The NFBC celebrated its 20th anniversary season in 2023 with a record year. While the NFBC had only 231 teams competing in 2004, it finished with over 22,300 teams in 2023 while giving away over $4.8 million in prize money. What a fantastic season.

The NFBC again hosted live events in Las Vegas and New York City, the 20th straight year of live events for both cities. Participants came to Dave & Busters in Manhattan for auctions and drafts in mid-March, and then the following weekend the NFBC hosted live events for the first time at the historic Mirage in Las Vegas. The Mirage provided a huge Grand Ballroom to host eight Main Events at once and it was a great venue for the Friday Night Party, auctions and camaraderie.

Without any pandemic or lockout to deal with for the first time in four years, the NFBC had its finest year ever. The NFBC Main Event grew to 795 teams – up 90 teams from 2022 – as the grand prize also grew for the second straight year. The grand prize grew from $150,000 in 2021 to $175,000 in 2022 and to $200,000 in 2023. Brian Slack of Los Angeles, California became the first winner of that $200,000 grand prize as he held off Brandon King to win the overall title by 106.5 points. Brian became our 19th different Main Event champion since 2004, with only NFBC Hall of Famer Lindy Hinkelman winning this overall title twice.

Drew Forte of Pleasantville, New York won the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship and the $150,000 grand prize as he topped a record field of 2,460 teams for the title. The 30-year-old took an amazing path to the title as he won a $50 Rotowire Online Championship Qualifier league last year and turned that $50 into the $150,000 grand prize!!! That's how it's supposed to work.

Mike Ballschmiede of Chicago, Illinois won the 2023 NFBC Best Ball Cutline Championship and the $75,000 grand prize as he bested a field of 1,500 teams for the title. Mike thus becomes our 7th different overall champion in this unique Best Ball/Survivor championship in our eight-year history of the contest. A big final week at the “final table of 20 players” led Mike to the title as he finished 95 points ahead of Joshua Dawalt, our 2022 NFBC Cutline Best Ball champion.

Michael Stryker of Mill Valley, California won the 2023 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $40,000 grand prize after topping a record field of 4,845 teams. Michael had an unbelievable finish as he made up 1,143.5 points in the final week of the season to capture the title and the $40,000 grand prize. He had started the week in third place overall, but thanks to that wild week he moved up two spots and claimed the title in this draft-and-hold national championship.

Matt Shepherd of Napa, California won the 2023 NFBC Auction Championship title and the $30,000 grand prize as he bested a record field of 195 teams for the title. Matt competed in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 23rd and won his league title and then won his first NFBC overall title. Matt finished 41 points ahead of NFBC Hall of Famer Dave Potts for the overall title.

Lucas Biery of Bloomington, Indiana won the third annual NFBC Online Auction Championship as he topped a record field of 840 teams to win the record $10,000 grand prize. This is the third straight year that this contest reached its max total of teams. Lucas won the overall title with 7,381.5 points, earning 90.96 percent of all available points, as he finished 122 points ahead of Ante Meich.

In 2023, the NFBC debuted the Best Ball 12 National Championship. Aaron Jones of Lumberton, New Jersey won this $10,000 grand prize as he won three Best Ball league titles and the overall title. Aaron’s team bested a field of 720 teams as we sold out this debut contest. The 35-year-old finished with 15,658 points to edge Eric Albright by 222 points for the overall title.

Dave Sowa of Bloomington, Illinois won the 2023 NFBC $50s Draft Champions competition as he had the top team among a field that included 3,384 teams. Dave won a FREE 2024 NFBC Main Event entry for winning the NFBC $50s DC.

The private high-dollar leagues returned in full force in 2023 and Philippe Dussault of Terrebonne, Quebec won the biggest prize of them all. Phil entered the NFBC Platinum League for the first time this year and won the title and that $120,000 league prize. Nic Cassavetes of Los Angeles, California won the $75,000 league prize in the NFBC Diamond Auction League. John Thompson of Fort Worth, Texas was a late addition to the NFBC Diamond League, but it paid off for him as he won that $75,000 league prize. Jason Duponte of Natick, Massachusetts won the 2023 NFBC Ultimate Auction league title and the $40,000 prize. And in historical fashion, Scott Fleming, of Wayne, New Jersey won his third straight NFBC New York MTM Ultimate Invitational League title and that $40,000 prize. Scott is the first person to three-peat in an NFBC high-stakes private league. The draft for that Ultimate league was carried live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, as it has been for the last eight years.

Winning NFBC 15-Team Super League titles and $20,000 each were Mark Burns of Tomkins Cove, New York, Jeff Zimmerman of Mulvane, Kansas and Brad Miller of Mission Viejo, California. Bob Catsiroumpas of London, Ontario won the NFBC’s only 12-Team Super League title and that $18,000 league prize.

For the third straight year, the NFBC ran the Diamond Challenge Roto and Points games. Doug Gruber of Troy, Michigan won the 2023 NFBC Diamond Challenge Roto Championship and that $30,000 grand prize, while also having the second place team in that contest. Dean Little of Shelburne, Ontario won the 2023 NFBC Diamond Challenge Points Championship and the $15,000 grand prize as he finished a solid year with four teams in the Top 8 overall.

And to close out a record-breaking year in the NFBC, Ken Clark of Mount Pleasant, Arkansas won the 2023 NFBC Postseason Contest and that record $20,000 grand prize. This contest has really grown through the years and in 2023 it finished with a record 472 teams.

Now it's onto 2024, which is the NFBC's 21st season. Live events will be held in Las Vegas March 20-26 in what should be the biggest and best season ever. Come and join us for our 21st anniversary season!

The 2022 NFBC season was among the most difficult in our 19-year history due to the continuing pandemic and the labor issue between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. Off-season drafts stalled slightly when the owners locked the players out for 99 days starting in December before a settlement was reached a mere 28 days before the start of the season. And while the pandemic was improving, there were still a lot of players who wouldn't draft live or even draft at all in 2022 because of that uncertainty.

But the NFBC continued to host online drafts during that time and adjusted its schedule once the lockout ended by moving the New York City live events back two weeks and kicking off the live events at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It was the first time that the New York live events went after the Las Vegas live events, but it made for the most exciting time in Las Vegas ever. The enthusiasm for the return of baseball, for the return of so many people to the live events, and for competing for the record $175,000 grand prize in the Main Event made Las Vegas the most enthusiastic time in our 19-year history.

Despite the lockout, the NFBC had another record season in 2022 with almost 20,000 teams competing for over $4.5 million in prize money. The NFBC managed over 1,480 leagues over our 10-team, 12-team and 15-team formats in 2022.

We increased the grand prize in the NFBC Main Event to $175,000 in 2022 and that allowed us to finish with a record 705 teams, up 60 teams from 2021. Bob Cramutola of College Grove, Tennessee became our 18th different champion in 19 years to win the title as he held off Steven Weimer by 88 points. Amazingly, Bob didn't even win his league title as Steven was in his March 29th Online League and edged Bob by 1 point for that $7,000 league prize. This has never happened before in the Main Event where the overall champion didn't even win his league title. Bob first joined the NFBC in 2020 and by his third season he won the industry's most prestigious title. Well done Bob.

