The Fantasy Football Players Championship (“FFPC”) is a fantasy football game of skill that offers guaranteed cash awards to its top entrants. This contest will test a participant’s ability to predict player performance both over time and on a weekly basis, as well as to value certain players and positions within the framework of our scoring system, place appropriate bids on free agents based on the relative future value to the entrant’s team, and create a balanced fantasy team that will maximize scoring output over the length of the season. FFPC award winners are determined based on the criteria listed in the Rules below.

The Fantasy Football Players Championship (“FFPC”) Empire Leagues are scheduled as online drafts and require year-to-year commitment from dedicated fantasy owners. The start up (maiden) draft times are to be announced. FFPC Empire Leagues will be available at these entry levels: $100, $250, $500, $750, $1,250, $2,500 and $5,000. The rules below cover the FFPC Standard Empire format of FFPC Empire Leagues. All references to FFPC below refer to the Empire Leagues.

An FFPC Empire League is a dynasty league with a large progressive prize pool that grows yearly and is only awarded once there is a back-to-back winner. When that happens, the back-to-back champion wins the Empire Prize Pool, and the league disbands.

Each FFPC Empire league has the following unique differences from a “traditional” dynasty league:

• 50% of the regular prize pool is awarded per standard dynasty rules. The remaining 50% is set aside and placed into the Empire Prize Pool for that league.

• An owner who wins the league playoff championship in two consecutive seasons is awarded the progressive Empire Prize Pool.

• In the event of a back-to-back champion, the entire Empire Pot is awarded to the franchise owner who won the playoff championship in two consecutive seasons.

• In the event of a back-to-back champion, the league will end, and all deposits will be returned.

• All Empire leagues will “sunset” and have an end date of 10 years after the initial season if there has been no Empire Prize Pool Winner (back-to-back league champion). For example, if the initial season is 2024, the end year will be 2033 if no champion has repeated and won the Empire Prize Pool.

• If the league completes its end year with no back-to-back (Empire) Champion, the Empire Prize Pool will be returned to the final season’s owners and split twelve ways. All deposits will also be returned.

• A reigning champion cannot trade unless they step down as Champion and relinquish their shot at the Empire Prize Pool.

Empire Prize Details:

If a Champion wins a league back-to-back, the Empire pot will be paid to the winner, and the league will end. All deposits will be returned.

If a league ends its 10-year life without an Empire champion (back-to-back champion), it will disband, and the Empire pot will be split by the final season’s 12 league members. All deposits will also be returned.

No owner has a right to claim any or all of the pot.

Any owner that orphans their team will forfeit their right to any portion of the Empire pot either by winning the league twice or by the league sunsetting.

If the returning champion leaves the league for any reason, the title is vacant for that season, and no Empire pot will be awarded.

Trading Rules For Empire Leagues:

Trading rules are the same for Empire as regular FFPC dynasty leagues, with the following exceptions:

The returning Champion cannot make trades in the season while chasing a back-to-back title.

The returning Champion can protest any trade in the league without a second protest from another league member. Please do not abuse this ability.

FFPC commissioners will police and rule on Empire trades with added scrutiny to ensure reasonable trades.

The trade deadline is 12:50 p.m. ET, one week before the Sunday kickoff of week 11. This is one week earlier than the trade deadline in regular dynasty formats.

Anyone participating in Empire leagues accepts and gives broad leeway to FFPC commissioners to run these leagues and rule on trades impartially.

Format:

• The FFPC Standard Empire format is a fully managed format, with weekly lineups, waivers, trades, head-to-head and playoffs.
• The FFPC Standard Empire format is a 12 team year-round fantasy league, with an initial startup draft of 20 rounds.
• Each owner is required to draft a starting lineup of 1-QB, 2-RB, 2-WR, 1-TE, 2-FLEX, 1-K, 1-D/ST. If you do not draft a complete starting roster, FFPC commissioners may add a player at their discretion after the draft to ensure a valid roster.
• During the offseason, each FFPC Standard Empire format team will protect 16 players (including at least 1 Kicker and 1 Defense/ST) and release any 4 players.
• Each off-season, following the NFL draft, there will be a 7 round rookie/free agent draft for FFPC Standard Empire format leagues, in which any player (or defense) not currently owned may be drafted.
• Prior to the start of the season, each FFPC Standard Empire format team must cut its roster down to 20 players.

The entrance fees for the FFPC Empire Leagues are $100, $250, $500, $750, $1,250, $2,500 or $5,000 per team. There is also a one-time deposit required at initial registration. This deposit is fully refundable if you ever leave the league and your team is sold at full price, or if the league "sunsets" after 10 years (see more details below).

There are two easy ways to enter Empire Leagues:

Entrants may complete our online entry form and agree to abide by the official rules and regulations governing the Empire Leagues. Upon the completion of the Empire Leagues Online entry form, entrants must submit payment using any major credit cards. Payment can also be made via personal check, cashier’s check or money order or ACH (direct bank transfer). Payment sent by mail must be received within 10 business days after the online registration.

Payment by mail can be made with a personal check, cashier’s check or money order for the amount of $200, $350, $750, $1,100, $1,600, $3,500 or $8,000 to reserve their team.

