REVISED RULES as of 3/05/07
Current Rev of rules in Post #11
1.1 The league will consist of 12 franchises.
1.2 The length of the regular season will be 13 weeks.
1.3 Weekly league games will be played head-to-head against opposing franchises.
1.4 The league will be run on My Fantasy League.com.
1.5 The league will consist of three divisions.
1.5 A) After each season is complete the divisions will be realigned for "competitive balance".
The teams that finished 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th will go to 1 division. 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th will be in
the next and the third will have the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th place finishers. [rule changed 2006]
1.6 The league office will consist of 2 Co-Commissioners
1.7 The league commissioners are responsible for conducting league business, arbitrating league disputes, recording all draft information, collecting weekly line-ups, compiling the weekly Free Agent pick-up list, and providing weekly reports to franchise owners.
1.8 League off-season votes require 8 votes, or 67% to pass. [2007 Rule Change]
1.9 In-season votes, though discouraged, require 75% to pass, or 9 votes.
1.10 Owners are encouraged to suggest a change to the rules by contacting the commissioner's office.
1.11 Votes will normally be conducted by mfl poll or huddle message board poll. Non-returned ballots are not factored into the returns. Off-season votes are due within 7 days. In-season votes are due within 48 hours of the time sent.
1.12 There are certain situations where some leniency is needed or a rule does not address an issue specifically. In these situations, the commissioners will have the final say on the rule or rules in question. A rule will then be put into action to address the concerned situation to prevent this from happening again in the future.
1.13 February 1-28 is officially the rule revision month where changes are to be brought up and voted on if at least 3 people show interest in the change. All rule changes should be implemented immediately for the upcoming season. EXCEPTION: In certain cases where said rule change has a drastic effect upon team personnel or draft strategy, a 1 yr waiting period may be implemented at the discretion of the commisioners office. Example: If in 2008 a rule is changed that massively effects strategy, then the 2008-2009 season may be used as a grace period season to give everyone a chance to get accustomed to the rule change, before it goes into effect during the 2009-2010 season. [2007 Rule Change]
Franchise Ownership
2.1 The cost to own a franchise and participate in the draft is $50.00 for the 2006 season. 100% of fees (minus cost of MFL.com) will be paid out. See the payment/payout section. Failure to meet the payment deadline will result in a fine of 2 Bastage Bucks per day up to 5 days. If dues are not paid within 10 days, a new owner will be sought and the Bastage Bucks penalty will be lifted and re-instated for the new owner.
2.2 An owner may only own one franchise.
2.3 If an owner chooses to leave the league, is not heard from for two consecutive weeks during the season, two weeks during the RFA signing period, or 60 days during the off season a replacement owner will be sought.
2.4 Priority will be given to replacements that current owners know. If warranted, the new owner may be granted a Bastage Bucks balance equal to the average of the top 3 teams.
2.5 If an 'orphaned team' is in the bottom half of the league or is otherwise uncompetitive due to age, injuries, etc. a surrogate owner may be allowed to play in the league without the franchise fee for 1 year, if a paying replacement can not be sought. Or league will attempt to obtain half franchise fee if commissioners believe this franchise is an up and coming team due to draft picks, strong DTS, or young promising roster. Full payment will be requested on all new owners taking over franchises. This only applies if an owner can not be sought before the beginning of RFA. Time table on RFA will not begin until replacement owner has been found for orphaned franchise/s
2.6 Absent extreme circumstances, such as a medical emergency, no refunds of league fees will be given out. Paying league fees implies a commitment to run the team for the full season.
Bastage Bucks
3.1 Bastage Bucks (bb) are the official currency of the CBFL.
3.2 BB's are used to bid on Free Agents and may also be used in trade situations.
3.3 BB's not used during the season are carried over to the following season.
3.4 Each team will be awarded 200 BBs in the initial year of the franchise.
3.5 Each team will be awarded $100 BBs before the rookie draft each season thereafter.
3.6 Bastage Bucks are the sole manner to pick up free-agents during the season or the off-season RFA. Should you run out of BB’s during the course of the season, you will not be
allowed to pick up FA's off of the WW.