Andrew Geller of Flemington, New Jersey won the 2022 Rotowire Online Championship and our record $150,000 grand prize as he topped a record field of 2,388 teams for that title. Andrew has been close to winning this title before as he finished 2nd in the 2020 Sprint Rotowire OC and was 4th in 2021, but in 2022 he finally took home the top prize. Andrew first joined the NFBC in 2014 and had won 10 league titles before winning two more Rotowire OC league titles in 2022 and the grand prize.

Joshua Dawalt of Noblesville, Indiana won the 2022 NFBC Best Ball Cutline Championship and the $75,000 grand prize as he outlasted 1,609 other teams for the title. Joshua had two teams at \"the final table\" of 20 teams and he finished 1st and 19th overall. He finished with 2,759.1 points to win this year's Cutline title going away by 202.9 points. NFBC veteran Bill Strickler, who passed away two weeks before the end of the season, finished second to win $25,000.

Steve Maier of Oak Creek, Wisconsin won the 2022 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize after topping a record field of 4,815 teams. This was easily the closest race we've ever had in the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship as Steve edged Mike Mager by just seven points. When you consider that each category has 4,815 points in it and that there are 48,150 available points then seven points is just .00015 of a percentage. Amazing margin of victory by Steve and another tough runner-up finish for Mike, who has now finished in the Top 5 of the DC overall standings a couple of times.

Steven Cozzolino of New York City won the 2022 NFBC Auction Championship title and that $20,000 grand prize as he bested a field of 135 teams for this title. Due to the 99-day lockout, we scaled back the grand prize and based it on nine full leagues, which we reached. Steven drafted live in New York City on April 1st at 9 am ET at the Stewart Hotel and he won his league title with 131 points as two other teams finished in the Top 10 overall from that league. He edged Scott Fleming by 39 points for the overall title.

The NFBC also saw great growth in 2022 in our online auctions as that software continues to be the best in the industry. Gregg Martin of Brooklyn, New York won the second annual NFBC Online Auction Championship as he topped a record field of 660 teams to win the $7,000 grand prize. This is the second straight year that this contest has reached its maximum total of teams. Gregg finished 109.5 points ahead of Mike Rothe to win the overall title.

The NFBC also finished with 3,396 $50 Draft Champions teams as players competed for league prizes in 283 different leagues. We did keep overall standings and we awarded a FREE 2023 NFBC Main Event entry to the top team in that format. Mark Steahly of Powell, Ohio will be competing in his first Main Event league in 2023 thanks to winning this overall title in 2022.

The private high-dollar leagues returned in full force in 2022 and Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York won the biggest prize of them all. Glenn won the NFBC Platinum League title and that $120,000 league prize after finishing second in 2021. Shawn Johnson of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina won the $75,000 league prize in the NFBC Diamond Auction League. This was Shawn's fifth title in the last six years in the Diamond Auction League, an incredible feat. Shawn also won the NFBC Ultimate Auction League title and that $40,000 league prize, while winning the NFBC 12-Team Super League title for the second straight year and that $18,000 prize.

Philippe Dussault of Terrebonne, Quebec won the NFBC Main Event title in 2021 and in 2022 he went to Las Vegas and won the Diamond League title and that $75,000 league prize during his first attempt. Scott Fleming of Wayne, New Jersey won his second straight NFBC New York MTM Invitational Ultimate League title and that $40,000 league prize. The draft for that Ultimate league was carried live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, as it has been for the last seven years. NFBC Hall of Famer Steve Jupinka also won $40,000 in the NFBC Ultimate Online League. Winning NFBC Super League titles and $20,000 in 2022 were Toby Guevin of Grass Valley, California and Glenn Schroter.

For the second straight year, the NFBC ran the Diamond Challenge Roto and Points games. Russ Anno of Foothill Ranch, California won the $30,000 grand prize in the 2022 Diamond Challenge Roto contest as he defeated a field of 521 teams. He finished 39.5 points ahead of Brianna Hovey for the title. Howard Baum of New Providence, New Jersey won the $15,000 grand prize in the 2022 Diamond Challenge Points contest as he defeated a field of 400 teams. Kenneth Gavron finished 40.02 points behind to finish second overall.

And to close out a record-breaking year in the NFBC, Chris Carmody of Harrison Township, Michigan won the 2022 NFBC Postseason Contest and that $15,000 grand prize. Zach Waxman finished second and won $6,000 as this contest finished with a record 420 teams.

Now it's onto 2023, which is the NFBC's 20th anniversary season. Live events will be held in New York City March 17-19 and Las Vegas March 23-26 in what should be the biggest and best season ever. Come and join us for our 20th anniversary season!

The pandemic continued into 2021, but this time Major League Baseball was determined to get in a full season. NFBC owners were just as enthusiastic and determined as they began drafting in early November and didn’t stop until the NFBC set new records across the board. In 2021, the NFBC had over 19,000 paid teams competing for over $4.5 million in prizes, comprising over 1,400 leagues. What a comeback from 2020.

The NFBC Main Event kicked off its 18th straight season with a record field of 645 teams. Philippe Dussault of Terrebonne, Quebec won the 2021 NFBC Main Event and the $150,000 grand prize in dominating fashion, leading the contest over the last 14 weeks of the season. Philippe won his March 28th Main Event Online league title with a record 145 points (96.67%) and he won the overall title with 6,211.5 points, scoring a record 96.3 percent of all available points. Amazing. But he also had two other teams in the Top 21 overall, finishing 3rd and 21st overall. All three teams won Main Event league titles as he has now won six Main Event league titles over the last two seasons and seven Main Event league titles over the last three years.

Philippe, who first joined the NFBC in 2017, also won the NFBC Auction Championship title and the $20,000 grand prize in that contest. Because of Covid, the 2021 NFBC Auction Championship was limited to 8 leagues and 120 teams, but Philippe bested all of them to win the $20,000 grand prize. He also won the $20,000 league prize since this title came from the New York Super Auction League. Philippe couldn't even come to the United States for the New York Auction Championship because of travel restrictions, so he had Rob DiPietro as his live proxy and he gave instructions through an ear piece. Yet he still dominated the league against an all-star cast of live participants, winning the league title with 131.5 points (87.67%), while winning the overall title with 1,043 points (86.9%).

Philippe didn’t win the Rotowire Online Championship, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He finished second in that contest, which carried a $75,000 bonus for anyone who could win the OC and the Main Event. Chris Fessler of Cincinnati, Ohio prevented that from happening as he added his second NFBC national championship when he won this title. Chris topped a record field of 2,388 teams to win the $125,000 grand prize. Chris also won the 2017 NFBC Main Event as he now joins a select group of owners who have won both of those titles. Lindy Hinkelman and James Tomony are the only other owners to have won these prestigious titles. Chris won his league title with 111 points (92.5%) and he won the overall title with 22,139 points (92.7%). Chris entered three Rotowire Online Championship leagues this year and he won all three league titles, finishing 63rd overall and 126th overall with the two other teams.

