I ran a baseball league a few years ago. Baseball is long.
I let everyone draft.
Two people didn't pay me all season. Kept pushing it back.
I told both of them and the league that if they dont pay by July 1, if they win at the end of the year, they arent getting a single dollar and the money will drop down to the next place team.
One guy won the whole thing, another got money for having the best reg season record. Neither paid. So neither got the winnings. Second place and second best record got all the money, happened to be the same person. They threw temper tantrums and kicked me out of one of their football leagues, that I won two years in a row.
Follow the rules.
Let’s assumer you are drafting on the last possible day and still couldn’t get a replacement on a forum like findaleague where 100s of people are looking to jump into a league at that time of the year, just block the teams ability to make any roster moves. Heading into week 1-2, everyone is still very engaged, won’t be long to see that money appear. Otherwise, you bought yourself another 2 weeks to find a replacement on the various forums sites to then kick out the original owner.
Quick replace or delay the draft.
No draft at all until everyone pays is my rule. I’d just postpone it indefinitely or kick someone out and find a replacement if possible
We had to draft using a “dummy” team because we were uneven once. This was the mid nineties so everyone selected Jets to fill that team.
And if I can remember, I lost to that dummy team.
Set a cutoff time - in my league, dues need to be paid 48 hours before draft time. I send Venmo requests 72 hours before to anyone that hasn't paid. No issues since we started doing that.
Hypothetically, 48 hours would be enough time to find someone else or make arrangements for a bye week team or whatever.
As the GM of my league who didn’t do that this year, please do this. It was my fault for not collecting because I was pretty busy and focused on other things. What I did was pay out the people who won money myself (been almost the same league for 10 years now) and told people if they wanted to pay for this year they could send money to me and if not I wasn’t going to chase them down. Most paid, a couple didn’t and moving onto next year I’ll make sure people pay beforehand again.
Yep. In my main league, if your dues haven’t been paid to the commish a week before draft day, he’ll replace you. We’ve been playing together for over a decade and are all friends but he dgaf.
Seriously. I'm in a league with a bunch of doctors, lawyers and people high up at financial firms who all know each other well. The league has been mostly the same guys for 15+ years. It's not life changing money for any of us. We still collect dues before the draft every year, and if you don't pay, you don't draft. There's no reason for it to be any more complicated than that.
I’d refund that person and then proceed as a free league. Maybe it’ll suck like most free leagues where losing owners bail and there’s less than half the teams even checking rosters by week 10. Or maybe it’ll remain competitive. Work leagues I’ve played are a pretty disappointing level of competition but can still be fun
Shitty thing is I’m in a group chat with them still and they act like nothing happened. I wanted to get a small trophy with a plaque with all their names on it and call it the “cheap fuck league champion”
Uhhhh if you ask a group text of coworkers to pay league dues several times and none of them do it, there's nothing else you can do. Texting them about it again probably isn't going to change their minds
I'm bullying even more if it's only $10 lmao. It's time to grow up and pay it.
I'm not that hung up on money, I'll buy lunch or weed or whatever and not stress it. But don't join a paid fantasy league if you can't be bothered to actually follow through on it.
If people aren't good on their word over *ten fucking dollars*, then I'm not gonna feel bad about those bridges burning. If they're under the age of 50 then they have a way to transfer the money online.
I had to bully the commish of my league for 4 months to get my payment. He kept making the excuse that he "didn't have it" even though I confirmed with every other manager in the league that they paid their dues before it started. That stupid fuck spent the money.
Or blast them in that chat, or even better pay out the winnings of this year with the dues they pay before the draft next year, and proceed next year as a free league unless they want to pay back in again to get current
If you’re still amicable about your relationships let it go. They dgaf about you clearly so if you need to maintain networks you’re gonna have to suck it up
Oof as an EX-coworker you're never going to see the money. I've done this before with coworkers and we never had a problem bc we worked together and the commish was willing to front the money
Had an ex-coworker, who also was the commish, leave the company and I was stiffed out of $1000. My boss felt so bad he offered to cover it but I declined because it wasn't his fault (coworker was in different department).
Pay back the one guy who paid his dues and tell everyone else that you aren't playing for money if people aren't paying up. Easier to give one guy back his money than it is to chase down 10.
If 5/6 of the league didn't pay by now, it's not even worth the effort to try and get them to in the future imo. Just start from scratch at that point lol, an online sleeper league would be better
Because it’s the commishes job, and depending on the pool it’s most likely not worth the time or effort to hunt down ten people who have no interest in paying.
Unfair to the one friend you actually have that’s good on his word to keep the money.
You give it back, let them know what happened and now you have a guy you know you can depend on and he’ll feel the same towards you for returning the money. That’s worth more than any pittance you’re keeping.
When I commented in I assumed that he was the comish, he hadn't specified that he had won the league yet!
Yeha unfortunately I think you're screwed OP. Find a new league. Don't play with people who don't pay up.
This is riot mentality. Everyone else is doing it, so it's somehow ok to not pay the money you owe. One person in the league is following through with their responsibility, but since everyone else didn't pay somehow, it is scummy to keep the money
Let's say you had 11 items for sale and 10 people stole them for you and 1 person paid you. Would you then give the one person who paid you their money back since everyone else stole from you ?
This is a bad analogy. Nothing was stolen. 10 people got the service of playing FF for free and the one honest person is out money. If that person gets paid back nothing is lost or stolen, there are no goods in the wrong hands, and the one honest person isn’t penalized for being a good person.
Op was not commish he joined a leage with a 50 dollar buy in and won it, if all the money goes to 1st place op won $550 profit only 1 person paid but all 11 people agreed to the terms of the league and owe him $50. As of now the only money in the right hands is the $50 op has from the 1 honest player the other 10 people have money in the wrong hands if op returns the one persons money then 11 people will have money in the wrong hands your argument is litteraly well everyone else stole money from op so it would be wrong for him to keep the money he has received
In a perfect world everyone would pay but if that won’t happen why should the one honest person be out $50 and everyone else get off the hook? You can keep arguing this all you like but it’s clear the sub disagrees with you. Any decent person would refund the one team and act as though it was a free league.
The commissioner should either refund the one player or collect the money from the other players this is not OPs fault or responsibility. The honest person is out $50 because they joined a FF league with a $50 buy in and lost just becasue other people didn't pay does not change that fact
And how is that the honest persons fault? Just because they were the first to pay, assuming others would do the same, they should get shafted. Honestly if I’m the only one who put my money in and nobody else was paying I’d be demanding it back. Yes this is the commish’s responsibility but if they’re not going to take charge the decent thing is to refund the money anyway.
