ZFL
FRANCHISE FOOTBALL LEAGUE - 2025 (Established in 1999)
League Rules & Bylaws
- Last Updated: January 13, 2025
League Leadership Team
Commissioner:
Co-Commissioner:
League Fees
League Dues:
Transactional Fees:
- Personal Trade License $2.00
- Draft picks traded $1.00
- Players traded $0.00
- Player Acquisition Fee: $0.00
- IR Fee (1 week) $5.00
Penalty Fees:
- Online Draft Fee: $50.00 (Owners who draft online are assessed a $50.00 surcharge)
- Dipshit Fine (Start a player who is on bye or injured): $20.00/instance
Draft Location Details
- Date: August 31, 2024
- Time: 12:00pm – NOON
- Place: Average Joe’s Bar & Grill
- Address: 1515 Hilliard Rome Road, Columbus, Ohio
Drafting
- Your team must carry a full roster at all times. You have (14) fourteen rounds to fill (2) quarterback, (3) running back, (3) wide receiver, (2) tight end, (2) place kicker, (2) defensive/special teams but with the New Rule Change you can carry (1) tight end, (1) kicker or (1) defensive/special team. The two additional players can only be picked up in rounds 13/14. TWO minutes will be allotted per owner for the first round only, three minutes thereafter.
- A random drawing will decide draft order. The worst record from last year will draw first. (new owners last) Round one begins with roman numeral I, then alternating throughout round 14. There will be a break after round 7 (seven) for food and adult beverages if needed.
- If an owner fails to show on draft day, the remaining owners will draft a roster to keep the league at 12 teams. This will be accomplished by alternating picks by the owners present or by following draft order submitted by absent owner. The draft position of this unfortunate team will be the last pick of each round. (I.e.: 12, 24, 36 etc.). If an absent owner sends a person to represent his team, then his position will remain the same. The commissioner will make sure the draft order is followed.
Quarterback Injury Rule
- If your starting quarterback is injured on game day and his backup is not already on another team’s roster, he will be protected for you. You have until midnight on the following Wednesday to decide to acquire him. Times to match waiver wire. After that, he becomes available on a first come first serve basis.
Scheduling
- We will play a (14) week regular season with a double header following the last bye week. This will help with the Tie Breakers at the end of the season. League Average will be an automatic opponent each week of the regular season, weeks 1-14.
- All divisional teams will meet twice. Divisional winners and 3 wildcard teams will make playoffs beginning in week (15). Final regular season divisional standings will determine seeds.
Tie Breakers
Regular Season:
- Best percentage - season
- Best record - head to head
- Total Points - season
- Highest pts scored by defensive team (add all 14 gms of starting dt/st)
- Coin Toss (Only if options 1 – 4 have resulted in a tie)
Post Season:
- Each owner must post his tie breakers from the 6 listed below. Choose the 3 in the order that best fits your roster:
- Total points scored by both RB'S.
- Total points scored by both WR'S.
- Total points scored by PK.
- Most points scored by defense/special teams.
- Most points scored by TE.
- Most points scored by QB [Added rule in 2008 by majority vote]
- Coin Toss (Only if options 1 – 6 have resulted in a tie)
- If you forget to post your tie breakers, the default criteria will be as follows:
1.PK
2.DT
3.QB
Extended Tie Breakers:
- In the event of (3) three or more teams tying during the regular season, we will use the following criteria to reduce number down to (2) two teams:
- Best record head to head with tying teams IF even number of games have been played.
- Most points scored in regular season among tying teams.
- Most points scored by defensive/special teams on roster among tying teams
- Most tight end points scored among tying teams
- Highest card drawn until a winner is crowned
Playoff Rankings
- The two best division team records will receive a first round BYE.
- The remaining four teams will be seeded and play 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5.
- The #1 ranked BYE team will play the lowest ranked winner in round 2.
- This structure will be different for the NAME CHANGE Toilet Bowl Teams - Teams 11 and 12 will receive BYES and 7 will play 10 and 8 will play 9.
Playoffs
- (2007-08) The waiver wire will only be available during the playoffs for use by ACTIVE playoff teams in order of worst to first. Teams knocked out of the playoffs or Toilet Bowl Teams may NOT use the waiver wire, but instead are to pick up players from the AVAILABLE pool after the waiver wire is complete. No player cut by a NON active team or toilet team may be added to the Roster of a Playoff Team. Players cut by these teams are OFF LIMITS to active Playoff Teams, however, players cut by an active playoff team may be picked up by a Toilet Bowl Team. Watch who you cut!
- The ZFL plays a 14 week regular season. The league is divided into three division each containing 4 teams. The regular season consists of playing each team at least once and teams within your division twice.
