Panda Express League A fantasy football group

'23 Constitution

10 Aug 2024

Last Updated: August 10, 2024

I. League Members

A. Teams

  1. There will be 12 Teams in the league for each season.
  2. Teams must have a single owner.
    1. Owners may choose to co-manage a team.
    2. Powers & rights reserved for a Team will only extend to the designated Owner. Unless it is explicitly specified, a co-manager is not granted the same powers as the Owner they co-manage with.
  3. All interested members from the previous season have the right to retain their franchise.

B. The Commissioner

  1. The primary directive for the Commissioner is to operate in the best interests of the league.
  2. The Commissioner is responsible for being the Chief Administrative, Dispute Resolution, and Financial Officer of the league.
    1. The Commissioner is responsible for the general management of the league and for settling disputes when it comes to interpretations of the Constitution.
    2. The Commissioner is tasked with investigating claims of collusion or other forms of cheating, and with deciding on the appropriate punishment.
  3. The Commissioner may appoint any number of “Assistant to the Commissioner” to delegate and assist with the execution of the Commissioner’s duties.
    1. In accordance with “I.B.2.a Commissioner Accountability”, the delegates have no more power than non-Commissioner members.
    2. In accordance with “I.B.2.a Commissioner Accountability”, the Commissioner is responsible for the actions, successes, and failures of their delegates.

II. League Setup

A. League Fees

  1. Buy-in is $30 per Team.

B. Rosters

  1. Each team will have 9 starter spots: 1QB, 2 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 Flex(W/R/T), 1 K, 1 DEF.
  2. Each team will have have 6 bench spots.
  3. Each team will have 0 IR/COVID spots.

C. Scoring

  1. Scoring settings will be Yahoo PPR, except for the following:
    1. Passing Touchdowns: 6 points
    2. Interceptions: -2 points
    3. PPR: 0.335

III. Draft

A. Draft Process

  1. The draft will be a snake draft.
  2. The order of the draft will be generated automatically by Yahoo.

B. Keepers

  1. Each team may keep a maximum of 2 players from the previous season’s roster. Keeping players is optional.
  2. Eligible Keepers must be on the team’s roster at the conclusion of the previous season.
  3. Players drafted in Round 5 or later can be kept.
  4. Players can be tagged as a “Keeper” up to 2 consecutive seasons.
    1. If a player is traded, their 3-year contract does not reset.
    2. If a player is dropped & acquired in the same season, their 3-year contract does not reset.
    3. Example: Year 1, you draft them. Year 2, you can keep them & trade them. Year 3, they can be kept again. Year 4, they cannot be kept.
  5. A player can be kept in Year 2 for the cost of the round they were drafted in.
  6. A player can be kept in Year 3 for the cost of +2 rounds they were drafted in.
    1. Example: A player kept for a Round 10 pick will cost a Round 8 pick.
  7. Undrafted players acquired during the season will have a Round 10 keeper cost, and the same keeper rules apply.
  8. If you do not have a draft pick in the round that is the cost for your keeper, the cost will be your next available rounded up (i.e., Round 8 cost becomes a Round 7 cost).
    1. The new cost will become the cost basis for keeping the player in the next season.
      1. Example:
        1. Year 1, you draft a player in Round 8.
        2. Year 2, you do not have a Round 8, but you have a Round 7 pick. You keep the player, which will now cost you a Round 7 pick.
        3. Year 3, you have a Round 5 pick. You keep the player, which will now cost you a Round 5 pick.
    2. Commissioner note: If your Keeper would cost a Round 5, but you don’t have a Round 5 pick, the player will cost a Round 4 pick. You overpaid because there is no change in the cash register.
  9. Keepers must be officially submitted 1 week before the draft.
  10. Any amendments to the “III.B Keepers” rules will not apply retroactively to players currently in “Keeper” status.
    1. Commissioner note: Teams create long-term plans with Keepers. New changes to the “III.B Keepers” rules should only apply to Players that are drafted the season the rules are introduced. This allows teams to finish their long-term plans and adapt to the new changes.

IV. Waivers

  1. FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget) is used for handling waiver wire claims.
  2. Yahoo’s standard FAAB settings will be used.
  3. After the draft, each team will be given a $100 FAAB to be used for the entire season.

V. Trades

  1. Trades will be allowed from the end of the draft until the trading deadline as outlined on the league settings page.
    1. There is no off-season trading.
  2. Each team has the ability to vote against a trade if they believe it to be unfair.
    1. A trade is vetoed if 4 teams vote against the trade.
    2. Vetoes are anonymous.

VI. Regular Season

  1. The season schedule will be generated automatically by Yahoo.
  2. All teams are responsible for ensuring their lineups are updated before kickoff.
  3. The regular season will end after the completion of week 14.

