USFFA Rules (v.2022)
Please Note: Rules
that have been modified/added are highlighted in green.
(A)
FRANCHISES/EXPANSION
A1) The current
season’s number of teams will be determined prior to the coming season. Each franchise will pay a $40 fee to the league
to start their franchise. The $40 fee
will include 5 free transactions, which will not be transferable from season to
season. Any transactions beyond the 5
free transactions will be at a cost of $1 per transaction. Any owner paying over & above the $40 fee
to pay for further transactions will be allowed to carry over any unused funds
to the following season. (2019c)
A2) Each
franchisee will pick a team name by the end of draft day and must have a rep
for the team at the draft day to pick their team (the representative will not
be the league commissioner). This league
is considered a complete redraft league and no players are kept from season to
season. (2011c)
A3a) All league
revenue will go to any expenses to include trophies, tenure plaques, prizes and other miscellaneous expenses. The league will keep a balance in the off
season if owners choose to defer money from the prior season or money they won
in the prior off season. (2019c)
A3b) Trophies &
awards include the following items: League championship trophies, 2nd
chance tourney trophies, a plaque for the league champion to keep, & tenure
plaques for owners who have participated in the league beyond 10 seasons.
A3c) Each season,
the league provides 1 plaque to the league champion to keep. In the event the champion is a jointly owned
team and if the owners want a plaque to mark the occasion (in addition to the 1
provided by the league), they can purchase additional plaque(s) with their
championship winnings. (2015c)
A3d) After 10
seasons, the league gives an award to each owner for tenure. In the event that co-owners of a team get to
the 10 season mark in the same season, they will be
given 1 plaque with their names on it.
They can also optionally purchase a 2nd plaque at their cost
if they each want a plaque of their own. (2009a)
A3e) The
commissioner also must prepare a preliminary budget prior to the start of every
season to give the owners an idea of what budget items will be needed that
season. This budget will be finalized at
the end of each season & likely will be different from the prelim budget
prepared prior to the beginning of a given season. (2009c)
A3f) The
amount of $150 will be taken from the annual budget for awards such as
trophies, plaques, etc. to be used at the discretion of the administrative
staff. (2019a)
A4) Any owner
wishing to join the league must receive nomination from any coach participating
in the prior season and must pay all applicable fees associated with their
team. Failure to pay said fees will
result in removal from the league. (2008c)
A5a) All fees must
be paid prior to drafting your team. The
proposed due date is 7/15 of each year (approx 1 month before drafting). Off site owners will be expected to have their
money mailed to the league commissioner or treasurer (offsite owners are also
encouraged to pay more than the initial fee (see A1) if they have done more
than 5 transactions in a previous season).
Any fees paid over & above the initial fee will apply as per rule
A1. Any special arrangements must be
made with the commissioner prior to your draft day. (2007c)
A5b) Starting with
the 2007 season, all owners must notify either their conference commissioner or
the league commissioner by 6/15 if they want to maintain their spot in the
league for the upcoming season. This
allows the league time to fill your position if you don’t intend on returning
for the upcoming season. (2007c)
A6) Starting with
the 2006 season, owner activity in the league will be monitored by the league
commissioner & conference commissioners.
Inactivity is considered as an owner failing to change players when bye
weeks are present & owner has players available on the bench to use. Violations of this policy during a season
will result in the following outcomes: 1st 2 offenses are warnings, 3rd offense can result in forfeiture of
that owner’s spot at the end of the season.
Any decision to terminate an owner must be made by a consensus of the
administrative staff (LC & CCs). (2009c)
A7) Owners can own
more than 1 team in the league but the 2nd team they own must be
owned jointly with a 2nd party.
The 2nd team must be in a different conference other than the
conference that the 1st team is owned in. (2013a)
(B)
SCHEDULING/DIVISIONS
B1) A
schedule will be drawn up after the league field is set prior to each season
& when it is known how many regular season games will make up the NFL
season. The league schedule will start
during the first week of the NFL regular season & conclude 4 weeks prior to
the end of the NFL regular season. This
will allow for postseason play for all 3 brackets. Championship games for all brackets will take
place no later than 2 weeks prior to the end of the NFL regular season. (2011c-2
rules combd)
B2)
There will be multiple conferences in the league. Each conference could have 2 or more
divisions depending on number of teams in the league. The divisions will be set as the league
begins and positions will be filled in as vacancies come up. (2011c)
B3)
Schedules will be weighted more towards the following: (1) division (if
applicable), (2) conference & (3) non-conference. (2011c)
(C)
SCORING
C1) Touchdown points
|
Touchdown |
QB only |
RB/WR/TE |
|
Passing |
6 points (2022c) |
4 points |
|
Rushing |
6 points (2022c) |
5 points |
|
Receiving |
6 points |
6 points |
|
Off fumb rec TD |
6 points (2010a) |
6 points (2010a) |
C2) Fumble lost by
any offensive player is –1 points. A interception
thrown by any offensive player is –1 point.