- At the end of week 14, the three division winners will be advanced to the playoffs with the three next best records in the league. The teams will be paired off Best vs Worst with the Two Best Division Winners getting a bye week in Week One while the Third Division Winner is Seeded according to won/loss record.
- Winners shall advance until the "Z"FL Super Bowl.
IR - Injured Reserve
- You may place one position on the “IR” at any time. (A QB must be on NFL team injury list). There will be no hiding of a QB! A $5.00 fee will be assessed to the team owner who utilizes this list. Also, this leaves your roster short by one player. It must be filled immediately. A $0.00 transaction fee will apply. A player placed on the “IR” must be on your roster at the time of the move; again, no free agent can go directly from the pool to the “IR”. Your player will be protected for (1) week or 168 hours. After that time, if he is not activated, the commish will assess a $5.00 continuation IR fee for an additional 168 hours. The first owner that claims a free agent is first to retain. You have been warned. (Waiver wire rule to be considered if applicable)
Weekly Lineup
- Your starting lineup of (1) qb, (2) rb, (2) wr, (1) te, (1) k, (1) dt/st must be entered into RTSPORTS website by game time of MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. Calling lineup to your opponent is a courtesy and not a requirement. It will be the right of the league to play the best lineup of a non-participating owner. (See rule)
- RTSPORTS will be the official scoring instrument of our league. However, other sources may be used to verify an error found by any team owner. Bring this error to the attention of the commissioner for a ruling. You have until game time of the first game of the following week to contest scores. RTSports updates scoring until Friday morning.
Waiver Wire
- After the draft has been completed, I will set the waiver wire to reflect “worst to first” parameters. The six teams with zero wins and will input their wish list and is given priority over the winners. Final tiebreaker will be points scored. Lowest score from week one will choose first.
Bye Weeks
- If you have 2 players on a bye in the same position, you must fill that spot on your roster from the free agent pool or by trade. How you choose to accomplish this is up to the discretion of the owner. The (3) three examples below may help you in your decision-making process.
- Use foresight during the draft and do not put yourself in this position.
- “IR” player (see qb rule) and pick up free agent. Cost $5.00
- Drop player and add free agent. Cost is $0.00
Transactions
- Deadline for playing a free agent acquisition (including trades) is game time. Cost is $4.00 per move. A $2.00 P.T.L. (Personal Trade License) will be applied to any inter-league trade and pre-season trades of draft picks. Pre-season draft picks will carry a $1.00 fee along with the $ 2.00 PTL. Only even number of draft picks can be traded. During season, trades between teams will only cost $3.00 per player plus the $2.00 PTL. This should increase trading amongst owners.
Preseason Draft Picks
- The first $100.00 will go towards the draft location fee, food and beverages.
Starting Roster Deadlines
- Your starting line up must be set by gametime of MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. You can add/drop a player in your starting lineup only IF that players team game has not started. You will not be able to change the status of a player after the game has started.
- DIPSHIT FINE: If an owner has a player who is announced prior to game time as being out or a player that is on bye week in their active-playing roster the DIPSHIT fine of $20 will be assessed for each instance of occurrence.
Trades
- The commissioner/assistant commissioner will review all trades. This is to ensure that the integrity and spirit of the trade was beneficial to both parties or it will not be approved.
- To question a trade (3) three owners must agree to it prior to notifying the commissioner office. The filing owners will not be able to vote on the trade.
- No trades will be allowed after Wednesday midnight prior to THANKSGIVING day games.
Decommissioned Players
SEE PLAYOFF ABOVE:
- If an owner tries to win weekly high points or season high points through use of the free agent pool, players dropped are subject to waiver wire format. NO SCANDALS!
Non – Participating Owner
- If an owner is not trying to compete at the level our league has become accustomed, we will replace your sorry ass with someone who will. Unfortunately, we are accustomed to the wrong kind of ownership. If you want to run a team with little or no contact with other humans, join an ESPN.COM league. This one is striving for complete participation from its owners.
RULES PASSED
- 2019: Week 18, No charge for transaction on players.
- 2019: League Avg. in Double Header Week.
- 2019: High PTS Receives Leftover Draft Party Money.
- 2019: Week One Waiver Wire Approved.
- 2022: Coin Flip Rule: Change wording to: Only an option if choices 1 through 4/6 Tie.
- 2022: Bonus points on Defense Sacks: Want to eliminate in 2023.
- 2022: NFL Rule: If any NFL game gets cancelled, the points scored by those players in that game are yours for the week. The only option for those scores to change is if the GAME IS PLAYED WITHIN SEVEN DAYS AFTER CANCELLATION
- 2022: Scheduling: Division Games to be played the First Three Weeks of the season but owners want the other three division games played later in the year. They don’t care if it falls on a Bye Week.