The yearly entry fee of $100, $250, $500, $750, $1,250, $2,500 or $5,000 for the subsequent seasons will be due by February 28th of each year or may be submitted at any time prior to this date. Teams may not begin off-season trading until the entry fee is paid for the upcoming year.

All entrants are required to place a deposit for their team at the time of initial registration.

Empire deposits are as follows:

$100 entry leagues - $100 deposit - $200 total entry fee due at registration

$250 entry league – $150 deposit – $400 total entry fee due at registration

$500 entry league – $300 deposit – $800 total entry fee due at registration

$750 entry league – $500 deposit – $1,250 total entry fee due at registration

$1,250 entry league – $750 deposit – $2,000 total entry fee due at registration

$2,500 entry league – $1,500 deposit – $4,000 total entry fee due at registration

$5,000 entry league – $3,000 deposit – $8,000 total entry fee due at registration

This is a one-time deposit for startup leagues. Only the league entry fee is due in the subsequent years.

For information regarding the buying, selling and orphan process for Empire teams, please see the section below titled: Annual Renewal, Sale, or Orphaning of FFPC Empire Teams

Trading future first-round picks: : Any team that trades a future year 1st round pick must submit an additional deposit at the time of the trade being processed. This deposit amount is $50 for $100 leagues, $100 for $250 leagues, $250 for $500, $375 for $750, $625 for $1250, $1,000 for $2,500 and $1,500 for $5,000 leagues and must be in the owner’s FFPC account when making the trade offer. When the trade offer is made, this deposit will be automatically taken out of the FFPC account and held to be applied to next year’s league dues. This deposit will be applied towards the following year’s entry fee or could potentially be used to cover the difference between the selling price and the annual entry fee if the team owner does not return for the following year, opts to orphan the team, and the team has to be heavily discounted.

Empire Prize Details:

If a Champion wins a league back-to-back, the Empire pot will be paid to the winner, and the league will end. All deposits will be returned.

If a league ends its 10-year life without an Empire champion (back-to-back champion), it will disband, and the Empire pot will be split by the final season’s 12 league members. All deposits will also be returned.

No owner has a right to claim any or all of the pot.

Any owner that orphans their team will forfeit their right to any portion of the Empire pot either by winning the league twice or by the league sunsetting.

If the returning champion leaves the league for any reason, the title is vacant for that season, and no Empire pot will be awarded.

The FFPC Empire League Season will begin the Friday PRIOR to Thursday’s Opening Game in NFL Week 1 and conclude after NFL Week 17. The Empire League Off-season will be defined as the remainder of the year other than Weeks 1 through 17. All references to “points”, “total points” or “points total” imply starting lineup points.

Empire Leagues will each be comprised of 12 teams/participants/managers and the regular season will run from Week 1 through Week 14, with playoffs running from week 15 through week 17. All 12 teams will be randomly placed into 3 divisions of 4 teams each. Divisions will be randomized each season by the software after rookie drafts are complete.

All FFPC Empire slow drafts will be paused between the hours of 2 AM and 8 AM ET (11 PM and 5 AM PT) to protect teams from missing a pick during nighttime hours. Teams may make picks during the pause when it is their turn. All other draft room functionality, like adjusting players, in Queue and turning on/off Autodraft, will be available during the pause.

Example 1 : A team goes on the clock at 7:00 PM ET, draft clock pauses with one hour remaining at 2 AM ET. The clock will stay paused until 8 AM ET, at which time the clock will continue rolling with the remaining 60 minutes. An auto pick will be made at 9:00 AM ET if the team fails to make a selection.

Example 2 : A team goes on the clock at 7:00 PM ET, the clock pauses with one hour remaining at 2 AM ET. The team makes a selection at 5 AM ET. The following team is now on the clock, with the clock still paused. The clock will start to run at 8 AM ET so this team will have until 4 PM ET to make a selection.

Example 3 : A team goes on the clock at 7:00 PM ET, the clock pauses with one hour remaining at 2 AM ET. The team makes a selection at 5 AM ET. The following team had autodraft functionality on, so this pick is made. The following team is now on the clock, with the clock still paused. The clock will start to run at 8 AM ET so this team will have until 4 PM ET to make a selection.

On rare occasions, an Empire owner may be sick, unavailable or unaware that a draft has begun. To ensure a competitive draft and enjoyable experience for all owners in Empire drafts, the FFPC will not permit owner’s first selection in Maiden or Rookie/free agent drafts to be auto-selected in cases of timing out (providing the first pick is in the first three rounds).

Please alert the FFPC Dynasty Commissioner if you see an early-round timeout in your league by emailing dynasty@myffpc.com. The FFPC reserves the right to roll back, remove players, pause the draft, hold the draft, and do whatever is deemed necessary to ensure a proper draft for all owners.

Owners are encouraged to draft as quickly as they can and should use their queue, one pick auto, rankings and other features. Please check into the draft often, at least twice a day. As drafts proceed past an owner’s first pick, any time out will be treated as such. If a pick is not made within the 8-hour timeframe (excluding the overnight pause), that pick will be skipped and other picks may be allowed to be made. The skipped team must email FFPC Commissioner at dynasty@myffpc.com to manually input that team’s draft pick. All draft picks which are made after the skipped pick will stand. Example: if the skipped team had pick 1.04 and 3 other picks had been made before the skipped team contacted the commissioner, the skipped team would then have the 1.07 pick.

