Welcome to the OIFL! If you're here, hopefully this is what you're looking for.
If you're accidentally stumbling upon this page, hopefully you're interested
enough to jump on board and get onto the OIFL waiting list! Feel free to email
the OIFL front office (me) at oifloffice@yahoo.com at any time if this is
confusing or overwhelming. If you couldn't guess, these are the OIFL's rules,
broken up into four categories: general rules, the OIFL season, the OIFL
offseason, and final notes.
THE GENERAL STUFF
Requirements to Play: To play in the OIFL, you need a working e-mail address and
the internet. I would also strongly suggest you have AIM for greater workability
with other owners.
What is Arena/Indoor Football? Hopefully, wanting to play in an arena/indoor
football based league, you would know what Arena and/or Indoor football is. But,
if you have any questions, feel free to contact the OIFL Commissioner at
oifloffice@yahoo.com
Creating a Team's Name: A team's name needs to have the city/region and a
mascot. It must be in good taste. You can use real indoor team names, provided
that team doesn't play anymore (OIFL's Lincoln Lightning is an example).
Creating a Team's Logo and Uniform: Each team needs a logo and uniform. For the
uniform, you can simply describe the colors that the team will be sporting.
Corpus Christi owner Robert Cole does an awesome job with logos; we can hook you
up with him when you join to get a good one.
Your Team's Home Arena: Every team has its own arena to play in. You get to
decide the name of the arena (it can be fictional), and its capacity in five
types of seating. Sideline (first few rows), lower (behind the sideline seats),
middle (second level), upper (third level), and club seats (the fancy ones with
catering and stuff). There is no size limit to your arena, but 70,000 seat
places aren't feasible for indoor football.
Will the OIFL be running a team? No.
You Need to Know This Page: http://www.oifl.net/stats/roster.htm - The Roster
Page is where most of the damage is done.
THE IN-SEASON STUFF
Personnel Management: Preseason: Before the OIFL season starts, you will have to
get a roster put together. The OIFL active roster has a maximum of 28 players,
but for financial reasons may be smaller. The roster will be fully stocked via
free agency, a dispersal draft and an annual entry draft. Following is a list
of the different ratings a player has. Each of these has a rating between 0-10
(higher is better), with some being above 10 due to practices and other factors:
*Pass Accuracy: How accurate a thrower is he?
*Pass Strength: How strong is his arm?
*Carry: Player's ability to carry and run with the ball. OFFENSIVE RATING
*Speed: How fast is he?
*Receiving: How well can he catch?
*Blocking: Ability to block the other team from getting to your guy?
*Blitzing: Ability to get to the opposing quarterback or runners in the
backfield, around blockers.
*Kick Strength: Strength of a kicking leg
*Kick Accuracy: Accuracy of a kicking leg
*Pass Defense: Ability to keep a receiver from getting to the ball (without
committing pass interference)
*Tackling: How well can this guy take down a ball carrier?
*Fumble: Player's ability to force others to drop the football, and the ability
to pick up loose balls. DEFENSIVE RATING
*Leadership: The gel that holds a team together. A player's ability to lead his
teammates, and a player's ability to respond to other leadership forces
(practice strategies, other teammates). Note: with consistent practice, the 10
rating CAN be eclipsed. Please note the pass defense ability of Detroit DS
Marlo Dadey, which has eclipsed 11.
Check out every player's abilities at the OIFL's roster page, at
http://www.oifl.net/stats/roster.htm
OIFL Preseason: Each team will be in a four-team tournament (organized by the
teams) and will play two games. The winners will play for that tournament title;
the losers for third place. The week after these preseason tournaments will be
OIFL Week One.
OIFL Regular Season: The regular season consists of 16 games per team, and it
will be played in 16 weeks. There are no bye weeks, except for the all-star game
and in circumstances when the OIFL Commissioner has a conflict. For this to
work, there will be an even number of teams.
In-Game Information: Home field advantage depends on a couple of things. It
depends on how good your team has done at its home field in the past. New teams
will be given a bit of a reprieve. It also depends on the strength of the team,
how well the team looks like it's doing, and the game's attendance itself.
OIFL rules are almost verbatim like the rules of the National Indoor Football
League. For that league's rulebook, please visit this site:
http://www.oifl.net/stats/2005_NIFLRuleBook.pdf . The OIFL's rule differences
are as follows:
*In the OIFL, like the AFL, there are six two-way players. You may sub them out
and back in once per each quarter. If you don't use a substitution for one of
the WRDBs in a quarter, it does not carry over to the next quarter. There is
unlimited substitution for specialists (QB, OS, DS, K).