Bob Catsiroumpas of London, Ontario won the 2021 NFBC Cutline Championship and the $75,000 grand prize with a monstrous final week as he moved up three spots in that final week to take the title. Bob beat a record field of 1,960 teams to become our first two-time NFBC Cutline Champion as he also won the overall title in 2019. This was the 6th year of the NFBC Cutline Championship. Bob had a record-breaking final week as his team scored 815 points during the week of Sept. 13-19. He outscored every other team in the Championship Round by at least 76 points to vault up three spots to take the title.

Thomas Olownia of Canaan, Connecticut won the 2021 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the record $30,000 grand prize after topping a record field of 4,545 teams. Thomas led the competition over the last seven weeks of the season and he also had another team finish 6th overall in what turned out to be a fantastic year for him. Thomas won his league title with 142 points (94.67%) and he won the overall title with 42,655.5 points (93.86%), finishing 1,261 points ahead of Steven Weimer, who finished second overall for the second straight year in this national competition.

The first year of the NFBC Online Auction Championship was a huge success as we finished with 32 leagues and 480 teams, higher than expected. And the winner of our first annual NFBC Online Auction Championship and the $5,000 grand prize was Zachary Waxman of Ancaster, Ontario. Zach won his March 27th $150 Online Auction Championship league in dominating fashion as he finished with 141.5 points (94.33%) and he won the overall title with 4,357.5 points (90.79%). This contest is destined to grow to higher levels going forward thanks to the excellent online auction software.

The private high-dollar leagues returned to the NFBC in 2021 with Andy Robinson of Columbus, Georgia winning the biggest one of all, the NFBC Platinum League. Andy won the $120,000 league prize with co-manager Eddie Gillis as their team finished 5.5 points ahead of Glenn Schroter. Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida won the 2021 NFBC Diamond League and the $75,000 prize as he held off Doug Gruber by one point for that title. In the NFBC Diamond Auction League, Shawn Johnson of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina won his FOURTH title in this contest and the $75,000 prize. Shawn has won four of the last five Diamond Auction league titles, and for good measure, he finished second in the Auction Championship. Scott Fleming of Wayne, New Jersey has been with the NFBC since 2004 and in 2021 he won the New York MTM Ultimate League Invitational and that $40,000 prize. Winning 15-Team Super League titles and $20,000 league prizes each in 2021 were Ned Donohue of Hopewell Junction, New York (he won two league titles) and Tyler Jung of Eagle River, Wisconsin. Shawn Johnson won the 12-Team Super League title and $18,000.

The NFBC also added the Diamond Challenge in 2021, which had been run by CDM Fantasy Sports for almost three decades. Craig Alme of Fargo, North Dakota had the top two teams in the Diamond Challenge Roto Championship and earned the top prize of $40,000. Craig beat a field of 705 teams in that one. Quintan Kocher of Ashland, Ohio also had the top two teams in the Diamond Challenge Points Championship to win the top prize of $15,000. The Points Championship had 495 teams.

And to close out a record-breaking year in the NFBC, Greg Glassman of Brooklyn, New York won the 2021 NFBC Post-Season Contest and the $15,000 grand prize. Greg moved up four spots during the World Series that Atlanta won over Houston to top a record field of 401 teams. He becomes the fourth different winner of our NFBC Post-Season Contest in four years. Now onto 2022!!

2020 will be remembered as one of the most disruptive, painful and divisive years in U.S. history. And the same could be said for the Major League Baseball season as Covid-19 shut down spring training on March 15th, which in turn forced the NFBC to cancel all live events and refund more than $3 million in entry fees. It was a season that hung on the brink of disaster for months on end before finally resulting in a shortened season. MLB was forced to pause the season in March and then failed to reach an agreement with the MLB Players Association for the resumption of the season until late July. In fact, Commissioner Rob Manfred mandated a 60-game regular season that would start on July 24th and continue through Sept. 27th after the two sides failed to reach an agreement. All of the NFBC live events in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago were cancelled and everything was moved to Online, while most of the early signups were refunded.

The Main Event was headed toward a sellout before Covid-19 hit, but with the reduced schedule we refunded more than 500 teams at $1,700 per team and shut down that contest. Instead, we recreated an NFBC Sprint Main Event at $1,200 per team and sold that one out with 570 teams. James Tomony of Madison, Wisconsin won the $100,000 grand prize with a dominating performance, finishing with a record 147 league points and 5,362.5 points out of a possible 5,700 points in the overall competition. He earned 94.1 percent of available points – a new record -- to become our 17th Main Event champion. NFBC Charter Member Mike Cameron of Encinitas, California finished second, 452.5 points behind Tomony.

We also were headed toward a sellout of the Rotowire Online Championship before Covid-19 hit and thus decided to refund 2,000+ teams due to the shortened season. We recreated a Rotowire Sprint Online Championship at $250 per entry and finished with 960 teams. Matthew Bredin of Clyde River, Prince Island won the $25,000 grand prize as he finished with 8,842.5 points out of a possible 9,600 points, earning 92.1 percent of available points in the overall championship. This was Matthew's second Rotowire Online Championship overall title as he also won $100,000 in our football Rotowire Online Championship in 2015.

The NFFC Cutline Championship went forward as planned despite the shortened season because this was a Best Ball scoring format. Mike Dirkman of Elk River, Minnesota won the Cutline Championship overall title and the $75,000 grand prize as he bested a record 1,960 teams. The Cutline Championship was a total points Sprint through 10 weeks with two FAAB periods as Dirkman drafted the best team. He finished with 6,440 points to finish 166 points ahead of Aaron Jones for the title. Mike entered nine Cutline Championship teams and won four league titles, while finishing 1st, 3rd and 25th overall.

We also went forward with the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship despite the shortened season because this was a draft ‘n hold format with teams having 50 players to set starting lineups each week. Rob DiPietro of Belford, New Jersey won the Draft Champions National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize as he beat a record field of 4,250 teams over the 10-week season. Rob led the way with 39,761 points out of a possible 42,500 points or 93.56% of available points. He edged Scott Davis by just 352.5 points for the title.

And in our only high-stakes private league during the Covid Year of 2020, Mike Massotto of Robbinsville, New Jersey won the New York MTM Super Invitational League and the $20,000 league prize in dominating fashion as he finished with 119.5 points. Although it's usually an Ultimate League, we pushed forward with the NFBC New York MTM Super Invitational with most of the owners drafting live in New York City at David Einhorn’s office and the other owners on a Zoom call. It was as close to a live event as we could get. Finally, Jeff Zimmerman of Mulvane, Kansas won the NFBC Mini-Super League and the $9,000 league prize with a dominating performance, scoring 103.5 points.

The NFBC Auction Championship was sold out before having to be cancelled in March, while all of the private high- dollar leagues – the Platinum, Diamond, Diamond Auction, Ultimate Auction, Ultimate Draft and Super leagues – were also all cancelled after selling out and owners were refunded. The NFBC refunded over $3 million in entries in 2020, but we still finished with over 12,000 teams and awarded more than $2 million in prizes thanks to the Sprint season. Hopefully, 2021 will improve and science will be able to tackle Covid-19, allowing the world to return to some normalcy. If that happens, the NFBC will grow in 2021 and will return to hosting a full slate of live events in Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago. At least that’s the plan for 2021.