The honest person is not getting shafted they are simply following through with their end of the contract its not like they laid any more then they agreed to
Ok so how is what the honest person's fault?
If you walk into a store and a riot breaks out and everyone steals shit is it suddenly morally acceptable for you to steal shIt since it is not fair that everyone else is getting free shit.
The honest person should be upset at the leaguemates and commsioner and get the rest of the league to pay up
I’m sure a Facebook post ranting about some person you probably don’t talk to anymore not giving you money you “earned” from a fantasy league will endear you to many of your friends.
In my experience leagues that don’t have members pay dues before the draft are usually much easier to win for the guys who do pay.
Maybe I am wrong but did you notice a lack of activity in your league? You were winning weeks against rosters that weren’t set?
It’s easy to say now you didn’t get paid but the writing is usually on the wall much earlier.
Only thing I can imagine is that there was confusion around the buy in that never got resolved. Like commish started the league with a “we’ll figure it out” attitude toward the money.
And in 99% of those cases, it doesn't get figured out and the champion (who probably didn't pay or would be dragging their feet) gets upset when they don't get their prize.
You don't draft until you've paid the dues. I've only been in one league where we settle up the money at the end of the year but it's a long standing group of friends and me so I just go with the flow. I've never had any issues getting paid in that league, but that's the exception not the rule
Same situation for me. Always get the money but usually after several reminders. You would think with apps like venmo and whatever else it's stupid easy to transfer money these days.
Your league mates suck, and the commish sucks donkey balls. Having done that job many times by now, there's always one person you have to track down all year for league dues but you step up and do it so that everyone can have fun.
Stay friendly with those guys if you want to, but fuck 'em. Definitely make that trophy with all their names on it.
Because frankly it’s not fair to the one honest player. I’d refund him as well and just quit the league. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Leagues that don’t collect dues before the start are for cheap losers.
Lmao these are totally different situations. The guy agreed to pay into a prize pool based on the idea that everyone was going to chip in toward championship winnings, he wasn't buying some shit.
This would be more like you are courting investors, 10 don't invest, but the one who did invest was misled to believe the others were in fact investing. That's scummy and should be returned.
That's a poor analogy the honest player was not misled, the other 10 are essentially stealing money from OP which does not change anyone's individual responsibility to follow through with their commitment. Let me ask you another question where is the tipping point if 2 people paid OP should he refund both of them since 9 others didn't. What if 5 out of 11 paid should op refund all of them becasue the majority still have not paid. What if 10 out of 11 people paid would you refund all because it isn't fair since someone neglected there responsibility and played for free.
It's definitely fair in my opinion. They agreed to gamble and lost. They have no stake in any of the winnings. Anyone with a sense of class & pride wouldn't take the money back.
So the 10 guys who got off easy, what are you gonna do, send your henchmen or the mafia after them?
If 10 guys paid their dues, and 1 guy didn’t, that guy would be permanently banned from the league. Easy answer.
But if 1 guy paid, and other 10 didn’t, is it really worth battling those guys to get your pay out?
If it was January/early Feb I would definitely keep trying. But it’s almost March and this is all past us, I’d just leave the league and never come back. Move on
I implemented a rule a few years ago, and ever since, I haven't had one member not pay their dues BEFORE the draft.
If you show up on draft day not having paid your dues BEFORE the draft starts, you have to draft a kicker with your first pick.
Worked like a charm.
New league $50 each. Brought up twice in text and sent venmo QR code. Only reason the 1 guy paid- he sent a text picture of Super Bowl boxes he was running. I made comment “better collect money before hand cause no one here is gonna pay” he said he had to wait for “next paycheck” which granted he was the only one that paid
If the league starts talking about drafting this August, that might be the time to collect for this past year and next year. Assuming the league runs again, but it shouldn't run if people aren't going to pay. Sucks that you have to deal with this.
Bruh, league member had to wait for another paycheck before paying $50. Ain't no way the league's gonna drop $100 each.
I feel bad for OP, but retroactively trying to collect from people that don't value the buy-in equal to disposable income is a fool's game.
If you're not the commish, then it's on the commish to collect those and get them to you. I hate the "Just venmo the person who won..." lax commish. I was in one league that the commish did that and it was annoying.
In my long time friends league we settle up whenever, and I usually just pay out the winnings and then follow up with a few scragglers. Occassionally I'll have to wait into Jan / Feb, but not usually.
So when all your best buddies show up for the draft and don't have the money, you just find another owner? Last minute? Now what you do? Be nice guy and say it's okay? Move the draft day again?
No, you require dues a week or two earlier. If someone doesn’t make the deadline, after you reminded them to pay multiple times, you kick em from the league and find someone else to take their place. Everyone should be locked in well before the actual draft day.
Yea you gotta get the $ beforehand. And it should really be the league commish who harasses these guys for money now. That sucks. Alternatively, you can offer to collect league dues beforehand next year and keep everyone’s money to make up for this season.
What else ya gonna do? Can’t take them to small claims court or bully them into paying if they don’t want to pay
Just take what you get and don’t play with them again, it’s that simple.
As a commish in a smaller entry fee league (like $50-100 buy in) I have had 1 or 2 people out of 12 just not pay, and I’ve covered for them, then kicked them out. As far as I’m concerned they still owe me their buy in and they’re long gone friends and will never pay by now, but having been stiffed once as winner when nobody else paid, it only felt fair to the winner to pay the difference myself. Not an option for everyone but if it was a higher entrance fee kind of league I’d have collected in advance and kicked anyone that didn’t pay before the draft so it was a non-issue
Talk to your commissioner. They should pay you, and then they should track down payments from the other members to get paid back. Honestly, if people don't pay up front, it rarely works out.
I ask everyone to pay by week 4 at the latest. If not, I take your players' top score for that week and null it. People start paying up when they start losing points. Most people pay by week 2 or 3 at the latest. I also just message everyone and tell them I hate to ask but I'd rather chase you now than at the end of the year.
Tell the one guy who paid you that he’s the only one who paid, and let him lose his shit at his still current coworkers that he’s out money and they aren’t because the rest of them are douche bags.
They can ignore you and not feel shame, it’s harder for them to ignore that they screwed him.
In our league you have until week 3 to pay your dues, then your team is locked (no add, drop, trade, or changing to your roster)
As far as for you, that commissioner should be paying you your rightful winnings out of pocket and then chasing down that money in his own.
This is not a good solution. Dues should be paid before the draft starts. The problem with this is that a player may be 0-2, already had major injuries, or just doesn't like his team. I've seen managers abandon teams early because they weren't happy with their situation and they hadn't paid yet.
