Alliance Professional Football League Rules

ALLIANCE PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE - 2024

LEAGUE OVERVIEW
The Alliance Professional Fantasy League (APFL) will consist of 32 teams. Each General Manager (GM) will represent a team that is branded in a likeness of their favorite NFL team. All players on a team’s roster will carry over from season to season. An entry fee will be collected from all coaches. The coaches will play for an annual payout and a progressive pot will be carried over each year and paid to the team that wins consecutive championships.

LEAGUE MANAGEMENT
APFL competition will take place on MyFantasyLeague (MFL).

TEAM OWNERSHIP
Each member will pay a $104.60 entry fee each season ($100 membership fee + 4.5% plus 10 cents per transaction for LeagueSafe convenience fee) prior to the league deadline on (1 March 2024).

DRAFT
Each subsequent year after the first year’s draft, owners will select rookies during a straight draft. A straight draft means the draft order will be the same for each round. The Rookie Draft will last three rounds and will begin on 29 April 2024 after the NFL draft. Prior to the start of the Rookie Draft, each team’s roster will be increased by six roster spots to 24 to accommodate the draft and free agency. Trading draft picks is allowed. See TRADES for more details.

The draft order for the Rookie draft will be determined as follows:

Picks 1-9 will be decided by regular season potential points among non-playoff teams. The picks will go in order of lowest potential points to the 9th lowest potential points. Potential Points are the amount of points a team would have scored each week if they had set a perfect lineup. This will keep teams from benching their star players in hopes of “tanking” and earning a better draft position.

Picks 10-12 will be decided by regular season and playoff potential points. The 10-12 picks will go in order of the lowest to the best among this group. Potential Points are the amount of points a team would have scored each week if they had set a perfect lineup. This will keep teams from benching their star players in hopes of “tanking” and earning a better draft position.

Picks 13-14 will be decided by regular season and playoff potential points. The 13-14 picks will go in order of the lowest to the best among this group. Potential Points are the amount of points a team would have scored each week if they had set a perfect lineup. This will keep teams from benching their star players in hopes of “tanking” and earning a better draft position.

Pick 15 will go to the Conference runner-up.

Pick 16 will go to the Conference Champion.

DISPERSAL DRAFT
The APFL will conduct a dispersal draft if and only if a GM elects to leave the league. All GMs will have the opportunity to participate in the dispersal draft. The team will be considered an orphaned team If no GMs elect to join the dispersal draft. If one or more teams elect to leave the APFL, or if an additional team elects to participate in the dispersal draft, all players and teams’ draft picks will be added to the draft pool. Participating teams will be randomly assigned a draft order position and will participate in a snake draft. Trading of draft picks during the Dispersal Draft will not be allowed.

COACHES PORTAL
The intentions of returning and non-returning GMs and those GMs that would like to participate in the Dispersal Draft will be made known during the Coaches Portal. The Coaches Portal will open the day after the APFL Bowl and will close on or about 15 January. GMs involved in the Dispersal Draft will be required to pay league fees immediately following the closing of the Coaches Portal. The draft order selection and dispersal draft will last from the closing of the Coaches Portal until 28/29 February. All regular league operations will begin on 1 March.

ROSTER REQUIREMENTS
The maximum roster size is 18 players; except between the dates of 1 March (beginning of the season) and 1 September (rosters reduced to 18 to prepare for the upcoming season). Between these dates, roster limits are expanded to 24. Each team will also be provided 2 additional slots for Injured Reserved.

All teams are comprised of 18 players (7 starters and 11 bench players), as follows:

1 Quarterback
1 Running Backs (RB)
2 Wide Receivers (WR)
1 Tight End Premium (TEP)
2 Flex (RB, WR, TEP)
11 Bench Spots

COMPETITION

CONFERENCES
The “league” will be broken into two conferences to be reflective of the NFL. Each conference will have 16 teams. Each conference will draft from an entire pool of NFL players.

DIVISIONS
Each conference will consist of 16 teams, which will be divided into four divisions of four teams each. These divisions will be labeled North – South – East – West to also be reflective of the NFL. Teams will be placed into the divisions reflective of how the NFL currently competes.

SCHEDULING
The fantasy regular season begins on Week 1 of the NFL regular season and concludes at the end of Week 13 of the NFL regular season. Each team will play their divisional opponents twice for a total of six games, an entire division in the opposite conference (four games), and the other three teams in their own conference that finished equally in standings (Strength of Schedule) for a total of 13 games.