* We allow defensive stunting
* RB in motion can take handoff in the 'alley'
* C can recover fumbled C/QB exchange - but otherwise the ball must be in
possession of another player
* Six players must play both ways.
* An OL wearing an eligible number and not covered up on the line (note: a
motion man perpendicular to the line DOES meet the 4-on-the-line requirement but
it does NOT cover up a player!) is automatically eligible; he does not have to
declare to go out for a pass.
* I don't know if the NIFL says it...two RBs in the backfield = two LBs allowed
in the alley. Three RBs in the backfield = three LBs allowed in the alley. 0 RBs
in the backfield still = 1 LB allowed in the alley.
* OIFL overtime is played like NCAA overtime, except that each overtime
possession begins with a kickoff (opposed to placement on the 25-yard line), and
onsides kicks are not permitted in overtime.
Your Squad and Lineups: A team's active roster can have up to 28 players on it.
The bare minimum is 8 players, but you'd be stupid to try that. Of those
players, up to 11 will start. Each team's roster can be viewed at
http://www.oifl.net/stats/roster.htm
Practice Squad: The OIFL no longer has a practice squad. Active rosters have
been expanded from 24 to 28 players for this.
Loans: Teams are permitted to loan players to other teams. These play as
recallable trades, and must be consummated by Week 12 of the OIFL season as if
they were trades.
Trading: Teams can trade all they want. If a trade is particularly unethical in
nature, the league office reserves the right to refuse it.
Salary Cap and Luxury Tax: The OIFL has no maximum salary any player or team may
have. However, any season-long amounts paid out to a team's roster over
$13,800,000 (including Playoffs, OIT, Gravy Bowl, and all incentives, signing
bonuses, and cut penalties) will be taxed at a rate of $0.75 per $1.00 over.
This money will be allocated to the teams in the bottom 25% of salaries using
the same system, and at a rate consummate to the amount into that bottom 25% a
team spent. The roster page tab 'luxurytax' will have a good diagram of where
teams stand and what they'll owe over the course of the season.
Tax Allocations: I'm going to be an accountant when I grow up (wheee). Cut
penalties issued to players that have two or three years LEFT on their contracts
will be equally allocated over however much time is left for tax purposes (the
cash payment goes out immediately). The same principle applies for signing
bonuses, perhaps making it tax-beneficial for teams to give bonuses.
Game Strategy: Each week, you are to send me your starting lineup. For general
strategies, you need a quarterback, three skill position players (generally a
FB/LB and two WR/DBs), three linemen (OL/DL), the offensive specialist, two
defensive specialists and a placekicker. The other (up to 13) active players are
available in case of substitution or injury. You can play unorthodox positions,
like using the OS as a fullback in the game and having three WRDBs. The
possibilities in OIFL brand football really are endless.
Every week, along with that lineup, you need to send a strategy for that game.
It doesn't have to be complex, but it can be. Note: Players CAN switch positions
while playing in a game. For example, your backup FB/LB can play on the line if
you so desire.
For the strategy, you can send in a strategy where the team is to "do the same
things as last week." It will be processed as such, but it quickly loses
effectiveness week by week. This also must be emailed as the strategy, even
though it's just the same thing.
Weekly Practices: Each week, a team has the opportunity to set up a practice
session/practice schedule for that week. When setting up a practice, please
explain what the practice's focus will be. These practices are very useful, as
they allow the players to work on what the team will focus on in their next
game, therefore making your game strategy much more focused. Teams that practice
will play better, and it could be the difference between a division title and
missing the playoffs altogether.
Film Sessions: Obviously, there is no actual "film" of the OIFL games. However,
to imitate the ability to watch film, teams are able to ask me questions about
their opponent. Examples include how many players played when, general
strategies, and things to that nature. The text of these film sessions will be
placed online AFTER that week's games have been played. This will likely
encourage teams to shuffle around their strategies.
Injured players: This is football. Injuries happen a whole lot more than we'd
ever really want. Each week, there will be a number of injuries equal to half
the number of games played that week. Players could miss anywhere from no time
up to the entire remainder of a season. All injuries are dissolved once a team's
season is over (postseason as well, if applicable). With a 36-team league, there
are 18 games every week. That gives the OIFL nine injuries per week. The
injuries are randomized as to who gets hurt, but teams will not lose more than
one player a week. Yes, that hurts a lot, but that's the rule. The OIFL is going
to implement it, too.