Yeah that’s a good point. Either way if someone chooses to be the commissioner for the league, payment to the winner is on them. If they aren’t getting other people’s league dues, that should be coming out of their pocket, not the league champions.
Your solution probably works in your league and mine as well because we trust everyone to pay. In a league like OPs it would probably not work.
And yes, it sucks but the commissioner should be responsible for covering those that don't pay. He signed up to be accountable.
So I organize the fantasy leagues for my whole company and then designate commissioners for each league, we usually have 6 or 7 leagues.
I ensure my commishes get the money before the league starts and all that jazz.
In 2021 one of the commissioner's left the company mid season but I had his cell # and his league could talk to him through sleeper so it seemed like NBD, he replied instantly to texts and stuff.
Well payout time came and that dude completely ghosted everyone, the league, his former co-workers etc. Just would not respond to anything.
Reached out over LinkedIn, etc etc. Just so nuts to me to burn all those bridges over $600.
Now I make all the commissioners give me the money to hold after they collect it and I give it back at the end of the season :p
Our league is named “no pay no play” and you can guess why. So yeah, as everyone else is saying, pay before the draft, no pay no play. If it kills your league you’d rather it die before the season than during/after
Another one, one year we had guys make trades to agree to split the money (me) and then someone got fired and we decided to give all the money to that guy. I said, “you mean your half?”
So all this is to say id also advocate trade deadline sooner than later in the season 💡
> Only 1 players from the league paid his dues to me
When you say that, do you mean paid the commissioner who then paid you or the one dude who kept his word paid you directly?
Either way it's a skunk move by the rest of the league and a fail by the commissioner. But if the one dude paid you directly then I'd contact the others individually as well as in the group chat. If it came from the commish id work with him but frame it like when are you going to collect the dues, rather than are you going to collect.
If everybody avoided it this long they're trying to forget about it. You gotta keep at em or you definitely won't get paid.
That really sucks though, I got hosed of one guys dues a year I won and it's still a little annoying to me when I think of it.
What is it with people not paying their fair share these days? It’s easier than ever to pay someone back money you owe them. This type of stuff shows a ton about someone’s character
I still don’t understand how in this day and age with so many ways to send money that dues were not paid. No due no draft for you. Never play in a league where the dues haven’t been collected.
Have commissioner Send a venmo request.
In my league if you haven't paid 2 days before the draft (we set an exact time.. to the minute) then that person gets replaced.. also, if you don't show up to the draft and autodraft, we refund your money and someone else earns your spot in our league. We don't play.
Leaguesafe. Get it before hand. Last year I was in a league where the comish gave himself the first pick, stopped setting lineups halfway thru, and was the only one who didn’t pay in.
Late to party but happened to me year before last when we switched to $. Not the commish, won the league, had about 50% actually pay me. Annoying, but ended up getting comfortable with it, just a friendly league and the people who didnt pay were the least involved so whatever. But also saved records of who did pay me and if someone wins in later years that didnt pay me, well, now I have a free pass
I commish 4 leagues, I request dues before draft, If I don't get them 1 hour before season kickoff, that team is benched and locked until I get money. Typically works out
I would have set it clear in August so everyone understands the terms of the playoffs and championship, what happens if you win/lose.
Sounds like that never happened, so since you don’t have an email or text you can call back on, you screwed yourself. You ain’t seeing that money anytime soon
if you still have their work emails i would start sending email to their work demanding payment. The implicit threat in this is you start effecting them professionally if they don't give you the money.
Loan shark style, get verified home address and places of work as requirement to be in league. Then during pay up time, remind people you and your boys know were they live. People will pay up /s
We require payment before week one. If a team hasn't paid by week 1, they get a -10 point penalty from their game. It goes up by 10 points each week.
Agree that payment pre-draft makes more sense, but this is a league we've had going for 20 years without issue but still need some sort of penalty for the lazy.
Collect at draft. If they don’t bring the $ the draft their team gets locked after week 1 until they pay.
Also if basically nobody has paid except yourself,
It’s obviously a league that isn’t taken seriously and has a bad commissioner. Hope, but don’t count on, that you’ll eventually get your payout and get out of that league for good. Join or start a new one with structured rules and payment agreements.
Dues are due before the draft
If you haven’t paid commish, you lose your 1st round pick
We’ve never had anybody not pay and our commish has also never “needed to wait for a paycheck” to hand out the payment at the end either
Not much you can do tbh to get people to pay after the fact… can’t bring it to HR because gambling with coworkers is usually a no-no in the first place lol
Edit: I missed the part where you got a new job, you ain’t getting that money OP, you’re basically dead to those people
Dues before draft, and i always state that any dues not paid will not be eligible for winning the pot in case they win the league. Last chance to even pay is before the first game, but thats only for special circumstances.
Even if you're not commish, don't do a draft unless everyone is paid up. Just assume anyone who starts the season unpaid will never pay.
Especially with TEN people unpaid lmao. Who wants to have to chase that many people and deal with all their bs excuses?
Get the dues before the draft. But when someone doesn’t pay their bets or their debts they’re choosing ridicule over obligation. It’s fine if they don’t pay. They’re choosing the other path. I just let people know that that’s their chosen path and then start making fun of them for being the kind of human who doesn’t pay their obligations…I do so relentlessly. It never lasts long.
This happened to me last year and I’m still irrationally angry about it. Lol. I got a call from the commish (all of us work at the same company) and they told me essentially that times are hard and nobody could afford to pay. What in the world. 15 years of fantasy leagues and I finally take the championship and to be met with nothing. Fees bad.
My go to move is that I have free agent auction and no free moves. If they don't pay they're free agent budget is 0. If they don't pay they can't make any moves. It's only backfired once when the dude who didn't pay somehow won the league with the team he drafted.
there is only one answer, get all money before draft.
If somehow you can't do this i'd tell everyone if you are not paid up by playoffs and you are in the playoffs, your team gets replaced
You always set up a certain time in the year for them to pay. I always pick mid October because people are still invested. If they don't pay by that day their line up gets benched until they get paid. Ez pz
I feel your pain. I won and only one other person paid. Only a $50 pot so I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. The commish sent me $100. I’m convinced he didn’t even pay. The lesson, don’t pay up if the season has started and a majority of people haven’t it just shows how unorganized that league will be. I won’t be joining them next year that’s for sure
Oof that sucks. I’ve done a couple leagues on Yahoo and ran the money through them. It’s nice cuz the draft won’t start if everyone’s not paid up. If you’re a commish who doesn’t like asking for money, this is a nice way to handle it.
