THE WORLD LEAGUE OF FOOTBALL CONSTITUTION
TEAMS: The league will be 16 teams (unless there are not enough owners to support 16 teams). These teams will be split into 4 divisions known as the Americas Division, the European Division, the Pacific Rim Division, and the Third World Division. Each division will host 4 teams. Team names must reflect a location within that part of the world with whatever team name they wish to follow.
PAYMENT: League fees are $50 per season. Payment is due before draft begins. Payout for league winners are as follows:
Champion - $250
Runner Up - $150
Semi Finalist - $100
Quarter Finalist - $50
Toilet Bowl Champion – 1st pick or choice of lottery pick in the following year’s draft
Unless an owner specifies he wants full payment at the end of a season, $50 of playoff team winnings will be held for the next season entry fee in the World League of Football account.
TIE BREAKERS: To settle any ties for playoff seeding/qualifying or draft position that are extra-divisional, the Tie Breaker will be determined by; is team a Division winner, WLOF regular season record, total points scored for regular season. If needed and applicable, head to head matchup decision would be a 4th tiebreaker. If still needed if applicable, Divisional record is the 5th tiebreaker. If needed, a coin flip with American currency is the 6th tie breaker. Finally, if needed and applicable, the 7th tiebreaker would be determined by a duel to the death using either chainsaws or bejeweled blowtorches.
*Notes: since schedule balance cannot be achieved for opponents out of division, the Points scored becomes the main tiebreaker. As discussed below, head to head matchups and divisional record matter much more with inter-divisional tie breakers. Use of bejeweled blowtorches is to add flair but is not only options due to cost overruns.
For determining standings for inter-divisional ties for teams with identical regular season records to determine the Divisional Champion, tiebreakers will be in this order; head to head matchup, record within division, regular season point totals. If needed, a coin flip with American currency is the 4th tie breaker. Finally, if needed and applicable, the 5th tiebreaker would be determined by a duel to the death using sharpened BBQ tongs and the hollowed out skull of the Muntjak Deer since inter-divisional matchups are more dark and personal.
DRAFT: The order of the draft is set by the previous year’s finish. Starting from the 16th draft position:
16.) Champion
15.) Runner Up
14.) Semi Finalist (determined winner by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
13.) Semi Finalist (determined last by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
12.) Quarter Finalist (determined winner by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
11.) Quarter Finalist (determined 2nd by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
10.) Quarter Finalist (determined 3rd by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
9.) Quarter Finalist (determined last by tie-breaker of are they a Division winner, best record in the WLOF regular season, total points scored regular season)
2 – 8.) Lottery for remaining owners who do not win the Toilet Bowl. (*Note: any new owners for a sub lottery for spots 8 – ? dependent on number of new owners.)
1.) Toilet Bowl Winner
Draft will commence 13 days ahead of set final draft date. This pre-draft will begin with 12 hour time limits per pick for rounds 1 and 2. This time will decrease to 10 hours for rounds 3 – 4. It will then decrease to 8 hours for any further rounds until the final draft time. At this point, draft picks will be set to 90 seconds. Draft clock will be off for any time between 11 PM Central time and 7 AM Central Time.
ROSTER REQUIREMENTS: Each team will have a roster limit of 15 players maximum. You may have less than that if you wish (why?). The following are the limits for each position you can carry on your roster:
Quarterback: 3
Running Back: 4
Wide Receiver: 5
Tight End: 3
Kicker: 2
Defense: 2
For submitting a starting lineup, the following 8 roster positions are used:
QB – 1
RB – 1
WR – 1
TE – 1
Flex (RB/WR) – 1
Flex (TE/WR) – 1
K – 1
DEF – 1
The two flex positions will allow the following permissible lineups:
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QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF
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QB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF (Pro style)
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QB, RB, WR, WR, TE, TE, K, DEF
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QB, RB, RB, WR, TE, TE, K, DEF (Goal Line Package)
All lineups must be submitted by game time. With Thursday games players participating in the Thursday games must be set before Thursday game. Players participating in the Thursday game will be frozen and cannot be added or removed. Other moves can be made before Sunday and if applicable, Monday games. Final roster lineups are the responsibility of the owners and will not be altered by the Commissioner. Please set a valid line up on Tuesday or Wednesday if travelling or knowing you may not have access later in the week.
