The Commish
Each fantasy football league has a commissioner. The commissioner or “Comish” as they are often referred to, is the top dog of the league. Having the power to veto trades and settle disputes seems like a great job, however, the fantasy football commissioner doesn’t make outrageous amounts of money like Roger Goodell or Bud Selig. As a four-time fantasy Commish myself, allow me to enlighten you with the horror that can be under the commissioner umbrella.
First things first, you need to find managers for the teams in for your league. Without a sufficient amount of members, the teams will have too many good players and the league will be boring. Next, you need to find a website to run your league. Yahoo! ESPN, and CBS are some of the best ones out there. Once you have people committed to the league and the website is set up, you have to invite everyone to join via email, and set a draft day.
Setting the draft day and time can be one of the most stressful things for the Commish. Getting 10+ people to be in front of their computer for two hours straight on the same day can be a daunting task. Not to mention, if you are a good commissioner (like me) you have to set up a draft party…BYOB of course.
There is one more thing you have to do before the season even starts and that is collect the money from all of the members. My league has its own pay pal account that we all transfer our money into. With members all over the state, it can be tough to collect hard money.
Now that the season is underway, the job gets a bit easier but not much. With teams trying to “collude” and “trade rape” one another, the Commish needs to make sure the integrity of the league is upheld. Just last week I had to veto a trade when the last place team “It’s Wayne’n TDs” wanted to trade away Aaron Rodgers to a contender for next to nothing in return. As a seasoned Commish, I know better that to let that happen.
There are certain things that one can do to go above and beyond as a commissioner. Every few weeks I send out a video to the league to give an update on what is going on. You can also throw parties, post in the message board…anything that will keep the members engaged.
Being the Commish is really all about just making the league fun without compromising the integrity of the sport.
Here is a great example of a video that exemplifies how a great commissioner keeps his league engaged…just don’t record it work.
Bringing Your Fantasy To Life 