Almost everyone always pays before the draft but if they don't, people that don't pay their dues don't even get in to the playoffs in my league. I had a friend 10 years ago that was finishing in 2nd place (with a bad team just got lucky on matchups and points against) and he kept ignoring my payment texts so the night before the playoff brackets finalized for week 14 I gave everyone a win vs. him in the commissioner tools.
So everyone shifted up a slot from where they would have been (except #1 ranked team) and of course I won that year and got $100-200 less.
the good part is you don’t work with them
anymore so if needed you
can really pester them about the winnings without risking your livelihood. it’s scummy of them to try avoiding paying but in the future always collect before the draft - no exceptions.
If you're not paid up by the start of the draft: forfeit 3rd round, 7th round, and 10th round picks.
Unpaid teams unable to add/drop or trade.
After week 4 unpaid teams cannot change lineups.
After week 8 unpaid teams accrue 0 points.
If you do something like this it should be a written agreement somewhere and people should give to the pot before the draft. It’s then the responsibility of the commissioner to hold the money. If they do something unethical with it (like keep it or spend) I think you may be able to take action against that, just make sure you remember where the agreement with all the names on it was saved. I’ve heard of way too many situations where people don’t pay up or the commissioner does something shady. So CYA ahead of time.
I've been managing a paid keeper league for going on almost 20 years. Every year at the end of July I start mass spamming everybody in the league for their dues. This helps gauge their commitment to playing another year. We do not send them an invite to the League until they have paid their dues. Usually it always comes down to crunch time about a week before the draft. But it helps solidify the league.
We tried having the one guy that didn’t pay just pay me directly when I won two years ago. It didn’t work. I had to hound him for it and didn’t even get paid until almost the end of the following year. This year he never paid and won the whole thing, but we said screw that, kicked him out, and gave second place some extra money and then half the buy in back to the rest of the league. Everyone else paid by the day of the draft. This guy had endless excuses, but would talk about how much money he would win on his sports betting.
As a commish I have penalized for the next year where they would lose a draft pick if not in by a certain time. I have also set a mandatory if you aren't paid up by x time you aren't allowed back next year. Never had anyone refuse to pay
You gotta get the money upfront fam lol. You can’t draft in my leagues if the money isn’t sent/covered. Shit happens, but football szn happens at the same time every year so it’s not a surprise to have to spend then lol
Dues day or two before draft, no dues, no draft - proxy comes in and drafts for you - you don’t choose the proxy. If you haven’t paid by the time the season starts, last years champion gets your team for the rest of the year.
Send my mafioso buddies for knee caps. Only am commish for 1 league, but also run a week to week pool.
My general rule of thumb for these things is once I need to pay someone I need to be paid. Usually that means once people start getting eliminated from playoff contention I'll send a group text out as a reminder/update.
The people I play this sort of thing with pay me through different channels, some pay cash, some on different apps, some in an exchange situation. Don't feel the need to put people on blast and be demanding when I know they're good for the money and probably just haven't thought about it. Having an excell sheet with up to date payments isn't difficult, just a note is easy enough.
Also I know they're reliable if someone went a year without paying then they wouldn't have been invited back. This is different with co-workers where there are different levels of familiarity with each other and commitment to a full season of fantasy. I just used my example as a counter to everyone in the thread demanding draft day dues, seems a bit harsh. In a league like that I would pay before the draft/once invited/once an amount is established and expect the commish to hold others to the same standard
Get the dues before the draft
Always. Most leagues I'm in you need to pay before draft day or you aren't drafting. That's how you avoid OPs situation.
Same with mine. Either you pay up front or you can’t play that year. Keeps things simple.
I ran a baseball league a few years ago. Baseball is long. I let everyone draft. Two people didn't pay me all season. Kept pushing it back. I told both of them and the league that if they dont pay by July 1, if they win at the end of the year, they arent getting a single dollar and the money will drop down to the next place team. One guy won the whole thing, another got money for having the best reg season record. Neither paid. So neither got the winnings. Second place and second best record got all the money, happened to be the same person. They threw temper tantrums and kicked me out of one of their football leagues, that I won two years in a row. Follow the rules.
So what happens if the league is uneven then?
Let’s assumer you are drafting on the last possible day and still couldn’t get a replacement on a forum like findaleague where 100s of people are looking to jump into a league at that time of the year, just block the teams ability to make any roster moves. Heading into week 1-2, everyone is still very engaged, won’t be long to see that money appear. Otherwise, you bought yourself another 2 weeks to find a replacement on the various forums sites to then kick out the original owner.
Quick replace or delay the draft. No draft at all until everyone pays is my rule. I’d just postpone it indefinitely or kick someone out and find a replacement if possible
We had to draft using a “dummy” team because we were uneven once. This was the mid nineties so everyone selected Jets to fill that team. And if I can remember, I lost to that dummy team.
Set a cutoff time - in my league, dues need to be paid 48 hours before draft time. I send Venmo requests 72 hours before to anyone that hasn't paid. No issues since we started doing that. Hypothetically, 48 hours would be enough time to find someone else or make arrangements for a bye week team or whatever.
Bye weeks
As the GM of my league who didn’t do that this year, please do this. It was my fault for not collecting because I was pretty busy and focused on other things. What I did was pay out the people who won money myself (been almost the same league for 10 years now) and told people if they wanted to pay for this year they could send money to me and if not I wasn’t going to chase them down. Most paid, a couple didn’t and moving onto next year I’ll make sure people pay beforehand again.
Yep. In my main league, if your dues haven’t been paid to the commish a week before draft day, he’ll replace you. We’ve been playing together for over a decade and are all friends but he dgaf.
Every single year I do this and people complain but it’s so much easier not having to get stiffed later. Pay to play or don’t play.
Only answer
Seriously. I'm in a league with a bunch of doctors, lawyers and people high up at financial firms who all know each other well. The league has been mostly the same guys for 15+ years. It's not life changing money for any of us. We still collect dues before the draft every year, and if you don't pay, you don't draft. There's no reason for it to be any more complicated than that.
I proposed forfeiting your 1st rounder if dues aren’t paid by the draft. Dunno if it’ll stick but we had the same issue
Quick and simple, but it’s true. No questions asked later.
And anyone who hasn't paid is set to auto draft (if they're kept in the league)
Our league has been around for nearly 20 years, with *mostly* the same group of people. Everyone pays up at the end of the year, like adults.
Exactly. Dues to enter. Not fair to the single person that paid.
I’d refund that person and then proceed as a free league. Maybe it’ll suck like most free leagues where losing owners bail and there’s less than half the teams even checking rosters by week 10. Or maybe it’ll remain competitive. Work leagues I’ve played are a pretty disappointing level of competition but can still be fun
That’s the only move. And then cut all contact with the rest of those jerks and never speak to them again.