It was a record year in 2019 as the NFBC celebrated its 16th season with over 13,000 teams and almost 1,000 leagues. New additions to the NFBC in 2019 were Online Auctions on the SportsHub Technologies site, the Memorial Second Chance Championship, The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, Main Event Qualifier leagues, Rotowire Online Championship Qualifier leagues, All-Star Break leagues and the NFBC Post-Season Contest. All of this led to a record year in prize money as well with the NFBC awarding over $3.6 million in prizes.

Live drafts were held in Las Vegas (first time at Park MGM), New York and Chicago for the 16th straight year, along with Online, while the Main Event set another new record with 570 teams. Abdul Madani of Sarasota, Florida became our 15th different winner of the NFBC Main Event as he won our record $150,000 grand prize in impressive fashion. He finished with 5,335.5 points to earn an amazing 93.6 percent of available points, the second highest percentage in NFBC Main Event history, while finishing with 143.5 league points. Madani finished 269 points ahead of Scott Zeidman of Redondo Beach, California, as the runner-up finish earned $40,000. Andrew Edenbaum of Encinitas, California won the 2019 Rotowire Online Championship and our record $125,000 grand prize. Andrew finished with 19,951 points to finish with 94.5% of available points as the Online Championship had a record 2,112 teams. He won three other Online Championship league titles in 2019 and he also won the 12-Team Super League title and $18,000.

Jacob Halusker of Seven Hills, Ohio won the 2019 NFBC Auction Championship and the $30,000 grand prize. Jacob competed in the Friday morning Las Vegas $1400 Auction Championship league, and finished with 1,561.5 points (86.75% of the available points) as the Auction Championship finished with 180 teams.

NFBC Hall of Famer Lindy Hinkelman added to his impressive list of accomplishments by winning the 2019 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize. Lindy has already won TWO NFBC Main Event overall titles and one Rotowire Online Championship overall title. Now he's added the DC National Championship to his resume as he won his league title with 134.5 points and won the overall title with 31,311 points or 90.8% of available points as we finished with a record 3,450 teams this year. Bob Catsiroumpas of London, Ontario used a huge final week to win the 2019 NFBC Cutline Championship title and the $70,000 grand prize. Bob's Kikuchi Brained 1 team scored an amazing 860 points in Week 25 to vault from 6th place to 1st for the title and the $70,000 prize as the Cutline finished with a record 1,720 teams.

Daniel Thompson of Port St. Lucie, Florida won the debut NFBC Memorial Day Second Chance Championship and the $10,000 that goes with that title. Daniel beat 179 other teams in this contest, finishing with 1,625.5 points to finish with 90.3% of all available points. He won his league title with 115 points and won the overall by 98.5 points.

It was another big year in the private high-stakes leagues as well with the NFBC hosting 11 leagues with entry fees between $2,500 per team and $15,000 per team. KC Cha of Manhattan Beach, California won the 2019 NFBC Platinum League title and the $120,000 league prize. KC finished with 121 points to win the title by 10.5 points. David Einhorn of Rye, New York won the New York Ultimate League title after emerging from the pack in August and storming to the $40,000 league prize. John Lymberis of Sadsburyville, Pennsylvania won the NFBC March 25th Ultimate Online League title by 10.5 points and the $40,000 prize. Shawn Johnson won the NFBC Diamond Auction League for the second straight time and third time in four years enroute to this year's $75,000 league prize. Shawn used a strong second half to win the title with 125.5 points, 11.5 points ahead of anyone else. The NFBC again sold out five Super Leagues in 2019. League winners from our 15-Team format who each won $20,000 included: Mike Cameron of Encinitas, California; Matt Modica of New York, New York; Gino Yu of Torrance, California; and Steven Spatz of San Diego, California.

Mark Winokur of Fort Collins, Colorado won the $1400 AL Auction League title, while Alan Holmes of Ottawa, Ontario won the $1400 NL Auction League title. Each won $8,400 for their efforts.

The NFBC continues to create games that will bring in new players, which is why the Main Event and OC Qualifiers were created. The NFBC50’s Draft Champions leagues also give new players a chance to compete in our great draft ‘n hold format and play for great prizes. A total of 145 $50 leagues were formed in 2019 as several new players were introduced to the NFBC this way. It was just another example of how the NFBC is growing the season-long industry through 10-team, 12-team and 15-team formats.

And that season-long process continued into the playoffs as the NFBC Post-Season Contest returned in grand fashion. A total of 300 teams competed in this contest with Kevin Kulp of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania winning the $20,000 grand prize thanks to Game 7 of the World Series. Kevin jumped up one spot after Patrick Corbin secured the win for the Nationals to edge James Mehall by 3.08 points for the title. It was the perfect way to end a near-perfect season in the NFBC.

After hosting the NFBC on the STATS platform for 13 of our first 14 seasons, the NFBC completely moved to the SportsHub Technologies platform in 2018, with a new online draft room and new back-end game software. The transition took time for everyone to get used to, but in the end it was a good move for players as the new FAAB system featured several time-saving tools that made the in-season management less time consuming.

The changes led to a record year with over 10,000 teams and $3.3 million in prize money. Live drafts were held in Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago for the 15th straight year, along with Online, while the Main Event set a record with 510 teams. John Pausma of Tinley Park, Illinois won the $125,000 grand prize in the Main Event as he drafted out of Chicago and finished 105 points ahead of Bradley Libros for the title. It was a historic year for Pausma as he finished second overall in the Rotowire Online Championship, while finishing 8th in the NFBC Auction Championship and earning a money finish in the NFBC Cutline Championship.

Chris Oliver of St. Louis, Missouri won the $100,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Online Championship as he bested a field of 1,764 teams. Oliver finished 66 points ahead of Pausma, who would have won a $75,000 cash bonus had he won both overall titles.

Vince Clemente of Elmhurst, Illinois won the NFBC Auction Championship out of Chicago as he defeated a field of 180 teams. Clemente finished 17.5 points ahead of Mike Mager in one of the closest national races of the year. John Magnozzi of Levittown, New York won the $50,000 grand prize for winning the third annual NFBC Cutline Best Ball Championship. Magnozzi bested 19 other owners at the “final table” in this format, which originally featured a record 1,650 teams. And Dorian Kinman of Springville, Indiana won our final national contest as he topped a field of 2,760 teams to earn the record $30,000 grand prize in the Draft Champions National Championship. John edged Steven Weimer by only 67 points in our popular draft ‘n hold format.

It was another record year in the high-end private leagues in 2018 as well, with a combined 11 leagues in the big money formats. Jon Stadtmueller of Little Rock, Arkansas won the 5th annual NFBC Platinum League in convincing fashion to win that $120,000 league prize. KC Cha of Manhattan Beach, California won the NFBC Diamond League and that $75,000 prize, while Travis Johnson won the $75,000 prize in the NFBC Diamond Auction League, winning that title by 29 points. Anthony Botzo of Simpsonville, South Carolina won the $40,000 prize in the NFBC Ultimate League, while Jon Stadtmueller also won the NFBC Ultimate Auction League and that $40,000 prize.

