How to run a playoff fantasy football league.
A commissioner's guide.

1. Create the league

Pick Create a League and follow the steps: you'll name the league and pay the league fee. One fee covers the whole league no matter how many people join. The current price is on the pricing page.

2. Invite everyone

There are three ways to get people in:

• A code to scan. Good for a room: put it on a screen and people join from their phones.
• A link. Copy it or share it into a group text, an email or a work chat.
• The invitation, sent to you. It lands in your own inbox and you forward it to whoever you like.

Members join free, and there's no limit on how many.

3. Tell them the deadline

In a playoff league the whole lineup locks when the first game of the round kicks off. Say it once when you send the invite: lineups are due before the first game each week.

4. Nudge the stragglers

Joining isn't the finish line. The commissioner tools show how many members haven't set a lineup, and one button sends them a reminder.

5. Cover for someone who's stuck

If a member can't get to it, the commissioner can set a lineup for them. A commissioner-set lineup is marked, so everyone can see it wasn't set by the member.

6. Enjoy the four weeks

Scores update live during the games, the standings move with them, and the league has its own chat for talking smack. After the Super Bowl, the member with the highest total is your champion.

When to start

Most playoff leagues are created in the days around the end of the regular season. You don't have to wait that long. Create the league and send the invite early, so nobody is scrambling on the morning of the first game.

Six people or sixty

Because nobody owns any players, the game plays the same at any size. That makes it a good fit for a big group. If you're running it at work, the office football pool page is written for you.

Want to send your members something to read? How to play playoff fantasy football covers it in five steps.