AFL Constitution & Rules

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League Information

Official League Website: AFL-Fantasy.com
League Format: 24-team keeper league
- Primary Competition: Standard league with conferences, divisions, playoffs, and a Head to Head format
- Side Competition: Premier League / D-League system with promotion and relegation, and an All-Play format
Commissioner: Brandon Shields
Franchise Fee: $100.00 per team
Payment Fees: PayPal fees are $1 for every $25 of league dues sent
Time Zone: All posted times/dates are in Pacific Standard Time unless otherwise noted

Important Dates

Event	Date
Deadline for owners to notify the Commish of intent to return	March 1
Open recruitment period for new owners	March 1 – April 1
League dues deadline	April 1
Keeper selection deadline (7 Keepers)	July 15
Trade Deadline	Wednesday between Week 10 and 11
Annual Draft	Weekend before Labor Day weekend — AL drafts Saturday, NL drafts Sunday
Last day to move players from IR to active roster	Super Bowl Sunday

Division Setup

The League will consist of 2 conferences, with 2 divisions in each conference. Each division will have 6 teams.

Each team will play the other teams in its division twice during the regular season.

Team Rosters

Each team may have a maximum of 16 players on their active roster.
Rosters may consist of any combination of the following positions: QB, RB, WR, TE, PK, DEF.
Each team may carry additional IR players on their roster from July 15th until Super Bowl Sunday.

Injured Reserve

There is no limit on the number of IR spots a team may use.
Only players listed as Doubtful, Out, or on the official Injured Reserve (IR) list are eligible.
Teams with IR violations will not be allowed to submit a lineup the following week.
Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis at the Commissioner's discretion.

Starting Rosters

Position	Starters
QB	1
RB	1–4
WR	1–4
TE	1–4
K	1
DEF	1
Total	9

Lineup Submission

Lineups are due at "game time" of the player involved.
If a team fails to submit a starting lineup, the previous week's lineup will be used.
Teams must submit a valid lineup each week. A valid lineup must exclude players on a bye or listed as "Out" on the NFL injury report, if a replacement exists on the bench.

Trades

All trades must be submitted through the league website and are subject to approval by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner may approve or decline any trade and, if necessary, require a non-refundable $50 deposit toward the following season.
All approved trades will be recorded and displayed in the league's transaction report.
Trading is permitted from the conclusion of Week 17 through the day before Week 11 (typically a Wednesday).
Teams trading any draft pick must submit a non-refundable $50 deposit for the following season.
All trades must satisfy roster and/or draft pick limits before approval.
Trade Deadline: Wednesday between Week 10 and 11.
Teams may trade draft picks up to one year in advance.
All teams are required to have 9 total draft picks from the start of the draft until the July 15 Keeper Deadline.
Between July 15 and draft day, teams may trade players for current-year draft picks, provided each team has a total of 16 players and/or draft picks leading into the draft.
If an owner fails to meet the keeper deadline, their keeper limit is reduced to 6 and they will receive a compensatory pick at 9.13.
If a trade involving draft picks does not include an equal number of picks per team, the Commissioner may assign the lowest available pick from one team to the other to balance the trade and make it valid.

Free Agents

The league uses a rolling waiver system ("Yahoo" style) to determine waiver priority.
The initial waiver order is based on the base draft order from the previous season.
Players may be added via waivers from Week 1 through Week 17.
Waiver requests can be submitted from Sunday kickoff until Wednesday at 8:00 PM PT.
All waiver claims are processed on Wednesday at 8:00 PM PT.
Dropped players are locked until the next waiver period, beginning with the following Sunday kickoff.
First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) is allowed from Wednesday 8:00 PM PT to Sunday kickoff.
Any player dropped during the FCFS period is also locked until the next Sunday kickoff.
FCFS is allowed from Draft Day until the start of the regular season.
All official waiver and transaction deadlines are listed on the league calendar.

Keepers

Teams will keep 7 players each year and must cut their roster down each offseason by July 15th
In the event that an owner fails to meet the keeper deadline, the owner will have their keeper limit reduced to 6 and will be given a compensatory draft pick at 9.13

Draft

The League will hold a draft annually. Only players not listed as keepers are eligible to be selected.

