How to Construct a Free Fantasy Football League

Across the world more and more people are getting involved in fantasy football. There are all types of leagues from high-pay, big-money leagues, to casual work place pools. Fantasy football is a great way to keep track of players and teams during the long 17-week season and to stay in touch with friends. Creating a free league is a good first step into joining the fantasy football community.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator
• Football statistics
• Internet connection (optional)

Instructions

1. Determine the statistics that your league will use. Football, like basketball, is a sport where there are as many defensive statistics as offensive ones. You league could be as simple as recording a single statistic, such as touchdowns, or as complicated as involving both offensive, defensive and special teams stats. Generally, the more statistics you have in the league, the greater the time commitment for each manager. Keep this in mind when creating your league. Using many categories to determine the outcome of fantasy football matchups can be exciting, but potentially burdensome as well.

2. Pick between a transaction league or a locked roster league. In a transaction league managers can acquire players who are not on any other team throughout the year. This is a way to make up for injuries or poor performances. In a locked roster league after each manager selects a team, they are "locked" into those players for the duration of the season. In a league where only one or two statistics are being managed, often a permanent roster is acceptable. With more statistics involved it is often appropriate to incorporate means to alter teams during the season to make up for injuries, performance and the occasional trade.

3. Choose between Internet leagues or at home scoring. In the early days of fantasy sports, the league commissioner would compile the statistics based on box scores and calculate the league standings by hand. As fantasy football has become more popular, Internet sites designed explicitly for fantasy sports abound. While at-home scoring is sufficient for leagues that are incorporating one or even two statistics--on-line sites are highly recommended. They do the math for you and can calculate for statistics that are not available in the box score.

4. Invite people to join the league. The managers in the league - not the professional athletes - make fantasy football fun. It is important to construct a league with managers who will stay involved with the league throughout the season. It is also useful to invite a group of managers with similar knowledge about football to maintain parity. On-line leagues can opt to publish publicly so that anyone can join, which is a route to go if you do not know enough people to build a whole league.

5. Set a draft time. The draft can be one of the most fun aspects of a fantasy football league. This is the moment when each manager selects the players they are going to own for the season. Try to set a draft time that every manager can make. You could set up a time to meet in person and make your selections face to face--or remotely over the internet, phone or even regular mail. For some people the draft is the highlight of the year.