The NFBC also had a record six NFBC Super Leagues this year, including five in the 15-team format. Super League winners who took home $20,000 each included: Leonard Ringle of New York, New York, Anthony Botzo, Ryan Atkins of Henderson, Nevada, Tom O’Bryan of Minneapolis, Minnesota and John Lymberis of Sadsburyville, Pennsylvania. Patrick Schaeffer of Dover, Pennsylvania won the only NFBC 12-Team Super League and $18,000. Dave Smith of Warren, Ohio won $7,500 in our only Las Vegas NL Auction League, while Alan Holmes of Ottawa, Ontario and Daniel Ostas of Norman, Oklahoma each won $7,500 in our Las Vegas AL Auction leagues.

The NFBC also introduced NFBC50s in 2018, a private 12-team Draft Champions league format at $50 per team that paid the Top 2 finishers, including $400 to first place. That format brought in a lot of first-time players to the NFBC as there were more than 100 NFBC50 leagues in that debut season. With over 780 leagues in 2018, there were plenty of deserving winners from our 10-team, 12-team and 15-team league formats during another historic season.

In October of 2016, STATS LLC sold the NFBC to SportsHub Games Network, Inc., a company formed entirely to grow the pay-to-play fantasy sports platform. With new ownership, the NFBC reached another milestone in 2017 as it awarded $3.14 million in prizes, while topping 8,700 teams for the first time. It was a historic season in all of our national contests as we held live drafts in Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago for the 14th straight season.

The NFBC Main Event sold out for the 13th straight year and set a record with 480 teams as Chris Fessler of Florence, Kentucky walked away with the $125,000 grand prize in a wild last week. No fewer than five different owners held the top spot during the last month, but Chris not only won the overall grand prize, but he finished sixth overall with another team as well. Chris finished with 4,343.5 points, which was 90.49 percent of all available points, the second-highest total ever. Doug Cassidy of Scarsdale, New York finished second in the Main Event, a mere 38 points behind.

Jim Phan of Ashburn, Virginia had an equally dominating season in the Rotowire Online Championship, which had a record 1,788 teams in 2017. Jim won the $100,000 grand prize with a big push over the last three weeks and he had another team that finished fourth overall. Now that’s dominance.

First time NFBC players Jeffrey Cox and Bill Culver of Saline, Michigan joined the NFBC Auction Championship for the first time in 2017 and not only won the Chicago Auction League, but they also won the $25,000 grand prize in the overall competition. That’s a pretty impressive debut in a contest that had a record 180 teams in it.

Mark Hesters and Dave Vidaver of Davis, California defeated a record 3,030 teams to win the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $28,000 grand prize. We had 202 leagues competing in that draft ‘n hold format.

Rian Lange of Bradford, Ontario dominated the Championship Round of the second annual NFBC Cutline Championship to win that $50,000 grand prize. A total of 1,380 teams drafted in the industry’s only best-ball national contest and Rian bested the “final table” of 20 owners over the last three weeks for the grand prize.

Bill Phipps of San Francisco, California and his partner Eric Kesselman made history in 2017 as they swept all three of our highest-dollar private leagues. They dominated the Platinum League to win that $120,000 league prize, they dominated the NFBC Diamond Auction League to win that $75,000 league prize, and they rallied in the last two weeks to win the NFBC Diamond League for another $75,000. Those were the only events they played in and they turned $35,000 into $270,000. Impressive indeed.

Jon Stadtmueller of Little Rock, Arkansas won his third Ultimate Auction League title in the last six years to earn $40,000, while Joe Thelen of Garden City, New York and Tony Botzo of Simpsonville, South Carolina also won $40,000 in Ultimate Draft Leagues. Joe won his in the debut New York MTM Ultimate League, which was carried live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio from the New York Hilton. Winning $20,000 and Super League titles were: Ty Parsons/Greg Headrick of Springfield, Missouri; Phillip McDonald of Huntsville, Alabama; Ken Clark of Mt. Pleasant, Arkansas; and Kent Stermon of Jacksonville, Florida.

Eddie Gillis of Jamestown, Rhode Island won his fourth AL Auction League title in Las Vegas, while Jason Gill of Chicago, Illinois won the NL Auction League title. Matthew Modica of New York City won the other AL Auction League title in Las Vegas. With over 650 leagues in 2017, there were plenty of deserving winners from our 10-team, 12-team and 15-team league formats during another historic season.

In 2016, the NFBC added another new national contest and the end result was another record-breaking year. The NFBC set a record with over 8,300 teams in 2016 while awarding more than $2.9 million in prize money. The big growth area occurred with the debut of the NFBC Cutline Championship, the first points-based contest that featured optimal scoring lineups and a survivor playoff format. The Cutline sold out during its debut season with 1,450 teams as Jon Stadtmueller of Little Rock, Arkansas won the $40,000 grand prize. Jon was one of 20 teams in the Championship Round and he edged out Robert Sargent of Lake Oswego, Oregon by 22.64 points for the title.

The NFBC Main Event sold out for a 12th straight year with 450 teams and NFBC Charter Member Rob Silver of Toronto, Ontario won the overall title and the $125,000 grand prize with a dominating performance. He scored 143 league points, including a perfect 75 pitching points, and finished with a record 4,066.5 points (90.37 percent of available points) in the overall competition. Rob has competed in the Main Event each of the first 13 years and he got it right this time. Mike Mager of East Greenbush, New York finished second in the Main Event to earn $35,000.

James Tomony of Madison, Wisconsin took only one team in the Rotowire Online Championship, but he rode that team to a first place finish and the $100,000 grand prize. The Online Championship featured a record 1,632 teams as the NFBC added $750 and $1,500 Online Championship Plus leagues to the format.

Yoram Batner of Toronto, Ontario won the 2016 NFBC Draft Champions National Championship and the $28,000 grand prize as he bested 2,910 teams, another record for this format. Dave Taylor of Niagara University, New York won the Auction Championship and the $25,000 grand prize, besting 165 teams from 11 different leagues.

Dave Potts won the 3rd annual NFBC Platinum League and the $120, 000 league prize as the high-dollar private leagues reached new levels. The Platinum League had a $15,000 entry fee this year. Joe Berg of Fullerton, California won the $75,000 league prize in the Diamond Draft League, while Shawn Johnson won the same prize in the Diamond Auction League. Winning $40,000 were Derek Pierson in the Ultimate Draft League and Ross Longood in the Ultimate Auction League, the family’s 4th Ultimate Auction League title.

Winning $20,000 in the Super Leagues were Emmett Ruland, Gaetan Lavoie of Dorval, Quebec and Tony Botzo of Simpsonville, South Carolina. Glenn Lowy won the AL Auction League title, while Brian Ogan of Chicago, Illinois won the NL Auction League title.