Standard Empire Leagues Format: League structure will be as follows: Each team will play in 14 weekly regular season Head to Head match-ups in Weeks 1-14. H2H results and the weekly standings will be determined using the Victory Points system as described below. The 6 top seeded teams at the end of the regular season will play in a total points format League Playoffs in NFL Weeks 15, 16 & 17 to determine the Empire League Champion. The two teams with the most Victory Points end of the regular season in each league will earn the #1 and #2 Seeds and each will be awarded a Regular Season prize. Both the #1 and #2 Seeds will receive Immunity (aka “Bye” in H2H play) in the Week 15 in the League Playoff Round.

During the Empire League Off-season, rosters will be allowed to exceed, or be diminished by the yearly requirement of 20 players through trades and rookie/free agent draft acquisitions ONLY. Any team whose roster exceeds the yearly player limit will be required to release the extra players prior to the start of the FFPC Empire League Season. The Empire roster cut down date is Sunday, September 1st, 2024 at 11:59 pm PT. All teams must be down to a maximum of 20 active players at that time. IR’ed players do not count as part of the 20.

Minimum Roster requirements for FFPC Empire formats: Each team’s roster must have a minimum of 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K and 1 D/ST at all times during the Empire League offseason. During the Empire League Season, a 20 player roster is required with a minimum of one player at each required starting position: QB, RB, WR, TE, K, D/ST.

It is the responsibility of every owner to submit a competitive lineup every week of the FFPC Empire League season. Tanking is expressly and strictly prohibited. Please email dynasty@myffpc.com to report any obvious tanking issues.

The FFPC Dynasty League Commissioner may (but is not required to) alter a lineup for any team where a starting lineup is submitted with players who are inactive as a result of being on a Bye Week, on suspension, or on their NFL team’s I.R. list. Lineups may also be changed if a very low-ranked player is started over a consensus top player, or for whatever reason if the commissioner sees that the original lineup lessens the competitiveness of the team in question. Tanking in the form of not doing waivers, not moving Injured Reserve players to FFPC IR, and picking up low-quality players to minimize one’s score is also prohibited. FFPC Dynasty League Commissioner has the final discretion on all lineup changes.

All disputes and appeals must be submitted to the league commissioner via email whereas he or she will utilize the rules and regulations governing the FFPC Empire League to dynasty@myffpc.com to make all decisions. The league commissioner’s decisions are considered final. The FFPC Commissioners reserve the right, at their discretion, to call for a vote by all league members to help decide certain issues.

If for whatever reason, there is a downtime experienced with FFPC league software, all principal owners can submit an e-mail to the league commissioner at dynasty@myffpc.com or chris@myffpc.com reporting the lapse and submit any information pertaining to free agent moves and starting lineup submissions. The time stamp in each email will serve as proof of timely or untimely submission. Once the experienced downtime has been repaired, the FFPC Commissioner will update all information pertaining to starting lineups and free agent acquisitions.

Trading rules are the same for Empire as regular FFPC dynasty leagues, with the following exceptions:

• The returning Champion cannot make trades in the season while chasing a back-to-back title.

• The returning Champion can protest any trade in the league without a second protest from another league member. Please do not abuse this ability.

• FFPC commissioners will police and rule on Empire trades with added scrutiny to ensure reasonable trades.

• The trade deadline is 12:50 p.m. ET, one week before the Sunday kickoff of week 11. This is one week earlier than the trade deadline in regular dynasty formats.

• Anyone participating in Empire leagues accepts and gives broad leeway to FFPC commissioners to run these leagues and rule on trades impartially.

Trading is permitted in FFPC Empire Leagues. All trades are expected to be executed in good faith and with the goal of improving one’s roster over the short or long-term. Unethical trading or roster dumping are not permitted and can lead to trade reversal, sanctions, and banishment from the FFPC Empire League without the return of deposit.

Trades are free of charge. A trade becomes official once both teams have accepted the terms of the trade and no protest has been filed.

Trades occurring during the FFPC Empire League Season may involve unequal amounts of players. Still, each team must adjust its roster as needed to stay at 20 players or less upon consummation of the trade. In-season trades may include future draft picks for the next calendar year ONLY. In-season trades must be finalized by Sunday at 12:50 pm Eastern for the traded players to be active in a team’s lineup. This weekly trade deadline of 12:50 pm ET includes players whose games start later on Sunday or Monday night. FFPC software may take up to 5 minutes after acceptance to execute a trade.

Players traded that have already played for the week will be handled in the following manner:

1. If all players involved are on both owners' benches, the trade will execute within 10 minutes.

2. If either team has started any player involved in the trade, the trade does not execute immediately. All players remain with their original teams until after the week has concluded. The trade will execute on Tuesday morning.

The Empire trade deadline during the FFPC Empire League Season is 12:50 pm ET before the Sunday Kickoff of Week 11 of the NFL season. This is one week prior than the standard FFPC dynasty league. Trades might execute after the deadline if accepted before the deadline that involved a started early game player (if applicable, see above).

There is no Empire trading between this deadline and the end of the NFL regular season other than as noted above. No players involved in any trade may be part of another trade until 24 hours after the first trade. This is done to give time for other owners to file a protest, if necessary.