3.7 Each owners BB account status will be listed in the pinned section at the top of the Huddle Forum, as well as on the far right side in the standings section of the MFL page.
3.8 After year one, each team from the same conference as the Wars Bowl winner will be awarded an additional $5 Bastage Bucks the following spring, when BBs are awarded to all franchises.
Tanking
4.1 Tanking is a serious threat to the integrity of the league. Tanking is
the act of:
1) submitting a weaker lineup in hopes of improving draft position, or
2) neglecting your team so that it is no longer being managed.
Both tactics negatively effect the league and are forbidden under CBFL rules.
Under this rule, it is never acceptable to submit to your starting lineup
an injured person listed as "out" on the Friday injury report, or start a
player on a bye week. These players are assured to score zero points.
If you have someone on your team that could start in their place you must use them instead.
Owners have a great deal of freedom to submit lineups they feel will perform best,
and starting lesser quality players over higher quality players is allowed in the interest of
"playing the matchups." The purpose of this rule is not to make sure that you the best
16 are always started in every case, but to ensure that the CBFL remains competitive.
Any Owner suspected breaking these rules, by way of submitting a lineup in
order to puposefully score fewer points or lose a game, will be brought in front of
the Commissioners for a League vote, which if approved may result in a penalty of
1 draft position on the next 1st round pick that they own. If this violation happens more
than once in the season the owner will be removed from the league. The Commish w
ill set that teams lineup until a replacement owner is found.
[reworded for clarity - bonehand 10/19/07]
The Rookie Draft
5.1 The CBFL rookie draft will start approximately May 16th, to take advantage of the 5/15 MFL database update. As early as 5/1 if MFL has rookies added at that time, but will be Commish's discretion and they will post at least 2 weeks prior to rookie draft to inform league.
5.2 The rookie draft will be a straight (non-serpentine) draft in each round, & will proceed in reverse order from worst to first based on the previous season's finish (total points as tie-breaker). EXCEPTIONS: The CBFL Champion will always draft last, (regardless of record) and the CBFL runner-up will draft second to last (regardless of record). The 6 playoff teams will automatically receive the last 6 draft spots. Teams eliminated the same week will be seeded in reverse order of record (total points as the tie-breaker).
[draft style changed from serpentine-2007 rule change]
5.3 The draft will last 5 rounds.
5.4 Only rookies will be eligible to be drafted. As defined by the NFL CBA, a Rookie is defined as a person who has never signed a Player Contract with an NFL Club previous to this year. An undrafted Rookie means a Rookie who was eligible for, but not selected in a College Draft. If a player signs a contract, gets cut before playing any games, then resigns with another team, he is now a free agent and loses his rookie status.
5.5 Trading of draft selections is permitted prior to or during the draft. Teams may trade picks from the current draft and the next immediate future draft only. Once a trade is made between two franchises, both parties must notify the commissioner to validate the trade.
5.6 The draft will be conducted on MFL.com.
5.7 Each team will have 12 hours to make their draft selection. Drafting can continue on the weekend, but isn’t required. Pre-drafting is available on MFL and encouraged.
5.8 If an owner fails to submit a draft pick within his/her allocated time, that owner loses the pick to the end of that round. If an owner again fails to pick within the allocated time, owner loses the pick all together for that round.
5.9 If an owner fails to submit a draft pick for a second time after losing a pick all together, that owner will be replaced.
5.10 If an owner withdraws from the league during the draft, the draft will stop till a new owner is found and begin when the new owner is selected without penalizing the new team.
Rosters
6.1 Each franchise will maintain an in-season active roster with a maximum of 35 players. (not including the DTS)
6.2 It is the owners’ decision on how many players to carry at each position.
6.3 If any team carries less than 35 players, one contract year must be left unallocated for each open roster slot when contracts are assigned. After week 8 this rule is waived.
