Fantasy Football CommishRx advice: Waiver reset

Fantasy Football CommishRx advice: Waiver reset

"I’m in one of those CBS leagues that had waivers go early. When they reset their mistake, there were people who wanted me to let them still keep their players. They were upset that people knew their bids, you know the story. I made the decision to let the reset stand. Saw your tweet about it and wondered if you would discuss it because I thought the same thing. I didn’t explain it in that way, and I want my league to hear an official response if you know what I mean."

In a Nutshell

Just in case some fantasy football players and commissioners were vacationing on Mars during that time, we’ll review what happened. CBS Sportsline processed waivers 24 hours earlier than normally scheduled. That wasn’t good. Sportsline then moved to correct the error by resetting waivers so they would run at the appropriate time. Seemingly that was the right thing to do, correct their mistake, right?

Some folks disagreed. Turns out that some players in leagues that use a FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget) to bid on players were especially troubled.

Normally, after waivers are processed everyone gets to see the resultant bids of the other players. They were upset about the redo because they wanted to keep the players they bid for, and since the reset gave the other owners knowledge of their original bid, they feared a bidding disadvantage the second time around.

Do the Right Thing

First, I think Sportsline did the right thing. They made a mistake, they fixed it. Next, this situation came down to league commissioners having to choose between the lesser of two evils. They could either honor the reset, with no further action needed on their part, or they could reassign the players lost due to the reset.

When waiver claims were processed early, people still had time to make their claims – that option was taken away from them. They never got the chance to choose players in the first place. Who, in the name of fair competition, would think this was okay?

Compare this to the owners who had already put their bids in. After the reset, while their original bids were revealed, they still got the chance to participate in waiver claims – a second time.

The whole appeal of using a FAAB in fantasy leagues in the first place is that everyone gets an equal chance to bid for the same players. So while some owners got their bids exposed – other members of the league didn’t get a chance to participate in the first place. That’s the most prominent transgression in this case.

The Haves and the Have Nots

As a commissioner, I believe in this case you have to address that which holds the highest priority for the whole league: giving everyone the chance they were supposed to have in the first place.

Soothing the hurt feelings of whining owners because people saw their original bids fails to hold that status. Why is it okay for someone to be penalized simply because waivers processed while they still had 24 hours to make their claim? It’s not.

Did it ever occur to some of these folks that perhaps other players might see their bid and think, “No way I”m paying that much.” Maybe the reveal could act as a deterrent in some cases. Maybe.

Point is, it’s pretty selfish for people to maintain the position, “Too bad. It doesn’t matter that waiver processed before they were supposed to. Too bad you thought you had more time to get your bids in. You saw my bid, so it really doesn’t matter that I got to participate in waivers and you didn’t”!

C’mon Man!

All this went down because of a technical gaffe by Sportsline. I side with those who believe in everyone getting a second chance due to the reset.

This wasn’t a situation where a shady commissioner decided to alter the scores to suit their own needs, thereby changing league-wide scores and standings. No, this was a technical error committed by the platform.

Let’s say you get tickets to go see a one-night special engagement showing of North Dallas Forty, with a Q&A of the original cast to follow, where all ticket holders get free movie posters and a huge bag of swag.

Upon your arrival, the theater manager tells you that they decided to hold the event the night before. Everyone present at the theater at that moment, got to attend the event instead.

You don’t get even get your money back, just a mild, “Yeah, now that we think about it, maybe we shouldn’t have done that, but we did. Oops.”

Too bad for you.

I’m sure all of you bemoaning, “But my bid!” would be cool with that, right?

Yup, sure you would.

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