The NFFC hosted its 20th anniversary season in 2023 with Live Events at Park MGM in Las Vegas over two weekends along with Live Events at Dave & Busters in New York City on Labor Day weekend. Along with Online drafts throughout the year, the NFFC had another record-breaking season with almost 27,000 teams competing for over $6.2 million in prize money.

The NFFC once again set records in its two biggest contests: The NFFC Primetime and the Rotowire Online Championship. The NFFC Primetime finished with 1,080 teams – up from 984 teams in 2020 and 816 teams in 2021 – while the Rotowire Online Championship finished with a record 4,788 teams. Both national contests have shown incredible growth over the last three years.

In the NFFC Primetime, we crowned our 15th different overall champion in the last 16 years as Jeffrey Kozlowski of Stamford, Connecticut made a historic comeback to win the $250,000 grand prize. Jeffrey started Week 17 in 46th place, but his team scored 244.15 points that week to vault up 45 spots and win the NFFC Primetime overall title. He finished 12.69 points ahead of Danny Mueller to win the $250,000 grand prize.

Wil Miles of Lanexa, Virginia became our youngest national champion of 2023 as the 29-year-old won the Rotowire Online Championship and its $250,000 grand prize. Wil first joined the NFFC in 2021 with one Rotowire Online Championship team, then won his first Rotowire OC league title in 2022 and this year won the overall title against a record field of 4,788 teams. His team scored 263.25 points in Week 16 to take the lead and he held off a late charge by Brian Gaffney to win the title by 10.43 points.

David Webb of Littleton, Colorado became our 20th different champion in the 20 years that we’ve hosted the NFFC Classic Championship as his team captured the FREE 2024 NFFC Classic entry, valued at $2,000. This was the second straight year in which all of the prize money in the NFFC Classic was distributed through the league prizes with first place in each league earning $16,000, while paying the Top 3 in each league. David’s team won his Las Vegas September 9th league title and $16,000 and he then topped a field of 18 Championship Round finalists to win the overall title. David has finished in the Top 5 overall of the NFFC Classic five other times, so finally winning this overall title meant a lot to him.

Duke Viveros of Highland, California won the 2023 NFFC Silver Bullet Championship and the record $50,000 grand prize. This is the industry's only single-entry, season-long national championship and this year the entry fee was increased from $1,000 to $1,200 and the grand prize grew from $35,000 to $50,000. Duke won the title in the wildest way as he edged Matt Shepherd by 0.05 points when QB Patrick Mahomes took two kneel-downs at the end of the Chiefs’ game. That took two tenths of a point off Matt’s score, allowing Duke to win the title. But Duke had a championship team as it won the Las Vegas September 2nd league title and then topped a record field of 252 teams for the top spot in the Championship Round with 666.28 points. Still, the finish was unprecedented for an NFFC national championship.

Henry Muto of Geneva, Ohio won the 2023 NFFC Cutline Championship and that $75,000 grand prize as he became our 11th different champion in the 11-year history of this unique contest. Henry beat a field of 1,720 teams to win the grand prize as his team was consistently at the top of the standings all year long. When the final table of 12 owners was completed on Monday Night, Henry had scored 536.95 points to edge Wayne Culley by 4.92 points for the title. The NFFC Cutline Championship is a survivor-style contest where each week of the playoffs there is a cutdown until only 12 competitors are left in Week 17 to play for the majority of the prize money. Pretty cool.

Michael Fay of Falls Church, Virginia won the 2023 NFFC Footballguys.com Best Ball National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize. Michael competed in the NFFC for the first time this year, took three Best Ball National Championship teams and one Rotowire Online Championship team and took home two league prizes, one national championship and $32,300 in prizes. Not a bad year. This was a best ball contest through 17 weeks with no free agent pickups and Michael topped a field of 2,868 teams, consisting of 239 leagues. He finished with 3,282.50 points to edge Sean Malakin by 37.15 points for the title. He became our 13th different champion of this contest over the last 14 years.

Michael O'Brien of Lakewood, Colorado won the 2023 NFFC Online Auction Championship and the record $15,000 grand prize as he beat a record field of 840 teams to win this fourth annual national championship. Michael is a veteran player who also won the 2021 NFFC Football Challenge Points national title, making him a two-time national champion in football. Michael’s Chedderheads team jumped into the lead during Week 16 of the Championship Round and it finished with 705.84 points to edge Robert Kruse by 19.64 points for the title.

During his first season in the NFFC Platinum League, Mark Fierer of Fort Worth, Texas went from the 4th seed to the title in the Championship Round as he won the $120,000 league prize. Mark first joined the NFFC in 2020 and in four short years he has won a title in our most prestigious high-stakes private league. Larry Schechter dominated the regular season as he won $40,000 for best h2h record and most points, but Mark quickly jumped to the top of the Championship Round standings when his team scored 142.75 points in Week 15 and he rode that hot start to the title, finishing 39.88 points ahead of Nelson Sousa, who won $50,000 for his second place finish.

Winning Diamond League titles were Chris Vaccaro of Staten Island, New York and Rob Aspinall of Houston, Texas. Chris dominated the Friday, September 7th 10 am PT Diamond League as his team won $20,000 for most points and best head-to-head record during the regular season, while capturing the $60,000 prize in the Championship Round with 607.48 points. Yoni Bornstein finished second with 535.24 points. In the 7 pm PT Diamond League on the same day, Rob won the Championship Round and that $60,000 prize with 610.90 points. Nelson Sousa finished second 22.5 points behind to win $23,000.