- 2024: League Fees - $200 per Team. Changing Bench Spots which means you don’t have to carry two TE, KICKERS, DEFENSE. WE STILL HAVE 14 Rounds and the Additional Players can Only be Picked Up in Rounds 13/14.
Financials
12 Teams @ $200.00/Team = $2,400.00 in total collected dues.
Payout Table:
Payout Category |
Instances |
Payout |
Running Total |
Payout Total |
League Cost |
1 |
$80.00 |
$2,320.00 |
$80.00 |
Weekly Score: 1st |
18 |
$20.00 |
$1,960.00 |
$360.00 |
Weekly Score: 2nd |
18 |
$10.00 |
$1,780.00 |
$180.00 |
Weekly Score: 3rd |
18 |
$5.00 |
$1,690.00 |
$90.00 |
Division Winners |
3 |
$60.00 |
$1,510.00 |
$180.00 |
Season: High Points - 1st |
1 |
$100.00 |
$1,410.00 |
$100.00 |
Playoff: First Round Loser |
2 |
$30.00 |
$1,350.00 |
$60.00 |
Playoff: Championship Round Loser |
2 |
$60.00 |
$1,230.00 |
$120.00 |
Season: Highest Team Score |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,210.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top QB Score |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,190.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top RB Score- 1st |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,170.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top RB Score- 2nd |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,150.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top WR Score - 1st |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,130.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top WR Score- 2nd |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,110.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top TE Score |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,090.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top Kicker Score |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,070.00 |
$20.00 |
Season: Top D/ST Score |
1 |
$20.00 |
$1,050.00 |
$20.00 |
Survivor Island Winner |
1 |
$100.00 |
$950.00 |
$100.00 |
SUPERBOWL WINNER |
1 |
$570.00 |
$380.00 |
$570.00 |
SUPERBOWL RUNNER UP |
1 |
$380.00 |
$0.00 |
$380.00 |
ZFL Superbowl Payouts:
- Super Bowl winner will receive 60% of regular season transactions.
- Super Bowl runner up will receive 40% of regular season transactions.
Miscellaneous Costs:
- Cost of trophy and miscellaneous items will be deducted from commissioner/misc.
- Transaction money from playoff rounds will be used towards party expenses.
ZFL Championship History
ZFL SUPERBOWL XXV CHAMPION…..IS IT YOU?
1999 ZFL I Shaguars 110 Hitmen 76
2000 ZFL II Hitmen 91 Bushwackers 89
2001 ZFL III Johns’ Body Shop 87 Mean Machine 83
2002 ZFL IV Hitmen 97 Mean Machine 70
2003 ZFL V Mean Machine 71 The Rats 63
2004 ZFL VI The Rats 108 Johns' Body Shop 98
2005 ZFL VII Hitmen 76 Mister P 75
2006 ZFL VIII Mean Machine 99 First $ G 71
2007 ZFL IX Marauders 89 Instigators 77
2008 ZFL X Marauders 71 Journeymen 64
2009 ZFL XI Shos' Toads 94 Mean Machine 87
2010 ZFL XII Player Haters 103 The Rats 54
2011 ZFL XIII Journeymen 94 Sho's Toads 73
2012 ZFL XIV Player Haters 86 First & G 80
2013 ZFL XV Hitmen 77 Spinal Tap 66
2014 ZFL XVI Marauders 68 Painful Discharge 59
2015 ZFL XVII The Rats 99 First & G 51
2016 ZFL XVIII Scarface 103 Make ZFL Great 73
2017 ZFL XIX Hitmen 80 Painful Discharge 70
2018 ZFL XX Marauders 76 Make ZFL Great 66
2019 ZFL XXI Player Haters 97 Second & G 67
2020 ZFL XXII Marauders 90 Hitmen 74
2021 ZFL XXIII Marauders 68 Rats 66
2022 ZFL XXIV GIGS 73 Dawgs of War 61
2023 ZFL XXV BUSCH LEAGUE 69 GIGS 51
2024 ZFL XXVI JOURNEYMEN 97 SKUL’S Soldiers 88
Deleted Rules
- (2015) All active owners in good standing will rotate through the committee position. Alternates will be asked to assist if there is a dispute involving a committee member. You will be asked to resolve a variety of situations that may occur during the season. I ask for fairness and solid football sense. If you still disagree with a decision, your last appeal is to the commissioner. The facts make the commissioners ruling final
- (2015) NFL picks winner - $25.00
- (2015) Toilet bowl award - $25.00