6.4 During the off-season (day after the Bastage Bowl until August cutdowns) there will be no roster size limitation.
6.5 Final Roster cutdown will be 7 days prior to the first NFL game, at 6:00 PM EST to consist of at max 35 active players, 10 DTS players, and any IR players. On final cut down day, each owner must post a message in this forum listing their:
a) Active players, b ) Developmental Taxi Squad players, and c) IR players, if any.
If a team does not meet these deadlines, said team will be docked one (1) db each day until they have done so.
Developmental Taxi Squad (DTS)
7.1 Each franchise will be allocated a Developmental Taxi Squad.
7.2 DTS may contain up to 10 players. Players may be on your DTS for up to 3 full seasons. To be placed on the DTS, the players must a) be in their rookie year, b ) have never been assigned a CBFL contract.
7.3 Contracts are not allocated to DTS players.
7.4 The deadline for announcing DTS players will be the same as the final cutdown date, or 7 days prior to the first NFL game at 6:00 PM EST.
7.5 Players on the DTS are not eligible to start a game until they are moved onto the active roster.
7.6 Players may be moved from the DTS to the active roster after week 1 providing there is an open roster slot and a contract available. The commissioner via the messageboard, must be notified if an DTS player is to be put onto an active roster.
7.7 Players that are moved from the DTS to an active roster must immediately be given a contract and are now available to be in the weekly line-up.
7.8 Once a player is on an active roster (beginning 1 week prior to NFL season), he may not be placed on any DTS again.
7.9 DTS players cannot participate in RFA.
7.10 DTS players must be declared by the in-season roster deadline, of one week prior to the first NFL game at 6:00 PM EST. Active roster players may not be moved to the DTS after this time.
7.11 FAs may be placed directly onto the DTS providing they meet all the requirements.
7.12 Traded players may be put onto the DTS only if they were on the other teams DTS before the trade.
7.13 DTS players that are accidentally submitted into a starting line-up will be removed and that team will get 0 points from that position.
7.14 Once a players 3rd season expires on your DTS, or the end of his 3rd season, you have until April 1, to assign him a contract or allow him to become a FA. he will never be a RFA, as he never had a contract on your team.
7.15 Only a rookie in his rookie yr can be placed on your DTS, not a 2nd or 3rd yr player who was never on any other roster previously.
Weekly Line-Ups
8.1 Each franchise will field a starting lineup of 15 players each week, with a total of 8 offensive players, and 7 defensive players. (As follows):
1 QB
2 RB
2 WR
1 TE
1 Flex Player (WR/TE)
1 K
2-3 DE/DL
2-3 LB
2-3 CB/S
8.2 The deadline for naming starters is set by MFL rules, but generally a player is locked approximately 5 minutes before kick-off.
8.3 On Thursday night games, only those players in that night’s game must be submitted. The rest of the lineup will not be due until approximately 5 minutes prior to that weekend’s first game.
8.4 If no starters are named, the previous week's starters will be used (regardless if the players are active that week or not).
8.5 If an owner does not submit a starting lineup in the playoffs, the commish will not play your lineup and you will forfeit your game.
8.6 Players can only be inserted into a starting line-up at a position for which they are listed on their NFL teams depth chart. The official source for player positions will be NFL.com.
Player Contracts
9.1 Each franchise has a hard cap of 90 contract years, which cannot be exceeded.
9.2 A player contract is the number of years that the player can remain on your roster without becoming a Restricted Free Agent. The minimum number of contract years for an individual player is 1 year. Maximum is 5 years.
9.3 The deadline for announcing the length of new player contracts will be 7 days prior to the first NFL game at 6:00 PM EST. If a team does not meet this deadline, said team will be docked one (1) contract year each day not meeting the deadline. Additionally, any team that makes a transaction during the season that places them over the cap will be docked 1 Bastage Bucks per contract year over the cap. If any such player is inserted into a starting lineup, his points will be subtracted from the final score.
