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Fantasy season is fast approaching. As any seasoned veteran will tell you, they have their favourite leagues they look forward to. Certainly for me, some leagues have way more of a buzz about them, and are much more fun to be in.

A great fantasy league needs activity and engagement from everybody, from the Commissioner right through to the newbie you let in this year. Maybe the leagues you are in are OK, but could do with some spicing up. We’re all about bringing the heat here at Sideline Spice, so we are proud to present to you: 9 Ways to Spice up your Fantasy League; graded from super mild through to exxxtra hot.

Season Your Food!

This shit ain’t even spicy, it’s basic. Any good cook always seasons their food, any good league should be doing these.

Live Draft Party

The draft is the best part of playing fantasy sports. All those mock drafts and hours of research culminate into that ride-or-die moment where you either set yourself up for success or failure. Make your draft day special with a proper draft day party! Get everyone together. Get food and drinks. This is your chance to revel in each others company and the optimism of a new season, at least until everyone on your team shits the bed and gets injured.

Drafting together is a great experience. Make that great sleeper pick with a live audience and hear the collective groan when they they get outplayed. Post draft, the round table chat and trash talk begins; who did well, who shat the bed, the great picks, the over-reaches.

Free Agent Auction Budget (FAAB) Waiver system

I believe FAAB is the best waiver system both in terms of fairness and owner control. In my opinion, a standings based waiver punishes success and gives bottom-feeders a free boost. A rolling priority waiver breeds inertia, as owners sit on their waiver waiting for that sure thing.

FAAB gives the opportunity to pay what they feel a player is worth, anytime, regardless of how their seasons going. I’ll also add there is something magical about everyone reaming someone for a gross overpay. Give FAAB a try and you’ll never go back.

Mild

I enjoy a bit of Tabasco on my eggs. Spice wise, it’s really mild but it adds a bit of flavour first thing in the morning. Give these a try if you wanna start your league with just the tip, to see how it feels.

End of Season Awards

Spread the love at the end of the season with some awards, it doesn’t just have to be Championship or Bust. Some potential award ideas are:

Danny Ainge award – most ruthless GM

The Red Cross award – team with the most injuries

You Chose…Poorly award – highest scoring bench

Weekly Recaps

It’s a long season. Keep everyone engaged in not just their matchups, but the league as a whole. One league I’m in has weekly recaps, and it’s honestly my favourite part about it. Each owner is scheduled for a specific week, and reviews the week’s matchups and results, talking about what happened, how things could have changed, etc.

These recaps really bring us together and is a highlight of the week. Trash talk and shade abounds, and creativity flourishes. We’ve had Matthew Berry style diatribes, sports news style radio recaps, and videos. The possibilities are endless.

Medium

Supermarket/Chain Restaurant hot-sauce level heat. Just like Nandos Medium, most people are fine but for more sensitive folk, it has the potential to cause some hurt.

Last Place Gets Roasted

Have you heard of Roast Me on Reddit? Essentially, people post up photos of themselves for the RoastMe community and get roasted by users. Some of these get downright savage and hilarious.

Last place has to post a pic on RoastMe along with a caption letting the world know of their ineptitude. Prepare to be absolutely humiliated, as randoms around the world have no chill.

Side Bets

Add some fire to your individual match ups with sidebets. I’ve won and lost numerous side bets, always entertaining. Some memorable past examples include:

Mentos/Diet Coke in the mouth

Eating spoonful of wasabi

Yelling out “XXX IS MY DADDY” in a public place

Wearing makeup to work

Hot

Starting to get to uncomfortable levels now. Just like a max heat vindaloo, some of these will require intestinal fortitude, having the potential effect of really ruining someone’s day.

Relegation & Waiting List

Do you have a great league that through word of mouth, more and more friends want in on? Or maybe you just have an odd number of potential players. Let’s take some inspiration from that other brand of football, the English Premier League.

Whoever is last place gets kicked out and put on the end of waiting list, to bring in new blood. This also ensure that everybody fights to the end, to avoid the humiliation of relegation.

Public counteroffers to trades

You’re going about your day, then your phone buzzes and see the following trade has been accepted

Todd Gurley

for

Tom Brady + Doug Baldwin

“What the hell!” You wonder. “I had no idea that Taco had Gurley on the trading block! I could have done WAAAAAY better than Brady+Baldwin!”

Add some heat to your season with public counteroffers to trades. Once a trade has been accepted, everyone has a set window to approach both owners with their own enticing offers. No more “if only” when you see a trade go through.

Exxxtra Hot

Be warned, this is not for the faint of heart. We’re getting to that Carolina Reaper level spice here

Rolling pool for B2B winners

That annual buy-in keeps building up until there’s a back-back winner. Your pot can build up to a huge amount of cash that everyone desperately wants a piece of.

This has the double effect of A) Nobody ever wanting to leave B) Everybody actively gunning for the reigning champ.

Got any other great ideas to spice up your league? Leave them in the comments below.