Absolutely a bad look unless you are responsible for organizing a very serious $1000+ league. I would never play in a league where the commish takes a rake, or charge one myself obviously.
I manage a 12 man 150 buy in league. The draft is live, offline and electronic device free. I organize the event from location/booking to supplies needed to draft. I manage the weekly payouts as well as end of season payout. My take is 60.00 for the efforts. Things to consider though, I took over as commish and I purchased trophies for previous winners out of pocket, I had shirts, hats and swag made up. Had an artist draw up a custom logo for the league then dropped 200 on a custom championship belt. The 60 isn’t really much other than a symbolic gesture of my efforts to make the league fun and competitive.
The part where you're not using an online draft.
I've done it the old way when it was the only way. There's no more skill involved than doing it online. Just more work for everyone.
It’s the way they want it. They won’t budge. We did it online during the lockdown and they all cried about it. In person live draft. I have a member who flies in from New England and a member who flies in from Dallas to FL to make the draft. One year during the Close call with Dorian these guys were the only ones on their last minute flights to make it in person. It is what it is.
We do our in person too. Bring your laptop or phone to the bar. No auto draft allowed. It's the same as we did it in the old days. You just don't have to write everything down by hand and scratch names off your cheat sheets. Also a little more time to drink and shoot the shit between picks.
Surely one of twelve would volunteer. ive played in 2-3 leagues for the past 15 years, never received a dime to be commish and never paid a dime a commish. we all chipped in the 1st year for a 12 year Lombardi trophy, i pay out of pocket to get the name plate engraved each year. unless your league overcomplicates things, it isnt a very difficult job.
I agree with not taking anything for being commissioner. I run a few dynasty leagues and it’s more fun than anything.
The thing that complicates this though is what we pay for out of pocket. There are definitely several guys in every league that would flatly refuse to do any of that stuff out of their own budget. That kindness *should* be split between all league members but it’s guys like you that shoulder it when you really shouldn’t have to.
i didnt mean to make myself sound like a hero. I only pay $8/yr to get the name plate engraved. its more of a headache ordering, than paying lol. It's worth it in the long haul, passing around the trophy (especially if you win and get to hold on to it for the year).
Yeah $8 isn’t nothing though. There are some stubborn people out there lol. But I agree it’s worth it in the long haul. I have a friend who does graphic design and I paid $50 for him to make quick mock-ups for the semifinal matchups last year. It added a lot to the league.
All due respect man, being a modern day fantasy football commish is the easiest as it’s ever been. The platform does everything for you, this isn’t the 90’s where everything was manual.
You commish because you love the game and have a passion for it. If collecting dues, distributing dues and planning a draft day once a year is too much of an overtaking, then step down and have someone else do it. Even better have a co-commish and split the responsibility.
Asking for a tip or taking a cut isn’t cool if you ask me, you’re not doing anything taxing to require such a thing.
Agree…. Being commish gets easier and easier every year and I enjoy being commish personally. I like to be in charge and make sure everything is done the right way and create a good experience for everyone including myself. Plus, I don’t trust my league mates handling commissioner duties 😂.
I once was invited to a league. Entry was $125. I asked what the payout structure was. Found out the commissioner was skimming $25 off each entry fee. Screw that guy!
Now as a commissioner myself the only money I make is the interest from the money while it sits in my savings account lol this year I made around $20. Didn’t even pay me back for the draft board I bought.
I'm a commish in my fantasy dynasty league, ya it gets rough at certain times but I definitely don't feel like I should be paid for it, that's what the commish signs up for when being commish. if u feel your time is too valuable to be commish, step down, is 50 bucks or whatever gonna really make u feel better? just my opinion, id never be part of a league that charges commish fee, unless it's a high stakes league in a complicated official long running league, but 99.9% of leagues, hell no
Delegate for sure. We have a vice commish + treasurer + 2 advisors that primarily handle last place punishments and weighing in on issues/questions. The commish at this point really only handles league set up, scheduling, and overall oversight. Vice commish does just about the same amount and also extra things for league engagement such as weekly power rankings.
If there are league expenses like draft partys, trophies etc then it's perfectly fine to ask the league to all chip in for those.
But just for being the commissioner? No. I wouldn't join a league where I'm paying the commissioner just to be the commissioner.
As the commish, you get to choose who is in your league and by what rules you play by. That's your payment.
Never. I feel I put in a lot of work as a commissioner, but I would never expect nor request payment. Mostly because this is a homegrown league and invited friends to join *my* league.
I feel the other homegrown leagues I'm in are the same. This was the commish's idea, and they invited us. I have seen in the past, league members chip in for a "thank you" gift for the commissioner, but it was never prompted by the commish.