9.4 Contract years conclude on January 15.
9.5 All players who had only one year remaining on their contracts on January 15 become Restricted Free Agents (RFA).
9.6 All players who have multiple contract years remaining on January 15 will be reduced by one contract year.
9.7 On January 15, all teams recover any years encumbered by players waived during the year (see section on waivers).
9.8 Players who are dropped after the Bastage Bowl but prior to the Jan 15th deadline are assessed no dead year or cap hit. [2007 Rule clarification - Bonehand]
9.9 Free agents acquired during the season must immediately be signed to a contract.
9.10 If any team carries less than 35 players, one contract year must be left unallocated for each open roster slot when contracts are assigned. After week 8 this rule is waived.
9.11 On final cutdown day, 7 days day prior to the first NFL game, each owner must post a message on the message board listing: the number of contract years attached to each player on the active roster, on his IR, and the team's total contract years entering the season (in addition to rule 6.6 requirements). If a team does not meet this deadline, see applicable 9.3 penalties.
Trading
10.1 Trades between teams are unlimited. However, if any trades appear to be one-sided or otherwise unfair, the league owners may be asked to vote whether or not to approve the transaction.
10.2 Either of the 2 commissioners are the only one who may call for such a vote. However, any owner is free to bring any question regarding a trade to the attention of the commissioners. If the commissioner receives 3 requests by e-mail within 48 hours of the trade to put a trade up for vote, we will submit the trade to the 10 non-involved owners for a league-wide vote, absent unusual circumstances. Vote must be 1 plus 50% who vote. Thus if everyone votes, leaving 10 non involved owners, 6 votes are required to Veto if a vote is called. Obviously if only 8 people vote, then only 5 votes are needed to veto. So to be heard, every vote counts and is encouraged to be cast regardless of your opinion of the trade, if a veto is called on by the league....
10.3 The commissioners may veto any trade without calling for a vote if its not in the best interest of both teams or is detrimental to the league as a whole. Both Commissioners must agree the trade is not appropriate for rule 10.3 to be enforced
10.4 When a trade is made, BOTH owners must notify the commissioner, & confirm the trade via the messageboard to make it official.
10.5 The season trading deadline is 1/2 hour before the start of the week 12 NFL games.
10.6 Trades may be put on hold for 48 hours from the time of posting on the messageboard, to allow for owner/commissioner inspection, except during RFA and the draft. But those trades can also be called to vote if look lopsided.
10.7 Every player traded carries his contract with him, including the current year.
10.8 Traded players contracts will be counted against the total years available to his NEW team and removed from his prior team.
10.9 Any exchange of players between teams cannot leave either team with more than 90 total contract years for all players or exceed the maximum 35 man roster.
10.10 If any trade violates rule 10.9, the commissioner will delay the trade until such time as the affected teams can make room under the contract/roster cap.
10.11 When a conditional trade is made involving Bastage Bucks, teams must reimburse the party concerned before the start of RFA. If a team fails to have the available Bastage Bucks to cover said conditions they will be required to:
1.) Sell off players until the debt is eliminated.
2.) Offer a player(s) as compensation.
10.12 No trades may be made that include real cash, future considerations, or a player to be named later. When draft picks are involved in a trade, only draft picks for the current draft year and/or following draft year may be traded. No trades may be made that involve future cap money
10.13 Trades that involve more than one draft pick from a future year must be accompanied by team league fees for that same year. Any owner can trade up to one future draft pick. If he/she trades a second future pick (in the same trade, or 2 separate trades) he/she must pay the fees for the future year involved if this puts said owner under 3 picks for future draft. An owner must carry 3 draft picks into the next rookie draft, and 1 must be a top 3 round pick, or next yrs dues are required. [2007 rule clarification].
10.13 The CBFL trading period resumes on February 1 of the following season.
10.14 You must keep up to 3 future picks in the first upcoming rookie draft including 1 of the top 3 rounds, or you must pay dues for the next yr before any trade will be approved. Drafts picks kept do not have to be your own to fit this criteria, as long as you have a pick in rounds 1-3, and 3 total. [2007 rule clarification].