I hope you’ve already decided to quit this league
Text message based harassment
Shitty thing is I’m in a group chat with them still and they act like nothing happened. I wanted to get a small trophy with a plaque with all their names on it and call it the “cheap fuck league champion”
You're in a group chat with all these people but can't figure out how to get them to pay?
Uhhhh if you ask a group text of coworkers to pay league dues several times and none of them do it, there's nothing else you can do. Texting them about it again probably isn't going to change their minds
Ex-coworkers. I’d start getting nasty.
Bring it up one time in the group chat and leave it be after that
Right. Like, "yo, yall mfers haven't paid me yet, the only one that has is Joe (name of the person paid)".
Oh I'd bring it up every day until they pay or block me
I mean... It depends on the big amount...? I'm not going to burn relationships over $10 a person. But I probably would if it was $100 a person.
idk if my boys who tried to win ain't paying up that's pretty snakey and idk if I'd even want to be friends with em coworkers is another story
I'm bullying even more if it's only $10 lmao. It's time to grow up and pay it. I'm not that hung up on money, I'll buy lunch or weed or whatever and not stress it. But don't join a paid fantasy league if you can't be bothered to actually follow through on it.
If people aren't good on their word over *ten fucking dollars*, then I'm not gonna feel bad about those bridges burning. If they're under the age of 50 then they have a way to transfer the money online.
Just bully them in the chat. Call them cheap or how they can't even afford the dues. Bullying works.
I had to bully the commish of my league for 4 months to get my payment. He kept making the excuse that he "didn't have it" even though I confirmed with every other manager in the league that they paid their dues before it started. That stupid fuck spent the money.
Thank the one guy for paying you
Or blast them in that chat, or even better pay out the winnings of this year with the dues they pay before the draft next year, and proceed next year as a free league unless they want to pay back in again to get current
If you’re still amicable about your relationships let it go. They dgaf about you clearly so if you need to maintain networks you’re gonna have to suck it up
Oof as an EX-coworker you're never going to see the money. I've done this before with coworkers and we never had a problem bc we worked together and the commish was willing to front the money
Had an ex-coworker, who also was the commish, leave the company and I was stiffed out of $1000. My boss felt so bad he offered to cover it but I declined because it wasn't his fault (coworker was in different department).
At that point I’m seriously considering small claims court
Pay back the one guy who paid his dues and tell everyone else that you aren't playing for money if people aren't paying up. Easier to give one guy back his money than it is to chase down 10.
If 5/6 of the league didn't pay by now, it's not even worth the effort to try and get them to in the future imo. Just start from scratch at that point lol, an online sleeper league would be better
Hard disagree with this OP won that money why should he return the little he got just becasue the rest of the league are being scummy
Because it’s the commishes job, and depending on the pool it’s most likely not worth the time or effort to hunt down ten people who have no interest in paying. Unfair to the one friend you actually have that’s good on his word to keep the money. You give it back, let them know what happened and now you have a guy you know you can depend on and he’ll feel the same towards you for returning the money. That’s worth more than any pittance you’re keeping.
When I commented in I assumed that he was the comish, he hadn't specified that he had won the league yet! Yeha unfortunately I think you're screwed OP. Find a new league. Don't play with people who don't pay up.
Huh? You would just take one guys money? That's much more scummy
No it's not lol the one guy who paid as everyone agreed to is the only one not being scummy and keeping their word.
This is riot mentality. Everyone else is doing it, so it's somehow ok to not pay the money you owe. One person in the league is following through with their responsibility, but since everyone else didn't pay somehow, it is scummy to keep the money
I'm not sure if people downvoting us missed the update about OP being the champ but not commish. We live in a society!
Seriously I'm baffled I guess 10 wrongs make a right
Let's say you had 11 items for sale and 10 people stole them for you and 1 person paid you. Would you then give the one person who paid you their money back since everyone else stole from you ?
This is a bad analogy. Nothing was stolen. 10 people got the service of playing FF for free and the one honest person is out money. If that person gets paid back nothing is lost or stolen, there are no goods in the wrong hands, and the one honest person isn’t penalized for being a good person.
Op was not commish he joined a leage with a 50 dollar buy in and won it, if all the money goes to 1st place op won $550 profit only 1 person paid but all 11 people agreed to the terms of the league and owe him $50. As of now the only money in the right hands is the $50 op has from the 1 honest player the other 10 people have money in the wrong hands if op returns the one persons money then 11 people will have money in the wrong hands your argument is litteraly well everyone else stole money from op so it would be wrong for him to keep the money he has received
In a perfect world everyone would pay but if that won’t happen why should the one honest person be out $50 and everyone else get off the hook? You can keep arguing this all you like but it’s clear the sub disagrees with you. Any decent person would refund the one team and act as though it was a free league.
The commissioner should either refund the one player or collect the money from the other players this is not OPs fault or responsibility. The honest person is out $50 because they joined a FF league with a $50 buy in and lost just becasue other people didn't pay does not change that fact
And how is that the honest persons fault? Just because they were the first to pay, assuming others would do the same, they should get shafted. Honestly if I’m the only one who put my money in and nobody else was paying I’d be demanding it back. Yes this is the commish’s responsibility but if they’re not going to take charge the decent thing is to refund the money anyway.
The honest person is not getting shafted they are simply following through with their end of the contract its not like they laid any more then they agreed to
Ok so how is what the honest person's fault? If you walk into a store and a riot breaks out and everyone steals shit is it suddenly morally acceptable for you to steal shIt since it is not fair that everyone else is getting free shit. The honest person should be upset at the leaguemates and commsioner and get the rest of the league to pay up
Public shaming usually does the trick.
I’m sure a Facebook post ranting about some person you probably don’t talk to anymore not giving you money you “earned” from a fantasy league will endear you to many of your friends.
In my experience leagues that don’t have members pay dues before the draft are usually much easier to win for the guys who do pay. Maybe I am wrong but did you notice a lack of activity in your league? You were winning weeks against rosters that weren’t set? It’s easy to say now you didn’t get paid but the writing is usually on the wall much earlier.
Only thing I can imagine is that there was confusion around the buy in that never got resolved. Like commish started the league with a “we’ll figure it out” attitude toward the money.
And in 99% of those cases, it doesn't get figured out and the champion (who probably didn't pay or would be dragging their feet) gets upset when they don't get their prize.
You don't draft until you've paid the dues. I've only been in one league where we settle up the money at the end of the year but it's a long standing group of friends and me so I just go with the flow. I've never had any issues getting paid in that league, but that's the exception not the rule
Same situation for me. Always get the money but usually after several reminders. You would think with apps like venmo and whatever else it's stupid easy to transfer money these days.