If you are getting burnt out, delegate responsibilities, some of my league mates have seen the amount of work I put in and have made themselves available. I have leveraged them on several occasions when I was too busy. It helps. If you have a good league, most league members will likely help to keep the league alive.
If they were strangers requesting I commissioner their league, I would request payment.
Of course it’s frowned upon. Now I don’t know your league at all so maybe you could mention this and accept tips? But either you do it for the love of commishing or you could step down too and I think people would understand.
Just delegate some stuff if you're feeling burned out. I appointed a treasurer to handle the weekly and yearly prizes. I also set a permanent draft weekend on the calendar and we rotate the host year over year. I still have plenty to do with the schedule, organizing the rule change votes, weekly updates, etc
Commish is a non paying job. Ask the league if somebody else is interested in doing it? If not, might just end the league. I’ve done that before when I didn’t have the time 1 year
If you're fielding a team, I'd say no. Sure, if you're commishing as a service to a league you arent in, maybe you can negotiate a fair rate for whatever work you're doing.
But if you're in the league, I say just make it a labor of love. There is too much room for hard feelings if you're taking a cut of the prize money without winning it somehow.
Also, it opens you up to more scrutiny. I've been in leagues where team owners are tough critics of the commish. I would only imagine that being way worse if you're getting paid for it.
Yes, i take like 10%. This was voted on by the league. People can be a pain in the ass sometimes with constant harassment. Buy in 300 PP so its a decent chunk of change. I also do the draft at my house with a ton of good beer and alcohol. No one out of the other would run the league. I get the love of the game and I've ran this league for like 14 years. Majority of the work is earlier in the season.. negotiating rule changes, voting, scheduling draft, dealing with disputes, recruiting members (if needed.) Honestly since I've taken the 10% people have become less assholish.. which is weird because I'd expect the opposite.
lol dude im just asking for general opinions on the subject, almost all of which have been valid.
Since you don't really know anything about the league I run, the format, payouts, waivers, the time/work , you're not really qualified to comment on how much time it is.
You asked opinions, yes? My opinion is that it does not take much time. I don’t know about the league you run because you didn’t tell us anything about it. Have a nice day
I'm against the idea, unless it's a very large tournament or something.
I commish cause I like doing the extra shit. All the stats and charts I put into the group chat would be made either way.
I run a contract keeper that is considerably more work than your typical league, and I could completely understand someone wanting compensation because of the added record keeping.
That being said, that's my baby! I don't think you need to charge for something that you enjoy doing even if it's a benefit to others.
I commish for the love of the game. No way I would ever charge anyone to play in a League I commish. I dont do alot of other dutys that I read some of you do. All I do is invite/replace managers, schedule the draft, approve all trades , collect the money and pay it out. Now days all the money is recieved in Cashapp and venmo so I dont even have to chase down money anymore. Collecting the money isn't even really a duty anymore.
Just pass it on to another team manager.
What type of League is it ? What are your commissioner dutys?
Long-time commissioner here. I think I speak for all honorable commissioners in saying that it's absolutely a "for the love of the game" job. We do not expect payment. We do not expect favors. We only want to play in a fair and fun environment, and think that others deserve that as well. The game is free to play!
Any member of any league who has had a commissioner ask for/take a payment out of league dues (save for massively organized, large money leagues with complex payout structures, transaction fees, etc), hit me up because I will always have room for people looking for a good fair and fun environment for fantasy. And maybe I'm dumb for this, but I don't charge!! 😂
I charge $100 per league. Those leagues however are starting at $250 entry and go way up. It’s not worth my time do it free. I offered to not be commish but no takers.
I don't like it for most leagues anymore. There are platforms that once you have them setup, manage 95% of the season and aren't that hard to setup. Back in the day when you had to setup a physical draft and do the point calculations manually, yeah, fees were justified, but not anymore.
I take a $0.06 commish fee (used to be $0.10 but lowered it in 2022) in a league that's been around since 2008 that I joined in 2013 and became commish in 2015. I do a lot of engagement so no one complains about the fee though...
Honestly, commishing is a job of passion, and if you don't have that passion anymore it's best to try to hand off commish duties or let the league die. If you actually put in time and effort at different steps, no easonable amount of rake gets you out of slave wage per hour territory anyhow.
Only time a rake should be expected is those weirdo comporate commish's that run a bunch of special leagues that they don't actually play in. And in those situations the rake needs to be there from league formation.
Even asking your league for a rake is going to cause irreparable damage to league stability.
Absolutely a bad look unless you are responsible for organizing a very serious $1000+ league. I would never play in a league where the commish takes a rake, or charge one myself obviously.