We had four Ultimate League champions this year as Chad Schroeder, Mike Santos and Chris Eibl all walked away with titles. Chad actually won two titles, winning $44,000 in the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate Online League and winning $38,500 in the NFFC 12-Team September 5th Online Ultimate League. This is the second straight year that Chad has swept the 14-Team Ultimate League title and this is his third 12-Team Ultimate League title. Mike won the NFFC Las Vegas 12-Team Ultimate League title and $28,500 by scoring 663.14 points in the Championship Round after finishing the regular season second in points. Chris became our second champion in the NFFC Las Vegas Ultimate Auction League as his team scored 645.01 points in the Championship Round to win $28,500.

Winning Super League titles were: Matt Shepherd, Las Vegas 14-Team Super Auction League ($16,500); Dan Satinoff, New York 12-Team Super League ($14,000); Michael Edelman, August 30th 12-Team Super Online League ($16,500); Steve Elbaum, September 3rd 12-Team Super Online League ($14,000); Joe Lostrangio, September 5th 12-Team Super Online League ($14,000); and Chad Schroeder, who won FOUR NFFC 12-Team Super Online league titles. Chad won the August 27th , September 6th , September 8th and September 8th , 10 pm ET Super Leagues. He has now won TEN NFFC Super League titles, including seven league titles in the last two years. Wow.

We hosted three NFFC Kickoff Gridiron Leagues in 2023 at Park MGM in Las Vegas and we came away with three great champions. Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois won the 14-Team Kickoff Gridiron League title for the third time in the last five years, while Scott Stauffer of Loves Park, Illinois won the 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League title for the first time. We added a Friday evening NFFC 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League in 2023 and NFFC Hall of Famer Derek "Lumpy" Anderson won that one in dramatic fashion. Chris won $6,500 and multiple weekly league prizes, while Scott and Lumpy each won $5,600 plus multiple weekly league prizes.

And we topped off the year with two NFFC Post-Season Contests. Peter Christensen of Denver, Colorado won the 2024 NFFC $200 Post-Season Contest and the $150,000 grand prize as he defeated a field of 1,521 teams. Peter led this competition from Round 2 to the finish line as he rode the combination of Christian McCaffrey and Isiah Pacheco at 4x along with Deebo Samuel and the Chiefs' kicker at 3x to win the title with 1,472.05 points. Ross Bampton of Bend, Oregon won the 2023 NFFC Mini Post-Season Contest as he edged a record field of 2,796 teams for the $50,000 grand prize. The 76-year-old finished 7.80 points ahead of Steven Olson for the title in another close finish as this $50 contest was a big hit this year.

The NFFC returned for its 19th straight season of live events in 2022 and once again had a record season. Now two years removed from Covid-19, the NFFC finished with record participation as over 27,000 players competed in over 1,900 leagues for a record $6 million in prize money.

The biggest jumps came in our two biggest contests: The NFFC Primetime and the Rotowire Online Championship. We pushed both grand prizes up to $250,000 and it resulted in record years for both contests. The NFFC Primetime finished with 984 teams – up from 816 teams in 2021 – while the Rotowire Online Championship jumped from 4,176 teams in 2021 to 4,752 teams in 2022. Our NFFC Draft Champions Best Ball Championship also topped 3,000 teams for the first time.

We hosted live events in New York City on Labor Day Weekend at Dave & Busters – the first time we hosted at D&B’s -- and hosted two weekends of live events in Las Vegas. We held our First Weekend of live events in Las Vegas at the Bellagio and then hosted three days of live events at Park MGM in Las Vegas on the Second Weekend.

In the NFFC Primetime, we crowned our 14th different overall champion in the last 15 years as Jason Sumner of Raleigh, North Carolina held on to win the $250,000 grand prize. This was an unprecedented finish to what was a fantastic season as the injury to Damar Hamlin stopped the Monday Night Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals and four days later the NFL decided to cancel the game and not make it up. No stats from that shortened Monday Night Game were used in the NFFC because the NFL completely cancelled that game. Sumner went into Monday Night's Game with a 10.15 point lead over Nelson Sousa and Nelson still had James Cook going. Jason did not have any players going that night. Cook did get 1.5 points on the Bills' first possession, but that was erased when the game was later cancelled by the NFL. Chad Schroeder was in seventh place and 42.75 points out of the lead, but he still had Tee Higgins and Gabe Davis going that night, while Wayne Ellis was in ninth place and 49.68 points out of the lead with James Cook and Tee Higgins going. We'll never know how this would have played out because the game was cancelled and never resumed, but there were a few guys who went into that final game in line to win the overall title or at least move up in the final standings.

The Monday Night Game also played a factor in the Rotowire Online Championship. John Rundle of Pembroke, Massachusetts won the $250,000 grand prize as his team finished with 697.83 points and had no players going on Monday Night, while two other teams were within 21 points with one player left on each of their teams. The cancellation of the Monday Night game kept the standings as is and Rundle was declared the champion, our 14th different overall champion in the 14 years of this contest. John had a historic run in the Championship Round and his team deserved to win the grand prize. His Townies team finished 18.39 points ahead of Ryan Winn, while Curtis Hirsch was 20.80 points behind. Ryan had Devin Singletary left in that last game, while Curtis had James Cook left. Both players obviously scored 0 points and the standings were finalized.

