Rules

*A Classic Guide to Getting Ahead and Winning Trophies While Following The Rules*

## **Chapter I: League Structure and Outline of Rules**

1.     The purpose of this league

a. We aspire to be a league filled with people that genuinely
enjoy each other as a group of friends or are friendly people;

b.     We enjoy creating an environment that mimics that of an
MLS organization. That is, we intend this fantasy league to mimic closely the
byzantine rule-system of MLS, for better or for worse.

2.    Owners

a.     All individuals participating with running the league and
operating teams are refereed to in this document as either “teams”, “team
owners” or simply “owners”.

b.     The specific responsibilities of owners are detailed
specifically in Chapter II.

3.     Commissioner

a.     The uses a League Commissioner as the acting figure head
of the league.

b.     The Commissioner will rule on any disputes and make
clarifying rulings on current rule sets. Decisions made by the Commissioner can be appealed, but can only be
overturned by the majority vote of team owners. The intention isn’t for the
Commissioner to be a dictator but to make quick decisions as necessary for the betterment of the league both immediate and future.

=c.
The current League Commissioner is Harrison Crow.

=4.
Annual Vote

=a.
Between the end of every season (MLS Cup) and the start of
the next season, signaled specifically by the keeper deadline, there will be a
vote to confirm or change these rules as we think necessary and to best reflect
changes to the MLS system and structure.

=b.
The vote will include a break down of the following
chapters: Team Ownership, Point System, Roster and Lineup Rules, Player
Acquisition, Budgetary and Financial Information and lastly, the Regular Season
Calendar.

=c.
A majority vote is needed to ratify all rules. Should the
rules not pass a majority vote, a breakdown of each individual chapter should
be voted upon with discussion highlighting all points of contention.

=d.
Should something come up that isn’t detailed in the rules
during the regular season, a nomination will be made by the commissioner based
upon input by all teams and a vote will occur to provide guidance. A majority
vote is needed to ratify the guidance and once that has been passed it should
be added to this document as a new rule.

## **Chapter II: Team Ownership**

=
**1.**
Team
involvement

a.
Owners should be checking in weekly with the league
through the Slack team communication web application, setting their weekly
line-ups for weekend match-ups through the google drive, and be willing to
respond to trades and partake in any votes needed for rule clarification in a
timely manner.

b.
Obviously there are always life encumbrances and plenty of
issues that complicate our participation. Patience and leeway should always be
granted to an individual that wants to be involved but goes through a period of
time in which they are unable to be as active as they would like.

c.
In any case of delay or “life encumbrance” please
communicate that to the commissioner either through e-mail or direct message on
slack. Additionally, a minimum of setting an injury free line-up for a weekend
game is still the least acceptable level of participation. If that cannot occur
then alternative plan will be developed.

d.
At any time a team may elect an “assistant” or “caretaker
manager” in the interim basis without a league vote. But should consult the
commissioner before hand and an announcement to the rest of the league must
occur.

e.
 The
league/commissioner shall intervene should a repeated issue of negligence with
week head-to-head line-up selections occur. The league and commissioner will
work to either find a way to assist the owner or select a caretaker manager for
whatever term is deemed necessary.

**2.**
Team
Ownership replacement

a.
Should a situation arise where we need to permanently
replace an owner, a vote should take place for a new owner.  A majority would be needed to elect an
individual into our league as a new team owner.
Once the owner is elected into the league he or she will inherit the
team as-is.

b.
Should a situation arise where an immediate decision need
to be made the league commission may step in and elect an owner. If the
selection does not meet the approval of the league, an opposition vote may
occur with a majority vote needed to overturn.

**3.**
Expansion or
Contraction

a.
This league was originally set up with 10 teams in
2016.  The existing owners voted to
expand the league to 12 teams for the 2017 season.  It will remain at 12 teams until the league
decides to contract or expand by a majority vote.