We also inducted our fourth member to the NFBC Hall of Fame as David DiDonato was honored at the Bellagio in Las Vegas for his dominance over the past 11 years. Since entering the NFBC in 2005, DiDonato had won almost 25 percent of the leagues he entered -- including 3 Main Event league titles, a Main Event overall title, 2 Ultimate Leagues and 1 Primetime League -- while cashing in almost 50 percent of his leagues. It was an honor to induct David into the NFBC Hall of Fame.

With over 600 leagues in 2016, there were a lot of deserving winners from the NFBC’s 10-team, 12-team and 15-team formats.

In 2015, the NFBC set records in participation numbers and prize money for the 11th straight year. The NFBC grew to over 7,000 teams in 2015, which amounted to over 510 leagues. The NFBC also awarded a record $2.84 million in prize money as every contest continued to grow.

Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York had been a Charter Member of the NFBC since 2004 and in his 12th season he came away with the NFBC Main Event overall title and the $125,000 grand prize. Glenn led his King of Queens team to an overall total of 4,025.5 points as the NFBC Main Event had a record total of 450 teams, thus scoring 89.46 percent of available points. Don Warner of Wayzata, Minnesota finished second in the Main Event overall standings to earn $35,000.

Glenn also won the debut Diamond Auction League, earning $75,000 there for a total haul of $206,500 on $11,600 in entries. Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska even topped that, finishing with a record winning total of $305,000 in 2015. Chad teamed up with Joe Berg to win the $80,000 grand prize in the NFBC Primetime against 204 teams AND he won the $80,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Online Championship, topping a record field of 1,500 teams. The NFBC awarded a $75,000 cash bonus to anyone who could win both overall titles and Chad beat the odds to get it done. It was a dominating performance in both 12-team national contests for Chad and Joe.

Another veteran NFBC owner, Anson Chan of Tenafly, New Jersey, won the NFBC Auction Championship and its record $22,500 payday. Anson won the $2500 New York Auction League, thus taking home that $20,000 league prize and the overall grand prize as this format finished with a record total of 165 teams and 11 leagues.

Speaking of records, the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship also set a record with 2,880 teams and 192 leagues as this format continues to grow and grow. Eric Sorensen of St. Paul, Minnesota finished on top to win the record $27,500 grand prize in this format.

The private leagues also had a banner year in 2015, led by the NFBC Platinum League, which returned with a $13,000 entry fee and a $100,000 grand prize. Actor/producer Nick Cassavetes of Los Angeles, California and James Stanard of Edwards, Colorado tied for that league title with 104 points each and split the $150,000 in prizes. The Platinum League draft was again broadcast live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio from the Bellagio in Las Vegas, a total of four hours of national coverage.

John Lemke of Brooklyn, New York won the $75,000 grand prize in the Diamond Draft League, while Patrick Gallagher of Boston, Massachusetts won the $40,000 grand prize in the Ultimate Draft League. Jon Stadtmueller of Little Rock, Arkansas won his second Ultimate Auction League title in the last four years to earn that $40,000 league prize. Earning $20,000 each for Super League titles were Andre Bourcier of Horseshoe, Texas, Gino Yu of Torrance, California and Jason Duponte of Natick, Massachusetts.

Earning a third straight AL Auction League title was the tag team of Jason Emma and Mark Srebro of York, Pennsylvania, while Dave Smith of Warren, Ohio won the $1,300 NL Auction League. There were a lot of titles to be won in 2015 as the NFBC had another record-breaking year.

It was another record-breaking year in the NFBC in 2014 as more than $2.6 million in prize money was awarded among 400+ leagues. For the first time, the NFBC had almost 6,000 teams among its many contests. The NFBC reached a new level in the private leagues when the NFBC Platinum was unveiled, a contest that consisted of 15 teams at $20,000 per team and a league prize of $200,000. This draft was aired live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio from the Bellagio Las Vegas and brought a lot of exposure and prominence to the NFBC and to our league participants. Donn Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia teamed up with Gino Yu to win that $200,000 league prize in one of the tightest races of the year. Ken Norred, our 2013 overall champion, finished 2nd to win $60,000.

Also making history in 2014 were Dale & Greg Morgan of Westerville, Ohio as they became the first father-son team to win our Main Event overall title. Dale and Greg have been with the NFBC since our debut season of 2004 and they won the $125,000 grand prize by finishing with 3,643.0 points or 86.7 percent of available points. Michael Makula of Chicago, Illinois finished second in the Main Event, which sold out for the 10th straight season with 420 teams.

The NFBC turned its 12-team Main Event into a more prominent contest in 2014 by raising the entry fee to $1,500 and also raising the grand prize to $125,000. Eric Heberlig of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania won the Online Championship overall title in 2013 and in 2014 he won the $100,000 grand prize by topping 239 other teams in the NFBC Primetime. Eric had three teams in the Top 16 and he won the title with 2,215 points or 92.3% of available points. John Pausma of Tinley Park, Illinois finished second.

Winning the $75,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Online Championship was Joseph Reagor of Long Beach, California as he topped a record 1,248 teams for the title. This was Joseph’s first venture into the Online Championship and he had just one team in the contest. He beat Jeff Malatin by a mere 11 points – which was one-one thousand of a percentage point – for the title.

Speaking of first time success, Bob Particelli of Berwyn, Pennsylvania entered the NFBC Auction Championship for the first time and beat 134 teams for the $20,000 grand prize. This was the first time that the entry fee was raised to $1,200 in the Auction Championship and it again sold out with nine full leagues. Also selling out was the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship with 2,460 teams. Bill Cook of Rosemount, Minnesota won that $20,000 grand prize during his fourth season in the NFBC. This format has just exploded and has provided drafts every day of the year from November through March.

Here’s a look at the NFBC private league winners from 2014: Bob Particelli won the Diamond League for the second straight year, earning $75,000; winning $40,000 in the Ultimate Leagues were Sam Botnick of Tarzana, California & Todd Zola in the Ultimate Auction; Dave Potts of Auburn, Alabama in the other Ultimate Auction; and Leonard Ringle of New York City in the Ultimate Draft. Joe Thelen of Garden City, New York, Steven Spatz of Temecula, California, Samuel Latulippe of Gatineau, Quebec, and Aaron Smith of Los Angeles, California all won Super League titles and $20,000 league prizes in 2014.

Jon Stadtmueller won the $1,300 NL Auction League title, while we had a tie for the $1,300 AL Auction League title between Sam Botnick and the team of Mark Srebro and Jason Emma. Yes, it was a busy, busy year in the NFBC, but a very successful one.

The NFBC celebrated its 10th anniversary season in 2013 in grand fashion, topping 5,000 teams for the first time while awarding more than $2.3 million in prize money. It marked the first time in which Las Vegas was the only host site on one of the weekends as East Coast drafters came out to the Bellagio Las Vegas on the First Weekend due to Easter Sunday on the Second Weekend. Live drafts were held in Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago on that Second Weekend.

The tag team of Ken Norred of Ashland, Alabama and Dan Semsel of Fairborn, Ohio won the $100,000 grand prize in the NFBC’s Main Event as they led that competition for most of the season. They finished with 3,939.0 points or 90.6 percent of available points as the Main Event featured a record 435 teams. Jeff Dobies of Farmingville, New York finished second in the Main Event.