Randy Mechels of Long Prairie, Minnesota became our 19th different champion in the 19 years that we've hosted the NFFC Classic Championship as his team captured the FREE 2023 NFFC Classic entry, valued at $2,000. For the first time ever in the NFFC Classic, all prize money was distributed through the league prizes with first place in each league earning $16,000, while paying the Top 3 in each league.

Randy's team likely would have won the title even without the NFL cancelling the Monday Night Game. His team was 21.53 points ahead of Chad Schroeder heading into the Monday Night Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals and he had no players in that game. Chad had the Bengals' defense, so there was a chance that he could have caught him, but nobody else in the Top 9 had a single player going that night. Randy's team Top Gun & Roses won his Classic Online September 10th league title and $16,000 with an 11-3 record, while finishing second overall in points.

Joe Lostrangio of Langhorne, Pennsylvania won the 2022 NFFC Silver Bullet Championship and the record $35,000 grand prize. This is the industry's only single-entry, season-long national championship and Joe used his entry to win his September 3rd NFFC Silver Bullet Online League title and that $4,000 league prize before taking down the overall title. Joe became our fourth champion in the industry's only single-entry, season-long national championship, joining Mike Santos, Lane McVey and Thomas Libretti. We finished with a record 240 teams as we filled all 20 leagues. Joe's team was so dominant in the Championship Round that he finished 16.99 points ahead of Kris Carroll and Joe still had two players going in the Monday Night Game that was cancelled by the NFL.

Peter Jennings of Las Vegas, Nevada won the 2022 NFFC Cutline Championship and that $100,000 grand prize with his only Cutline team of the season. Peter beat a field of 2,120 teams to win the grand prize as his team was consistently at the top of the standings all year long. When the final table of 12 owners was completed on Monday Night, Peter was standing at the top and holding the $100,000 grand prize. The NFFC Cutline Championship was one contest where the cancellation of the Monday Night Game likely didn't change the overall champion, although we don't know that for sure. Peter's team finished 28.12 points ahead of Fred Pagani for the title, but Fred still had Buffalo's kicker going. It would have been tough to score 28.12 points from a kicker, but anything is possible.

Frank Greenidge of Holbrook, Massachusetts won the 2022 NFFC Best Ball Draft Champions National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize. Frank took only two entries in the NFFC this year and both of them were $150 Draft Champions teams. Well, he turned one of them into an $800 league prize and that team also won the $30,000 grand prize. Not a bad $300 investment, wouldn't you say? The cancellation of the Monday Night Game had no effect on the Top 20 payouts as no team inside the Top 25 spots had any Bills or Bengals players on their rosters. Frank finished 25.20 points ahead of Andy Saxton for the title. We had a record 3,072 teams in our Best Ball Draft Champions National Championship consisting of 256 leagues. This was a best ball contest through 17 weeks with no free agent pickups.

Mike Goodrich of Springville, Maine joined the NFFC Online Auction Championship for the very first time this year and he walked away with the overall title and the $10,000 grand prize. Mike first joined the NFFC in 2021 when he played in two satellite leagues and this year he took just one entry: A $150 Online Auction Championship team. He competed in the last Online Auction League of the season on Friday, September 9th at 9 pm ET and proceeded to win the league title and the overall title. The grand prize for the 2022 NFFC Online Auction Championship grew from $5,000 last year to $10,000 in 2022 as we finished with a record 720 teams consisting of 60 leagues. Mike finished 20.14 points ahead of Jason Steeves for the title with Mike Meadows finishing third. All three teams had no players in the Monday Night Game that was cancelled by the NFL on Friday morning. However, Jeff Clampitt finished fourth as he was 36.32 points out of the lead with Joe Burrow going in the Monday Night Game. He certainly had a legitimate shot at the title if not for the Damar Hamlin injury and the NFL cancelling that game outright.

Paul Jager of Mission Hills, Kansas won the 2022 NFFC Platinum League title and the $145,000 league prize. Paul's team won $20,000 during the regular season for most points and he captured the $125,000 prize and title in the Championship Round by scoring a total of 599.70 points. Paul has been a member of the Platinum League every year since it was started in 2014 and this is his first Platinum League title. He finished ahead of Chad Schroeder by 22.21 points, while Mike Santos finished third with 490.27 points.

Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida won both NFFC Diamond League titles this year, winning $82,000 in one league and $62,000 in the other league. He posted 622.14 points in the Championship Round to win the Friday, September 9th, 7 pm PT title and he posted 634.68 points in the Friday, September 9th, 10 am league to win that title. Larry has now won four NFFC Diamond League titles in the last seven years. We had four Ultimate League champions this year as Chad Schroeder, Nelson Sousa, Chris Eibl and Alex Fleming all walked away with titles. Chad won $44,000 in the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate Online League, while Chris won $38,500 in the 12-Team Ultimate Online League. Nelson won $28,500 in the Las Vegas 12-Team Ultimate League, finishing 1.16 points ahead of Mike Santos for that title. And Alex won our debut NFFC 12-Team Ultimate Auction League as he swept all of the prizes to win $38,500.