**4.**
Selection of
Expansion Team Owners

a.
If the league decides to expand the number of teams in the
league for the next season, a form will be created and every returning team
will have five unique nominations or individuals they feel should be extended
an offer to participate in the league.

b.
Once every returning team has submitted their form with
nominations then the list will be racked and stacked based upon the most
frequently nominated individual.

c.
Offers will be extended to those with the highest multiple
nominations.

d.
Tie-breakers will be discussed and/or voted upon to
discern who next to extend offers to.

e.
Should the league run out of suggested or interested
parties, the league commissioner will take it upon himself whether to pursue
expansion or find suitable parties that can round out the expansion bid. Should
the league request an opposition vote for whomever is elected a majority vote
is required to overturn the Commissioner’s decision.

## **Chapter III: The Points System**

**1.**
Head-to-Head
Games

a.
 Games will be
played head-to-head and will be decided by an accumulation of point total. The
team that gets the most points will record a win; if the two teams get equal
points they will be awarded a draw. Points will be rounded to the nearest tenth
of a point.

b.
Scoring will be conducted as games are played to
completition for the player's involved. Should the heat-to-head match-up end
within a ten point difference between the two teams the match-up should be
rescored

**2.**
Scoring
Source

a.
This league will utilize Opta as the determinate in
recording each of these events—more specifically we will use WhoScored
chalkboards to account for the event actions that constitute points.

**3.**
Off-Season
Scoring Adjustment

a.
Every season an effort should be made to properly assign the
most accurate and representative point ratios to properly weigh and balance
positions and talents as a whole. We will try closely represent the talent
level of those taking the pitch every week in MLS. It’s important that we come
to an agreement on how the point’s system best reflects this.

**4.**
Point System
Theory

a.
Goals, by most measurements, are the most vital and
important events that can take place in a match and thus the point structure
should be based around a goal-determinate ratio system. That said all positions should be relevant and effectual in the final outcome of a match.

**5.**
Point
structure

a.
**General**
Points

i.     Each half
played:  +1 point

ii.     Attempted
pass:  +0.05 points

iii.     Yellow
card:  -1 point

iv.     Red
Card:  -2 points

b.
**Goalkeeper**
Points

  i.     Clean
sheet:  +8 points

ii.     Save:  +0.65 points

iii.     Claims:  +0.4 points

iv.     Punches:  +0.2 points

v.     Two or more
goals allowed in a match:  -2 points

c.
**Defensive**
points

i.     Interception:  +0.4 points

ii.     Tackle:  +0.4 points

iii.     Blocked
shots:  +0.4 points

iv.     Clearances:  +0.6 points

d.
**Attacking**
Points

i.     Non-penalty
goal:  +6 points

ii.     Penalty
goal:  +3 points

iii.     Assist:  +4 points

iv.     Key
Pass:  +0.75 points

v.     Through ball
key pass: +1.75 points

vi.     Shot from
inside the 18 yard box:  +0.7 points

vii.     Shot from
outside the 18 yard box:  +0.4 points

## **Chapter IV: Roster and Line-up Rules**

**1.**
Defined
Roster Spots

a.
***Senior Roster***:  Each team starts
with a 25-man roster. There is no enforcement of defined positional depth.
However, it would be advisable to have at your disposal one goalkeeper, three
central defenders (CD), two outside defenders (OD), three central midfielders
(CM), two outside midfielders (OM), and three forwards (FW) to meet eligible
formation restrictions.

b.
***Discovery Reserve Spot (DRS)***:  Each team retain preference for one player
that is not under contract with MLS. This bid may only occur during the
Super Auction. This reservation will be referred to as the Discovery
Reserve Spot (DRS) with the intention of having first claim to the player
should he enter MLS. The DRS is good for only a single year unless a keeper
spot is utilized. This reserve spot is not considered part of the normal
25 man senior roster and their salary cost does not count against the
team’s salary cap.

i.     Should the
player enter MLS during the week and prior to the start of games a transaction
and roster announcement will need to be made moving that player from their DRS
to the Senior Roster.

ii.     Should an
owner not have an immediate roster spot, the team can either allow the player
to remain in a DRS or release a player through either the waiver or buyout mechanism
to create a roster spot.