C3)
Kicker scoring
|
Situation |
Pts to your score |
|
Extra point |
1 point |
|
Field goal (10-44 yards) |
3 points |
|
Field goal (45-54 yards) |
4 points |
|
Field goal (55-74 yards) |
5 points |
C4) Bonus points
|
Type yardage |
Points to your score |
|
Rushing |
1 point every 15
yards |
|
Receiving (all positions) |
1 point every 15 yards (2017c) |
|
Passing |
1 point every 40 yards |
|
# of receptions (all
positions) |
1 point every 2 receptions (2017c) |
|
# of
rushes |
1 point every 5
attempts |
C5) Two point conversions
|
Play converted via |
Points to your score |
|
Run |
2 points to the
runner |
|
Pass |
2 points to the
thrower & 2 points to the receiver |
C6) Defensive scoring-The league uses the
following scoring:
|
Event |
DL scoring |
LB/DB scoring |
|
1 unassisted tackle |
2 points per (2017c) |
1 point per |
|
Assisted tackles |
1 point per 1 AT (2019c) |
1 point per 2 AT |
|
1 sack |
3 points per (2017c) |
2 points per |
|
1 interception |
2 points per |
2 points per |
|
1 forced fumble |
2 points per (2007c) |
2 points per (2007c) |
|
1 def fumble recovery |
2 points per (2007c) |
2 points per (2007c) |
|
1 pass defensed |
1 point per |
1 point per |
|
1 safety |
2 points per |
2 points per |
|
Any defensive TD |
6 points per |
6 points per |
C7) Only starting
lineup players can score you points.
Your starting lineup is due according to software guidelines and those
set by the league as a whole. (You will need to turn in a lineup for week 1
and if you want any changes made thereafter, those are your
responsibility.) You will need to turn
in a lineup every week (the system no longer carries over rosters from week to
week if you forget). (2009c)
C8) Tiebreaker for
all games (regular or post season) will be a 3 players
selected from your non-starting players.
If the reserve scorers do not break a tie in a RS game, the game will
end in a tie. If the reserve scorers do
not break a tie in a PS game, scoring of all reserve players will be looked at
first, then compare the highest scoring reserve of each team & finally a
coin flip will be used to break the tie. (2019c)
(D)
DRAFTING YOUR TEAM
D1) Site, date and
time will be made prior to draft day if draft will be held live (there may be
off site owners participating in the draft via the Internet). No more than 10 teams will make up a
conference. If 10 or more team participate
in the league in any season, there will be a draft for each conference. Each team must have one rep to pick their
team. (2019c)
D2) Draft order will
be serpentine (odd rounds will be opposite order of even rounds). Order will be determined prior to draft day.
D3) Time limits for
a live on-site draft: 1st round (3 minutes per pick), after round 1 (2 minutes
per pick). This rule will be enforced and you could be bumped to the end of that round if
you can’t complete your pick in the time limit.
D4) There will be 22
rounds to the draft. You are welcome to
choose any combination of players in your 22 rounds so long as you have the
minimum requirements for your starting lineup. (2015c)
D5) All active NFL
roster players are draft eligible. As long as your pick is on a team, he is active.
D6) Rookies are
eligible to draft just as are the veteran players.
(E)
PLAYER ACQUISITIONS/TRADING/ROSTERS/LINEUPS
E1) Each team is
required to keep at most 22 players on their roster at all times (does not
include your 2 man IR). This may require you to pick
up a player by waivers/free agency. (2015c)
E2) The supplemental
draft (SD) period will run from Tuesday after results from the prior week are
final until
E3) A free agency period starts after SD ends and runs until
said player’s game starts for that given week.
Free agents are acquired on a first come, first serve basis (you can
acquire multiple players at 1 time).