Winning Super League titles were: Matt Shepherd of Napa, California ($16,500 in 14-Team Las Vegas Super Auction League); Michael Zucca of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ($16,500 in 14-Team New York Super League); Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York ($14,000 in 12-Team New York Super League); Doug Gard of Noblesville, Indiana ($16,500 in 12-Team Super Online League); Mark Fierer of Fort Worth, Texas ($14,000 in 12-Team Super Online League); Michael Edelman of Elmwood Park, New Jersey ($16,500 in Las Vegas 12-Team Super League); and Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska with three Super League titles ($47,000, all 12-Team Super Online Leagues).

Wayne Ellis of Newburgh, Indiana won the 2022 NFFC 14-Team Kickoff Gridiron League title and the $6,500 league prize, while Kenny Stratton won the title and the $5,600 prize in the NFFC 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League. Both Gridiron Leagues were held live in the Bellagio Penthouse Parlor Suite.

And we topped off the year with two record-breaking NFFC Post-Season Contests. Neal Compton of Benicia, California won the 2023 NFFC $200 Post-Season Contest and the record $150,000 grand prize as he defeated a record field of 1,757 teams, while Erik Sudigala of Saratoga Springs, New York edged Daniel Epstein of Danvers, Massachusetts for first place in the 2023 NFFC $50 Mini Post-Season Contest, with Erik winning the $50,000 grand prize. We finished with a record 2,302 teams this year as this grand prize grew from $20,000 to $50,000.

In September of 2022, Glenn Schroter was elected to the NFFC Hall of Fame, becoming our 11th Hall of Fame member. At the time, Glenn was 5th on the Career Earnings list, having won 11 Primetime league titles, 25 Rotowire OC titles and multiple high-stakes private league titles.

The NFFC returned for its 18th straight season of live events in 2021 and had a record season despite the continuation of Covid-19 restrictions. The NFFC finished the year with record participation as over 27,000 players competed in over 1,900 leagues for a record $5.6 million in prize money. And that was during a pandemic season!

The NFFC returned to New York City after a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to Covid-19 and it hosted two weekends of live events again at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. While participation was solid in both cities, it was still down from 2019 levels. However, it was a record year Online and that drove the overall numbers to record numbers once again.

The NFFC Primetime, for example, increased from 636 teams in 2020 to 816 teams in 2021. Thomas Libretti of Malverne, New York drafted in New York City and took home the $200,000 grand prize. Thomas's MooseOnaHill team had a dominating performance in the Championship Round as it scored 733.46 points, the second-highest total in NFFC Primetime history. He finished 49.42 points ahead of Jordan Epping to become our 13th different Primetime champion in 14 years.

Thomas Libretti also won the 2021 NFFC Silver Bullet and that $35,000 grand prize as he became only the second person to win multiple national titles in the same season. Scott Kelly and Jeff Dawson won the NFFC Classic and the Rotowire Online Championship in 2017. Thomas became our third champion in the industry's only single-entry, season-long national championship, joining Mike Santos and Lane McVey, defeating a record field of 228 teams. Thomas won the Sept. 5th Silver Bullet Online league for $4,000 and then defeated 57 teams in the Championship Round for the $35,000 grand prize.

We also had a $200,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Online Championship as we finished with a record 4,176 teams, well up from the 3,336 teams we had in 2020. Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia won the $200,000 grand prize in historic fashion as his team jumped up 26 spots in Week 17 by scoring 252.60 points. Billy and Danny Mueller were locked into a tight battle for the top spot before the Monday Night Game as Billy had Najee Harris and Pittsburgh's Team Kicker, while Danny had a 20.95 point lead. But Billy got 17.80 points from Pittsburgh's kicker and 29.60 points from Najee Harris to win the title in dramatic -- and unprecedented -- fashion. Billy became the 13th different champion in the 13-year history of the Rotowire Online Championship.

Steven Merrifield of Morgantown, West Virginia last played in the NFFC in 2018, but he returned in 2021 with two NFFC Cutline Championship teams and he turned one of them into the $100,000 grand prize. Steven won his league title and $350 and was ranked 97th out of 460 teams entering the Championship Round, but his team got hot in the playoffs and that allowed him to reach the \"final table\" of 12 teams in Week 17. His team didn't disappoint, scoring 190.00 points to win the title and the $100,000 grand prize. Not bad for $350 in entry fees. Kacy Kliment of Westerville, Ohio became our 18th different champion in the 18 years that we've hosted the NFFC Classic Championship as his team captured the $50,000 grand prize by the narrowest of margins. Kacy edged Brian Owens by less than one point for the title as he won our 14-Team national championship against a field of 182 teams.

Aaron Jones of Lumberton, New Jersey won the 2021 NFFC Best Ball Draft Champions National Championship and the $30,000 grand prize. Aaron drafted this DC Express team on August 16th and rode it all the way to the top spot among a record field of 2,964 teams. This was a best ball contest through 17 weeks with no free agent pickups.

After a one-year hiatus, the NFFC Platinum League returned in 2021 and Brian Owens of South Lebanon, Ohio won the title and the entire $165,000 league prize. Brian swept the regular season prizes as he finished with the league's best record and most points, and he dominated the Championship Round as well to win the league title and the remaining $125,000 top prize. The last time we held the Platinum League was in 2019 and Brian won that title and $145,000. Brian became the third owner to win the Platinum League title twice in our 7-year history, joining the teams of David Hubbard & Nelson Sousa, and Mike Santos & Kurt Kuekes.