VII. Playoffs

  1. The three-round playoffs will take place during Weeks 15, 16, and 17.
  2. There is no playoff reseeding.
  3. Week 15 match-ups:
    1. Seed #1 & Seed #2 receive a bye week for Week 15.
    2. Seed #3 & Seed #6
    3. Seed #4 & Seed #5
  4. Week 16 match-ups:
    1. Seed #1 plays against the winner between #4 & #5
    2. Seed #2 plays against the winner between #3 & #6.

VIII. Payouts

  1. Payouts for a $360 pot will be made as follows:
    1. 1st place overall: $225
    2. 2nd place overall: $75
    3. 3rd place overall: $45
    4. 1st place in regular season: $15

IX. Creation of Amendments

A. Proposals

  1. Amendment Proposals are ideas to change the league rules.
  2. Proposals are authored by members of the league.
  3. Proposals do not have to be fully defined or perfectly designed.
    1. Ambiguity in an Amendment will be interpreted and executed by the Commissioner to the best of their abilities.
    2. The only recourse for ambiguity in an Amendment is another Proposal.
  4. Proposals must be formally submitted to the Commissioner.
    1. The Commissioner may deny a submission. The Commissioner must provide the author a reason for the denial.

B. Ballots

  1. A Ballot is a Team’s formal vote on a Proposal.
  2. Ballots must be submitted 14 days before Draft Day.
    1. The submission time is the same as the time for the Draft Day.
      1. Example: If the Draft is September 29th at 7pm, the submission deadline is September 15 at 7pm. 7pm is the time for both.
    2. Ballots may be modified until the voting deadline.

C. Voting on Proposals

  1. For each Proposal, league members can elect to do one of the following:
    1. “For”/”Yes” (Approve). This is a supportive vote to integrate the new change in the league.
    2. “Against”/”No” (Disapprove). This is against having the change in the league.
    3. “Abstain” (Defer). You are not “For” or “Against” the proposal. This is explicitly not voting.
    4. Nothing (Skipped). You didn’t submit a vote. This is implicitly not voting.
  2. Proposals must receive a simple majority approval from the accrued votes.
    1. “For”, “Deny”, & “Abstain” will count towards the total voting pool.
      1. Example A: 2 “For”, 3 “Deny”, & 1 “Abstain” is 6 total votes in the pool (2 + 3 + 1).
    2. Skipped votes will not count towards the total voting pool.
      1. Example B: 2 “For”, 1 “Deny”, & 5 “Skipped” is 3 total votes in the pool (2 + 1).
    3. A simple majority approval is having more than 50.0% “For” votes out of the entire voting pool.
      1. Commissioner note: “Example A” will fail to pass. It has 6 total votes, but only 2 approvals (33.3% approval).
      2. Commissioner note: “Example B” will pass. It has 3 total votes & 2 approvals (66.6% approval).
  3. The Commissioner may vote on Proposals.
    1. The Commissioner must submit their ballot by the deadline defined in “IX.B. Ballots”.
    2. The Commissioner’s vote will only be accepted if there is a tie. Their vote will be considered the tie-breaker.
      1. In accordance with “IX.C.2. Simple Majority”, a tied Proposal will fail to pass if a Commissioner does not submit a vote.

E. Installing Amendments

  1. The Commissioner must install the Amendment in the Constitution 7 days before Draft Day.
  2. Installed Amendments must be listed in “XI. Amendments”.
    1. Entries in “XI. Amendments” may be summarized.

F. Urgent Amendment

  1. Any Amendments proposed mid-season must receive a unanimous vote to accept & install for the current season.
    1. Unanimous vote is 100% approval without the Commissioner’s ballot.
  2. Urgent Amendments that are approved & installed into the Constitution will automatically be submitted as Amendment Proposals in the off-season.

X. Executive Decision

A. Declarations

  1. In the off-season, the Commissioner may create Amendments to the Constitution.
    1. Executive Decisions must abide by “I.B.1 Commissioner Primary Directive”.
  2. The Commission must provide an explanation for each modification.

B. Limitations

  1. Executive Decisions must not be created mid-season.
    1. Mid-season changes to the Constitution must follow “IX.F. Urgent Amendment”.
  2. The Commissioner may poll the league for a vote of approval.
    1. The poll results are purely informative. It is at the discretion of the Commissioner to act on the poll results.

C. Installing Executive Decisions

  1. The Commissioner must install the Executive Decisions in the Constitution before Ballots are issued to Teams.
  2. Installed Executive Decisions must be listed in “XI. Amendments”.
    1. Entries in “XI. Amendments” may be summarized.

XI. Amendments

  1. The ‘Murica Rule (EO-0) — Changes to the league can be done in a couple of ways. Executive Decisions are made by the Commissioner in the off-season. Amendments can be proposed by Teams and voted on by the entire league.
    1. Amended “IX”; “X”.
    2. Commissioner opinion