Trades occurring during the FFPC Empire League Off-season may involve an unequal number of players exchanged by both teams. Off-season trades may include future draft picks for the next calendar year ONLY. There is no trade deadline during the FFPC Empire League Off-season. No players involved in any one trade may be part of another trade until 24 hours after the first trade. This is done to give time for other owners to file a protest, if necessary. Trades can be made January 1, provided the following year’s Entry fee has been paid by all teams involved in the trade.

A trade can be protested by any team not involved in the trade by submitting an e-mail to the FFPC Commissioner at dynasty@myffpc.com. The protest email must detail the specific reasoning for the protest so that the Commissioner can make an informed decision. i.e.: it is not enough to protest a trade with the reason being that it is “unfair”.

If two email protests are received by the FFPC Commissioner for any single trade, the trade will be officially reviewed. The FFPC Commissioner may contact both owners involved in the trade and ask for their reasoning behind the trade. Player values vary greatly in Empire formats, and this will be taken into consideration when rendering decisions. FFPC Commissioner’s decision will be final and may not be appealed.

During the FFPC Empire Season, a team may place a player on IR if they appear on their NFL teams Injured Reserve List. The team may then replace the IR player and pick up a player via the blind bid waiver wire process. IR moves are free of charge. Any free agent who is listed on IR by an NFL team and is then drafted or acquired via the waiver wire is eligible for the IR list. A team may have a maximum of 3 players on the IR list at any one time. The official site for determining a player’s IR status will be NFL.com. Players on the IR list are eligible to be traded to another team. If an NFL team activates a player on IR to their active roster, Empire owners must activate or cut that player within the next 3 days during the Empire league season. All players must be removed from injured reserve prior to the March 31st roster cut-down date.

Any player on NFL Injured Reserve, NFL Injured Reserve-Eligible to Return, NFL-PUP list, and NFL-NFI (non-football injury) list can be placed on FFPC Injured Reserve. A player that is Suspended or Out for the week cannot be placed on FFPC Injured Reserve.

All NFL skill players that formally Opt-Out for 2024 can be placed on FFPC Injured Reserve.

Any NFL skill player placed on the COVID-19 Exempt list will have IR eligibility. Once he is removed from the list, owners will have three days to activate, trade, or cut the player.

In each subsequent year after the Maiden draft, each FFPC Empire League will hold an Off-season draft for rookies and free agents called the Rookie/Free Agent draft. All Rookie/FA Drafts will start on the weekend after the completion of the NFL draft, with staggered drafts times between 8 am and 11 am ET. Rookie/FA drafts are slow drafts, with an 8-hour limit per pick.

Drafts will run up until the start of the NFL Season. Drafts MUST be completed before the start of the NFL Season and draft clocks may be shortened as needed and/or remaining picks may be autodrafted if needed.

The Rookie/FA draft will last 7 rounds for Standard Empire format leagues.

The top 6 draft picks will be assigned to the 6 non-playoff teams in the following manner:

The bottom 6 teams will compete in a head-to-head playoff for draft pick position. The team that wins gets the #1 pick, takes 2nd gets #2, etc. Teams are seeded in inverse order, with the worst (least victory points) team getting the 1 seed, the second worst getting the 2 seed, and so on. During wildcard week, the 1st and 2nd seeds get a bye, so the worst they could do is 1.3 and 1.4. With this system, the 6th worst team still has a shot at the 1.1-1.4, as does every other non-playoff team.

The other 6 playoff teams will be slotted in inverse order of the TOTAL amount of prize money awarded in the most recent playoffs. In event of a tie between teams, the following tiebreakers will apply:

1. Team with more total points scored during the regular season will get the lower (worse pick, meaning 1.11 vs. 1.10, for example) draft pick.

2. Head to Head winner during the regular season will be slotted lower.

3. Coin flip.

The Rookie/Free Agent draft is a straight draft, going from picks 1-12, and then back to 1 again. It is NOT a serpentine draft. The team with pick 1.01 will have pick 2.01, 3.01, etc., unless any of those picks have been traded.

The Rookie/FA draft shall include any NFL free agents that are not on a current FFPC Empire League roster, as well as all rookies selected during the NFL draft and rookie undrafted free agents. Any players drafted in the supplemental NFL draft after the start of the Rookie/FA draft will be entered into the FFPC Empire League free agent pool and be eligible for pickup at the start of the blind bid process.

FFPC Empire League teams will be allowed to carry all drafted players during the Off-season until the Final cut-down date. The Empire roster cut-down date is Sunday, September 1st, 2024, at 11:59 pm PT.

FFPC Standard Empire Dynasty League Format

The starting lineups will consist of: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex Players (RB, WR, or TE), and 1 PK. 1 Team Defense/Special Team. Starting lineups may be submitted to the FFPC league page. The deadline for lineup submission for each player via website or email is the scheduled start time of the game in which the player participates. Lineup changes that are submitted by email to support@myffpc.com must be sent and have a time stamp before the start time of the game in question. Lineup changes that are made by phone to our 24-hour message center at 1-888-898-FFPC must be called in no later than 15 minutes before kickoff. The following must be provided for a valid email or phone transaction: League number & team name, login name and password, the name of the player(s) to be placed in the starting lineup, the name of the player(s) to be removed from the starting lineup.

