Dixie League Rules

The Dixie League

League Rules

 

Rule Changes from previous season appear in RED text

BLUE text indicates a portion of the Rules from 2017 edition that have been rewritten into current rules, they are reprinted simply as a matter of reference

NOTE: The AF Century Offensive Scoring Set was updated in the 2017-18 offseason; up to date information on the scoring set is included below

I     General

A.     These will serve to be the official rules for AF’s The Dixie League (DIXIE)

B.     For anything not covered in these rules, please refer to the League Settings page at League website (http//thedixie.league.fantasy.nfl.com)

C.     All arbitration of League Rules to be arbitrated solely by League Manager (LM)

1.    Should any unforeseen event arise not covered explicitly in the rules, LM will exercise final judgment

2.   Any LM decision that involves LM’s team will cause LM’s team to be removed from Championship eligibility

II     Format

A.     (As of 2018 season) 10 team, Dynasty League; subdivided into two divisions reffered to as the “Eastern League” and “Western League”

1.    League will expand to reach 14 total teams in stages

2.   Teams must follow the form of naming themselves with a place name and a mascot and must be based out of one of the following states:

– Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, or Virginia

3.   Teams are encouraged to name their mascots in a way that plays into the historical baseball theme of the league

4.   Teams must use a logo on the hosting site; logo may be one of the default logos provided by hosting site, however teams are encouraged to use a custom one

III Entry/Payout

A.     Beginning with the 2018 season, following the triggering of 2017 Rule XI after the return of 8 or more teams in the 2017-18 off season, The Dixie League converted to a paid entry/prize payout league

B.     Entry fee will be $25.00(US) per team

C.     Payout scale (for 10 competing teams) is as follows:

1.   1st place (League Champion) = $150.00(US)

2.   2nd place (League Runner-Up) = $50.00(US)

3.  3rd place (semi-final loser) = $25.00(US)

4.   4th place (semi-final loser) = $25.00(US)

D.     Entries and payouts will be handled through LeagueSafe.com

E.     Deadline for payment is August 17, 2018

1.   Late payments are allowed, but be advised that LeagueSafe charges a $10 late fee for payments made after the deadline, and the late fee goes to LeagueSafe, not to the league 

F.    Prize money will not be disbursed until the Friday following Week 17 of the NFL Regular Season

NOTE:  Teams that fail to pay an entry fee, will be allowed to continue playing but WILL NOT be elligible for prize money.  (see APPENDIX B for more info)

IV    Scoring

A.     Offense: AF Century

B.     IDP: AF Canton

C.     In any instances of conflict between above scoring formats and scoring values as displayed on the Tournament hosting site’s “Settings” page, scoring values as displayed on settings page shall prevail, and all scoring settings will be locked at a point in time prior to the start of the Tournament Drafts

V      Rosters

A.     Dixie League utilizes a custom roster grouping rather than a preset Association grouping

B.     Starting rosters 1 each at the following positions:

  • QB
  • RB
  • WR
  • TE
  • RB/WR/TE FLEX
  • K
  • DL
  • LB
  • DB
  • Bench: 6
  • Reserve: 2

VI     Keepers

A.     Beginning with the 2018 season, following the triggering of 2017 Rule XI after the return of 8 or more teams in the 2017-18 off season, The Dixie League converted to a dynasty format league

B.     Prior to draft, Teams will select 9 Keeper players from the previous end-of-season roster

1.   Keepers must correspond to positions required to field one complete starting line-up

2.   Keeper players are not required to be kept beyond Week 1 and may be traded after the draft has been held

3.   There is no limit on the number of seasons a player can be kept on a team’s roster

C.     Keeper Lock Date

1.   Prior to League Draft and prior to any expansion draft, teams will name their keepers for the upcoming season

2.   Once named, those keepers are “locked-in” and cannot be changed until the season has started, at which point teams may cut or trade them as any other player

3.   Keeper Lock Date for the 2018 season is Friday August 10

a.   Teams that fail to name their Keepers by the Lock Date will have their keepers named by the league based on prior season points totals and position requirements

