How to find locals for live and in person new league auction?

[Trammell & Whitaker]

I've played in many ESPN and Yahoo online leagues over the years. Usually great fun - especially in pay leagues where people play out the season instead of ditching their team right after the draft. Perhaps inspired by the TV series "The League" and the 30 for 30 on the origin of the first rotisserie baseball league, I find myself yearning for more of the social element of fantasy baseball than I've managed to capture in my virtual interactions. The closest I've come to actually knowing the people in my leagues is when playing with a handful of friends and filling the remaining league spots with "randoms" from the wilds of the internet for online live drafts.

It seems possible, but difficult, to find a group of 12-15 fantasy baseball devotees within a circumscribed geographic region to form a new league and make an in-person draft or auction happen. I know NFBC has a live auction, but I don't have $1000+ to put on the line right now. I may just know the wrong people (read: non-fantasy baseball players) because there might be 1 person I know locally who would be into this right now. Has anyone successfully built a local league from scratch that has sustained itself over time? If so, how? Any tips and suggestions are appreciated.

[mexipat]

I used to live in Phila and it was easy to get a league started with Penna and Jersey people. One of those leagues is still going strong twenty years later. Now I'm in Florida and it's almost impossible. Depends where you live.

[Michael@HQ]

Has anyone successfully built a local league from scratch that has sustained itself over time?

Yes, in 1987 and the league is still going. I don't know that I have many tips. Cousins, brothers and my own team accounted for 4 owners. I think I got about 6 owners from my then workplace, a law firm. Perhaps two were acquaintances of other owners. We ended with a full slate of 12 owners. Three franchises turned over after the first season (lots of lawyers perhaps contributed to rule disputes) but turnover has been pretty gradual since then, except we lost 3 teams due to the 1994-95 MLB work stoppage. Membership has varied between 9-12 teams over the years.

In recent years, most of the replacement owners have come from BaseballHQ or First Pitch Forum connections.

[usualsuspects]

I've played in many ESPN and Yahoo online leagues over the years. Usually great fun - especially in pay leagues where people play out the season instead of ditching their team right after the draft. Perhaps inspired by the TV series "The League" and the 30 for 30 on the origin of the first rotisserie baseball league, I find myself yearning for more of the social element of fantasy baseball than I've managed to capture in my virtual interactions. The closest I've come to actually knowing the people in my leagues is when playing with a handful of friends and filling the remaining league spots with "randoms" from the wilds of the internet for online live drafts.

It seems possible, but difficult, to find a group of 12-15 fantasy baseball devotees within a circumscribed geographic region to form a new league and make an in-person draft or auction happen. I know NFBC has a live auction, but I don't have $1000+ to put on the line right now. I may just know the wrong people (read: non-fantasy baseball players) because there might be 1 person I know locally who would be into this right now. Has anyone successfully built a local league from scratch that has sustained itself over time? If so, how? Any tips and suggestions are appreciated.

Somewhere in Chicago there must be a league looking for owners. Or ask around at work, or at the bar after work, or at the gym after work before the bar. Or look at Craigslist:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/spo/4896354306.html

Or put an ad on HQ, or Fantasy Baseball Cafe, or Reddit, or look at the league openings at OnRoto (there are at least three Chicago area leagues looking).

Or sit in the Wrigley bleachers clutching your Baseball Forecaster and wearing a Tigers hat, looking cold and lost and alone and wait for a good samaritan to approach.

[imported_Dr Dave]

I started our NL only league in 1985 from friends and aquaintences and then an AL only the next year. We still have 5 of the charter members and operate 11 team leagues. Sometimes you have to dig for owners but the majority are hooked after their first season.

[Trammell & Whitaker]

Or sit in the Wrigley bleachers clutching your Baseball Forecaster and wearing a Tigers hat, looking cold and lost and alone and wait for a good samaritan to approach.

This is my favorite idea so far!

[teddyballgame]

trammel, I have some thoughts for you- long standing league here... message me and I will bore you with my thoughts, instead of the entire board.

[Commodore]

How to find locals for live and in person new league auction?

I have built a league from scratch, now entering its 6th season. The first season included 7 teams. Only four original owners have stuck. Last season we had 9...we lost 1 and our off season was successful at finding four new owners for 12 this season.

What did we do right?
- Keep it simple. No body wants to be overwhelmed by their hobby. So play as close to traditional rules as you can so anyone can give it a go.
- Emphasize the fun and the social. I have played for 30+ years. My reasons are different than a rookie. And if I spent my time talking about Port3 and Mayberry Methods, the value of Px and SwK metrics...well, you get the point.
- Get together. We connect at least three times a year. No requirement, just effort. Name a bar and go...some or all.
- Modest stakes. $200 for us. Paying gets you greater buy in, too much and owners will find it a burden to show up at the draft with cash. Keep it reasonable.
- Educate. You want new players, help them with the rules and the gaming. Let them worry about their best baseball judgment on their own.

And finally, be patient. It took me a year to get organized and find 7 players. I reached out to 20 or so and 5 of them did not come from the initial group, but they did connect me to them. We've had a guy drop On Draft Day (grumble, grumble). A teenager jumped in and drafted the roster. Just go with it. And have fun.

Hope this helps.

[blueboy714]