We held two NFFC Diamond Leagues in 2021 and crowned two different champions. Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska made it a complete sweep in the NFFC Diamond League that was held on Friday, Sept. 10th at 10 am PT. Chad finished the regular season with the most points and best h2h record (12-2) to win $20,000 there and his team rallied back in Week 17 to take the title and the remaining $62,000 prize in the Championship Round. This was the sixth time that Chad has won the NFFC Diamond League title.

Richard Townsley of Argyle, Texas had a super run in the Championship Round to win the NFFC Diamond League title from Friday, Sept. 11th, 8 pm PT and the $62,000 league prize. Richard had finished second during the regular season, but he jumped into the lead after Week 15 and never looked back. He finished 27.27 points ahead of Steve Lucinski to win his first Diamond League title.

Ronald Householder of Huntington Beach, California joined the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League for the first time in 2021 and dominated the league to win $44,000. Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida won this year's Las Vegas 12-Team Ultimate League and the top prize of $28,500, the second time he has won the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League title. We had another NFFC 12-Team Ultimate Online League on September 7th and Michael Leone of Buffalo dominated that league to sweep the $38,500 in prizes. His team had the best h2h record (10-4) and most points during the regular season to win $10,000 and it led from start to finish in the Championship Round to win the remaining $28,500. This was Michael's first time in the Ultimate League and his first Ultimate league title.

Winning Super League titles were Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York (New York Super, $14,000); Ken Magner of Freehold, New Jersey (14-Team Las Vegas Super Auction, $21,500); Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois (12-Team Super Online, $19,000); Brian Owens (12-Team Super Online, $14,000); Michael Edelman of Elmwood Park, New Jersey (12-Team Super Online, $19,000); Glenn Schroter (Las Vegas 12-Team Super, $14,000); and Stephen Ciepiela of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (12-Team Super Online, $14,000). Ramon Valentin of Lutz, Florida and KJ Duke of San Diego, California won the 2021 NFFC 14-Team and 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League titles, respectively. Both contests were held live in Las Vegas this yea as Ramon won $6,500 and KJ won $5,600. Joshua Dombrowski of Shawnee, Kansas won the 2022 NFFC Post-Season Contest and the $125,000 grand prize as he defeated a record field of 1,725 teams behind Cooper Kupp and Joe Mixon at 4x. We also hosted a $40 entry fee Post-Season Contest for the second time and Colin Jones of Medina, Ohio won that $20,000 grand prize against a record field of 2,000 teams.

It should also be noted that in September of 2021 we inducted our 10th member into the NFFC Hall of Fame, Chris Eibl, the winningest auction-league player who also had won 13 Primetime league titles to that point.

There’s no doubt that 2020 will be forever known as the Year of Covid-19 and it definitely impacted the NFFC that year. After most pro sports leagues shut down in March, the NFL carried on with the NFL Draft in May and training camps opening on time in July. The NFL was determined to move forward even during the pandemic and the league pushed through the entire season, even with some delays and new dates for games.

The NFFC also pushed through in 2020, although our live events in New York City and Las Vegas on Labor Day Weekend were cancelled. New York City wasn’t allowing any live events and we decided to combine one live event weekend in Las Vegas just before Week 1. It was a reprieve for a lot of our customers, who were ready to get together with others and attend a live gathering for the first time in months. The NFFC doubled the size of the draft tables at the Bellagio, got the biggest screens for the draft boards and still safely held more than 25 live leagues that weekend. The vast majority of leagues in 2020 were held Online, but it was still good to host live events in Las Vegas for the 17th straight year.

When all was said and done, Kyle Hillesheim of Eagon, Minnesota won the $200,000 grand prize in the NFFC Primetime. His team got hot at just the right time as it set a Championship Round record of 754.65 points to become our 12th different Primetime champion in the 13 years of this contest. Despite Covid, the NFFC Primetime finished with a record 636 teams, comprising 53 leagues as the NFFC finished the year with over 20,000 teams and 1,400 leagues. Unbelievable.

We also had a $200,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Online Championship as we finished with a record 3,336 teams. Doug Gruber of Troy, Michigan won this title on the final night of the season as the combo of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs combined for 85 points as Doug finished Week 16 with 220.9 points. He also got 56.2 points on Christmas Day from Alvin Kamara for the win. Doug becomes the 12th different champion in the 12-year history of the Rotowire Online Championship.

George Melbrod of Rancho Santa Fe, California also rode that combination of Kamara-Allen-Diggs to the $100,000 grand prize in the NFFC Cutline Championship. George’s team scored 235.6 points in Week 16 to beat a “final table” of 12 players for the national title. He became the ninth different champion in the nine-year history of the NFFC Cutline Championship, which is a hybrid best ball national contest.

Because of Covid, we decided to just run private NFFC Classic leagues in 2020 and we finished with five 14-team leagues. Although we didn’t have any overall prizes, we still mixed all the teams into a national Championship Round and Michael Perella of North Easton, Massachusetts became our 17th different champion in the 17-year history of the Classic. Michael won a FREE 2021 NFFC Classic entry for his title. It might be hard to believe, but this was Michael’s first contest that he ever played in the NFFC and he finished with a national title.

