By Matt on Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Comment on this post
First impressions of Fox Sports Fantasy Football Commissioner
At some point in '07 (when the season had already started and it was too late), I noticed that Fox Sports Fantasy Football Commissioner offered pretty much everything that a Yahoo Plus league did - except for free, rather than $125 per league (irked by the fee, we went with Yahoo's free version last season, which has far fewer features and customization options). I tucked that little nugget of knowledge away until today, when I decided upon further review to go with Fox for the keeper league I commish. Here are a few of my initial impressions:
- The degree to which you can customize the scoring system is the best I've seen so far. It doesn't offer quite as much depth as FleaFlicker, but I found it easier to use, and all the important stuff is there.
- One of the worst things about Yahoo's free league was the default waiver settings and the lack of the ability to change them. Players never became waivers unless you dropped them; otherwise, they remained as free agents all week long. This meant that anyone who wasn't hunched over their computer all day Sunday would be screwed out of all the good pickups by the time they got home. Fox gives you the ability to control what happens on a weekly basis with free agents/waivers, and even lets you tweak some other options that many sites don't, like whether the weekly draft order is reset according to team records or left as is.
- The interface feels eerily similar to Yahoo's - almost like they set out to take Yahoo Plus down by delivering a nearly identical product for free. The menus along the top are almost in the exact same order, and have the exact same layout. Yahoo does a much better job of keeping their interface clean and non-headache-inducing, though.
- There's a built-in polls feature, which is pretty useful and isn't included even in Yahoo Plus.
- I like that they offer a "finances" feature which helps you keep track of league fees and who's paid.
I'll be reviewing this site (and several of its leading competitors) in more detail throughout the offseason, as well as during the regular season.
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7 comments
#1. Lee, 6 months ago
Good stuff Matt. Myself I would have never considered paying for Yahoo above MyFantasyLeague.com
We have a redraft that I have done for about 6-7 years that has been from NFL.com to Yahoo, to Fanstar (worst customer service I have come across in my life) to MyFantasyLeague. Last year I was going to use Fox because I wanted it to go back free. After a couple weeks of people gong in and moving around two of the guys chipped in and paid for MFL.com to keep the league there.
I;ll be watching for your updates!
#2. Chris, 6 months ago
Played on Fox last year, and I found it very sluggish during the season - which was a real bitch when I had to make last minute lineup changes.
I also had trouble launching their draft app, and thus missed a draft because of it.
Those things are definitely fixable, and I hope they've done so, but I wouldn't use Fox again until I heard better reviews.
#3. Matt, 6 months ago
Thanks for the input, Chris. Now you've got me worried. My league will give me hell if we go through yet another season on a site they're unhappy with (they hated FleaFlicker when we used it in '06).
#4. Chris, 6 months ago
We used Fox/MSN a few of seasons ago and were plagued with issues. Scoring not updating, missed drafts, login issues. You name it, we had it. The next year I ran the league simultaneously wit Yahoo and Fox for backup. Sure enough, we had many of the same issues. I figured after the first year they might get it together. We then went to FleaFlicker in '06 and for now that's where we're staying.
Good luck with Fox. They certainly offer a lot of features, but the QoS sucks.
#5. jh, 5 months ago
Have you ever reviewed MyFantasyLeague.com? I have read a lot of positive stuff, but haven't bit yet for my league.
#6. Peter, 5 months ago
I used MSN 2005 and experienced the same issues regarding stats being lost and etc - nothing was catastrophic but had some members not too happy with it. Used yahoo last year, and have the same issues regarding unfairness (those who sit in front of computer/tv all Sunday). I would like to lock roster changes during the weekends and put everyone on waiver. Alas, FOX is the only one who giving that option... for free... should I?
#7. Lombardi, 5 months ago
Do not join fox fantasy anything. It is the worst there is! It is slow and buggy and has errors all the time. Just go to the forums there and read them and you will see they suck. I am in a baseball league this year and it has been quite the headache! Don't join, you will be sorry I guarantee it! I found stories from last years fantasy football and it was the same as it is now CRAP! Fox doesn't care about it or they would have fixed the problem a long time ago. Good luck if you try to contact them about your league problems they will never get back to you! Save yourself the trouble of not being able to change your lineup due to errors and other bugs! Try ESPN of Yahoo or something else but I'm warning anyone who wants to join Fox, DON'T! You will regret it! It might look nice but thats all they have to offer!
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