c.
***Prospect Reserve Lists (PRL):***  Each team may retain five player's in their
Prospect Preserve Lists (PRL). Players may be added as to the PRL if they are
under 24 years old and logged fewer than 500 MLS minutes. While on the PRL
roster, their bid/salary cost doesn't count against the budget but are not
eligible to start on your in weekly head-to-head games.

i.     Eligible
players may be demoted and promoted from the PRL prior to the start of the
first game of the week.

ii.     If you have
at least a single PRL player that's meets the criteria to remain on the PRL at
the end of the season you may be awarded an additional keeper slot specificaly
for your PRL. Limit one spot per team. However, this spot is tradeable to a
team that does not have one. However PRL criteria still applies.

iii.     A player may
stay on the PRL once surpassing all criteria of age and time played. However,
once promoted they may not be demoted back to the PRL. If the season ends and
the player is still on the PRL the team may use a regular keeper spot on the
player OR release the player to the RED draft pool. Player may not utilize a
PRL keeper spot if ineligible for PRL.

**2.**
Determining
Positional Eligibility

a.
All player positions at the start of the season will be dictated
according to positions played as documented by WhoScored in the previous season
with at least 90 minutes.

i.     It’s
important to understand that WhoScored does not provide positions for subbed
players. If you have documentation or chalkboards of a player filling a
specific position that is not documented you may submit/request additional
positional eligibility from the commissioner in the ‘#positionaladjustments’
channel within the league slack page.

ii.     No team
should take it upon themselves to automatically assume that the player has
eligibility without clearance from the commissioner or proven eligibility in
WhoScored.

b.
Entering into the summer season each team must conduct a
self-audit, and properly adjust any changes in positional eligibility in their roster
for that season. If a player be played in an ineligible position, all points
accrued for that week will be forfeit.

c.
Players can gain eligibility for a position at any time in
the season by playing 90 minutes at that position.

d.
Any new player entering the league will have their
position eligibility determined by the Commissioner should they not have
previous information in WhoScored.

e.
Should an owner disagree with the Commissioner’s ruling
they may request a team vote for the position(s) being requestedrequiring a
majority.

**3.**
Official
Eligible Lineups

a.
There are six approved positions for official lines

i.     GK =
Goalkeeper

ii.     OD = Outside
Defender, otherwise known as a full back. We do not distinguish between those
on the left or on the right. An outside defender is simply an outside defender.

iii.     CD = Central
Defender, otherwise known as a centerback.

iv.     OM = Outside
Midfielder, otherwise known as a wide midfielder, winger or left/right
midfielder. Again, we don’t distinguish between which side they play, just that
they place outside midfield.

v.     CM = Central
Midfielder, this can be a defensive midfielder, central attacking midfielder.
It doesn’t matter.

vi.     FW = Forward
or center forward aka striker.

b.
There are a total of nine authorized line-ups or positional
combinations that may be submitted each week for matches. You can see the
different combinations as provided in the image below.

**4.**
Annual
Keepers

a.
Each season, following the MLS Cup and prior to the Super
Re-Entry Draft, a deadline will be set by the Commissioner for teams to elect
players as “keepers”. They have the opportunity to keep these players for the
next season at the same price as they won during the Super Auction. If the
player has gone two seasons without being drafted during the Super Auction the
player will earn an imposed keeper tax upon that individual player.

**5.**
Keeper Tax

a.
Once a player has missed two sequential Super Auctions
there will be an incumbency tax on the salary of that player. The tax applied
is equivalent to 1.2 times the salary and rounded up to the nearest dollar.

i.     Should a
player’s salary be under $10 then the tax will incur an additional $10.

b.
Each year following will be an additional 20% will be
added to the tax.

