Some might say the worst fantasy football rule is “minus 500 points if a kicker misses an extra point.” Still, some might say that’s the best rule. I recently saw a horrible rule in a Deadspin article that has me thinking about whether a fantasy football rule can change, midseason. Now, most good commissioners would say, “hey, you can never change a fantasy football rule in the middle of the season. No matter how bad it is, people did their drafting based on that rule so you have to stick with it.” But check out this, perhaps the worst fantasy football rule of all time, and see if it changes your mind:
Basically 5 dollars from our entrance fee went to the trade pool. Every time two people made a trade their names would be entered into the drawing to win the trade pool cash.
Hmmm… a rule that rewards people for making trades, what could go wrong there?
It basically completely back fired and people were trading back up kickers, players on IR or defenses on byes just to have a better chance at winning the $60 bucks
Yup. The issue came to a head when two owners made a lopsided trade, the owner on the bad end of the deal had a basement-dwelling team and just wanted in on the trade raffle.
If you were commissioner, what would you do? Reverse the trade? Repeal the rule? Let the cards Laissez Faire where they may? Have you heard of another rule that might beat this one for “worst fantasy football rule ever?” Check the comments section for our analysts’ takes on the issue, and chime in with your own solutions.
The first mistake was having a reward based on anything besides fantasy football team performance. Once you create two separate motivations it blurs the line on what is collusion and what is not. I would repeal the trade raffle rule, refund everyone $5, then ask the two owners if they still want to make the trade.