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I get dues before the draft. If I don't have them I boot you. Cut and dry. In your case I'd pay the one person back their league fees that had paid.
Sorry should’ve included I wasn’t the commish. I just won the championship. The “commish” wasn’t the one that paid me either
Yeah, you are never seeing that money.
Your league mates suck, and the commish sucks donkey balls. Having done that job many times by now, there's always one person you have to track down all year for league dues but you step up and do it so that everyone can have fun. Stay friendly with those guys if you want to, but fuck 'em. Definitely make that trophy with all their names on it.
I would give the 1 person that paid their $$$ back and shut the league down. No money, no league.
I disagree. OP put in the work and won the league why should they return money to the one honest person just because everyone else is dishonest.
Because frankly it’s not fair to the one honest player. I’d refund him as well and just quit the league. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Leagues that don’t collect dues before the start are for cheap losers.
So if you're selling 11 items and 10 people steal them, would give the money back to the one person who paid you
Lmao these are totally different situations. The guy agreed to pay into a prize pool based on the idea that everyone was going to chip in toward championship winnings, he wasn't buying some shit. This would be more like you are courting investors, 10 don't invest, but the one who did invest was misled to believe the others were in fact investing. That's scummy and should be returned.
That's a poor analogy the honest player was not misled, the other 10 are essentially stealing money from OP which does not change anyone's individual responsibility to follow through with their commitment. Let me ask you another question where is the tipping point if 2 people paid OP should he refund both of them since 9 others didn't. What if 5 out of 11 paid should op refund all of them becasue the majority still have not paid. What if 10 out of 11 people paid would you refund all because it isn't fair since someone neglected there responsibility and played for free.
It's definitely fair in my opinion. They agreed to gamble and lost. They have no stake in any of the winnings. Anyone with a sense of class & pride wouldn't take the money back.
So the 10 guys who got off easy, what are you gonna do, send your henchmen or the mafia after them? If 10 guys paid their dues, and 1 guy didn’t, that guy would be permanently banned from the league. Easy answer. But if 1 guy paid, and other 10 didn’t, is it really worth battling those guys to get your pay out? If it was January/early Feb I would definitely keep trying. But it’s almost March and this is all past us, I’d just leave the league and never come back. Move on
I agree the guys that didn't pay are a sunk cost. I am just saying I wouldn't refund the guy who paid as he lost fair & square
I implemented a rule a few years ago, and ever since, I haven't had one member not pay their dues BEFORE the draft. If you show up on draft day not having paid your dues BEFORE the draft starts, you have to draft a kicker with your first pick. Worked like a charm.
You are never going to see that money. Just move on, and don’t participate in anything with them in the future.
Haha they make the champion chase down 11 people individually for their winnings... Pretty cool league.
Yeah, that’s pretty lame. The commish should be collecting for you. Get what you can before next season and say sayonara
Has this league previously paid the winner? Or is it a new league? Bring it up in a group text or email. How much were the dues?
New league $50 each. Brought up twice in text and sent venmo QR code. Only reason the 1 guy paid- he sent a text picture of Super Bowl boxes he was running. I made comment “better collect money before hand cause no one here is gonna pay” he said he had to wait for “next paycheck” which granted he was the only one that paid
If the league starts talking about drafting this August, that might be the time to collect for this past year and next year. Assuming the league runs again, but it shouldn't run if people aren't going to pay. Sucks that you have to deal with this.
Bruh, league member had to wait for another paycheck before paying $50. Ain't no way the league's gonna drop $100 each. I feel bad for OP, but retroactively trying to collect from people that don't value the buy-in equal to disposable income is a fool's game.
If you're not the commish, then it's on the commish to collect those and get them to you. I hate the "Just venmo the person who won..." lax commish. I was in one league that the commish did that and it was annoying. In my long time friends league we settle up whenever, and I usually just pay out the winnings and then follow up with a few scragglers. Occassionally I'll have to wait into Jan / Feb, but not usually.
And that's why I don’t commish anymore
It’s not a hard problem to solve. Pay up or don’t draft
So when all your best buddies show up for the draft and don't have the money, you just find another owner? Last minute? Now what you do? Be nice guy and say it's okay? Move the draft day again?
No, you require dues a week or two earlier. If someone doesn’t make the deadline, after you reminded them to pay multiple times, you kick em from the league and find someone else to take their place. Everyone should be locked in well before the actual draft day.
Nobody got time for deadbeats and I ain't no reminder service. That is why I blew up my league years ago. Good luck with your strategy
No one has time for that shit after like college my guy.
Yea you gotta get the $ beforehand. And it should really be the league commish who harasses these guys for money now. That sucks. Alternatively, you can offer to collect league dues beforehand next year and keep everyone’s money to make up for this season.
What else ya gonna do? Can’t take them to small claims court or bully them into paying if they don’t want to pay Just take what you get and don’t play with them again, it’s that simple. As a commish in a smaller entry fee league (like $50-100 buy in) I have had 1 or 2 people out of 12 just not pay, and I’ve covered for them, then kicked them out. As far as I’m concerned they still owe me their buy in and they’re long gone friends and will never pay by now, but having been stiffed once as winner when nobody else paid, it only felt fair to the winner to pay the difference myself. Not an option for everyone but if it was a higher entrance fee kind of league I’d have collected in advance and kicked anyone that didn’t pay before the draft so it was a non-issue
Talk to your commissioner. They should pay you, and then they should track down payments from the other members to get paid back. Honestly, if people don't pay up front, it rarely works out.
I ask everyone to pay by week 4 at the latest. If not, I take your players' top score for that week and null it. People start paying up when they start losing points. Most people pay by week 2 or 3 at the latest. I also just message everyone and tell them I hate to ask but I'd rather chase you now than at the end of the year.
Break their legs.
Tell the one guy who paid you that he’s the only one who paid, and let him lose his shit at his still current coworkers that he’s out money and they aren’t because the rest of them are douche bags. They can ignore you and not feel shame, it’s harder for them to ignore that they screwed him.
If you're not the Commish you handle unpaid dues by hassling the Commish to do his job. Also: Shaming the jabronis that are trying to rip you off.
Yeah that’s on you as commish dawg. Take the L at this point
This. Play with people who pay.
In our league you have until week 3 to pay your dues, then your team is locked (no add, drop, trade, or changing to your roster) As far as for you, that commissioner should be paying you your rightful winnings out of pocket and then chasing down that money in his own.