Passing

• 0.05 point – 1-yard passing (multiply total passing yards by 0.05. Example: 275 passing yards = 13.75 fantasy points)
• 4 points – Passing TD
• -1 point – Interception thrown
• -1 point - Fumble Lost
• 2 points – 2-point conversion

Rushing

• 0.1 point – 1-yard rushing (multiply total rushing yards by 0.1. Example 126 rushing yards= 12.6 fantasy points)
• 6 points – Rushing TD
• -1 point - Fumble Lost
• 2 points – 2-point conversion

Receiving

• 0.1 point – 1 yard receiving (multiply total receiving yards by 0.1. Example 126 receiving yards= 12.6 fantasy points)
• 6 points – Receiving TD
• 1 point – Reception for RB, WR, QB, K
• 1.5 points – Reception for TEs
• -1 point - Fumble Lost
• 2 points – 2-point conversion

Place Kicking

• 1 point – Made PAT
• 3 points – Made FG of 1 – 30 yards plus 0.1 points for every yard thereafter.
  Example: a 45-yard FG would be worth 4.5 points

Team Defense/Special Teams

• 1 point – Every sack
• 2 points - Every blocked punt or field goal
• 2 points – Every team takeaway (interception or fumble recovery)***
• 6 points – Every TD (via interception return, fumble return, punt or kickoff return, blocked FG return, missed FG return, blocked punt return)***
• 2 points for every return after a blocked/failed extra point or failed two-point try (i.e., on an interception or fumble). [As per new NFL rules for the 2015 season]
• 5 points – Every safety
• 12 points – Every shutout **

8 points – Allowing between 1- 6 points **

5 points – Allowing between 7 – 13 points **

3 points – Allowing between 14 - 19 points **

1 points – Allowing between 20 – 23 points **

0 points – Allowing between 24 – 29 points **

-2 points – Allowing 30 or more points **

**Points scored by the opposing team’s defense will NOT count towards defensive points allowed. Only points scored when the defense or special teams is on the field will count towards their defensive points allowed. Extra points or two-point conversions will also NOT count towards defensive points allowed if they are a result of a score by the opposing team's defense.

Touchdowns:

FFPC implements Action scoring for all touchdowns. A TD scored in any way by an individual player is awarded to that player whether he is on offense, defense, or special teams, whether that TD came as a result of a fumble, interception, double turnover***, lateral, special teams, or any other football play. To reiterate: If a player scores a TD during a game and he is on your starting roster, you are awarded 6 points. (The exception is when a quarterback throws a passing touchdown. Those are awarded 4 points.) Please note that this scoring is separate and unrelated from any points that Team Defense/Special Teams may also receive for this TD.

No rushing or receiving yards will be awarded for a TD scored on a fumble, interception, kickoff, or punt return.

Touchdowns scored on the offensive team due to Fake FG, Fake Punt, Blocked FG, or Blocked Punt do not count as Defensive/Special Teams scoring.

*** A double-turnover is when the Offense turns the ball over to the opposing Defense, which subsequently turns the ball over back to the Offense. In this case, neither the Offense’s ball recovery nor any subsequent TD scoring on that particular play is scored as Defensive/Special Team scoring for that team. Defensive team fantasy points for touchdowns, fumble recoveries, and interceptions are ONLY scored when the defensive unit is on the field.

*** A fumble by an offensive player through the opposing end zone resulting in a touch-back is not considered a team takeaway and will not award 2 fantasy points for the Team Defense/Special Teams.

The following free agent blind bidding process is the only way free agents may be acquired in the FFPC Empire League Season. There are no other ways to acquire free agents like ‘worst-to-first’ and ‘first-come-first-served’ or any other waiver methods other than blind bidding as described below.

Any active NFL player which is not on a roster in the individual league is considered a free agent for that league and may be available for pick-up. Players dropped by a team are placed into the free-agent player pool and will be available for pick-up (see below for exclusions).

The free agent acquisition process is made through “blind bidding.” Each team is given 1,000 free agent “dollars” at the start of a season (not real money), which they may use to bid on free agents during a weekly blind bidding process. Bids will remain hidden from the rest of the league until after all the winning bids have been awarded. Free agent players will be awarded to the team with the highest bid for that free agent, and the winning bid amount will be deducted from that team’s free agent dollars. Besides the winning bid, all other bids for that free agent are considered losing bids and are canceled. At this point, the highest remaining bid by any team for any remaining free agent will be considered. The team with this winning bid will be awarded the free agent, and all losing bids for that free agent will be canceled. This process will continue until every remaining bid has been considered.

There will be TWO “pre-season” free agency processes. The first is scheduled for Wednesday, September 4, at 10 PM ET, and the second is scheduled on the following Sunday, September 8, at 10 AM ET for all Empire leagues.

Due to the addition of weekly Thursday games to the NFL schedule, there are now two (2) weekly blind bidding processes. The first “Primary” blind bidding process will take place on Wednesday, with the second “Supplementary” process taking place on Sunday.

The deadline for bid submission for Wednesday is 10:00 PM ET, and Sunday is 10:00 AM ET.

All free-agent NFL players will be available for the Wednesday bidding process.