Medical Facilities - OIFL teams can spend $250,000 per week per player to earn a
1/6 shot at reducing that player's injury status by a week. Call it "expanded
medical facilities" or something.
Fatigue: Playing just the starters all game every game will wear them out during
the games, and during the season. This will increase the risk of those injuries
coming to haunt your team. Each team has 24 roster spots...it would be a good
idea to use a lot of those 24 players in games to make sure your team doesn't
get plagued by fatiguing.
How games will be decided: Games will be decided upon the stats of the players,
as well as age, injury, strategies, etc... using a set of equations on an
outcome maker I have put together using Microsoft Excel. Don't ask for it, you
will not receive it.
Revenue: After each game, revenue from ticket sales, merchandising, television,
etc... will be added to your total profits. Salaries will be taken away from
that total profit amount. The home team will receive 80% of revenues from their
games, and the away team will receive 20%. Ticket prices for the five seating
sections will be decided by the owner of the home team.
Season Tickets: Teams are selling season tickets. Last year's excitement plus
press releases this year will give the team some major operating capital for the
season. Teams can also offer discounts to get more people in the door.
Concessions: The OIFL has a long list of concessions to make money from. The
OIFL has set up sweet deals with the arenas to give the teams 50% of the
profits. When you are admitted into the OIFL, the list of concessions will be
provided. Teams figure out their own prices, and they even can have one
concession of choice. Club seating adds their own special concession revenues to
the equation.
Merchandising: The merchandising list includes 10 items. After the original cost
of making/selling them, all of the money (80% home share) goes to the team. As
with concessions, they'll be given to you when you get a team put together.
TV/Radio Revenue: Teams can set up local radio contracts to generate revenue.
Amounts will depend on how well the team did and how many people are around to
listen and watch. The league has a league-wide television contract with the
"Miller Sports Network" to air all OIFL games. Teams will receive $750,000 per
year with this deal, as well as $250,000 each time they're in MSN's OIFL Game of
the Week.
Advertising: Teams may sell advertising to companies for dasherboard ads,
banners around the arena, and ads right on the field.
Parking: Teams will receive 50% of parking revenue for their games.
Debt: Being in debt carries severe repercussions. For one, teams cannot sign
free agents while they are in debt. Two, teams can not add salary in trades
while they are in debt. Three, the OIFL will force player moves by teams if they
are continually in debt, unless there is a true and concerted effort by the team
in debt to fix that problem.
Loans: The OIFL will provide loans for all teams in debt. These loans will be
administered during the offseason, and will be at an 8% interest rate with 16
payments. If the team can't seem to make money after being given a loan, the
OIFL will help search for alternate methods to reduce debt (such as forced
player moves).
OIFLCup Playoffs: The annual OIFL Championship Game has always been known as
OIFLCup. With 36 teams in the OIFL, the playoffs will be single-elimination with
no bye weeks, so 16 teams will make the OIFL playoffs. Playoff games up to
OIFLCup (which is held at a neutral site) will be held at the higher seed's home
arena.
OIFLCup V is to be held at Brinkhaven's Bombing Square, as will every cup number
multiplied by 5. This was nearly unanimously voted in by the owners in order to
honor one of the original (and now deceased) OIFL franchises, the Brinkhaven
Bombers.
2008 OIFLCup Playoffs: There will be 16 teams in the 2005 OIFLCup Playoffs,
which is 44% of the league. To ensure a deserving 9th place team in a conference
doesn't get screwed by a surprise 8-8 team in the other conference, the OIFL
will be instituting a crossover rule, somewhat like the CFL. If the 9th place
team in one conference has two or more wins more than the eighth place team in
the other conference, then that 9th place team will assume the role of the
8-seed in the other conference. For example, if the East's 4-seed is 8-8 and the
West's 5-seed is 10-6, the West's 9-seed will become the East's 8-seed. If the
East's 8-seed is 8-8 and the West's 9-seed is 9-7, tough luck. Dallas earned the
East's 8-seed by finishing two games better than Mobile despite being #9 in the
West.
Also, playoff games net a fair bonus from the OIFL on top of ticket sales. The
OIFL gives a percentage of its funds to teams that make it to each round and win
in each round, including roughly 5% of the OIFL's total value to the OIFLCup
champion. These amounts compound through each round, so it's feasable that the
OIFLCup winner could net over $3 million on top of what they already got from
other revenues.
OIFLCup Ticket Prices: The OIFLCup ticket prices will be 150% of the average
ticket price at each seating section in the OIFL. OIFLCup is held at a neutral
site each year.