10.15 Picks the 2nd upcoming draft may be traded, but dues must be paid for 2 yrs in advance for any pick that is moved before the start of the 1st upcoming rookie draft that violates rules 10.14. Once the first upcoming rookie draft begins, the 2nd upcoming rookie draft becomes the first upcoming rookie draft, and so on.
10.16 Picks 2 drafts in advance may not be traded. Trades may only involve upcoming draft picks. Once upcoming draft begins, the next draft becomes first upcoming draft and so on...
Free Agency (FA)
11.1 Any player not on a DW roster or a DTS is considered a Free Agent.
11.2 FA begins tenatively the first Thursday after the rookie draft, unless sufficient time is not available. In addition, requests will be processed in the off-season on 2/1 and 3/15.
FA dates:
Feb 1
March 15
First Thursday after the rookie draft
First and 3rd Thursdays in June/July
Bi-weekly, every other week, beginning on 1st Thursday in August
Weekly once season begins
FA ends for the year the week of the Bastage Bowl, which coincides with the NFL's week 16 games.
11.3 FA ends FA ends for the year prior to last week of the CBFL season & the Bastage Bowl, which coincides with the NFL's week 16 games, and resumes Feb. 1 the following year. [Rule Change 2007]
11.4 Bastage Bucks are used to bid on free agents. 11.5 The minimum FA bid is $1.
11.6 Teams may only bid up to the amount of Bastage Bucks they have available.
11.7 Bids must be in whole number increments.
11.8 FA is a weekly process that occurs on Thursday evenings at 10pm EST/7pm PST. No pick-ups are allowed after this time until the following Thursday. All Commissioner/Co-commish bids are due by Wednesday night at midnight EST. The Commissioner/Co-Commish can resubmit his bid by the 7pm EST Thursday deadline if a player he bid on in the early bid had his injury status or starting status change after the Wednesday night deadline, or if otherwise substantial news breaks late justifying a later bid. All deadlines are accelerated 24 hours on weeks with Thursday night games.
11.9 The FA weekly process will be conducted in a *blind auction* manner. (no team will know how much another team is bidding) All bids will remain *sealed* until Thursday at 10pm EST (Wednesday when Thursday night games are played)
11.10 To place a bid, please do the following:
Go to the CBFL/MFL home page.
Select the "For Owners" drop down menu.
Select "Waivers".
Enter the player wish to bid on, and the amount in Bastage Bucks that you wish to bid.
Click "add to list".
Enter multiple players on the same waiver if you wish to place a conditional bid.
Then click "save bids".
You must submit a separate waiver for each player you wish to bid on. (excluding conditional bids, those can be combined)
After the deadline passes, one of the commishes will process the waivers & the player/s will be awarded to the Highest bidding team. Awarded players will also be announced here in the forum.
11.11 If more than one team requests the same player, the team submitting the highest bid will acquire that player. In the event that two or more teams submit the same high bid for a player, the commissioner will award the free agent to the team with the worst record followed by the team that has scored the fewest points.
11.12 During the off-season: In the event that two or more teams submit the same high bid for a player, the free agent will be awarded to the team with the worst record the previous year, followed by total points. In the inaugural pre-season, in case of a tie , the player will be awared to the team with the lower initial draft position.
11.13 FA pick-ups must immediately be signed to a contract during the season. An owner cannot formally add the free agent through waivers until he/she assigns a contract to the player that complies with the contract cap. During the offseason, owners may hold off on signing newly acquired FA players until the normal final cut date.
11.14
Any owner who wins a free agent through the waiver process must assign a contract to their new player by 12:00 pm est the night before the first game of the week, so that it can be updated in MFL prior to kickoff of the first game of the week. This can be done by posting in the waiver awards thread, or it can be entered in the message portion of the waiver request. If a contract is not assigned by the owner before this deadline, the newly acquired player will be automatically assigned 1 year.