VII     Free Agency/Trading

A.     Dixie League utilizes a Waiver Acquisition Budget

1.   Seasonal Budget = 100

2.   4 day waivers

B.     Trades are allowed (review by league vote) with no trade deadline

VIII     Draft

A.     Draft is held annually on the second Sunday of Pre-Season at 1:00pm EDT

1.   2018 Draft will be held live, online on August 19, at 1:00pm EDT

B.     Draft will be an auction draft to fill 6 bench slots after keeper selections have been made

1.   Nomination order will be by random seeding

2.   Budget for draft will be 100 units for returning teams

IX      Schedule/Playoffs

A.     Regular season will be Weeks 1-11

B.     League will utilize manually set-up double-header matches in which teams will face two oponents in certain weeks

  • If League plays with 14, teams will play every team in their league twice, and every team in opposing league once (19 games) with double header matches scheduled in Weeks 4-11
  • If League plays with 12, teams will play every team in their league twice and every team in opposing league once (16 games) with double-header matches scheduled in Weeks 7-11
  • If League plays with 10, teams will play every team in their league 3 times, and every team in opposing league twice (22 games) with double-header matches scheduled in Weeks 1-11
  • If League plays with 8, teams will play every team in their league three times, and every team in opposing league twice (17 games) with double-header matches scheduled in Weeks 6-11
  • If League plays with 6 teams, teams will play every team in their league 4 times and every team in opposing league twice (14 games) double-header matches scheduled in Weeks 9-11 

C.     Playoffs will be Weeks 12-17 with 4 teams

D.     In each League (Division) the top two teams (by standings) will face each other in a best of 3 game series in Weeks 12, 13, and 14 (if necessary)

1.    These series will be known as the Eastern League Championship Series (ELCS) and the Western League Championship Series (WLCS), respectively

E.     The winners of these two series will advance to the League Championship, to be known as the Dixie League Series (DLS)

1.    The DLS will be a best of 3 series in Weeks 15, 16, and 17 (if necessary)

X     Tiebreakers

A.     Individual Match-ups are allowed to end in ties, except in the case of the ELCS, WLCS, and DLS (see below)

B.     Order of tiebreakers for standings’ ties is as follows:

  1. Head-to-head record
  2. Total season points
  3. Total season starting QB points
  4. Total season starting RB points
  5. Total season starting WR points
  6. Total season starting LB points
  7. Total season starting TE points
  8. Total season starting DL points
  9. Total season starting K points
  10. Coin Flip

C.     Order of tiebreakers for the individual games of the ELCS, WLCS, and DLS are as follows:

  1. Starting QB points
  2. Starting RB points
  3. Starting WR points
  4. Starting LB points
  5. Starting TE points
  6. Starting DL points
  7. Starting K points
  8. Total number TDs scored (all positions)
  9. Longest successful field goal attempt
  10. If game is still tied after the above 10 tiebreakers, progression moves to #1 of Standings Tiebreakers (see Section X.B.1-10)and goes through those progressions

BLUE text indicates a portion of the Rules from 2017 edition that have been rewritten into current rules they are reprinted simply as a matter of reference

XI     Entry Fees and Keepers

  • Beginning in the 2016 off-season, a return rate of 8 or more teams returning from the previous season will trigger the following rule changes:

                A     Entry/Payout

  • Entry fees $25.00 per team
  • Payout of $25.00 to Eastern League Championship Series (ELCS) loser
  • Payout of $100.00 to Eastern League Championship Series (ELCS) winner
  • Payout of $25.00 to Western League Championship Series (WLCS) loser
  • Payout of $100.00 to Western League Championship Series (WLCS) winner
  • Payout of $100.00 to Dixie League Championship Series (DLCS) winner (league champion)
  • All entry and payout handled through LeagueSafe.com
  • The above payout scale assumes a full league of 14 teams, if fewer than 14 teams pay scale will be adjusted accordingly

                B     Keepers

  • League will convert to a dynasty format
  • Teams will select 9 Keeper players from the previous end-of-season roster
  • Teams will continue to do so annually
  • Keepers must correspond to positions required to field one complete starting line-up
  • Keeper players are not required to be kept beyond Week 1 and may be traded
  • There is no limit on the number of seasons a player can be kept on a team’s roster

                C    Subsequent Drafts

  • Once Dynasty Rules have been triggered by 8 or more teams returning to the league, teams will select 9 starting position keepers from their previous year rosters
  • An Auction Draft will be held following keeper selection to fill the 6 bench spots
  • Auction Budget for draft will be 100

D    Expansion

  • Once dynasty rules have been triggered, should the league expand to more teams than have prior year rosters, supplemental rules concerning an expansion draft for new teams will be issued

XI     Special Rule

A.     Participation in tournament is limited to one entry per household/IP address

B.     After all tournament slots are filled but before draft order has been established, NFL.com will be contacted to verify that all participants registered with tournament are originating from different IP addresses to verify that no participant is registered with multiple teams