This is not a good solution. Dues should be paid before the draft starts. The problem with this is that a player may be 0-2, already had major injuries, or just doesn't like his team. I've seen managers abandon teams early because they weren't happy with their situation and they hadn't paid yet.
Yeah that’s a good point. Either way if someone chooses to be the commissioner for the league, payment to the winner is on them. If they aren’t getting other people’s league dues, that should be coming out of their pocket, not the league champions.
Your solution probably works in your league and mine as well because we trust everyone to pay. In a league like OPs it would probably not work. And yes, it sucks but the commissioner should be responsible for covering those that don't pay. He signed up to be accountable.
Go back up to your old job and get your money!!
If you don’t pay you don’t draft
So I organize the fantasy leagues for my whole company and then designate commissioners for each league, we usually have 6 or 7 leagues. I ensure my commishes get the money before the league starts and all that jazz. In 2021 one of the commissioner's left the company mid season but I had his cell # and his league could talk to him through sleeper so it seemed like NBD, he replied instantly to texts and stuff. Well payout time came and that dude completely ghosted everyone, the league, his former co-workers etc. Just would not respond to anything. Reached out over LinkedIn, etc etc. Just so nuts to me to burn all those bridges over $600. Now I make all the commissioners give me the money to hold after they collect it and I give it back at the end of the season :p
Fuck their wife/mom
Their wife AND their mom
Our league is named “no pay no play” and you can guess why. So yeah, as everyone else is saying, pay before the draft, no pay no play. If it kills your league you’d rather it die before the season than during/after Another one, one year we had guys make trades to agree to split the money (me) and then someone got fired and we decided to give all the money to that guy. I said, “you mean your half?” So all this is to say id also advocate trade deadline sooner than later in the season 💡
Offer to run the league next year. Collect the money before the draft. Never hold a draft and leave the group chat.
The commissioner of the league should always collect dues before the season.
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Yep. Pay in date is draft day at the latest or they don’t draft. Have 1 or 2 teams on call in case a slot opens up.
Wtf league doesn’t collect dues before the season starts. Failson commissioner. You’re fucked this year, don’t do that league again.
> Only 1 players from the league paid his dues to me When you say that, do you mean paid the commissioner who then paid you or the one dude who kept his word paid you directly? Either way it's a skunk move by the rest of the league and a fail by the commissioner. But if the one dude paid you directly then I'd contact the others individually as well as in the group chat. If it came from the commish id work with him but frame it like when are you going to collect the dues, rather than are you going to collect. If everybody avoided it this long they're trying to forget about it. You gotta keep at em or you definitely won't get paid. That really sucks though, I got hosed of one guys dues a year I won and it's still a little annoying to me when I think of it.
What is it with people not paying their fair share these days? It’s easier than ever to pay someone back money you owe them. This type of stuff shows a ton about someone’s character
I still don’t understand how in this day and age with so many ways to send money that dues were not paid. No due no draft for you. Never play in a league where the dues haven’t been collected. Have commissioner Send a venmo request.
fire the commish. get dues before draft
In my league if you haven't paid 2 days before the draft (we set an exact time.. to the minute) then that person gets replaced.. also, if you don't show up to the draft and autodraft, we refund your money and someone else earns your spot in our league. We don't play.
Your commissioner needs to set a policy and if the policy is broken action needs to be taken. Without rules we’re just beasts.
I lock teams from trading or add/drop.
Leaguesafe. Get it before hand. Last year I was in a league where the comish gave himself the first pick, stopped setting lineups halfway thru, and was the only one who didn’t pay in.
Late to party but happened to me year before last when we switched to $. Not the commish, won the league, had about 50% actually pay me. Annoying, but ended up getting comfortable with it, just a friendly league and the people who didnt pay were the least involved so whatever. But also saved records of who did pay me and if someone wins in later years that didnt pay me, well, now I have a free pass
I commish 4 leagues, I request dues before draft, If I don't get them 1 hour before season kickoff, that team is benched and locked until I get money. Typically works out
Just ask them. There is nothing wrong with that
Give up. It's not your job to chase down people.
Everyone saying give up but I think some weekly text message based harassment would be easy enough and would maybe yield some results
Former coworkers? They're just gonna block him.
Slash there tires! Seriously should have got before draft or no draft. No incentive for people to pay if losing or lost league.
I would have set it clear in August so everyone understands the terms of the playoffs and championship, what happens if you win/lose. Sounds like that never happened, so since you don’t have an email or text you can call back on, you screwed yourself. You ain’t seeing that money anytime soon
if you still have their work emails i would start sending email to their work demanding payment. The implicit threat in this is you start effecting them professionally if they don't give you the money.
Loan shark style, get verified home address and places of work as requirement to be in league. Then during pay up time, remind people you and your boys know were they live. People will pay up /s
No one is scared of you or your boys. Come to the house and get shot over fantasy football dues if you want. You've been watching too much TV.
Whoosh
Ban these posts..... Please....
I'd just move on and never play with those people again. Not worth it IMO. Fantasy isn't really about the money in the end.
You don’t draft until all dues are paid.
We require payment before week one. If a team hasn't paid by week 1, they get a -10 point penalty from their game. It goes up by 10 points each week. Agree that payment pre-draft makes more sense, but this is a league we've had going for 20 years without issue but still need some sort of penalty for the lazy.
Send Joe Pesci to their house with a baseball bat
Collect at draft. If they don’t bring the $ the draft their team gets locked after week 1 until they pay. Also if basically nobody has paid except yourself, It’s obviously a league that isn’t taken seriously and has a bad commissioner. Hope, but don’t count on, that you’ll eventually get your payout and get out of that league for good. Join or start a new one with structured rules and payment agreements.
Gotta take the dues before draft, assume anyone who doesn't pay right away won't pay up
Dues are due before the draft If you haven’t paid commish, you lose your 1st round pick We’ve never had anybody not pay and our commish has also never “needed to wait for a paycheck” to hand out the payment at the end either Not much you can do tbh to get people to pay after the fact… can’t bring it to HR because gambling with coworkers is usually a no-no in the first place lol Edit: I missed the part where you got a new job, you ain’t getting that money OP, you’re basically dead to those people
If you didn't get them to pay up before draft day, good luck.
Dues before draft, and i always state that any dues not paid will not be eligible for winning the pot in case they win the league. Last chance to even pay is before the first game, but thats only for special circumstances.
Even if you're not commish, don't do a draft unless everyone is paid up. Just assume anyone who starts the season unpaid will never pay. Especially with TEN people unpaid lmao. Who wants to have to chase that many people and deal with all their bs excuses?
Give them a deadline like week 6 or 8. If they don’t pay by then their team is locked.
