Ahead of the 2019 fantasy baseball season, we are going to make some important changes to Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball pricing and the process of signing up for a league.
The base price for an Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball team will be changing to $20 a year. This will also affect the prizes returned from each prize tier:
$50 Tier
1st place - $300
2nd place - $50
3rd place - No prize
$100 Tier
1st place - $600
2nd place - $200
3rd place - $100
$250 Tier
1st place - $1500
2nd place - $500
3rd place - $250
This will not affect prizes for the 2018 season.
Starting in 2019, all Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball teams will expire at the keeper deadline (January 31). This change is meant to give clarity to Commissioners about what owners are coming back for the upcoming season and what teams will need new owners.
Next season as some of you form new leagues, you’ll find it easier to withdraw from leagues and receive a full refund before the league drafts. This improvement will make it easier to find a league that is a good fit for your schedule and skill level.
We’re announcing these changes now so that your leagues have time to make plans ahead of next season. We’ve temporarily disabled renewals while we finalize these changes in the system. If you have a renewal deadline before the end of the regular season for one of your teams, please email help@ottoneu.com so I can help get you situated.
Our goal is to build the best fantasy sports experiences with the most knowledgeable owners and a range of fun, engaging games. These changes keep us on track towards these goals and should make a better experience for everyone who plays Ottoneu games. I will do my best to answer questions posted below, so please ask away. Thank you so much for your continued support of Ottoneu Fantasy Sports.
UPDATE: Please make sure to read the addendum below with an update to the $50 prize tier and information about the new $75 prize tier.
We get $600 in fees and pay out $350 in prizes, which leaves us with $250 for 12 teams, or just over $20 per team. Prize leagues cost more for us due to the administrative fees involved in holding money and paying out prizes, so we are basically making $20 a team across the board.
The price change is not related to the partnerships with Rotoballer or Rotowire. It is so we can grow the team and build a sustainable business that can be around for a long, long time.
This is our first ever price change and we do not want to change prices again for a while. I understand that it looks like a big jump, but it is also still less than $2 a month.
I totally understand that this is a business and all that jazz, but my big issue with this is the lack of incentive to play a $50 league, especially in older leagues due to a higher likelihood of superteams. Only getting paid for first and second with only getting my money back for second is already questioning my desire to stay in my $50 leagues next season. The regular season is a six month haul and you should get your money back in a twelve-team league for finishing third as that is still an accomplishment. A side effect of this change in $50 leagues is there will be more teams selling (which probably will lead to more of those ridiculous trades that upset people) and probably a higher turnover of owners since there probably will be more teams in perpetual rebuilds because they have no incentive to, at least, shoot for third. I am in one league where teams are buying now because they think they have a chance at third place, but I would imagine this would happen less in 2019.
I think this change in 2019 will either lead some $50 leagues to change to $20 leagues and go offsite with the cash or just disband. I think it would be preferable to me to change the entry fee to $55 or $60 and have a similar prize structure as before.
Would recommend the expiration of teams not be the keeper deadline. Expiration needs to occur well before the keeper deadline so that replacement owners have some emotional investment in shaping their roster. As an example the expiration deadline could be 1/31 and the keeper deadline moved to 2/15.
You see, I’m the total opposite. I don’t play for 3rd, I play to win. When I win, I want to win all of the money. Second place can have their money back sure, but I don’t think 3rd deserves squat. Flags fly forever.
The new setup means I’m probably going to drop my $20 and $100 league and play in all $50 leagues. I was already contemplating doing that anyway (for one I don’t like to play without the possibility of a reward and I’ve found people in $100 leagues hold onto their players with their cold dead hands).
Doubling the price of the base league while having no phone app, and being inconsistent/unreliable on basic fantasy staples like displaying who is starting in a given game? That’s a bold decision.
Can you give us any justification for the price increase or what the increase will be going toward? There haven’t been any real feature enhancements or additions lately outside of adding football. Nothing has improved on the mobile side or wihbut auctions which have been begged for at this point for years. What benefit is coming from the increase for your users, or notably the power users with many leagues? What are we getting for additional funds?
Hello Niv,
I am in a $50 this year and I was looking for the payouts. It lists the same as the changes you state for 2019. I’m confused. What are the payouts for a 2018 $50 entry league.
$50 Tier
1st place - $300
2nd place - $50
3rd place - No prize
I play to win too, but I am thinking for the league as a whole in $50 leagues. If I narrowly miss the title on the last day, I want a bit more than just my money back after a six month slog. Especially when Ottoneu is a bit more of a commitment than an ESPN league for example. Having only two payouts to me makes people less engaged, I imagine. Some people probably play for fun and to maybe get some money back. They are all not as competitive as you and me.