Free agent fee is $1 per acquisition (money to league treasury). (2022c)
E4) Trading is
allowed within your conference. Each
conference will have its own list of players and no players will be allowed to
be traded across conference lines even if a player is not currently being used
in a team’s conference. All trades must
be made prior to the start of each week’s games and reported to the league
commissioner. There will be no fee for
trades from each team involved in the trade.
E5) For each week’s
lineup, you must choose the following: 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 WR, 2 offensive flex
players (can be RB, WR or TE-2017c), 1 TE, 1 K, & 4 individual defensive
players (1 DL, 1 DB, 1 LB & 1 flexible DP).
(As said in scoring rules, you must make changes to your previous week’s
lineup to change it.) Lineups are no longer
carried over so you will need to input a lineup prior to the start of every
week’s games. (2009c)
E6) Players are on
your team roster until you cut them.
This applies when players are traded between NFL teams or if they are
placed on their NFL team’s injured reserve list (lost for the season). (2019c)
E7) You are allowed
to keep up to 2 players on an injured reserve (IR) roster. A player must have an injury status of at
least questionable or worse to be placed on IR (no suspended players can be placed
on your IR). You must leave the player
on IR for a minimum of 14 days before he can be moved to your active
roster. You can acquire another player
via waiver or free agency to fill this player’s spot on your active
roster. Once said player is active on
his NFL team, you must remove the player from your IR within 1 week’s time (once he has been on your IR for at least 14
days). (2019c)
E8) Any traded
player can be used right away. He can
not be traded to any other team for at least 2 weeks time after the trade has
taken place.
E9) A trading
deadline is imposed 2 weeks prior to the end of the regular season. This prevents teams who are not playoff bound
from unloading their entire lineups.
E10) Rosters are due
as per the guidelines by myfantasyleague.com & the league. The rule states that no player can be added
to your starting lineup after his game has kicked off. If you miss a player in initially setting
your lineup & you have no available players who haven’t played their game
yet, you will receive 0 points for that spot. (2019c)
E11) No team will be
allowed to carry a balance lower than $0 during the season. The MFL program will be set up to not allow
player moves once an owner has reached the $0 mark. In order to make
further moves, the owner(s) will need to put money towards their team account.
(2019c)
(F)
PLAYOFF CRITERIA/RULES/2ND CHANCE TOURNEY
F1) 16 teams will
make the league playoffs (each division champ & enough wild cards to bring
the total number of teams to 16).
Seedings are done by record (best record #1) and wild cards are seeded
along with division champions. (2012c)
F2a) The following playoff tiebreakers are to be used to dissolve any ties after overall records. Please apply according to the correct situation.
F2b) 2 teams-tie within division (2017c-PR added)
1) Head to head (include PR & SP)
2) Division win-loss (include PR & SP)
3) Conference win-loss (include PR & SP)
4) Non conference win-loss (include PR & SP)
5)
Overall strength points-see F2h (2010a)
6) Strength of schedule (opp comb W-L)
7) Pts scored ranking in conference
8) Pts scored ranking in league
F2c) 3 or more teams-tie within division (2017c-PR added)
1) Head to head (include PR & SP)
2) Division win-loss (include PR & SP)
3) Conference win-loss (include PR & SP)
4) Non conference win-loss (include PR & SP)
5)
Overall strength points-see F2h (2010a)
6) Strength of schedule (opp comb W-L)
7) Pts scored ranking in conference
8) Pts scored ranking in league
F2d) Ties for WC teams
1) If tied clubs are from same division, apply div tiebreakers
2) If tied clubs are from diff divisions, apply the following
F2e) 2 teams-wild card tie out of
division (2017c-PR added)
1) Head to head (include PR & SP-applicable
only if more than ½ of the teams faced each other) (2010c)
2) Conference W-L (include PR & SP-applicable only if
teams are from same conference) (2010c)
3) Non conference W-L (include PR & SP)
4) Overall strength points-see F2h (2010a)
5) Strength of schedule (opponents comb W-L)
6) Points scored rank in conference
7) Points scored rank in league
8) Coin toss
F2f) 3 or more teams-wild card tie out of division (2017c-PR
added)
Note: If 2 clubs are tied after a 3rd or more teams are eliminated, revert to step 1 of applicable 2 team format.