NFL players which are dropped during Wednesday’s bidding process will NOT be available for pickups on Sunday (Of the same week) and will ONLY become available for next week’s Wednesday bidding process.

Free agent NFL players whose teams played on Thursday will NOT be available for pickups on Sunday (Of the same week) and will ONLY become available for next week’s Wednesday bidding process.

After the completion of Week 1, the blind bidding processes will be available weekly and will continue before Week 17 for ALL teams in the Empire Leagues. Rosters will be updated with the results of all successful bids after 10:00 PM ET on Wednesday and 10:00 AM ET on Sunday, following the completion of the blind bidding process.

Bids will be allowed to be entered from Sunday at 12:00 PM ET until Wednesday at 10:00 PM ET for Wednesday’s bidding process. A bid will be allowed to be entered from Wednesday at 11:00 PM EST until Sunday at 10:00 AM ET for Sunday's bidding process.

All bids will be processed and the rosters will be updated with the results of all successful bids after 10:00 PM ET on Wednesday & 10:00 AM ET on Sunday, following the completion of the blind bidding process.

All team managers are strongly encouraged to place their bids as early in the week as possible.

All players cut during Weeks 1 through Week 17 free agent bidding processes WILL REMAIN in the free agent pool and will be available to be re-acquired by teams as long as the free agency bidding processes remain open.

FFPC Commissioners and FFPC, LLC. reserve the right to remove a dropped player from the free agent pool or reinstate that player to its original team if FFPC Commissioners and FFPC, LLC. determine that doing so is in the interest of upholding the integrity of the contest, that the dropped player would unfairly impact the outcome of the FFPC, or to correct an error. In this rare instance, all participants will be notified, and an explanation will be given.

If there is a tie between bids, the team which is awarded the player will be determined in order by:

1. Least total points.
2. Worse won/lost record**.
3. Worse than the previous week's score.
4. The loser of the head-to-head match-up, if applicable.
5. Virtual coin toss.

**Won/lost record is based on the standings at the time of the blind bidding process, which may change from Wednesday’s to Friday’s bidding processes based on statistics changes issued by Elias and the NFL.

Bids shall be placed individually or in groups, with conditional bids following the primary bid. The top bid is the primary bid in a bidding group. The bids underneath are conditional. If you lose the primary bid, the first conditional bid directly below will be considered next. If you lose the primary and the first conditional bid, then the second one will be considered, etc. The rest of your bidding groups will be processed in the same manner. A maximum of one player can be won in each bidding group. Bids within a group may have different designated drop players. It’s important to remember when placing multiple free-agent bids that you cannot win two players if they both have the same drop player. You may not place different bid amounts on the same player. In this case, only the highest dollar bid will be considered.

Dollar amounts will determine the preference of bids. Example: conditional bid #3 cannot be a higher dollar amount than the primary bid or #2 bid.

Teams may submit as many bids as they like. There are no limitations as to the number of players that may be acquired by any one team during the weekly blind bidding processes or during the year, provided teams remain within the maximum number of 20 players allowed on each roster.

When placing a bid, please use separate dollar amounts or the primary and contingency bid software to ensure differentiation between the bidding groups.

Teams will no longer be able to acquire or bid on free agents once their initial 1,000 free agent “dollars” have been spent. All bids must be in increments of dollars, with no cents. The minimum bid amount is $1.

Bids may only be accepted on each FFPC league page. No bids will be accepted by telephone, email, message boards, or via any other form. If the FFPC league website cannot accept bids, team managers are instructed to go to www.MyFFPC.com, call the 24-hour message center at 1-888-898-3372, or email support@myffpc.com for further instructions.

The 14-week regular season will run from NFL Week 1 through NFL Week 14. Throughout the regular season, each of the 12 teams in the Empire League will play 14 Head-to-Head matchups vs. the rest of the league. Each team will play against the 3 teams in its Division twice: the first 3 matchups in Weeks 1-3 and then 3 more in Weeks 12-14. The rest of the 8 weekly H2H matchups during Weeks 4-11 will be against non-Division teams. All H2H head matchups will be scored based on a Victory Points system, and the league standing will result from the number of Victory Points each team accumulates.

The Victory Points system works in the following way:

Each weekly H2H Win earns 2 VPs

Each weekly H2H Loss earns 0 VPs

Weekly Victory Point distribution:

Top point scoring team – 2 Victory Points

No. 2point scoring team – 2 Victory Points

No. 3 point scoring team – 2 Victory Points

No. 4 point scoring team – 2 Victory Points

No. 5 point scoring team – 1 Victory Point

No. 6 point scoring team – 1 Victory Point

No. 7 point scoring team – 1 Victory Point

No. 8 point scoring team – 1 Victory Point

No. 9 point scoring team – 0 Victory Points

No. 10 point scoring team – 0 Victory Points

No. 11 point scoring team – 0 Victory Points

No. 12 point scoring team – 0 Victory Points

Each team will earn 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 VPs each week based on the criteria above. The weekly league standings will be based on the number of total Victory Points each team has accumulated to date. If there is a tie between teams in weekly points scored in the H2H matchup, the 2 VP points will be split evenly, 1 for each team. If there is a tie between teams in weekly points scored in separate matchups, the following tiebreakers will be used to determine who earns the Victory Points:

1. Most total points to date

2. Regular season win/loss record to date

3. Head-to-head record

4. Starting QB points during the week.

5. Coin toss

After Week 14, 6 teams from each Empire League will earn a berth in the League Playoffs in Weeks 15, 16, and 17. These 6 teams will be the 3 Division winning teams and the 3 teams with the next highest amount of Victory Points. These 6 teams will play against each other in total points competition to determine League Champion. The winners are based on weekly points scored, and there are no H2H matchups or Victory Points used in the League Playoffs. These 6 teams will be seeded 1 through 6, and the seeding will be determined in order as follows:

Seed 1 – Team with the most Victory Points

Seed 2 – Team with the next highest amount of Victory Points (not necessarily a Division Winner)

Seed 3 – Team with the next highest amount of Victory Points

Seed 4 – Team with the next highest amount of Victory Points

Seed 5 – Team with the next highest amount of Victory Points

Seed 6 – Team with the next highest amount of Victory Points (A division winner with fewer victory points than another team could qualify as the #6 seed. All three division winners must make the playoffs.)

If there is a tie between teams in Victory Points, the following tiebreakers will be used to determine Division winners as well as Playoff Seeding:

1. Total Points scored weeks 1-14

2. H2H win/loss record

3. Total starting QB points scored weeks 1-14

4. Coin toss

Seeds 1 and 2 will win a regular season award (as listed in the prize section) and earn Immunity in Week 15 of the League Playoffs. This means Seeds 1 and 2 automatically advance to Week 16.

During Week 15, Seeds 3, 4, 5, and 6 will have their scored re-set to zero, will set their lineups, and compete in a total points competition. The two teams which score the most points during Week 15 will advance to the League Playoffs. The remaining two teams are eliminated.

During Week 16 and 17, Seeds 1 and 2, as well as the two Seeds which advanced from Week 15, will have their scores reset to zero, set their lineups, and compete in a 2-week total points competition. The team which scores the most points during Weeks 16 & 17 will be crowned League Champion. The team which scored 2nd most points will be runner-up. The team which scored 3rd most points will finish 3rd.

In the rare case that there is a tie between teams in any of the League Playoff total points competition for the Empire Standard format, the following tiebreakers will be used in order from 1 to 5 to determine winners:

1. Total Victory Points during the regular season

2. Head-to-head in the regular season

3. Regular season win/loss record (weeks 1-14)

4. Starting QB points in League Playoff game.

5. Coin toss

This section of the rules will cover the process, procedures, and timeline of either renewal, sale, or orphaning FFPC Empire teams.

After each FFPC Empire season, FFPC owners have several options for the ongoing ownership of their Empire team (or teams, hereafter referred to as “teams”). The options are as follows.

Primary option: RENEW and keep any or all Empire teams.

Renewal is historically selected by 85-90% of FFPC dynasty owners. To RENEW your Empire teams, owners may use funds or credits on account or add funds by going to your FFPC myTeams page and clicking the Add Funds button. Once funds are added, click the RENEW dynasty teams message on your myTeams page to process team renewal.

Secondary options:

• RENEW and list any teams for sale with FFPC at your choice of the price up to the renewal price.
• RENEW and list any teams for sale with DynastyDepot.com* at your choice of price.
• ORPHAN any teams and forfeit all prior deposits and ownership.

Teams MUST be renewed to be posted for sale on either the FFPC or on DynastyDepot.com website.

Empire teams are considered to be ORPHANS if any of the following apply:

• The FFPC is notified by an owner that they wish to ORPHAN their teams.
• An Empire owner fails to renew their teams by the February 28th renewal deadline.

The earliest date that an owner can SELL or ORPHAN Empire teams are on Tuesday, December 24th, 2024. Team RENEWAL may be available before December 24th, 2024. FFPC will email owners if early RENEWAL becomes available.

To RENEW your Empire teams, owners may use funds or credits on account or add funds by going to your FFPC myTeams page and clicking the Add Funds button. Once funds are added, click the RENEW dynasty teams message on your myTeams page to process team renewal. Once teams are renewed, you may:

1. If you want to RENEW and sell your teams via FFPC, please email dynasty@myffpc.com with the Subject line: LIST TEAMS FOR SALE. In the email body, please include your name, FFPC account email, league name and number, team name, and your selling price. Please do not email to sell any teams before renewal.

If you wish to ORPHAN your teams entirely, please email dynasty@myffpc.com with the Subject line: ORPHAN EMPIRE TEAM (or TEAMS). In the email body, please include your name, FFPC account email, league name and number, and team name. As noted above, owners that choose to ORPHAN Empire teams will forfeit all prior deposits, and FFPC will then assume ownership and responsibility for finding new ownership for the following season.

Any owner that does not renew by 2/29, that also has not emailed to orphan, and has a balance in their FFPC account, will have their teams automatically renewed. Please email dynasty@myffpc.com if your team was automatically renewed but you would like to orphan your team.

All new owners must pay the full initial one-time deposit regardless of the purchase price. ($100 for $100, $150 for $250, $300 for $500, $500 for $750, $750 for $1250, $1,500 for $2500, and $3,000 for $5,000 leagues.) Leagues created before 2023 may have lower deposits.

Any questions regarding the above options can be sent to dynasty@myffpc.com.