Lane McVey of Borrego Springs, California won the second annual NFFC Silver Bullet Championship and the $35,000 grand prize as he bested a field of 240 unique owners. The Silver Bullet is the industry’s only single-entry, season-long national championship where every owner gets just one team. He also used the combination of Kamara-Allen-Diggs to move up two spots in Week 16 to win the title. He joins Mike Santos as the only champions of the NFFC Silver Bullet.

Cheryl Springer of Medina, Ohio turned her only entry in the NFFC Draft Champions Best Ball National Championship into the 2020 overall title and the $25,000 grand prize against a record field of 2,892 teams. Cheryl edged Chris Eibl by 12.3 points for the title during only her second season of playing in the NFFC. She also was led by Alvin Kamara as she held the lead from Week 12 to the end of the season.

We were still able to host several private high-dollar NFFC leagues in 2020, despite Covid. We didn’t host an NFFC Platinum League, but we did host two NFFC Diamond Leagues with Steve Lucinski of St. Louis, Missouri and Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York winning titles. Both players won $62,000 as both entered the Championship Round fourth in points, but both teams got hot in the Championship Round to take down the title by less than seven points each and the first place prizes of $62,000.

Yoni Bornstein of Miami, Florida and Riku Vihreasaari of Tampere, Finland won 2020 NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League titles. Yoni won $33,500, while Riku won $28,500. We have had 11 different Ultimate League winners over the last 12 years in this contest. Winning Super League titles were Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York (New York Super, $14,000), Jason Aberli of Louisville, Kentucky (14-Team Super Auction, $16,500) and Matt Shepherd of Napa, California (Las Vegas 12-Team Super and Sept. 9th Super Online, $14,000 each). Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois won his second straight NFFC 14-Team Kickoff Gridiron League title, while Mark Moyer of Johnson City, New York won his first NFFC 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League title in 2020. Arthur Hagar of Pine Lake, Georgia capped off the year by winning the NFFC $200 Post-Season Hold ‘Em Contest as he turned his lone entry into the $125,000 grand prize. We had 1,441 teams in that contest. We also hosted a $40 entry fee Post-Season Contest for the first time and Jeremy Jurewicz of Fort Wainwright, Arkansas won that $20,000 grand prize against a field of 1,291 teams.

Although they were unable to make it to Las Vegas because of Covid, we did induct Mike Santos and Kurt Kuekes into the NFFC Hall of Fame that year. They became our 8th and 9th inductees into the NFFC HOF as they ranked 2nd in the NFFC Career Money List at that time.

It was a historic season in 2019 for the NFFC as we hosted over 1,000 pay leagues and had more than 14,000 teams for the first time. The NFFC set records in almost all of its national titles and even added a few new contests in the NFFC Silver Bullet and the Turkey Day Bonanza. But it was the NFFC Primetime which led the way as the contest featured a $200,000 grand prize for the first time and finished with a record 624 teams. Anthony Crescenzo of Odessa, Florida won the $200,000 grand prize on the final night of the season as Aaron Jones scored 29 points to lead Anthony over Kimra Schleicher for the title. Jones had a fourth quarter touchdown run that turned out to be the difference in that title race. Anthony became the 11th different Primetime champion in our 12-year history of that 12-team national event.

We also gave a record $200,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Online Championship in 2019 as we finished with a record 3,204 teams. Stephen Ranaghan of Arlington, Massachusetts also rode Aaron Jones on the final night of the season to the title as he edged Michael Horn by 10.7 points thanks to Jones’s fourth-quarter touchdown run. Stephen became the 11th different champion in our 11-year history of the Online Championship.

The tag team of Mike Santos & Kurt Kuekes of Tulare, California became our 16th different champion in the 16-year history of the NFFC Classic as they topped 252 teams for this 14-team national title. They finished third in their New York Classic League, but rode the hot hand of Drew Brees in the Championship Round to win the $85,000 grand prize, edging Matt Modica by 22.75 points. Mike then also won our debut NFFC Silver Bullet Championship, defeating 180 unique owners for this single-entry national championship. Mike competed in the first draft of the season and was in first place from start to finish as he proved that he is one of the top players in the industry. Mike edged Theo Gremminger by 10.7 points for the industry’s first and only single-entry, season-long national title.

Ronald Chan of San Francisco, California has been with the NFFC since 2005 and he broke through last year by winning the $100,000 grand prize in the NFFC Cutline Championship. He made it to the “final table” of 12 owners and got 4 points from Dan Bailey on Monday Night to edge Teddy Staples by 2.66 points for this hybrid Best Ball national championship. This one had a record 2,130 teams in it.

We also set a record in the NFFC Draft Champions National Championship with 2,016 teams as Christian Wheeler of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania won the $25,000 grand prize with just one team in this Best Ball contest. Christian also rode Aaron Jones’s big Monday Night finish to the title as he edged Tom Stevens by 10 points thanks to Jones’s fourth-quarter TD. What a way to finish a great year.