1) Apply div tiebreakers to eliminate teams in same division first before moving to step 2
2) Head to head (include PR & SP-applicable only if more
than ½ of the teams faced each other) (2010c)
3)
Conference W-L (include PR & SP-applicable only if teams are from same
conference) (2010c)
4) Non conference W-L (include PR & SP)
5)
Overall strength points-see F2h (2010a)
6) Strength of schedule
7) Pts scored rank in conference
8) Pts scored rank in league
9) Coin toss
F2g) Strength points (SP) are
determined by how your team ranks in scoring in a given
week. In a division/conference
situation, conference SP will be used (ranked #1 to #3 in your conference in
scoring=2 pts, ranked #4 to #6 in your conference in scoring=1 pt & ranked
#7 to #10 in your conference in scoring=0 pt).
In a non-conference situation, league SP will be used (ranked #1 to #13
in the league in scoring=2 pts, ranked #14 to #26 in the league in scoring=1 pt
& ranked #27 to #40 in the league in scoring=0 pt). This will be used in addition to power rank
in determining postseason fields/seedings.
(2019c)
An example: Let’s say 2 teams from the same division tie
with identical
Team A Game 1 scoring rank is #3 (loss) 2 point
Game 2 scoring rank is #2 (win) 2 points
Team B Game 1 scoring rank is #3 (win) 2 points
Game 2 scoring rank is #6 (loss) 1 point
Meaning Team A will have 4 strength points vs Team B having 3 strength points. Team A would win the tiebreaker & the division.
F2h) Overall strength points are
determined by adding strength points for division game, non division conference
games & non-conference games. (2010a)
F3) Payout for playoffs(will be determined after fees & expenses are
paid)
F3a) Division
champion receives $60 each (2008c)
F3b) Wild card qualifiers receive
$25 each (2011c)
F3c) 1st
round playoff game winners receive $20 each (2008c)
F3d) 2CT
payouts (1st $60, 2nd $30, 3rd $15) (2019c)
F3e) Regular season
high scoring team receives a $20 bonus.
Team with highest scoring in a given week will
be given a $10 bonus (1 prize). (2019c)
F3f) The top 4
places will split the remaining money in the following way:
League champion: 50% of remaining pot
League runner-up: 25% of remaining pot
3rd place overall: 15% of remaining pot
4th place overall: 10% of remaining pot (2008c)
F4) The teams losing
in the conference finals (week 15) will play a FB consolation game week 16
(opposite FB) to determine 3rd & 4th place teams.
F5) Once the 16
playoff teams are decided, the next 16 best teams are eligible for the 2nd
chance tournament. Both the playoffs
& 2CT start W13; championship/3rd place games for both
tournaments will take place week 16. (2011c)
F6) Once the fields
for the playoffs & 2CT are decided, all remaining teams will participate in
a 3rd tier tournament. The
winner of each game will advance; champion of said tournament will receive no
prize money for being champion. In
addition to a championship game, there will be a 3rd place game with
no prize money going to the winner. (2013a)
(G) RULE INTERPRETATIONS/CHANGES
G1a) A rules
committee is formed from volunteer owners every year. This group meets before the season to discuss
changes to the prior season’s rules.
Rules are voted on by the group & those receiving at least a majority of approval are passed as proposed changes to the
previous rule. These changes are
presented to the league for final approval. (2019c)
G1b) Once a rule has passed a majority vote
by the RC, it will need to be voted on by the remainder of the league not on
the RC. A vote of at least 55% of the
present owners in favor of the change/deletion/addition for it to pass (for a 40 team league, this would require 22 teams in favor). (2018c)
G2) In the event of a
tie on a majority vote, the commissioner can break said tie by casting a
tiebreaking vote. He can choose to
abstain from the voting if he chooses to do so.
Any majority vote ending in a tie does not change (acts as if the vote
did not carry).
G3) In the event an
owner would like to see a rule modified/changed, they would need to submit it
via email to either their conference commissioner or the league
commissioner. This is not to be done via
the league’s Facebook page. (2019a)
(H) LEAGUE COMMISSIONER
H1) The league
compensates the league commissioner for fulfilling their duties. The fee must be agreed upon in advance &
can only change via a league vote prior to the start of each season.
H2) The commissioner must be elected on a year by year basis for re-election or first time election. A simple majority applies to the election. This is only done when a 2nd party wants to be league commissioner.
Note: The parenthesis after a rule notes some sort of modification (logged starting 2007 to my knowledge). Letter abbreviation means: c-change, a-add. Any further modification will be noted