PLAYOFFS
The Playoffs will consist of 14 teams - the eight division winners (four teams from each conference) and three Wild Card teams from each conference. The three Wild Card teams from each conference will be those teams with the best records behind the division winners. The first round of the playoffs (Wildcard Weekend) will take place during Week 14 of the NFL regular season. Teams seeded 2 and 7 will compete in round one, as will 3vs6 and 4vs5. The top seed from each conference will receive a bye in round one. The second round of the playoffs (Divisional Playoffs) will take place during Week 15 of the NFL regular season. The lowest remaining seed will compete against the top seeded team who received the bye in round one. The other two remaining teams will face off. The third round of the playoffs (Conference Championships) will take place during Week 16 of the NFL regular season. The two remaining teams will compete for the chance at being their conference champion. The APFL Bowl will take place during Week 17 of the NFL regular season. The two Conference Champions will compete to become the APFL Champion. The APFL Pro Bowl will also be played during Week 17 of the NFL schedule. This will be a consolation game between the two teams eliminated in the Conference Championships for seasonal payout purposes.

SCORING

Passing
.04 points for every yard passing (equals 1 point for every 25 yards)
4 points for every passing touchdown
2 points for every 2-point conversion
-1 minus one point for every interception
-2 minus two points for every lost fumble

Rushing
.10 points for every yard rushing (equals 1 point for every 10 yards)
6 points for every rushing touchdown
.5 point for each rushing First Down
2 points for every 2-point conversion
-2 minus two points for every lost fumble

Receiving
.10 points for every yard receiving (equals 1 point for every 10 yards)
6 points for every receiving touchdown
.5 point for each receiving First Down
.5 point for each reception (QB, RB, WR)
1 point for each reception (TE)
2 points for every 2-point conversion
-2 minus two points for every lost fumble

Miscellaneous
6 points for every Kickoff and Punt returned for a touchdown
6 points for Offensive Fumble Recovery for a touchdown

TRADES
Trading is allowed. Trading is allowed at the beginning of each season (1 March) until the trade deadline. The trade deadline will be the kickoff of Week 11 each season. Draft picks can be traded, but no more than one year into the future (e.g., in the year 2024, you can only trade picks for the 2024 and 2025 seasons). If you are trading a future first-round draft pick, you must pay the league fee (see above) for that future season. Trades will be completed upon confirmation from the involved parties. All trades are subject to a veto process (should one be requested). If a veto is requested, the remaining 14 teams in the conference will vote and if 8+ teams choose to veto the trade, the commissioner will review and veto accordingly. If a trade is completed during an active game week, and the players involved within the trade are in either starting lineup, or those players have been locked, the trade will process at the conclusion of the weekend’s games.

WAIVER WIRE
The APFL will utilize a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) Blind-Bidding waiver system. Each owner begins the year with a $100 FAAB budget to place blind bids on waived players. This budget is for in-season and off-season waivers. This is ALL the budget you receive for the entire year. Leftover budgets will carry over to the next season. To pick a player who is on waivers, a minimum bid of $0 must be made. The owner with the highest bid will acquire the player. If two or more owners bid an equal amount on the same player, the earliest bid submitted will acquire the player. Waivers will run weekly on Wednesday at 1:00 am ET starting once the season opens. After each waiver claim period is complete, first-come-first-served (FCFS) players will be available for pick-up. All FCFS transactions are $0 and nothing will be deducted from a team’s FAAB balance. Rosters will freeze for all teams after Week 18 of the NFL Schedule. The blind-bidding waiver system continues during the playoffs in Weeks 15-18, even for teams who did not make the playoffs. No free agent pickups can be made between the end of Week 18 and the opening of the following season. See the SCHEDULE OF LEAGUE OPERATIONS for more details.

PAYOUT STRUCTURE
$100 membership fee (x 32 = $3200)
Annual APFL Bowl champion: $1000
Annual APFL Bowl runner-up: $600
Annual Conference consolation game winner (3rd place): $400
Annual Conference consolation game runner-up (4th place): $300
Annual Divisional runner-up (5th-8th place): $150
Progressive Pot: $100
MFL League Fees and FSA Service Fees: $200

SCHEDULE OF LEAGUE OPERATIONS
League Renewal Deadline: 1 March each season
Trading begins: 13 March
Roster sizes increased to 24 to prepare for the upcoming Rookie Draft: 13 March
Annual Rookie Draft: 29 April, after the NFL Draft
Rosters (or Waivers) freeze on date TBD prior to Week 1 of the NFL preseason
Rosters reduced to 18 players: 28 August by 8pm ET
Trading and Waivers resume on date TBD
Trade deadline: Kickoff of Week 11 each season
Rosters freeze: After Week 18

BEST INTEREST CLAUSE
Should circumstances, issues, or problems arise for which a remedy is not stated in the Rules... the Commissioner reserves the right to take whatever actions he deems necessary in the best interest of the league. He may consult with some or all other people and/or possibly take a vote.