The draft consists of 9 rounds and follows a traditional NFL-style format. The base draft order is determined by the final standings from Week 13 of the previous season, with the Super Bowl winner automatically receiving the 12th pick. Any ties will be broken using the league’s official standings tiebreaker rules.

During the NIT, teams can earn improved draft position. Points are awarded based on base draft position, ranging from 12 points for the worst record to 1 point for the conference champion. The top 5 NIT finishers receive an additional 1.5 points. The first round will be reordered by total points earned. In the event of a tie, the team with the higher original draft position will receive the higher pick.

Example Draft Points Reordering:

The Nukes — 12 pts (2–16)
Drunk Indians — 11 pts (4–14)
The Rookies — 9.5 pts (6–12)
Muck Juggling Micks — 9.5 pts (6–12)
Blitzkrieg — 8 pts (7–11)
The Street — 7 pts (8–10)
Gamecocks — 5.5 pts (10–8)
Fullybaked — 5.5 pts (10–8)
420 All-Stars — 4 pts (12–4) — Playoff Team
Smokane — 3 pts (13–3) — Playoff Team
Marriedwithchildren — 2 pts (14–2) — Playoff Team
Chatmaster — 1 pt (Conference Champ)

Schedule

Each franchise will play a 17-game schedule.
Each team plays division opponents twice, all other conference opponents once, and one game against a team from the opposite conference that finished in the same position the previous season.
Doubleheaders must not fall on an NFL bye week. This is the league’s top scheduling goal, so the doubleheader weeks are re-derived each season rather than fixed — the NFL bye calendar moves every year. Recent seasons have used Weeks 1 and 2 early, plus whichever of Week 12 or Week 13 is bye-free that year.
Doubleheaders will be split between the start and the end of the season, and every franchise will get at least one doubleheader after Week 8.
Division games should also avoid NFL bye weeks wherever possible. With six-team divisions this cannot be fully satisfied — each team can fit at most 8 of its 10 division games into bye-free weeks — so the goal is to maximise the count, not to reach zero.
(Effective with the 2027 schedule.) When a division game cannot avoid a bye week, it is placed on the lightest bye week available — ideally one with only two NFL teams out. This outranks the three-week rematch target; where the two conflict, the lighter bye week wins.
(Effective with the 2027 schedule.) Division games will be spread across the season, with each franchise playing roughly half of its division games after the midpoint. This ranks just below keeping division games off bye weeks; where the two conflict, a division race that runs all season wins.
(Effective with the 2027 schedule.) The final week of the regular season will be a doubleheader whenever the calendar allows. This yields to the rule that no doubleheader may fall on a bye week.

Scoring & Errors

Official Scoring

Owners must notify the Commissioner via email upon discovery of any scoring error.
All scoring disputes must be submitted by Wednesday at 8:00 PM PT.
The Commissioner will review and resolve all scoring error disputes and notify all teams involved.
The league’s official stat provider is My Fantasy League, and their data will serve as the system of record for all NFL statistics.
If a scoring error is confirmed and impacts the outcome of a matchup, the Commissioner will notify the entire league and make any necessary corrections.

Game Tiebreakers

Regular Season

If a regular season game ends in a tie, it will remain a tie.

Playoffs

If a playoff game ends in a tie, the following tiebreakers will be used in order:

Highest scoring bench player
Most points by starting kicker
Better regular season W–L record
Better regular season Power Rank
Most total points scored
Coin flip

Standings Tiebreakers

Note: Ties are always broken within divisions first.

2-Team Division Tiebreakers

Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs)
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
Power Rank
Total points scored
All Play Record
Victory Points
Most Points Allowed
Coin Flip

3-Team Division Tiebreakers

If two clubs remain tied after other teams are eliminated, revert to step 1 of the two-club format.

Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs)
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
Power Rank
Total points scored
All Play Record
Victory Points
Most Points Allowed
Coin Flip

2-Team Wild Card Tiebreakers

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
Power Rank
Total points scored
All Play Record
Victory Points
Most Points Allowed
Coin Flip

3-Team Wild Card Tiebreakers

This rule set cannot be triggered with only 2 divisions per conference since ties are broken within divisions first.

If two clubs remain tied after other teams are eliminated, revert to step 1 of the two-club format.

Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs)
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
Power Rank
Total points scored
All Play Record
Victory Points
Most Points Allowed
Coin Flip

Playoff Structure

The entire league will be broken up into two groups:

League Championships

Each conference will send 4 teams to the playoffs: 2 division winners and 2 wild cards.
Wild card spots go to the 2 teams in each conference with the best remaining W–L records.
Division winners are seeded 1 and 2, wild cards are seeded 3 and 4.
Standard tiebreaker rules apply to playoff seeding.
The AL Champion will face the NL Champion in the World Championship.

Playoff Schedule

Week 14

AL Seed 1 vs. AL Seed 4
AL Seed 2 vs. AL Seed 3
NL Seed 1 vs. NL Seed 4
NL Seed 2 vs. NL Seed 3

Week 15

Winner of AL Game 1 vs. Winner of AL Game 2
Winner of NL Game 1 vs. Winner of NL Game 2

Week 16

AL Champion vs. NL Champion — League Championship

NIT Tournament

The remaining 16 teams will compete in a consolation tournament.
Teams will be seeded 1–16 based on final regular season Power Rank.
Matchups follow a traditional bracket: #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15, and so on.

Premier League / D-League Competition

This side competition runs independently from the standard league standings and spans from Week 1 through Week 17.

Each team will play every other team in the league once per week — totaling 23 games each week.
Top 4 teams in the Premier League win money.
Bottom 2 teams in the Premier League are automatically relegated to the D-League.
Top 2 teams in the D-League are promoted to the Premier League.
In the event of a tie for any prize, the winnings are split evenly.

Promotion/Relegation Playoff

The following 4 teams compete for 2 Premier League spots:

9th and 10th place teams in the Premier League
3rd and 4th place teams in the D-League

The top 2 teams based on All-Play Record will earn or retain their spots in the Premier League. The remaining 2 teams will be placed in the D-League.

Premier/D-League Tiebreakers

All prize ties result in split winnings.
If a tie affects promotion or relegation, it is broken by Total Points Scored.

Payouts

League Dues: $2400
League Site Fees: -$180
Total Prize Money: $2220

Prize Distribution

League Championship: $300
Conference Championship: $150
Division Championship: $150
Wild Card: $100
Premier League Champion: $225
Premier League 2nd Place: $150
Premier League 3rd Place: $100
Premier League 4th Place: $50
D-League Champion: $50
NIT Champion: $50

*The League Champion is also a Conference Champion, earning a total of $450 for both titles.

Complete Financial Breakdown

Replacement Owners

Owners are expected to submit lineups weekly. If an owner fails to do so for two consecutive weeks or three times in a season, they will be asked to surrender the franchise.

If a team leaves the league, a new owner will be selected and will take over the team as-is, including rosters, keepers, draft picks, and any financial obligations. No refunds will be issued to any departing owner.

The Commissioner maintains a waiting list and will use it to identify suitable replacement owners. Owners may not sell or transfer ownership of their teams without prior approval from the Commissioner. If an owner voluntarily exits, the team becomes property of the league until reassigned.

In the event that two or more members leave the league simultaneously, a dispersal draft will be conducted. All players and draft picks from the vacated teams will be combined into a pool, from which the new owners will draft to build their rosters.

Rule Changes

Any vote taken by the league to change the rules requires a 75% vote to pass (18 out of 24 owners).
Votes taken between July 15th and Week 17 require a 100% vote to take effect immediately.
If such a vote receives 75% or more but less than 100%, it will take effect the following season.
Rule change votes should ideally occur between the trade deadline and the end of Week 17.
Abstentions will be considered "Yes" votes.
All poll votes are final after 5 days from when they begin.
Any unforeseen rule situation not specifically covered in the constitution will be resolved by the Commissioner.