(Section updated 2/3/07 with info from waiver post-bonehand)
Waivers
12.1 When a player is put on waivers, only his current contract year is counted against a franchise's contract ceiling.
12.2 A team can only get relief for a contract after he is assigned a new contract by any team.
12.3 All future contract years for players that are waived are credited to the team.
12.4 If a franchise waives a player and wishes to reclaim that player, the player in question must clear waivers (be dropped at least 48 hours before that week's waiver deadline and not picked up by any of the other 15 owners).
12.5 If the owner is successful in reclaiming their player, then the owner has the right to issue a new contract as long as it does not violate the teams contract cap.
12.6 Players who are waived and not signed by any other team during the year will each count as one (1) dead year against the waiving team's contract ceiling until January 15. This 'cap hit' includes players waived during the off-season - even if the player retires or is physically unable to perform.
12.7 Players who are dropped after the Bastage Bowl but prior to the Jan 15th deadline are assessed no dead year or cap hit. [2007 Rule clarification - Bonehand]
Restricted Free Agents (RFA)
13.1 Once a player’s contract expires, he becomes a Restricted Free Agent.
13.2 RFA bidding begins April 1 [see rule 2.6]and closes on April 30. No new bids will not be accepted after April 30; "bids in process" may continue beyond April 30 until a final offer is reached for a player.
13.3 All RFA bids are made on the message board and each bid must include the player’s name and the amount bid.
13.4 Owners may not raise their own high bids and may not bid on their own players (see 13.8).
13.5 Once a bid is posted on a player, other interested owners have 24 hours to increase the bid.
13.6 Any owner may join the bidding process within the 24-hour period of the last bid.
13.7 A players' bids will be closed after 24 hours has passed with no new bids.
13.8(a) Once a player's bids are closed, the current owner will then have 24 hours to match the high bid, trade said player, or allow the player to be signed by the highest bidding team.
13.8( b)If a bid has been in over 24 hrs but we haven’t had time to close it, new bids will not count. And the current owner has 24 hrs from when we close the bid with a post, saying closed.
13.9 Owners may drop out of the bidding process for any individual player at any time unless they have the high bid. They may re-enter the process as long as bidding remains active for the player in question.
13.10 Owners who place bids must have enough bb's available to cover all outstanding high bids.
13.11 If an owner overbids their budget at any time, that owner will be assessed a fine of 20% of his bb balance and all players that said team has the high bid will be removed from the board. These same players will remain RFAs and may be placed back on the board with valid bids.
13.12 After the RFA signing period, any players that did not receive bids will remain on the current team's roster at no cost.
13.13 Restricted Free-agents may be traded for picks, other players, or bb’s at any time, until the RFA is no longer part of your team.
Franchise Tags [Restricted free agency cont']
13.14 - Each yr an owner may designate 1 player to be his franchise player whose contract expires, before April 1 RFA.
13.15 - Cost to designate a franchise player is 10 BBs each yr (see 13.16)
13.16 - franchise player may be bid on by the league, but said owner only has to pay half the amount of the high bid or 10 BBs (see 13.15) whichever is greater. Owner does not pay both cost (13.15) and high bid, just the greater of the 2.
13.17 - If current owner does not have the cash, or chooses not to match high bid of franchise player, said owner receives amount of high bid, plus high bids 1st round pick in the upcoming rookie draft. If high bid owner does not have a 1st round pick in upcoming rookie draft, said owner pays his highest pick in that draft plus 1st round pick in the next draft. [rule 10.14 applies here] If said owner does not have a 1st round pick in 2nd upcoming draft, he pays his highest pick in that draft as well and his 1st round pick in the 3rd upcoming draft. [rule 10.15 applies here] High bid owner could be out up to 3 draft picks if he chooses to trade his 1st round picks, and bid on opposing owners franchise players.
13.18 - 1.) - If you only have your original 1st...... then obviously you forfeit that pick.
2.) - If you have multiple 1st. Rd. picks and one of them is your original...... then you forfeit your original 1st. .... regardless of what the other pick is.
3.) - If you own multiple picks and none of them are your original then you forfeit the pick that is closest to your original pick in the order.... regardless of direction.