Brian Owens of South Lebanon, Ohio won the $125,000 prize in the NFFC Platinum League as he edged Steve Lucinski by 1.3 points and Glenn Schroter by 2.6 points for the title in our $20,000 entry fee league. Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska won $72,000 and the title in the NFFC Las Vegas 10 am PT Diamond League, while Frank Mammola of Danbury, Connecticut along with partner Billy Wasosky won the NFFC Las Vegas 8 pm PT Diamond League title and the $72,000 prize. It marked the second straight season of hosting two Diamond Leagues in the NFFC. Stephen Stith of Las Vegas, Nevada won the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League title and the 12-Team Ultimate League title for a total winnings of $67,500. Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida also won a 12-Team Ultimate League title and $28,500. Winning NFFC Super League titles in 2019 were Roger Gonzalez (14-Team Super Auction League), Dan Satinoff of Alexandria, Virginia (New York Super League), Michael Edelman of Elmwood Park, New Jersey (2 Super Online League titles) and Brian Finkel of Massapeuqa Park, New York (Las Vegas Super League).

Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois won the 2019 NFFC 14-Team Kickoff Gridiron League and the $6,500 prize, while Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia won the NFFC 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron League and $5,600. To top off the season, Antonio Anagnostopoulos of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois won the 2020 NFFC Post-Season Contest and the $125,000 grand prize as he defeated a record field of 1,595 teams in our Hold 'em Contest. What a year for the NFFC and its great players.

It was a transition year in 2018 for the NFFC as it moved completely to the SportsHub Technologies platform after being hosted on the STATS platform for 13 of our first 14 seasons. The new software included 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 11,000 teams and $3.5 million in prize money.

Live drafts were held in Las Vegas and New York City for the 15th straight year, along with Online, while the NFFC Primetime set a record with 576 teams.

Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska had a historic year in the NFFC Primetime as he became our first two-time champion of this event. Chad won the NFFC Primetime in 2010 when the grand prize was $50,000 and this year he not only finished first to win the $150,000 grand prize, but he also finished second overall to win an additional $25,000. Chad won 4 Primetime league titles this year and now has won 11 Primetime league titles during his career, the most in our history. As if that wasn’t enough, Chad also won one Diamond League title and $82,000, plus one Super League title. He won over $400,000 in prize money in 2019 to bring his career earnings total in the NFFC to over $1 million, by far the most in our history.

Also having a great year in 2019 was the team of Mike Santos/Kurt Kuekes of Tulare, California as they won the NFFC Platinum League and $165,000, along with a Diamond League title and $82,000. They also won a Super League title and 4 Primetime league titles, giving them a total of 10 for their careers.

Also making history in 2018 was Wilson Moy of Denver Colorado as he became our 15th different overall champion of the NFFC Classic. Wilson won the $80,000 grand prize in the Classic drafting out of Las Vegas in the final live event, edging Andy Saxton by a mere 4.54 points for the title. Emmett Ruland of Haymarket, Virginia won the Rotowire Online Championship and that $110,000 grand prize thanks to a late-season pickup of free agent Damien Williams. He finished 26.58 points ahead of Jason Jenks for the title in a contest that featured a record 2,762 teams. Matthew Bayley of Natick, Massachusetts won the 2018 NFFC Cutline Championship and the $75,000 grand prize as he bested 11 other owners on the "final table" in Week 16. He finished 35.87 points ahead of Bryan Steimetz in the final week as the Cutline featured 1,950 teams. In our best ball NFFC Draft Champions National Championship that featured 1,680 teams, Brian Edwards of Washington D.C. took only one team and turned that $150 entry into $22,800. Nice job Brian. David Webb of Littleton, Colorado won the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate Online League and the $34,000 prize in the Championship Round, while Sen Ramach of Austin, Texas won the Las Vegas 12-Team Ultimate League and the full $38,500 in prizes. We had a third Ultimate League as Eddie Gillis of Jamestown, Rhode Island won the NFFC Sept. 4th 12-Team Ultimate Online League and $33,000.

Winning Super League titles were: Travis Dorsey of San Marcos Texas ($26,500 for the 14-Team Super Auction League), Randy Mechels of Long Prairie, Minnesota ($16,500 for the 12-Team Super Online), and Andy Saxton/Matt Modica ($14,000 for the New York Super). Wayne Ellis of Evansville, Indiana won the 14-Team Kickoff Gridiron League, while Matt Shepherd of Napa, California and Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York each won 12-Team Kickoff Gridiron league titles. And to top off a great, great season, three NFFC veterans – Jeff Clampitt, Billy Wasosky and Frank Mammola – formed a team that won the $125,000 grand prize in our NFFC Post-Season Contest. That contest featured a record 1,542 teams as we gave away an additional $250,000 in prizes.

What a year for the NFFC and what a year for our NFFC players.

It was a historic year for the NFFC in 2017, which was its debut season under ownership of SportsHub Technologies. The NFFC had a record total of over 10,700 teams in 2017 as the prize money grew to over $3.1 million. It was the second straight year that live drafts were limited to Las Vegas on two weekends and New York City on Labor Day weekend, but the online business grew to record proportions.

The NFFC Primetime grew to a record 564 teams with Paul Dietzman of Trimont, Minnesota winning the $150,000 grand prize. Dietzman finished third in his league and was 86th out of 140 teams entering the Championship Round, but he used a big 3-week push to edge John Bosch by 9.83 points to be our 10th different Primetime champion in the 10-year history of this contest.