Bill Strickler of Holliday, Florida won the $50,000 grand prize in the NFBC XII as he finished with 2,039.5 points or 89.45 percent of available points. Bill beat out 227 other teams for the Primetime title with Eric Heberlig of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania finishing second overall. Heberlig had a heckuva season as he won the $70,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Online Championship, beating out a record 1,140 teams for that title.

Alan Greenberg of New Haven, Connecticut won the NFBC Auction Championship and that $15,000 grand prize, beating another sold out lineup of 135 teams. Ken Norred finished second in the Auction Championship.

Another contest that set a record in 2013 was the NFBC Draft Champions National Championship, which grew to 1,845 teams. Richard Van Fleet won that $20,000 grand prize as he edged Ronald Uganski for the title.

The NFBC also ran two Diamond Leagues for the first time, with Jim Ferrari of San Diego, California winning one $75,000 league prize and Bob Particelli of Berwyn, Pennsylvania winning the other $75,000 league prize. Winning $40,000 and Ultimate League titles were: Jeff Dobies/Steve Jupinka in the Ultimate Auction, Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York in the Ultimate Auction, and John Lemke of Brooklyn, New York in the Ultimate Draft. Joe Thelen, Mike Massotto, Aaron Smith, Thomas McDevitt and Joe Berg all won $20,000 league prizes in the Super Leagues. Shawn

Childs made history in 2013 by winning his fourth $1,300 AL Auction League title, as he tied for first with Mark Srebro, while Todd Zola of Milford, Massachusetts won the $1,300 NL Auction League title. All in all, it was one busy and successful NFBC season in 2013.

During its first full year under STATS LLC’s ownership, the NFBC had enough promotional time to again post a record-breaking season. In 2012, the NFBC ran more than 260 leagues for more than 3,750 teams among all of the various contests.

For the 8th straight year, the NFBC Main Event sold out, this time with 420 teams. Dave Potts of Auburn, Alabama won the $100,000 grand prize as he led his Low Talkers team to a first place finish in Las Vegas League 1 of the First Weekend (130 points). Low Talkers finished with 3,628.0 points or 86.38 percent of all available points to win the overall title. Dave also finished 3rd overall in the NFBC XII as he won league titles in both Main Events, along with league titles in 2 Online Championship Leagues and a $375 Slow Draft League. He was actually leading the NFBC Main Event and the NFBC XII overall standings in late September and had a shot at the $75,000 cash bonus for winning both overall titles, but Jeff Butler of Grafton, Virginia came on strong during the final two weeks to win that $50,000 grand prize. Jeff led his EM 33 BO team to the overall title with 2,146.0 points or 85.16 percent of available points.

The debut NFBC XII – with a $1,000 entry fee and live drafts in Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Mahwah, New Jersey and Online – finished with 252 teams and 21 leagues. Joe Berg of Fullerton, California finished 2nd in the NFBC XII, while Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska finished 2nd overall in the NFBC Main Event and 4th overall in the NFBC XII. Both Dave Potts and Chad Schroeder made a serious run at winning both overall titles, but Jeff Butler prevented that from happening.

With two weekends of live events, the NFBC also sold out its 3rd annual Auction Championship and the team of Jeff Dobies of Farmingville, New York and Andy Saxton of Bear, Delaware won the overall title and $15,000 grand prize with 1,181.0 points (87.48 percent of available points). It was Jeff’s second NFBC Auction Championship title in three years and this time he shared it with Andy Saxton as the pair led from May until the final day of the season.

While the live events were strong, the online business grew like never before. The NFBC finished with 864 teams in its NFBC Online Championship, with Michael O’Brien of Brighton, Colorado winning the overall title and the $60,000 grand prize. Michael’s Nut Flush team finished with 8,072.5 points (93.43 percent of available points) to win in dominating fashion.

The NFBC Slow Draft DC Championship also had a record year, finishing with 1,050 teams as Steve Wells of Las Vegas, Nevada won the overall title and the $10,000 grand prize with 9,239.5 points (88 percent of available points). The NFBC Satellite Leagues also grew to almost 70 full leagues as the 12-team format was equally as popular as the 15-team format.

And in the high-dollar private leagues, Donn Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia won the $75,000 prize in the Diamond League, while the team of Jon Stadtmueller and Josh Honeycutt of Paragould, Arkansas won the $40,000 prize in the NFBC Ultimate Auction League, and John Lemke of Brooklyn, New York won the $40,000 prize in the NFBC Ultimate Draft League. Winning $20,000 league titles in the NFBC Super were: Kristopher Carroll of Bedford, Massachusetts; Marc Perlmutter of Chappaqua, New York; Jason Duponte of Waltham, Massachusetts; Duran Holton of San Diego, California; and Kevin Kirves of Lexington, Kentucky.

Shawn Childs of Forrestdale, Massachusetts won his 3rd $1,300 AL Auction League title, while Jason Gill of Chicago, Illinois won the $1,300 NL Auction League title. In all, the NFBC awarded more than $1.75 million in prize money in 2012.

The biggest change in the NFBC’s history occurred in 2011, but it was a change that stabilized the NFBC’s foundation for many years.. In January of 2011, Liberty Sports Interactive dissolved Fanball.com, which ran this contest. NFBC Founder Greg Ambrosius and LSI were able to agree to an Asset Acquisition Purchase for the NFBC and NFFC in February and Ambrosius then formed a partnership with STATS LLC to own and operate the contests going forward. The Asset Acquisition took several weeks to complete and caused a six-week delay in signups, but the NFBC still went on to have another record-breaking year.

For the seventh straight year, the NFBC Main Event sold out, this time with 390 teams. Lindy Hinkelman of Greencreek, Idaho made history by becoming the first two-time national champion, winning the Main Event by the closest margin ever. Lindy beat KJ Duke of San Diego, California by just 2.5 points out of 3,900 points for the $100,000 grand prize. Lindy won Las Vegas League 4 with 138 points and then finished with 3,407.0 points or 87.4% of the available points. KJ finished with 3,404.5 points or 87.3% of available points in a race that wasn’t decided until the final pitch of the final night of the MLB season. Lindy won $116,750 in 2011 as he won four of the seven events he entered. He became the third inductee to the NFBC Hall of Fame in March of 2012, joining inaugural recipients Stephen Jupinka and Shawn Childs, who were inducted in March of 2011.

The NFBC had a total of FIVE National Championships in 2011 as it once again ran live drafts in five cities over two weekends. Gino Yu of Torrance, California beat out 780 teams for the $50,000 grand prize in the Online Double Play, while the tag team of Emmett Ruland of Haymarket, Virginia and Pat Gagne won the $20,000 grand prize in the Live Double Play, beating out 251 other teams. Richard Gordon of Las Vegas, Nevada and partner Charles Levitz won the $15,000 grand prize in the Auction Championship (among 135 teams) after finishing 2nd overall the year before, and Terry Passalacqua of Sante Fe, New Mexico won our debut Slow Draft DC Championship, winning $3,500 while beating 389 other teams.

