While we’re getting ready for the start of a new fantasy football season, it’s important to keep the end of the year in mind. We’ve all had this happen. Leagues that start out active and competitive slowly devolve into ghost towns with managers that won’t return your texts or set their lineups.
In order to avoid general disinterest later in the year, especially for those teams that are falling out of the race, there are several options you can add to your redraft fantasy leagues. Keepers and future draft pick trading is certainly an option, as is side action in your weekly leagues.
But another great addition that’s easy to incorporate in any league is a punishment for finishing last. Over the years we have shared many options for leagues to consider. Here is our list of the top five best punishments for finishing last in your fantasy football league.
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5) Pick & Name Punishments
Josh Shepardson shared his take on a pair of easy implementations to keep fantasy managers active through the year:
Whether you’re in re-draft leagues, keeper formats, or dynasty leagues, incorporating draft pick rules is a great way to keep gamers active. However, it’s important to avoid going overboard. For instance, punishing the last-place team by saddling them with the last pick in the following year’s draft can have competitive balance implications that drive people out of the league.
Instead, I suggest capping the punishment to the non-playoff teams. For instance, if six teams make the fantasy playoffs in your league and the other six compete in a consolation bracket, sticking the last-place finisher in the consolation bracket with the sixth pick in the following year’s draft motivates them to keep trying to win without punishing them too harshly.
This is the punishment I’ve employed in most of my fantasy leagues, but it’s usually coupled with an additional, far grander punishment. The league winner chooses the league loser’s team name for the next season. Unlike “The Tattoo,” nobody puts up a fight about this punishment. It’s a 1/10 on the humiliation scale, but it keeps things interesting.
4) Put It On My Tab
Mitchell Renz took it up a notch with a requirement for the last-place team to cover the tab on league celebrations:
Simple yet very effective. Fantasy Football is about getting together and making relationships that last a lifetime. At least once a year celebrate your fantasy league. The person who comes in last must pay for all the drinks of the league members for the night. If you want to do a nice dinner with the league mates instead then the loser must cover the bill for dinner.
3) The Tattoo
Tim Metzler shares an oldie but goodie with a classic fantasy football punishment:
This punishment is exactly as it sounds: the league loser has to get a tattoo to commemorate their pathetic season. However, it’s mostly fun in theory. I’ve been in leagues where the last-place finisher refuses to get the tattoo and then refuses to speak to anyone again. It’s all fun and games until the bill comes due.
2) The Photo Shoot
Donnie Druin provided a popular pick that has the potential to go viral:
Perhaps one of the more intimate punishments in fantasy football, photoshoots for a 12-month calendar may very well take the cake. Traveling in our time machine and heading all the way back to 2014, Henry Stern (allstern on Instagram) was featured on sites across the web for his hysterical photoshoots that recreated only the best pop-culture moments.
Such moments include an ode to Brandi Chastain’s celebration in the Women’s World Cup, Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” music video, and even Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe incident with Justin Timberlake during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
While some leagues aim for fun with pop-culture, other leagues go for a more serious, sometimes sexy look. This league did a legitimate calendar shoot recreating covers from Justin Bieber’s Calvin Klein ad to Catelyn Jenner’s “Call Me Catelyn” Vanity shoot.
Having calendars hanging in your home, office or anywhere else accessible is a phenomenal reminder to put that extra research in. Pain is temporary, but a picture is worth a thousand words.
1) “The Perpetual Punishment Trophy.”
Metzler is back with our top pick, the timeless loser trophy. You can select a single trophy to pass around year to year, or you can get each loser their unique time sake to remember their epic disaster of a fantasy campaign:
It’s not just a trophy. It’s a sacred relic passed from one league loser to the next, covered in shame and weighted by indignity. My favorite place to get fantasy football goodies is Trophy Smack. What they offer is pretty unparalleled, including perpetual trophies that can have new names added to the trophy each year. With customizable options, you can create the last place trophy of your nightmares. Having a perpetual Last Place trophy that must be displayed all year is a great way to remind the entire league that last place legends never die. It’s also one of the easiest punishments to get your league-mates excited about. Check out Trophy Smack’s other last-place punishment prizes HERE. And when you use the code FANTASYPROS, you get a free Ring, Loser Ribbons, Loser Mirror, or Loser Tattoos with the purchase of any belt or trophy. For perfect prizes to get for your league winners, check out this ranking of prizes.
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
