the League Name and League Password, you will be prompted to select the Format. Choose 'Player Pool'.
3. For Draft Type, select 'Off-line Draft', then set 'Allow Managers To Create Team' to 'Yes'.
4. Make sure the '# Of Managers That Can Own Each Player' option is set to 'Unlimited'.
5. To disallow roster changes once the league starts, set 'Allow Trades' to 'No' and 'Allow Free Agency' to 'No'.
6. Review and modify league specific settings - when finished press 'Save Settings', and you're ready to invite members to your league.

Elimination Player Pools - 1 Player Per Team

One variant that is growing in popularity to is enforce a requirement that each league manager select a player from each of the 12 NFL postseason teams. To implement such a requirement, after following the recommended steps for setting up an Elimination Player Pool, set the 'Limit Players Per Postseason Team' option to Yes and select 1. With this option, the offline draft entry system will require that fantasy teams are built with one player from each team.  

Elimination Player Pools - Roster Pickups Allowed

For those leagues that want to allow free agents to be acquired throughout the postseason, commissioners will need to set the 'Allow Free Agency' option to 'Yes'. Commissioners can specify the number of free agents that can be acquired - to prevent managers from completely turning over their entire roster week after week.

 

Start Once

In this format, fantasy managers set their lineups for each round of the playoffs. The catch is that they can only use a player once throughout the entire postseason. Managers have to weigh anticipated player matchups with making sure they have enough players to field a team in the later rounds of the postseason. This is an exciting format for those leagues with active managers. In order to implement this league format, use the following options: 

1. Choose your league type (either Premium or Premium Pool) based upon the number of participants that you anticipate. If you have 20 or fewer choose Premium, otherwise choose Premium Pool.
2. After entering basic league information such as the League Name and League Password, you will be prompted to select the Format. Choose 'Start Once'. This option will set all of the proper defaults such as Draft Type. 
3. Review and modify league specific settings; press 'Save Settings' and you're ready to invite members to your league.

 

Salary Cap

Typically, this format mirrors the Elimination Pool format, with the addition of a salary cap component. Managers build their teams, but have to stay under a set cumulative salary cap limit. To set up a salary cap league, use the following options:

1. Choose your league type (either Premium or Premium Pool) based upon the number of participants that you anticipate.  If you have 20 or fewer choose Premium, otherwise choose Premium Pool.
2. After entering basic league information such as the League Name and League Password, you will be prompted to select the Format. Choose 'Salary Cap'. This option will set all of the proper defaults such as Draft Type. 
3. Review and modify league specific settings; press 'Save Settings' and you're ready to invite members to your league.