ILLEGAL ROSTERS: It should not be possible for a team to submit an illegal roster. The site will only allow proper players to fill in the given positional slots. Players on bye weeks or injured can be submitted into the line-up if that is all a team has available. Submitting a line-up without placing a player in a slot is stupid and may cause the system to give that team a 0 point total. The Commissioner will process the proper score for the legal players and post that score. Please don’t be stupid.
SCHEDULING: For a 16 team league, the schedule will rotate on a three year basis. Teams will play their 3 division opponents on Weeks 1 through 3 and Weeks 12 through 14. The order will be based on previous seasons finish during the regular season. Week 1 (1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4) Week 2 (1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 4) Week 3 (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3) and repeated for Weeks 12 through 14. For Weeks 4 through Week 7, teams will play according to their divisional finish of the previous regular season. Week 4 (1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, 4 vs. 4), Week 5 (1 vs. 2, 2 vs. 1, 3 vs. 4, 4 vs. 3), Week 6 (1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 4, 3 vs. 1, 4 vs. 2), Week 7 (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3, 3 vs. 2, 4 vs. 1). For Weeks 8 through 11, teams will play all 4 teams from a 2nd division based on the previous year regular season finish. This will follow the format from weeks 4-7 for the schedule rotation. The following is the rotation going forward for these divisional matchups:
2015 Schedule for Weeks 4 – 7: (Continued for years 2018, 2021, 2024, etc.)
Americas Division vs. European Division
Third World Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
For Weeks 8 – 10:
Americas Division vs. Third World Division
European Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
2016 Schedule for Weeks 4 – 7: (Continued for years 2019, 2022, 2025, etc.)
Americas Division vs. Third World Division
European Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
For Weeks 8 – 10:
Americas Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
European Division vs. Third World Division
2017 Schedule for Weeks 4 – 7: (Continued for years 2020, 2023, 2026, etc.)
Americas Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
European Division vs. Third World Division
For Weeks 8 – 10:
Americas Division vs. European Division
Third World Division vs. Pacific Rim Division
For a 14 team league (2 three team division, 2 four team divisions), all teams will play the other 13 teams over the course of the schedule once. The last two (3 weeks for the 4 team divisions) will play in confrence. Only 6 teams will make the playoffs. These will be the 4 division winners and 2 wild card teams. Tie breakers are the same as above. Top two seeds will get a bye the first week of the playoffs.
For a 12 team league (4 three team divisions), each team will play the other 9 non divisional teams once, and each divisional opponent twice for the 13 games. The first two and last two regular season games will be divisional games. Only 6 teams will make the playoffs. These will be the 4 division winners and 2 wild card teams. Tie breakers are the same as above. Top two seeds will get a bye the first week of the playoffs.
WAIVER PICK UPS: We will use the waiver system on NFL.com. Only NFL eligible players are available for pickups. Dropped players will be on waivers for 24 hours. Waiver wire is based on reverse standings following results of previous week. Initial waiver order is determined by the reverse of the order of the draft. Commissioner will announce when the waiver wire opens post draft.
TRADES: Trade Deadline is November 27th. All trades must be approved by Commissioner. If Commissioner is involved in a trade, the authorized sub commissioner must approve, or owners from the league will vote on trade. Trades that occur after Thursday night game are not guaranteed to be approved in time for Sunday games although every effort will be made to accommodate. Owners should notify commissioner if they do execute a trade. Trades must be balanced and show a value to both teams involved. If Commissioner determines a trade is too unbalanced and would upset the integrity of the league, it will be denied.