**6.**
Weekly
Deadlines and Substitution Protocol

a.
Line-ups, substitutions, and formations must be set
by the first kickoff of the first game each week to include mid-week games.

b.
Teams may list three substitution players, ranked 1
through 3, with their positional ranks as well.

c.
At the end of the week, if a starter plays zero minutes,
his position may be filled by the first sub listed with that same positional
preference.  (Example below—If the first
player subbed out is an OD, Acosta becomes the substitute for that position as
they have “first preference” at that position.)

i.     Ellis
CD  OD

ii.     Acosta
OD  CM

iii.     Shuttleworth
GK

d.
The substitution section of the lineup spreadsheets will
have a section for scorers to document which starters have been subbed, their
position, and the player substituting in.

e.
*Any* changes to
the substitution list after kickoff of the first game that week are
prohibited.  Any player caught
modifying their substitution list once games are underway will have any/all
points for that particular position voided.
We are operating on an Honor System, so please respect that out of
sportsmanship and love of the game.

f.
If an owner fails to submit a lineup before the kickoff
deadline in a given week, they will revert to the previous week’s lineup as a
default, but will not include substitutes posted in the previous week.

## **Chapter V: Player Acquisition Mechanism**

**1.**
Super
Auction

a.
A Super Auction will take place approximately a month
prior to the season, on or around February 1st. This will be a live auction
style draft in which each team, in randomly generated order, takes turns
nominating players and bidding upon them until every team passes or a 12 hour
period has elapsed in which every team has either passed or not responded. This
draft goes on until every team fills all 25 roster spots, or all owners pass on
nominating and bidding on players.  Teams
are not required to fill all 25 roster spots.

**Free-Agency**

a.
Due to complexities of “dibs” and a lack of automation we
will utilize a Silent Auction (see: 5.3a for rules) during the week for all
free-agent claims. Teams in need of supplement players may submit a nomination
and bid upon players during the week of the regular season.

b.
The player pool is only those of whom are under contract
with MLS and who does not currently reside on an opponents roster.

i.     Discovery
Reserve Spots (DRS) claims only takes place during the Super Auction and are
not part of the free-agency process.

**3.**
Silent
Auction

a.
A nomination document will be posted early in the week
during the regular season, following the completion of past week games.  All nominations are due within a reasonable
time to be determined when the document is posted.

b.
Any team may nominate any player under contract with MLS
not currently residing on an opposing team.

c.
If multiple teams nominate the same player, ties will go
to the lowest total points, then worst record, then coin flip by the
commissioner if necessary.

d.
A list of which players nominated and whom nominated them
will be made available in addition to the bidding form once the nomination time
has been completed.

i.      If a team nominates a player, they must bid at
least $1 in the bidding form to be eligible for tying any other $1 bids. A
blank bidding column assumes no bid.

ii.     If a
nominated player receives no bids, the team that nominated him must
roster the player for $1.

e.
Roster cuts/buyouts can only occur BEFORE or AFTER
Nomination process, never during.

f.
Winning bids will be announced once all forms are
submitted with the gainning teams and bidding documentation released to all for
transparency and fact check.

i.     Tie-breakers
are awarded to the team with the fewest points accrued for the season.

g.
If the winner of the blind auction already has a full
roster, they must cut an existing player on their roster, as well as absorb
their salary cap hit if their one free waiver for the year has already been
used.

i.     Teams may
bid on players they have previously bought out or waived.  However, that team must place a bid equal to
at least the player's previous salary amount.

h.
 All bidding is due
by a time to be determined with the posting of the bidding document.

i.
 Winning bids will
be announced in transaction channel following the closing of the bids.

**4.**
Releasing
Players

a.
Of course there comes a time in which a player becomes
either useless or someone of more value comes up and you must make room for
them. Waiving a player releases him back to the rest of league and his auction
fee counts against your budget in full. As the releasing team you lose any
claim to the player.

i.     As mentioned
in 5.3.d.i Teams may bid on players they previously waived but the minimum bid
must be equal to that of their budgetary charge.

ii.     Teams in
this way will affectively pay “double” for the player creating a purposeful
penalty in an attempt to prevent a gaming of the system.

iii.     A dead
contract, or the budgetary charge of a waived player, may be absorbed by
another team should it be agreed upon by that other party.

b.
Teams may release one player per season without a charge
against the budget. Called a “buyout”.

c.
If the player has a “buyout” used against them they become
a free-agent like any other free-agent and anyone in the league may place an
auction bid for that player.