OIFLCup I: Cleveland's Gund Arena
OIFLCup II: Dallas' American Airlines Arena
OIFLCup III: New York City's Madison Square Gardens
OIFLCup IV: Denver's PepsiCenter
OIFLCup V: Brinkhaven's Bombing Square
OIFLCup VI: New York City's Madison Square Gardens
OIFLCup VII: Salt Lake City's Delta Center
OIFLCup VIII: Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Wireless Arena
Owner Participation: Team owners are strongly recommended to make a website,
etc... to get involved with the game more than just sending lineups in. Press
releases do this very well. For weeks you are not available, you can send in a
default strategy. These strategies are good for as long as you're gone, but lose
effectiveness as time goes on.
If you do not send any updates, lineups, strategies, etc... for an extended
period of time (4 weeks), the OIFL will take over your squad and you will be
given the boot. If you have a legitamate reason to be gone, please tell us, and
we'll sit tight with your team, doing whatever you want us to do with it.
Press: Teams can submit press releases about anything, as long as the articles
are in good taste. Press releases do have a positive impact on attendance
(unless they talk about things that wouldn't excite fans, such as "top five
follies in team history"). Teams that submit press often will have better
attendance, even if they're not quite so good on the field.
AFTER THE SEASON - AND OIFL ROSTER MOVE RULES
Resigning players: OIFL football players are professional athletes. That means
they want their money. That said, if a player's been overpaid for awhile, he
will usually be willing to get a long-term deal at a lesser salary. Anything in
terms of contracts is basically allowed in the OIFL, including any sort of
incentive. The league imposes a maximum 3-year contract, though team/player
options could in theory extend that. There are a few issues that players may
have when it's resigning time (though usually players will resign):
*Arguments on contract size/length
*Desire to leave a city
*Incentives (players will haggle thoes, too)
Do note, OIFL players will not hold out. They will honor their contracts, though
you'll hear grumblings.
OIFL Owners Meetings: The OIFL holds owners meetings after each season to
discuss rule changes. The OIFL's owners (within reason) can change rules around
to make the OIFL a more competitive league. If the Commissioner deems a topic
potentially useful and worth discussion, it will be discussed and voted on by
the league. They usually last around two weeks.
Personnel Movement: Except in the Free Agency Free-For-All (FAFFA), players will
be signed from free agency via a waiver system. After FAFFA, the waiver system
is reset to the previous year's standings (same as the draft order). If a team
wants a player, it makes a claim. After a 24-hour period, the team that has the
highest spot on the waiver wire will be able to claim that player. Any team that
claims a player will then be moved to the bottom of the waiver wire position.
The contract amount on the FA page will be what that player makes.
Trading is also an important piece of putting an OIFLCup caliber team together.
Teams are always (sometimes too) willing to trade for picks, players, cash, or
whatever else. BOTH TEAMS must submit trades to the league office when one is
consummated. The OIFL's trade deadline is after Week 12 of the Regular season.
Teams may complete trades after that, but they will not be processed until the
offseason.
FAFFA: The biggest free-for-all in fantasy sports, FAFFA is where players that
didn't get resigned by their teams, or players that were on now-defunct teams,
get their cash. And do they get paid. FAFFA has four closed bidding sessions.
Contracts offered can include any sort of incentives that offering teams would
like. The only restrictions: Contracts signed in the first session MUST be
three-year deals. Contracts signed in the second session MUST be at least
two-year deals (three-year deals may be offered, and some players may require it
to sign somewhere). For the first time ever, players may decide to sign with
teams after just the first bidding session.
Restricted Free Agency: If a team reaches an impasse with an expired contract
under their control, they can tag the player with the RFA tag. Each team can
place three players as RFAs. If a team signs an RFA in FAFFA, the original team
with control can match the offer. If the original team lets the player go, that
team will be compensated somewhere between an E6/$25K to an early E1/$5M. The
league will determine compensation levels at the end of the resigning period.
OIFL DRAFT RULES AND PROCEDURES
*All trades involving OIFL draft picks must be processed to the league office.
*Trades must be approved by the OIFL (I've only very very rarely disallowed a
trade)
*MAKE SURE YOU OWN THE PICKS YOU'RE DEALING! The roster page is very clear now
on what picks teams own.
*There are FIVE rounds of the OIFL Entry Draft.
