Every fantasy football league needs one person to take on the role of commissioner. The duties generally include league set up, rule establishment and dispute resolution.
How well the commissioner handles his job can determine the overall league quality. Someone making excellent and agreeable decisions will establish an enjoyable year for everyone. Most leagues, which exist for consecutive years, do so because of an excellent person at the top.
There are some specific things a commissioner can do to make a league successful. The following advice can help anyone have an extraordinary season as league commissioner.
Be Fair
Maintaining a strong level of fairness is the most important thing. It is possible that a commissioner may have good friends in the league that might ask for favors. However, playing favorites will ultimately hurt league integrity.
One such situation might arise from an owner releasing a player, but immediately wanting them back. General fantasy football waiver rules do not allow this. An owner may then ask a commissioner to override the regulations and reverse the initial move.
Another issue may come up if money is involved and a deadline exists for submitting it. If that date is missed, team access is usually revoked until money is paid. A league member might want extra time to pay, even though it is not available to others.
Be Available and Respond Quickly
Although a commissioner should avoid playing favorites, he must be available to everyone. A telephone number, email address and any other communication method should be posted on the league site. There will be legitimate concerns a commissioner must tend to during a season.
Scoring disputes with the league-hosting site might be an issue team owners bring up. Possibly earned points were not credited to them for some reason. The league commissioner should quickly check into this so that scoring accuracy is maintained.
An owner might also report unfair behavior among certain teams. A commissioner should immediately look into anything like this. The quicker it is taken care of, the better it is for honest members.
Allow League Voting
All decisions regarding league issues should be left up to a vote. This assures that every member has a say in matters and does not feel left out. Results of the vote should be posted on the league site for everyone to see.
During the year such items as tiebreaker formats might get called into question. League members will possibly complain about the current method and want it changed. A vote should be taken to ensure most owners feel the same way.
In established yearly leagues, commissioners should notify owners of any proposed changes in the off-season. This keeps everyone involved for the entire year and gives owners a chance to consider ideas put forth. Taking preliminary off-season votes via email might also be a good idea for commissioners.
Maintain a Record Book
Certain teams will have outstanding performances in the course of a season. Even if they lose a match up, possibly one position or more will produce an extraordinary amount of points. Most hosting sites give record book options for commissioners to enter such things, therefore offering something a little extra for team owners.
Examples of a record might be something like highest weekly point total or most touchdowns from the running back spot. Even for owners who have a poorly performing team, they can still show up here. Perhaps small money payouts could be awarded for record book achievements, making things more interesting for everyone.
If the league existed in previous years, the records from those seasons can be posted here as well. This can be useful for new teams in the league or those returning, since it gives even more to aim for. Once again cash prizes could be given based on these results.