EXAMPLES -
if you originally owned the 1.6.... and now you own the 1.5 & 1.8...... you'd forfeit the 1.5.
if you owned the 1.3.... and now own the 1.1 & 1.6..... then yes, you'd forfeit the 1.1.
if you owned the 1.12..... and now own the 1.1 & 1.14.... then you'd forfeit the 1.14.
a dice roll will determine the pick.... if you own 2 picks exactly in the middle of your original pick. For example if your original pick was 1.9, and you now have picks 1.7 and 1.11, you roll the dice. 3 100 sided dice = maximum roll of 300. If you roll 151 or higher you give up the highest pick of the 2, which is 1.11, if you roll 150 or lower you give up the lowest pick of the 2, which is 1.7.
Injured Reserve (IR)
14.1 Each team has a maximum of 5 Injured Reserve slots. [increased from 3, 2007 rule change]
14.2 When placed on IR, the player's contract will still count against the team's number of contract years, but the player will not count against the team's active roster.
14.3 IR is available starting with the August roster cutdown.
14.4 All future contract years for players on IR will continue to count against a franchise's contract ceiling.
14.5 Once a player is placed on Injured Reserve, the player must stay on IR for a 4 week period after which he may be replaced back on the active roster or released under normal drpped player/dead year rules.
14.6 Once a player is placed on IR, the club can pick up another player but they must go through the Free Agent channel as with any other pick up. (This essentially allows the signing of another player with the active slot)
14.7 A player that is on IR may be traded. But that player will not be activated from the IR until he has served the full 4 week period from his original placement on the IR.
14.8 At the conclusion of the Bastage Bowl, all players on IR will one again become part of the active rosters.
14.9 During the season, a player qualifies for the IR by being placed on a NFL PUP list or on the IR officially by an NFL team.
14.10 During the pre-season, a player qualifies for IR by being listed as "out for the year", in addition to any rule 14.9 eligibility.
Play-Offs
15.1 The CBFL' play-offs begin on week fourteen (14) of the NFL season.
15.2 The play-offs conclude on week sixteen (16) with the Bastage Bowl and Runner-UP Bowl (to be named).
15.3 Six teams advance to the post-season.
15.4 Week 14 will consist of the Wildcard Games: seed’s 1 & 2 receive a bye.
15.5 Week 15 is the Semi-Finals: seed 1 vs lowest seed remaining in each conference.
15.6 Week 16 is the Bastage Bowl: week 15 winners.
15.7 Week 16 is also the "Grey Cup": week 15 losers. The game is solely for the purpose of determining 3rd place money (will not count in the record books, for draft seeding, etc.).
15.8 The 6 playoff teams will qualify for the CBFL playoffs as follows (per 3/05/06 poll):
a) The 3 Division winners qualify automatically
b ) The top 2 remaining records, as decided by the below tiebreaking method, will qualify as the first 2 wildcard teams.
c) The top remaining regular season points scorer will qualify as the 3rd & final wild card team.
15.8 The Cheating Bastage tie-breaking system for play-off qualification and seeding is as follows. Teams will first be sorted within their division by the criteria below.
1. Overall winning %
2. Head to head winning %
3. Division winning % (If in same division)
4. Total points scored
5. Virtual coin flip
The top two seeds will always division winners.
15.9 Once the top 2 division winners are established using the above criteria, teams vying for the wild-card spot will then be re-seeded from scratch using the above criteria (criteria 3 only used if all tied teams from the same division). Hence it is a 2-step process, each step being independent of the other.
15.10 All playoff teams with the home field advantage will receive a .5 credit in the event of a tie.
15.11 Sample tie-breaker for a wild-card spot or a division title:
4 teams (A, B, C, D) are tied at 8-5. A & B are 5-3 in group head-to-head, C & D are 3-5. C & D are eliminated. The A & B tie is then broken restarting from step 1 of the tie-breakers. In this hypothetical, A & B split their 2 games at 1-1. B had more overall points. Hence B gets the #1 seed, while A is #2.