The NFBC awarded over $1.4 million in prize money in 2011 as it finished with a record 190+ leagues. Among them were the private high-stakes leagues: 1 Diamond League, 3 Ultimate Leagues and 3 Super Leagues. Jim Ferrari of San Diego, California won the $75,000 league prize in the Diamond, while Kevin Kirves of Lexington, Kentucky won the Ultimate Auction League. Other top winners included: David Deterra and Chris Schinker in the Ultimate Draft Leagues; and Jack Haan, Donn Johnson and John Lemke in the Super Leagues.

Big changes occurred at the end of 2009 that led to a historic season in 2010. In August of 2009, Fanball.com acquired the NFBC from F+W Media with the goal of taking the NFBC to unprecedented heights. In 2010, the NFBC expanded to a two-weekend format for the live events, expanding to Atlantic City, St. Louis and Las Vegas for the first weekend. The live events were then held in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago on the final weekend of March, with first-class venues such as the Bellagio and Citi Field as host sites.

The dual weekend of live drafts was a big hit as the NFBC Main Event expanded to a record-high 435 teams, including 120 on the first weekend. Stephen Jupinka of Waldwick, New Jersey entered 2010 as the NFBC’s Lifetime Standings leader and he dominated the NFBC Main Event in 2010 to win the $100,000 grand prize. Steve won Las Vegas League 5 with a record-setting 144.5 points and he also set a new NFBC record in total points earned, finishing with 3,925.5 points. That was 90.2 percent of the available points, the highest percentage ever earned by an overall champion. Mark Srebro of York, Pennsylvania – our 2004 $100,000 winner in football – finished second in the Main Event as he cashed in 13 of 14 events he competed in during 2010.

The NFBC also expanded its Online Championship by creating a second portion of that contest: The Live Double Play. Jaime Baird of Cambridge, Ontario won both the Live Double Play and the Online Double Play to earn $85,000 in prizes as the NFBC finished with 540 Online DP teams and 288 Live DP teams.

The NFBC also debuted its first $10,000 entry fee league in 2010 – the NFBC Diamond League – with James Stanard of Chatham, New Jersey winning that $75,000 league prize. Will Tyrer of Beverly Hills, California won the $40,000 Ultimate Auction League title and Rick Thomas, Ken Magner and Chris Plouffe won Super League titles and $20,000 each.

Also debuting in 2010 was the NFBC Auction Championship, with 135 teams competing for the $15,000 grand prize. The title went down to the final day as Jeff Dobies of Farmingville, New York edged Richard Gordon by ONE-HALF point for the title. One hit over an entire season was the difference in that national title. Wow. That incredible finish was all part of a record-breaking season for the NFBC as it hosted 188 different leagues and awarded more than $1.3 million in prize money.

In 2009, F+W Publications formed a partnership with NBC Sports/Rotoworld to take the NFBC to a higher level. It was a historic season in many ways as Lindy Hinkelman of Greencreek, Idaho won a record-setting $241,300, accomplishing the impossible. Lindy won the NFBC’s Main Event as he beat out 389 other teams for that title and he also won the debut NFBC Online Championship, beating out 599 other teams for that title.

Before the season started, the NFBC offered a $75,000 cash bonus to anyone who could win the overall title in this 15-team format and the new 12-team format and sure enough Lindy accomplished both. Lindy also finished second in the Ultimate Auction League to walk away with the biggest single payout in our six-year history.

David Longood won his third Ultimate Auction League title that year, while Rick Thomas won the Ultimate Draft League title and $40,000. In all, the NFBC distributed more than $1.1 million in prizes as the event grew to record numbers thanks to the NFBC Online Championship. In 2009, the NFBC hosted more than 170 leagues.

2008 was a historic year for the NFBC as it marked the fifth anniversary of the event. A total of 104 owners competed as Charter Members, with the vast majority of owners playing all five years.

Robert Jurney of Dunkirk, Maryland made a great turnaround to win the $100,000 grand prize, with Stephen Jupinka of Waldwick, New Jersey finishing second. Jurney had finished 345th overall in 2007 and his team was 389th out of 390 teams during Week 2, but he came roaring back to win his second league title in the last four years and first overall title.

The newest addition to the NFBC in 2008 was Super Leagues, $2,500 entry fee leagues with a $20,000 grand prize. Chris Schinker and Scott Fleming won debut Super League titles. Winning Ultimate League titles were Ken Norred, David DiDonato and Andre Bourcier.

The NFBC hosted three Ultimate Leagues, two Super Leagues and 10 Auction Leagues in 2008 as the event moved from Tampa to Orlando for the Florida location. The growth of the satellite leagues also continued that year, with 70 different satellite leagues being held. Total prize money topped $970,000 in 2008.

The NFBC's Main Event sold out for the third straight year in 2007 as 375 teams were on hand in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and Tampa. Terry Haney of Johnston, Iowa won the $100,000 grand prize with Thomas Greenwald of Hoffman Estates, Illinois finishing second.

The biggest expansion of 2007 occurred online as the NFBC Satellite Leagues doubled to a total of 45. The Ultimate Leagues also doubled to four in 2007, with David Longood winning his second Ultimate Auction League title. Also winning $40,000 in the Ultimate Draft Leagues were Donn Johnson, Scott Fleming and Brent Grooms.

Also expanding in 2007 were the auction leagues as we hosted nine live auction leagues. In 2007, NFBC prize money had grown to more than $850,000.

The NFBC expanded to a full slate of online satellite leagues in 2006 with everything from $125 entry fee leagues to $1,000 entry fee leagues filling up. Twenty-two satellite leagues were held before Draft Day as preparation for the Main Event, which in 2006 sold out with 330 teams.

David DiDonato of Johnston, Rhode Island won the overall title and the $100,000 grand prize. Rick Thomas of Bozeman, Montana finished second in the Main Event, which had grown to a fourth location as the NFBC expanded to Tampa in 2006. Eddie Gillis and David Deterra won Ultimate Draft League titles that year and $40,000 each, while Greg Morgan won the Ultimate Auction League title and $40,000.

A total of 10 live auction leagues were also held, pushing the total number of leagues to 54.

By 2005, demand had grown to where the Main Event sold out with 300 teams and the auction leagues had expanded to 10 leagues, thanks to a second offering at $650 per team. The NFBC also rolled out two new events in 2005: The NFBC Ultimate Leagues where the entry fee was $5,000 per team and first place was worth $40,000, and the NFBC Mid-Season Leagues. The Ultimate Leagues consisted of one 15-team Draft League in 2005 and one 15-team Auction League where owners from Las Vegas and New York were hooked up on a teleconference (not fun, but it worked).

David DiDonato won the debut Ultimate Draft League title, while David Longood won the debut Ultimate Auction League title. The Mid-Season League was the first online venture for the NFBC and consisted of six full leagues trying for a "second chance".

Brian Oldenski of Middletown, New Jersey won the NFBC Main Event in 2005 as he won his league with 141 out of a possible 150 points and edged out Dan Kenyon of Grand Junction, Colorado for the $100,000 grand prize.