OIFL Entry Draft: There are five rounds in the OIFL Entry Draft. Each team will
get one pick in each round, and that pick will be placed by the team's standing
in the previous season (as in the NFL). Each draft will have sleeper players;
players that look like their ratings stink but turn out to be potential
superstars. The number of sleepers in each draft will be around 1/10 the number
of teams in the league. The sleeper players are picked before the draft, so in
theory one team could pick all of them. The 2006 and 2007 OIFL Entry Drafts both
had four sleepers.
Cut Penalty: Any player that is dropped from his contract before the total
length of it has been served must pay that player 1/5 (20%) of what he was
entitled to. There are two exceptions, including:
*Players with one-year contracts (YC, not YL on the roster page); this cut is
free.
*Players signed in FAFFA; this cut costs 100% of what the player was due. This
FAFFA cut penalty INCLUDES players with one year contracts.
Offseason Roster Limit - In the offseason, OIFL teams will be able to keep 45
players under contract. After the OIFL Entry Draft, teams will have a week to
whittle their roster back down to 45. The preseason limits are 40 players for
Pre-1 and 35 players for Pre-2. The in-season roster limit is still 28 players.
Relocation & Expansion: 36 teams is all I want and all I can handle. So if the
league loses owners, I will likely pull from the waiting list to fill holes. As
for relocation, teams can move to another city, but they must pay the same price
to expand seating capacity in their arena. There are discounts for moving into
arenas that used to host OIFL or OIF2 teams: 50% if within a year, 40% within
two years, 30% within three, 20% within four, and 10% within five. I have a list
of cities and arenas eligible for this. Be sure to not move often, though. It
does show instability. ALSO, all team relocations must be approved by the league
during the offseason owners meetings.
Player Aging: Each season, a player will age by the roll of a 12-sided die,
divided by 10. When the player reaches the age of 8, he will be retired. All
rookies begin at the age of 0. If the player reaches retirement age and still
has a year or more left on his contract, the player will serve out his contract
and then call it quits. Players will age on a schedule determined by rolls of
the die, but averaging a loss of the following ratings on an annual basis:
*Age between 5-5.9: 2%
*Age between 6-6.9: 5%
*Age between 7-7.9: 10%
*Age 8+: 20%
Non-"physical" ratings will decline at half the normal rate.
Kickers won't start the aging process until age 6, and they will retire at age
9. 20% of all ratings drops (rounded to the nearest tenth) will be added to the
player's leadership, as well. The following ratings will not experience drops:
Pass Accuracy, Kick Accuracy, Carrying Ability, and Fumble.
OIFL MVP: The owners vote on the OIFL's MVP award after the season. The player
with the highest vote is voted OIFL MVP. Past OIFL MVP winners:
2001: OL/DL Gary Boddy, Fort McMurray Fatmen
2002: WR/DB Perry Tuttle, Lexington Knights
2003: RB/LB Grayson Norman, Wichita Warlords
2004: RB/LB Kevin Mintz, Detroit Gargoyles
2005: QB Brice Pennington, Mobile Seamen
2006: RB/LB John Avery, Memphis Crusaders
2007: QB Matt Sauk, Vancouver Island Vengeance
2008: ???
Training Camp: Before preseason games are played, teams are able to get their
players together for offseason training camp. This is a great way to get the
team acclimated to one another, as the OIFL seems to have a pretty good player
turnover rate in places not named Lincoln. Each team gets 200 attempts to
improve any rating on any player on its roster. Each attempt has the ability to
raise a player's rating by 0.1. To determine what chance there is of that
occuring, use the following formula: 12 + rating - leadership (leadership over
12 counts as 12). The rounded whole number is the lowest hit number for the
rating improvement by using a 20-sided die. Each hit also has a 15% chance of
being worth an 0.2 upgrade and 10% chance of being an 0.3 upgrade. Players can
also be grouped together by relevant ratings to average out hit numbers and add
20% more attempts to whatever was allocated.
Scrimmages: Teams can schedule as many scrimmages as they'd like. You are
limited, however, to TWO intra-squad scrimmages.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat: After camp and scrimmages comes the OIFL Preseason and
its two games. After that, it's the Race to the next OIFLCup Game! If you've
made it through, congratulations! Now go back and do it again!
FINAL NOTES
Got a question? Good. We're here to help. If there's any trouble understanding
any of these rules, feel free to contact the OIFL at oifloffice@....
That's what we're here for.
Authority: The OIFL Commissioner has the final authority over all matters
pertaining to the OIFL. This rule will not be changed, ever. If you have a
legitimate question or beef about a rule, please contact the OIFL office at
oifloffice@yahoo.com, and we will figure something out. If you just want to
complain about everything, go play Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.