Payouts/Payments
16.1 Annual CBFL dues cost is $50 per owner. (Changed from $20 per poll results 1/24/06) The payment deadline will be March 31.
16.2 All fees will be collected using snail mail or paypal.
16.3(a) Any payment not received by March 31, said owner will not be allowed to participate in RFA, and will be docked 1 Bastage Bucks per day for up to 1 week, 7 days until payment arrives. Ex: its 3 days late, docked 3 Bastage Bucks.
16.4 On April 8, 1 week and 1 day later, new ownership will be sought and
the Bastage Bucks will go back to the team for the new owner.
16.5 Payout will be 100% of franchise fees minus the cost of running the
MFL.com software- currently 5$ an owner.
16.5 All payouts through personal check or paypal will occur within seven
days of the week 16 Super Bowl. Fees for using Paypal are the owners
responsibilty.
16.6 Payout Breakdown:
Given $600 (12 teams x $50)
minus $70 for MFL ($69.95, an increase of $10 over 2005)
minus $50 (about $4 per team) for "trophy fund". (decreased by $10 due to 2006 MFL increase.)
Awards will be as follows, rounded nearest $5: (per 3/05/05 poll)
1st- 50% = $240
2nd- 25% = $120
3rd- 15% = $70
Top remaining regular season pts - 10% = $50
Additionally, the Bastage Bowl winner may choose whether he takes the trophy, or the additional $50 as cash, for a total award of $290 for the Champ.
Scoring
Passing:
TD=6pts (Changed per poll results, 1/26/06)
1 point for every 25 yards passing,
1 point for every 10 completions
-2 points for every interception.
Rushing/Receiving:
TD=6pts
1 point for 10 yards rushing/receiving
1 point per 10 attempts rushing (Changed per poll results, 1/26/06)
1 point for every reception (WR), 2 points for every receptions (TE), and 1.5 points for every reception (RB) Changed per poll results, 1/26/06
-2 points for every fumble lost.
2 points for every 2 point conversion (Passing, Rushing, Receiving)
6 points for all Kickoff or Punt Returns by an individual player.
1 point for every 25 yards of punt and kick return yardage by an individual player. [rule change 2007]
Kicking:
Field Goal 0-39 yards is 3 pts
Field Goal 40-49 yards is 4 pts
Field Goal 50+ yards is 5 pts
Missed Field Goals 0-30 yards is -1 pt
Missed Extra Point is -1 pt
Extra Point Made: 1 pt
Individual Defensive Players:
6 points for all TD's (Interceptions, Fumble Recoveries, Special Teams)
2 points for a forced fumbles
2 points for a fumble recovery
3 points for an interception
1 point for a pass defensed
2 points for solo tackles
1 point for assisted tackles
3 points for 1 full sack (1.5 points for a shared sack)
5 points for a safety
1 point for every 25 yards of interception or fumble return yardage by individual player. [rule change 2007]
18.1 Scoring will be decimal based.
Key CBFL dates
BLIND BID FREE AGENCY DEADLINES:
Feb 1
March 16
First Thursday after the rookie draft
First and 3rd Thursdays in June/July
Bi-weekly, every other week, beginning on 1st Thursday in August
Weekly once season begins (Waivers will run on Wed in weeks with Thursday games)
Free Agency closes for the season during the week prior to the Bastage Bowl, or week 16 of NFL season. Both resume on Feb 1 of the next year.
Trading ends for the season one 1/2 hour before kickoff of the week 12 games, & resumes Feb.1 of the following season.
February is Rule Revision month - see 1.17
League Fees are Due March 31
Franchise tags are due the Thursday before RFA begins at midnight
April 1-30 is RFA
New annual Bastage Bucks will be assigned the day we begin the Rookie Draft
Rookie Draft is on or about May 15th each year.
Final Roster cutdowns – 7 days prior to the first NFL game at 12:00 AM EST.
Developmental Taxi Squad players, and c) IR players, if any.
