From the Desk of the Commish

Ryan McDowell Posted On June 25, 2015

desk

As you probably know, one of my passions in the fantasy football industry in creating and managing dynasty leagues. Of the 18 dynasty leagues I currently play in, I am the commissioner of 11 of those. On top of that, I also run another 26 leagues (and counting) as part of a commissioner service.

I’ve written about a number of topics relating to the role of the commissioner in the past, including a strong set of rules and various types of creative leagues. In anticipation of the revival of the From the Desk of the Commish series, as I often do, I reached out to my Twitter followers for potential topics that should be covered and the response was overwhelming. With that in mind, I’ll turn this and subsequent articles into somewhat of a commissioner mailbag. If there are other topics related to dynasty league commissioning you’d like to see discussed, just respond in the comments section below.

First of all, here was my call out on Twitter…

Working on some articles from a dynasty commissioner POV. Any specific topics you guys are interested in related to that?

— Ryan McDowell (@RyanMc23) April 23, 2015

@RyanMc23 trade vetoes or no? and what is the threshold for “allowable” trade? should you ever make changes to lineup/scoring midstream? — Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) April 23, 2015

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This is one of the most difficult challenges a commissioner faces. My general rule is to allow owners to run their own team and value players as they see fit, rather than how I, or anyone else in the league thinks they should. This means that it would take a horrendous deal before I would consider vetoing a completed trade. I have been very fortunate that I have not had to face that situation. That is just a long way to say I am strongly against using trade vetoes in dynasty leagues, assuming there is no blatant collusion.

When a trade occurs that causes an uproar in the league, my first action would be to ask each owner involved to explain their side of the deal. In most cases, that’s very easy for one of the participants, while the other may not be ready to face the heat of the league. A commissioner making changes to starting lineups after the fact is the worst-case scenario and something I’ve never had to do. If this were a step the commissioner deemed necessary, it would also probably be time for the removal of the owner for the better of the league as a whole.

@RyanMc23 soliciting input in league rules/interpretations vs dictatorship

— Eric Grimmer (@EGrimmer) April 23, 2015

I mentioned in the previous edition of this series the importance of a commissioner gaining the trust and respect of the other participants in the league. One good way to do this is to allow everyone to have a say in the rules. How this is handled depends on the commissioner’s motivation for the existence of the league. For example, in the past I have started some leagues because I wanted to player with and against certain people, including friends and other acquaintances I’ve met through fantasy football. In this case, the rules of the league are less of a priority and I am more than willing to take input from others as we form the league constitution together. This is what happened when the first DLF Staff league was beginning. In other times though, I started a new league with the purpose of trying a new rule or format I had in mind. In these times, I had the rules basically set in stone prior to finding other dynasty players to join me. This was the case with my Kitchen Sink leagues, for example. In either case, I think it is a good idea to allow all owners to have input on rules and suggest rule changes for the league to consider. Ruling the league with an iron fist is not usually necessary, nor will it win you the trust of the league.

@RyanMc23 Amount of work that goes on behind the scene… — The Dizzle (@Nmartin55) April 23, 2015

This depends on many different factors, but it’s safe to say the answer is way more than most would expect. Like with most activities, the longer you do something, the better you get and the easier the task becomes. Some of my leagues that have been around for nearly ten years basically run themselves. The owners know each other and know the rules and there are rarely surprises I have to deal with as commissioner. Newer leagues require more work as it’s vital to ensure all participants have a full understanding of the format and rules specific to that league.
Of course, in leagues that are more complex, such as auction, contract or devy leagues, the amount of work increases by huge proportions. Like most lines of work, dynasty leagues have “busy seasons” and it might surprise you to hear that is not during the NFL season. Instead, it’s the off-season that becomes very demanding of league commissioners as they handle the new league setup and preparation for the rookie draft and other off-season events.

@RyanMc23 How to find quality replacements players (especially in local leagues). Keeping league activity in the off season.

— Thrawny (@ThrawnFett) April 23, 2015

This can be a huge challenge, but is of the utmost importance for maintaining the health and integrity of the league. For me, this boils down to your dynasty community. I hope that everyone reading this has found a dynasty community they are a part of and it might be right here on the forums of DLF. It could be found on another fantasy site or through conversations held on Twitter. Finally, as is mentioned in the question, it could be in real life with a local league. This is something I have not had the fortune of experiencing, but would love to try someday. This chance to form face-to-face bonds with friends, now or old, is invaluable, but also poses a problem when owners need to be replaced.

Unfortunately, I can’t give any good advice about finding replacement owners for a local league, but I will say from experience, once you break out from the group, especially if you are bringing in strangers from the internet, the entire feel of the league will change and it almost certainly won’t be for the better. So, be patient and allow all remaining owners in the league to offer input on prospective new leaguemates, but make it a priority to keep things local.

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Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.