**5.**
Trades and
Acquiring Resources

a.
When attempting to acquire players there are times that a
team needs more leverage than just another player or players in return. Teams
may use General Allocation Money (GAM) in addition a team may offer up any
number of possible or inventive resources. Some of those resources include
nominations, re-entry draft picks, keeper spots, or even a buyout. The league
should attempt to encourage inventive ways for teams to recoup value and
expenses in an effort to increase teams avenues in acquiring players due to
complications inherit to the MLS player pool.

**6.**
Trade Window
Deadline

a.
There will be a general trade deadline established for
each year prior to the start of the summer schedule. No trades or transactions
may be made from that day until the conclusion of the post-season tournament.

b.
Should an emergency situation be identified by a team
where they will be unable to field a full 11 player team with a valid roster
during this period, they have the responsibility to bring the situation to the
Commissioner. A solution will be worked out that is in the best interest of the
league as a whole while allowing the team to field a full team that is still
relatively competitive in the weekend matches.

**7.**
End-Of-Season
Trade Window

a.
At the conclusion of the MLS Cup, a trade window shall be
established until January 1 of the new year.

b.
During this trade window, any player or resource may be
traded between teams.

**8.**
Expansion
Draft and Preferential Treatment of Expansion Teams

a.
Following the creation of expansion teams an expansion
draft date will be set to provide the teams with players.

i.     All players
priced at $20 and over are excluded from the expansion draft and do not need to
be protected.

ii.     In addition
to $20+ players being exempted from the expansion draft, every team will have a
three player exemption list in which they can prevent players from being
selected.

iii.     Any player
under $20 and not on the three-player protection list will be available to be
selected by an expansion team during the expansion draft.

iv.     The
expansion teams as a whole may not collect more than three players from any one
specific team within the league as a whole.

v.     If a team
loses two players during the draft that team may add a fourth player to their
exemption list.

b.
All expansion teams will be chosen at random to have first
opportunity at Re-Entry Draft selections. No owner that managed a team in the
previous season will select before them.

c.
All expansion teams will be chosen at random to have first
opportunity at nominations in the Super Auction, with no owner that managed a
team in the previous season selecting before them.  As above, a random generator will be used to
determine the selection order.

**9.**
Super
Re-Entry Draft (RED)

a.
The Super Re-Entry Draft occurs every year following the
elected keeper deadline and prior to the Super Auction. The intention of this
draft is to try and persevere some of the good values left from the previous
year and lighten the time involved during the Super Auction.

b.
After each team selects their keepers, the remaining
players are sent to the RED player pool. From this specific pool teams take
turns, in reverse order from the season standings, selecting players as they
may wish. The reverse order will apply to each for two rounds (10 → 1, 10 → 1,
etc.).

i.     These two
players are in addition to the keepers the players selected previous.

c.
When a team selects a player in the first round they agree
to take the player at 1.4 times their existing salary. If the player is taken
in the second round the price is only 1.2 times their existing salary.

i.     For example,
John Smith’s existing salary is $15.  If
selected in the first round, the team must pay him $21 for the upcoming season.
If he was drafted in the second round his new price would be $18.

## **Chapter VI: Budgetary and Financial Information**

**1.**
Budget

a.
Each team is provided $300 in General Allocation Money
(GAM) entering the Super Auction. This is used to bid for players but also should
include covering the cost of keepers and those selected in the re-entry draft.
They are provided an additional $100 in Transaction Allocation Money following
the commencement of the season.

**2.**
Table
Placement and Winnings

a.
Each season the winners of the Hex Cup, Variance Cup, NLS
Cup and Single Entity Shield for first overall in the league table earn an
additional five dollars of General Allocation Money for the next season. Teams
finishing in the bottom two positions in the league standings earn ten