5 Tools For Planning Your Fantasy Sports League

Fantasy sports leagues are hugely popular, but they’re also a great deal of work for those who organize them. That’s why there are so many different tools available for managing this process – but which ones are right for you? 

The five tools below range from the most popular to overlooked gems, and they can all help you get a better handle on your league, as well as your draft.

Run A Simulation

One of the best tools at your disposal, whether you’re a league commissioner or just a fantasy sports participant, are draft simulators. This simulator is specific to the 2022 NFL draft, but such simulators exist for different sports on a year-by-year basis, so you’re able to find one for your league. Running simulations can help you understand how to constitute your team best and evaluate the options available to you before the actual event.

Collaborate On Processes

Being the commissioner of a fantasy sports league is a big responsibility, and sometimes it’s too much for one person to take on. If this sounds like your league, you might consider taking a more collaborative approach to planning – but even if you’re going it alone, there’s a lot of information you’re going to need to share with participants. 

One way to do this is through a team notetaking application. Designed mainly for professional and academic settings, the Box Notes tool is great for laying out league rules and draft procedures, soliciting feedback, and generally keeping your league organized via a central system everyone can access. 

In addition to organizing your league procedures in Box, this tool is excellent for maintaining score sheets and other documents that need to be regularly updated or referenced by the entire group.

Rate Your Rankings

A lot of information goes into creating the perfect fantasy sports team, from current player rankings to the need to create a complete team based on different positions and strengths. Using a tool to create custom ranking sheets for reference can help you negotiate this information and ensure you don’t miss a beat when it’s your turn to pick a player.

Explore Differentials 

When new players draw up a team, they often opt for “template” players – those placed on a list of good choices – but for more experienced participants, building a team with templates can be pretty dull. 

Instead, more experienced players may compare “team select by percentages” or TSB% to identify good differential picks for their squads. As a commissioner, you aren’t making draft choices for participants, but you may want to lay out how to approach some of these standard draft practices for new fantasy participants so that they understand the process more fully.

Forecast Your Future

Forecasting is an integral part of fantasy gameplay, but forecasts aren’t always correct. Still, you’ll want to choose a forecasting tool – or even multiple forecasting tools – so that you can get a sense of the scenarios that might play out. Run scenarios, take notes, and make adjustments. The more outcomes you explore, the more nuanced your draft picks will be. 

Because fantasy sports have become so popular, the number of tools for organizing your league and your team has grown, but the sheer number of options can also be overwhelming. By starting early and spending some time evaluating the options available, you can enter the primary season prepared to support your league members and manage your team.