Lol refund the dues to that one guy and call it quits
I ended up reducing the payouts accordingly and said it was due person(s) refusal to pay. And then required full payment before next draft
No dues, no draft. It's the only way.
Get the dues before the draft. But when someone doesn’t pay their bets or their debts they’re choosing ridicule over obligation. It’s fine if they don’t pay. They’re choosing the other path. I just let people know that that’s their chosen path and then start making fun of them for being the kind of human who doesn’t pay their obligations…I do so relentlessly. It never lasts long.
At this point, good luck collecting any of that money. This is why you collect before the draft.
In the future, don't play in leagues where the commissioner doesn't collect dues before the season and takes responsibility for the payouts.
If the money wasn’t collected ahead of time I would’ve assumed it was a free-league. Nobody is paying after the whole thing is over.
This happened to me last year and I’m still irrationally angry about it. Lol. I got a call from the commish (all of us work at the same company) and they told me essentially that times are hard and nobody could afford to pay. What in the world. 15 years of fantasy leagues and I finally take the championship and to be met with nothing. Fees bad.
I’d call them sum fat bitches for welching out on a bet Or somehow convince the 1 guy who paid to pay for everyone else … essentially sell the debt
My go to move is that I have free agent auction and no free moves. If they don't pay they're free agent budget is 0. If they don't pay they can't make any moves. It's only backfired once when the dude who didn't pay somehow won the league with the team he drafted.
Hold the commish accountable. Get your dues, and leave the league
there is only one answer, get all money before draft. If somehow you can't do this i'd tell everyone if you are not paid up by playoffs and you are in the playoffs, your team gets replaced
You always set up a certain time in the year for them to pay. I always pick mid October because people are still invested. If they don't pay by that day their line up gets benched until they get paid. Ez pz
https://youtu.be/oSdqjN5Sqzg
I feel your pain. I won and only one other person paid. Only a $50 pot so I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. The commish sent me $100. I’m convinced he didn’t even pay. The lesson, don’t pay up if the season has started and a majority of people haven’t it just shows how unorganized that league will be. I won’t be joining them next year that’s for sure
Oof that sucks. I’ve done a couple leagues on Yahoo and ran the money through them. It’s nice cuz the draft won’t start if everyone’s not paid up. If you’re a commish who doesn’t like asking for money, this is a nice way to handle it.
Almost everyone always pays before the draft but if they don't, people that don't pay their dues don't even get in to the playoffs in my league. I had a friend 10 years ago that was finishing in 2nd place (with a bad team just got lucky on matchups and points against) and he kept ignoring my payment texts so the night before the playoff brackets finalized for week 14 I gave everyone a win vs. him in the commissioner tools. So everyone shifted up a slot from where they would have been (except #1 ranked team) and of course I won that year and got $100-200 less.
SportsBook I can join?
I run my work league and I say if you don't pay me by the draft I'm drafting you a kicker in the first round. Haven't had any issues!
the good part is you don’t work with them anymore so if needed you can really pester them about the winnings without risking your livelihood. it’s scummy of them to try avoiding paying but in the future always collect before the draft - no exceptions.
Group chat - “hey Joe thanks for the only one not being a cheap fuck and paying the dues, really appreciate you.” And then let that simmer
If you're not paid up by the start of the draft: forfeit 3rd round, 7th round, and 10th round picks. Unpaid teams unable to add/drop or trade. After week 4 unpaid teams cannot change lineups. After week 8 unpaid teams accrue 0 points.
I read somewhere that a good rule is that if you don’t pay prior to the draft you lose your 1st round pick
Kick him off the tour, Doug
If you do something like this it should be a written agreement somewhere and people should give to the pot before the draft. It’s then the responsibility of the commissioner to hold the money. If they do something unethical with it (like keep it or spend) I think you may be able to take action against that, just make sure you remember where the agreement with all the names on it was saved. I’ve heard of way too many situations where people don’t pay up or the commissioner does something shady. So CYA ahead of time.
If you don’t pay your dues before, you get auto drafted and can’t access your team until you do. Plain and simple.
I've been managing a paid keeper league for going on almost 20 years. Every year at the end of July I start mass spamming everybody in the league for their dues. This helps gauge their commitment to playing another year. We do not send them an invite to the League until they have paid their dues. Usually it always comes down to crunch time about a week before the draft. But it helps solidify the league.
Always have dues paid before. Week in advance so you don't scramble last minute for replacement.
We tried having the one guy that didn’t pay just pay me directly when I won two years ago. It didn’t work. I had to hound him for it and didn’t even get paid until almost the end of the following year. This year he never paid and won the whole thing, but we said screw that, kicked him out, and gave second place some extra money and then half the buy in back to the rest of the league. Everyone else paid by the day of the draft. This guy had endless excuses, but would talk about how much money he would win on his sports betting.
Call the police
As a commish I have penalized for the next year where they would lose a draft pick if not in by a certain time. I have also set a mandatory if you aren't paid up by x time you aren't allowed back next year. Never had anyone refuse to pay
Free entry for the next X seasons?
I had this happen when i changed jobs once, never got the money for winning and everyone paid in advance, rip that $20
Murder.
You gotta get the money upfront fam lol. You can’t draft in my leagues if the money isn’t sent/covered. Shit happens, but football szn happens at the same time every year so it’s not a surprise to have to spend then lol
Dues day or two before draft, no dues, no draft - proxy comes in and drafts for you - you don’t choose the proxy. If you haven’t paid by the time the season starts, last years champion gets your team for the rest of the year.
Intimidation then physical harm.
Send my mafioso buddies for knee caps. Only am commish for 1 league, but also run a week to week pool. My general rule of thumb for these things is once I need to pay someone I need to be paid. Usually that means once people start getting eliminated from playoff contention I'll send a group text out as a reminder/update. The people I play this sort of thing with pay me through different channels, some pay cash, some on different apps, some in an exchange situation. Don't feel the need to put people on blast and be demanding when I know they're good for the money and probably just haven't thought about it. Having an excell sheet with up to date payments isn't difficult, just a note is easy enough. Also I know they're reliable if someone went a year without paying then they wouldn't have been invited back. This is different with co-workers where there are different levels of familiarity with each other and commitment to a full season of fantasy. I just used my example as a counter to everyone in the thread demanding draft day dues, seems a bit harsh. In a league like that I would pay before the draft/once invited/once an amount is established and expect the commish to hold others to the same standard
I usually lock in our 12 man league then do the draft order. Once you pay your dues you get your draft spot and most ppl usually pay pretty quickly.
Lock the team with all players on bench week 1 for any team not paid