How to Create a Fantasy Football Keeper League

Fantasy football is enjoyed by millions of people every NFL season. One way to enjoy fantasy football is to participate in a keeper league. These leagues are similar to fantasy football except at the end of the NFL season this fantasy league doesn’t end. The league continues on into the next season and usually goes on for several seasons. If nobody that you know is doing a fantasy football keeper league you can just create on yourself. Here is how to do just that.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Decide how many teams you want in your league. Having a league with a lesser amount of teams means that every team will be full of very good players. A league with more teams will have more trades and free agent pickups as well as the potential for lopsided match-ups.

2. Invite only close friends into your league. Remember that a keeper league goes on for several years so you only want to invite those people who are passionate about fantasy football. You’ll also want to only invite those individuals that you know you’ll be comfortable with for several years down the road. If you have any worries about how somebody will be as an owner in a fantasy football keeper league don’t invite them. An owner deciding that he no longer wants to participate in a keeper league midway through could ruin the entire league for everybody.

3. Get everybody’s contact information. This will come in handy when it’s time for the draft. It’s also useful for submitting news about the league to owners such as trades or free agency notifications.

4. Create the rules and regulations of the league with the other owners involved. A normal fantasy football league only lasts one season so not every owner needs to be in agreement with every single rule in the league. A keeper league, however, goes on for several years so it’s in the best interest of everybody involved to keep every owner happy. Making sure that the owners are at least content with the rules and regulations of your keeper league is a great way to ensure that there will be fewer complications in your keeper league.

5. Create a copy of the rules and regulations and send it out to every owner. This will limit confusion and make sure every owner in your keeper league is on the same page.

6. Create the league without using a website. Many people use websites such as Yahoo or CBS Sportsline to play fantasy football. This is fine for a regular league but a keeper league is far more complex. Create your own schedules, roster lists, rules and other notes about the league by using any word processing program. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of stats. It’s really very simple.

7. Have a live draft in person. Being involved in a fantasy football keeper league means that you will be dealing with these individuals for several NFL seasons. Having the live draft in person is a great way for all of the owners to meet one another if they haven’t already done so.