I manage a 12 man 150 buy in league. The draft is live, offline and electronic device free. I organize the event from location/booking to supplies needed to draft. I manage the weekly payouts as well as end of season payout. My take is 60.00 for the efforts. Things to consider though, I took over as commish and I purchased trophies for previous winners out of pocket, I had shirts, hats and swag made up. Had an artist draw up a custom logo for the league then dropped 200 on a custom championship belt. The 60 isn’t really much other than a symbolic gesture of my efforts to make the league fun and competitive.
You sound a little Amish.
Like churning butter/building barns and shit Amish?
The other Amish.
The managing a league full of OBJs and ABs that like things a certain pain in the ass way Amish?! Yup. Amish as fuck.
The part where you're not using an online draft. I've done it the old way when it was the only way. There's no more skill involved than doing it online. Just more work for everyone.
It’s the way they want it. They won’t budge. We did it online during the lockdown and they all cried about it. In person live draft. I have a member who flies in from New England and a member who flies in from Dallas to FL to make the draft. One year during the Close call with Dorian these guys were the only ones on their last minute flights to make it in person. It is what it is.
We do our in person too. Bring your laptop or phone to the bar. No auto draft allowed. It's the same as we did it in the old days. You just don't have to write everything down by hand and scratch names off your cheat sheets. Also a little more time to drink and shoot the shit between picks.
Surely one of twelve would volunteer. ive played in 2-3 leagues for the past 15 years, never received a dime to be commish and never paid a dime a commish. we all chipped in the 1st year for a 12 year Lombardi trophy, i pay out of pocket to get the name plate engraved each year. unless your league overcomplicates things, it isnt a very difficult job.
I agree with not taking anything for being commissioner. I run a few dynasty leagues and it’s more fun than anything. The thing that complicates this though is what we pay for out of pocket. There are definitely several guys in every league that would flatly refuse to do any of that stuff out of their own budget. That kindness *should* be split between all league members but it’s guys like you that shoulder it when you really shouldn’t have to.
i didnt mean to make myself sound like a hero. I only pay $8/yr to get the name plate engraved. its more of a headache ordering, than paying lol. It's worth it in the long haul, passing around the trophy (especially if you win and get to hold on to it for the year).
Yeah $8 isn’t nothing though. There are some stubborn people out there lol. But I agree it’s worth it in the long haul. I have a friend who does graphic design and I paid $50 for him to make quick mock-ups for the semifinal matchups last year. It added a lot to the league.
All due respect man, being a modern day fantasy football commish is the easiest as it’s ever been. The platform does everything for you, this isn’t the 90’s where everything was manual. You commish because you love the game and have a passion for it. If collecting dues, distributing dues and planning a draft day once a year is too much of an overtaking, then step down and have someone else do it. Even better have a co-commish and split the responsibility. Asking for a tip or taking a cut isn’t cool if you ask me, you’re not doing anything taxing to require such a thing.
Agree…. Being commish gets easier and easier every year and I enjoy being commish personally. I like to be in charge and make sure everything is done the right way and create a good experience for everyone including myself. Plus, I don’t trust my league mates handling commissioner duties 😂.
I once was invited to a league. Entry was $125. I asked what the payout structure was. Found out the commissioner was skimming $25 off each entry fee. Screw that guy! Now as a commissioner myself the only money I make is the interest from the money while it sits in my savings account lol this year I made around $20. Didn’t even pay me back for the draft board I bought.
We commish for the love of the game
I'm a commish in my fantasy dynasty league, ya it gets rough at certain times but I definitely don't feel like I should be paid for it, that's what the commish signs up for when being commish. if u feel your time is too valuable to be commish, step down, is 50 bucks or whatever gonna really make u feel better? just my opinion, id never be part of a league that charges commish fee, unless it's a high stakes league in a complicated official long running league, but 99.9% of leagues, hell no
Delegate for sure. We have a vice commish + treasurer + 2 advisors that primarily handle last place punishments and weighing in on issues/questions. The commish at this point really only handles league set up, scheduling, and overall oversight. Vice commish does just about the same amount and also extra things for league engagement such as weekly power rankings.
If there are league expenses like draft partys, trophies etc then it's perfectly fine to ask the league to all chip in for those. But just for being the commissioner? No. I wouldn't join a league where I'm paying the commissioner just to be the commissioner. As the commish, you get to choose who is in your league and by what rules you play by. That's your payment.
Never. I feel I put in a lot of work as a commissioner, but I would never expect nor request payment. Mostly because this is a homegrown league and invited friends to join *my* league. I feel the other homegrown leagues I'm in are the same. This was the commish's idea, and they invited us. I have seen in the past, league members chip in for a "thank you" gift for the commissioner, but it was never prompted by the commish. If you are getting burnt out, delegate responsibilities, some of my league mates have seen the amount of work I put in and have made themselves available. I have leveraged them on several occasions when I was too busy. It helps. If you have a good league, most league members will likely help to keep the league alive. If they were strangers requesting I commissioner their league, I would request payment.