C.     Multiple teams originating from the same IP address will result in immediate expulsion of all teams involved

D.     It is recommended, that before the draft, each individual team verify for themselves that all teams are from different IP addresses; this can be done through the contact NFL tool (found in the FAQs), simply send an email, include league ID number, and ask NFL to verify that no teams in the league originate from the same IP address

 

APPENDIX: A – Rules governing 2018 Expansion Draft

A.     Three expansion teams will be added for the 2018 season to replace Hinesville Warrior, Orlando Crush, and Westfield Bombers

1.   Hinesville’s, Orlando’s, and Westfield’s 2017 rosters will be placed into the player pool for the 2018 Expansion Draft

B.     Prior to the 2018 auction draft, a 9 round expansion draft will be held for the three expansion teams to acquire their 9 keepers 

1.   Expansion Draft will be held AFTER the League’s Keeper Lock Date (see Section VI.C.1-3)

C.     Each returning team will provide a list of 5 players from their 2017 rosters for the Expansion Draft Player Pool

1.   Teams that fail to name the requisite players to the Draft Pool 24 hours prior to the expansion draft, will have those players named by the league based on the list criteria applied to their rostered players with the lowest 2017 scoring totals

D.     The list of 5 players provided by each team must fit the following criteria:

  • Minimum of 1 RB 
  • Minimum of 1 WR
  • Minimum of 0 and maximum of 1 QB
  • Minimum of 0 and maximum of 1 TE
  • Minimum of 0 and maximum of 1 K
  • Minimum of 1 and maximum of 2 defensive players
  • Minimum of 2 MUST BE DESIGNATED KEEPER PLAYERS
    • no more than 1 Keeper can be a defensive player

E.     Draft

1.   Expansion Draft will be conducted by email

2.   Expansion teams’ draft order will be randomized and they will alternate picks 1-3, 1-3, 1-3, etc (no serpentine) from the Expansion Draft Player Pool

3.   Expansion teams’ picks, by position, must fill out 1 complete starting roster and will serve as their keepers going into the 2018 Auction Draft

4.   After each player is selected, the team owning that player will be allowed to remove one of their other players from the Player Pool

a.   Teams may choose not to excerciase that right

5.   Alternating picks will continue for 9 rounds OR until there are no remaining players for each expansion team to draft one complete set of 9 keepers (1 complete starting roster) because of positional limitations

a.   If a full complement of 9 players (full starting line-up) cannot be acheived by 1 or both expansion teams because necessary positions have been exhausted from the Expansion Draft Player Pool, those postions will be filled with a Supplemental Pick(s)

F.     Supplemental Picks

1.   Returning teams whose Keeper Players were not selected from the Player Pool must retain those Keeper Players

2.   Returning teams who lose a Keeper Player(s) through the Expansion Draft will have the choice to replace the player(s) either from their remaining, unpicked, non-keeper 2017 roster OR  by Supplemental Pick(s)

3.   Expansion teams who cannot fill out the required 9 keepers (by position) because of position shortage in the pool of players, will be given a Supplemental Pick(s) to fill out those keeper Slots

4.   Supplemental Pick order will be randomized by the draft order generator at fftoolbox.com

5.   Supplemental Picks will be chosen from 2017 end of season free agents or from the expansion player pool

 

APPENDIX B: Rules governing nonpayment of entry fees

A.     Teams that fail to pay their entry fees by the deadline may pay later than deadline but will be charged a $10 late fee by LEAGUESAFE.  Please note this late fee goes to LeagueSafe, not the league

B.     Teams may make late payments up until the conclusion of Week 1and still be elligible for prize money

C.     Teams that fail to pay their entry fees altogether, will still be allowed to compete, but will become inelligible for any prize money

D.    Should any team or teams not pay an entry fee, the following rules will apply:

  • Total prize pool will be smaller, but the same percentages of payouts will apply to 1st-4th place teams as if prize pool was full
  • Should a team or teams that did not submit an entry fee place 1st-4th, they will be skipped, with the next in line paid-entry team receiving the prize money they would have received
  • Order of progression for prize money is as follows:
  1. League Champion
  2. League Runner Up
  3. Semi Final Runner-Up with best regular season record (standings tiebreakers apply)
  4. Semi Final Runner-Up with second best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)
  5. Non Playoff Team with best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)
  6. Non Playoff Team with second best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)
  7. Non Playoff Team with third best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)
  8. Non Playoff Team with fourth best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)
  9. Non Playoff Team with fifth best regular season record (standings tiebreakers will apply)