SCORING: The scoring system for the World League of Football shall be as follows:
OFFENSE: Passing Yards: 1 point per 40 yards
Passing Touchdowns: 3 points
Interceptions Thrown: -1.5 points
Rushing Yards: 1 point per 20 yards
Rushing Touchdown: 3 points
Receiving Yards: 1 point for 20 yards
Receiving Touchdowns: 3 points
Kickoff/Punt Return TD’s: 3 points
Fumble Recovered TD’s: 3 points
Fumbles lost: -1 point
2-Point Conversions: 1 point
KICKING: PAT Made: 0.5 points
PAT Missed: -1 point
FG Made 0 – 39 yards: 1.5 points
FG Made 40 – 49 yards: 2 points
FG Made 50+ yards: 3 points
FG Missed 0 – 29 yards: -1 points
FG Missed 30 – 39 yards: -0.5 points
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: Sacks: 0.5 points
Interceptions: 1 point
Fumbles Recovered: 0.5 points
Fumbles Forced: 0.5 points
Safeties: 2 points
Touchdowns: 3 points
Blocked Kicks: 1.5 points
Kickoff/Punt Ret TD’s: 3 points
Defensive 2-pt return: 2 points
Points allowed 0: 5 points
Points allowed 1 - 6: 4 points
Points allowed 7 - 13: 3 points
Points allowed 14 - 20: 2 points
Points allowed 21 - 27: 1 point
Points allowed 28+: 0 points
PLAYOFFS: 8 teams will make the post season playoff round. The remaining 8 team will form a tournament for the Toilet Bowl Champion. The Toilet Bowl Champion will win the right of the first pick in the draft the following year. The post season playoff bracket will be determined as follows: Seeds 1 – 4 will be the four Divisional Champions. Divisional Champions will use the inter-divisional tiebreaker rules to determine a Divisional Champion. Once these 4 Divisional Champions are determined, the seeding of the playoff bracket for seed 1 through 4 will be determined by the extra-divisional tiebreaker rules above. The remaining 4 seeds will be determined by using the same extra-divisional tiebreaker rules. All seed for the Toilet Bowl bracket will also use the extra-divisional rules.
After the first round of both brackets, we will reseed teams using the NFL format where the highest surviving seed in a bracket will play the lowest surviving seed and the 2nd highest see plays the 2nd lowest seed. The final round will not need reseeding.
SPORTSMANSHIP CLAUSE: While mild taunting and good natured back and forth are encouraged, there does need to be limits on what is allowable. Any language posted that is offensive, racist, sexist, or generally easily identifiable as no longer good natured will not be tolerated. No bullying. Offenders will be warned once, then may be dismissed from the league at the Commissioners discretion. This does not mean you must tow the PC line, but the Commissioner will determine if you are crossing acceptable boundaries. Please report to the Commissioner any behavior or posts that you find to be overly offensive. Other courtesies to be observed are; be diligent during the draft and not burning up draft time intenti0nally (this is the Bart rule). Showing good faith in trades (also the Bart rule). Paying your league dues in a timely manner (yep, also a Bart rule). In short, keep it fun but keep it real.
COMMISSIONER POWERS: The Commissioner (and Sub-Commissioner) are granted certain powers in the best interests of the league.
Players not submitting rosters/making roster changes/ lack of participation clause: Teams showing a repeated inability to set their line-ups (more than twice) and have been warned by the commissioner once may be removed from the league. The Commissioner would then take over responsibility for setting a line-up. No waiver moves will be made for said team, and line-up will be generated based on players on team having the most points scored for the season to that point that are uninjured and available for that week’s games. The same shall be held true if an owner is no longer able to participate in the league for a reason (reinstatement to the league will be at the Commissioners discretion).
Unsportsmanlike Posting/Behavior: Repeated offensive posting or threating posting will be cause for expulsion from the league. The Commissioner will give a warning to the offender and has the option to remove the owner if the behavior occurs again. The Commissioner reserves the right for immediate expulsion for behavior that is “Above and beyond accepted social norms”.
Lack of Payment: Failure to pay league dues is grounds for expulsion from the league. Removal of an owner for failure to pay league dues is at the discretion of the Commissioner.
Final say so decisions: The Commissioner is tasked with the responsibility to make all final decisions in the best interest of the league. This applies to trades, scoring discrepancies, scheduling, setting playoff schedules, and any disputes. With league policy, the Commissioner shall do his/her best to involve all owners in the decision making process. On issues that must be handled in a timely fashion it will still fall to the Commissioner to make any final decisions.
CHANGING THE WORLD LEAGUE OF FOOTBALL CONSTITUTION: Rule change requests can be submitted by any owner. Rules that are changed would take affect the next season. A discussion period of not less than 2 weeks and not more than 4 weeks will be allowed before voting (exact time will be determined by the Commissioner). Changes will require 56% approval or 9 of the 16 owners voting “yea” to pass a Constitutional change.
*Note: Constitutional changes used to require 67% or 11 owners but with too many owners going dark and being absentee on issues we are lowering this number.