*DynastyDepot.com is a 3rd party marketplace that will provide FFPC owners an opportunity to buy or sell FFPC dynasty and Empire teams. FFPC owners are not obligated to use this service. FFPC owners who do use DynastyDepot.com must agree to the terms and conditions of DynastyDepot.com. FFPC does not own, operate or control DynastyDepot.com.

FFPC uses its league management service to handle scheduling, blind bidding, transactions, win-loss records, etc. FFPC uses game statistics provided by the SportRadar data feed, which will be our basis for scoring. Elias Sports Bureau will often have minor scoring changes during the season. FFPC will automatically have the league management software make stat changes as they occur. FFPC will act as the commissioner of the overall event and will have the final say over all decisions related to and regarding the FFPC. Entrants warrant that they are familiar with the workings of Elias Sports Bureau and SportRadar, and agree not to hold FFPC and FFPC, LLC. liable for any errors caused by, or potential failures of Elias Sports Bureau or SportRadar.

In the event of a server failure or other technical issues, the last lineup that was submitted will be the official lineup for the week. FFPC, LLC. RECOMMENDS THAT PARTICIPANTS MAKE ANY OF THEIR LINEUP CHANGES AS SOON AS LINEUP SUBMISSION IS AVAILABLE EACH WEEK. In cases of extreme emergency, line-up changes may be submitted to support@myffpc.com with the words LINEUP CHANGE in the subject line or called into our 24-hour message center at 1-888-898-FFPC, as long as these changes are received before the weekly deadline for making such changes. The following must be provided for a valid email or phone transaction: League number & team name, login name and password, the name of the player(s) to be placed in the starting lineup, the name of the player(s) to be removed from the starting lineup.

If you feel there is a scoring error, please email support@myffpc.com with the words STAT APPEAL in the subject line. Kindly detail the issue, and we will look into it. We are using Elias Sports Bureau to correct any statistical errors automatically, so an appeal is not needed for an error that would be corrected by Elias. Typically, stat changes are received by Elias and SportsRadar on the Thursday following that particular week. Once the stat changes are received, the FFPC will update the standings and results of all FFPC leagues accordingly. All scoring for the prior week will go FINAL by 6 PM EST on the Friday following that particular week, and at that time, all contestants waive their right to any further appeals. It will be the sole discretion of FFPC, LLC. to make any changes not noted by Elias Sports Bureau.

If the NFL changes its season for any reason, FFPC, LLC. reserves the right to amend its FFPC league structure accordingly. Any regular season NFL games that take place before the FFPC Empire League drafts WILL count towards Week 1 point scoring in the FFPC regular season. If the NFL plays any games with replacement players during a formal league strike or lockout, statistics from those games shall not count for this competition.

Winners will be notified by email or regular mail within 10 days after the final league, and overall results are posted on the FFPC website. All award money will be paid in U.S. dollars and will be mailed out no later than January 20th, 2025, to all participants that have provided their tax reporting information. All taxes associated with the receipt of any award are the sole responsibility of the winner. FFPC, LLC. will pay 100% of all FFPC awards directly to each winning principal participant unless a prize split is requested by the principal participant, as described directly below. FFPC, LLC. is not responsible for or bound by any agreement between the principal participant and any co-managers or group. FFPC, LLC. reserves the right to substitute any non-cash award by cash or by an award of equal or greater value.

Prize splitting amongst principal participant and their co-managers is now available. The principal participant will always remain the sole legal prize winner and MUST authorize payment to his co-manager in writing. The principal participant will fill out and sign the authorization form indicating the name & address of his co-manager and the amount he should receive. Both the principal participant and the co-manager will each fill out a W-9. Once these documents are received and approved by the FFPC, LLC., the prize monies will be released to both parties. At year’s end, both the principal participant and the co-manager will receive IRS Form-1099 for their prize awards.

Limitations to prize splitting: prize splitting is limited to TWO persons only: the principal participant and the co-manager. Under no circumstance will FFPC, LLC. issue payment to anyone other than these two persons. Only total prize awards of $2,000 or greater will be eligible for prize splitting. This may be a combination of any CASH prizes won in any FFPC tournament, league, or contest. FFPC Dollars or any non-cash prizes are not applicable for prize splitting. Each share of prize split awards must be a minimum of $600. FFPC, LLC. may, at its discretion, refuse to accept any prize-splitting request and process the entire award to the principal participant. Please email info@myffpc.com with any further questions regarding the prize-splitting process.

If your gross prize winnings exceed $599.00, the Fantasy Football Players Championship must file a Form 1099 with the IRS at the end of this calendar year. At that point, we may request your social security number (this will be kept strictly private unless required to be disclosed as a matter of law) to file your prize winnings with the IRS. This Form contains the amount paid to the award principal participant and/or the co-manager in cases where the prize split has been processed. Award winners will receive a copy of the Form for tax purposes and are responsible for paying any taxes that result from your cash prize. Please consult your income tax advisor for filing advice. If you do not fill out this form and return it to us, you may not get your prize by our listed payout date of January 20th, 2025.

Please read the FFPC Terms & Conditions, section titled “Official Length of the NFL Season” for our contingency plans should the NFL have unexpected changes to its season.

Please refer to Terms & Conditions for eligibility, prohibited players and other game rules.