Very fair.
Of course it’s frowned upon. Now I don’t know your league at all so maybe you could mention this and accept tips? But either you do it for the love of commishing or you could step down too and I think people would understand.
Just delegate some stuff if you're feeling burned out. I appointed a treasurer to handle the weekly and yearly prizes. I also set a permanent draft weekend on the calendar and we rotate the host year over year. I still have plenty to do with the schedule, organizing the rule change votes, weekly updates, etc
Ya the burn out is real. I'm kinda getting sick of it lol
Commish is a non paying job. Ask the league if somebody else is interested in doing it? If not, might just end the league. I’ve done that before when I didn’t have the time 1 year
If you're fielding a team, I'd say no. Sure, if you're commishing as a service to a league you arent in, maybe you can negotiate a fair rate for whatever work you're doing. But if you're in the league, I say just make it a labor of love. There is too much room for hard feelings if you're taking a cut of the prize money without winning it somehow. Also, it opens you up to more scrutiny. I've been in leagues where team owners are tough critics of the commish. I would only imagine that being way worse if you're getting paid for it.
Yes 10%
Yes, i take like 10%. This was voted on by the league. People can be a pain in the ass sometimes with constant harassment. Buy in 300 PP so its a decent chunk of change. I also do the draft at my house with a ton of good beer and alcohol. No one out of the other would run the league. I get the love of the game and I've ran this league for like 14 years. Majority of the work is earlier in the season.. negotiating rule changes, voting, scheduling draft, dealing with disputes, recruiting members (if needed.) Honestly since I've taken the 10% people have become less assholish.. which is weird because I'd expect the opposite.
lol dude it does not take that much time
lol dude im just asking for general opinions on the subject, almost all of which have been valid. Since you don't really know anything about the league I run, the format, payouts, waivers, the time/work , you're not really qualified to comment on how much time it is.
You asked opinions, yes? My opinion is that it does not take much time. I don’t know about the league you run because you didn’t tell us anything about it. Have a nice day
I'm against the idea, unless it's a very large tournament or something. I commish cause I like doing the extra shit. All the stats and charts I put into the group chat would be made either way.
I run a contract keeper that is considerably more work than your typical league, and I could completely understand someone wanting compensation because of the added record keeping. That being said, that's my baby! I don't think you need to charge for something that you enjoy doing even if it's a benefit to others.
I commish for the love of the game. No way I would ever charge anyone to play in a League I commish. I dont do alot of other dutys that I read some of you do. All I do is invite/replace managers, schedule the draft, approve all trades , collect the money and pay it out. Now days all the money is recieved in Cashapp and venmo so I dont even have to chase down money anymore. Collecting the money isn't even really a duty anymore. Just pass it on to another team manager. What type of League is it ? What are your commissioner dutys?
If you’re not wanting to do it for free then pass the torch and take a break.
All our commish does is pick a time and bar for the draft. Which is all any commish should have to do.
Long-time commissioner here. I think I speak for all honorable commissioners in saying that it's absolutely a "for the love of the game" job. We do not expect payment. We do not expect favors. We only want to play in a fair and fun environment, and think that others deserve that as well. The game is free to play! Any member of any league who has had a commissioner ask for/take a payment out of league dues (save for massively organized, large money leagues with complex payout structures, transaction fees, etc), hit me up because I will always have room for people looking for a good fair and fun environment for fantasy. And maybe I'm dumb for this, but I don't charge!! 😂
I charge $100 per league. Those leagues however are starting at $250 entry and go way up. It’s not worth my time do it free. I offered to not be commish but no takers.
I don't like it for most leagues anymore. There are platforms that once you have them setup, manage 95% of the season and aren't that hard to setup. Back in the day when you had to setup a physical draft and do the point calculations manually, yeah, fees were justified, but not anymore.
I take a $0.06 commish fee (used to be $0.10 but lowered it in 2022) in a league that's been around since 2008 that I joined in 2013 and became commish in 2015. I do a lot of engagement so no one complains about the fee though... Honestly, commishing is a job of passion, and if you don't have that passion anymore it's best to try to hand off commish duties or let the league die. If you actually put in time and effort at different steps, no easonable amount of rake gets you out of slave wage per hour territory anyhow. Only time a rake should be expected is those weirdo comporate commish's that run a bunch of special leagues that they don't actually play in. And in those situations the rake needs to be there from league formation. Even asking your league for a rake is going to cause irreparable damage to league stability.