The NFFC Classic sold out once again with 266 teams as Scott Kelly & Jeff Dawson of Hyannis, Massachusetts made history in that contest. Not only did Scott & Jeff team up to be our 14th different Classic champion in our 14-year history on their way to winning that $80,000 grand prize, but they also beat out 2,556 teams in the Rotowire Online Championship to win that $100,000 grand prize. Nobody had ever won a double-double like that in the same year in the history of the NFFC. Scott and Jeff dominated the Classic as they had the most points during the regular season and then won the Championship Round as they finished 28.66 points ahead of the team of Rex Brown & Scott Paige. Kelly & Dawson rode the same trio of Todd Gurley, Dion Lewis and DeAndre Hopkins to the Online Championship title as they had the most points out of 509 Championship Round teams in Weeks 14 and 16 to win $100,000. They finished 6.91 points ahead of John Riccio for that title after starting the Championship Round 309th out of 509 teams.

In the wildest finish we've ever seen in the NFFC, Nicholas Izzo of Brooklyn, New York won the 2017 NFFC Cutline Championship and the $60,000 grand prize on the very last play of the season. Philadelphia's crazy defensive touchdown on the last play vaulted Izzo past Mark Szatkowski for the lead and the grand prize. Izzo was trailing Szatkowski by 1.33 points before that play, but the defensive touchdown with no time remaining put him 4.77 points ahead.

Timothy Hennessy of Venice, California took one team in the NFFC $150 Draft Champions League and turned that $150 into a league title and the $22,000 grand prize. Timothy beat 1,547 other teams for the top prize as he scored 3,084.55 points over 16 weeks, edging Jeff O'Dell by 40.15 points for the top prize.

To close out the year, Anthony Trezza of Denville, New Jersey used the combination of Tom Brady and Nick Foles to win the 2018 NFFC Post-Season Contest and our first $100,000 grand prize in this format. Anthony used the Super Bowl MVP's performance to vault from 82nd place to 1st place in the big game, winning the $100,000 grand prize by only 2.6 points over Jared Daniels. The Post-Season Contest had a record 1,420 teams this year.

In our private high-dollar leagues, the team of David Hubbard of Angleton, Texas and Nelson Sousa teamed up to win their second NFFC Platinum League title in the last four years. They won a total of $150,000 as they edged Glenn Schroter by 17.56 points in the Championship Round. Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida won his second straight NFFC Diamond League title and $70,000 as he dominated the Championship Round, finishing 54.48 points ahead of Matt Shepherd.

The NFFC also had a record three different NFFC Ultimate Leagues this year, with the team of Scott Kaplan of Elmwood Park, New Jersey and Scott Kaplan winning $35,000 as they finished ahead of Brian Zeid by 19.08 points in the 14-Team Ultimate League. Also winning 12-team Ultimate League titles and $26,000 each were Kyle Crawford of Canton, Ohio and Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska.

Winning 12-Team Super League titles this year were: John Rozek of Chicago, Illinois, Bradley Kennedy of Arlington, Virginia, Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York and Senthilvel Ramachandran of Austin, Texas. Jared Danielsen of Belleville, Illinois won the prestigious 14-Team Super Auction League and $15,000. Michael Cole of Franklin, Tennessee won our 14-Team NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League, while Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia won our debut 12-Team NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League.

That's a lot of great champions in one season – a historic season at that. Good job all and congrats.

The NFFC made history once again in 2016, its 13th season of competition, thanks to a record total of just over 8,000 teams. The prize money grew to a record $2.95 million as we again had five national contests with prizes ranging from $75,000 to $150,000. This marked the first year that live drafts were limited to two cities -- Las Vegas and New York -- as the NFFC didn’t host a live draft in Chicago for the first time. But even with one less host city, the NFFC grew at the live events.

The NFFC Primetime reached a record 516 teams in 2016 with Clark Olson winning the $150,000 grand prize. In the closest race ever for an NFFC national championship, Olson edged John Rozek of Chicago, Illinois by 0.47 points to win the Primetime and the $150,000 grand prize.

The NFFC Classic reached a sellout in 2016 with 266 teams as Kyle Brinkmann of Albion, Illinois won the $80,000 grand prize. Brinkmann became our 13th different champion in this contest as he vaulted from 4th place to 1st place on the final Monday Night thanks to Dak Prescott’s 32.1 points. Brad Szczepanski of Bay City, Michigan finished second in the Classic, 24.95 points behind Brinkmann.

The Rotowire Online Championship also set a record with 2,268 teams (189 leagues) with Vincent Fiscella of Merrick, New York winning the $100,000 grand prize. Vincent had just one team in the contest and he started the Championship Round in 146th place, but three strong weeks capped by a 218.40 point outing in Week 16 led him to the top, 5.46 points ahead of Dominic Mignano of Mullica Hill, New Jersey.

Our initial Classic overall champion from 2004, Mark Srebro of York, Pennsylvania, dominated the NFFC Draft Champions National Championship to win that $22,000 grand prize. Srebro finished 146.90 points ahead of Paul Thomson of Finksburg, Maryland for his second NFFC national title.

Another Pennsylvania native, Jared Daniels of New Hope, won the $75,000 grand prize in the NFFC Cutline Championship. Jared finished 4th in his league, but got hot in the playoffs and survived the cutline all the way to Week 16. During that final week, he scored 524.24 points to edge Caleb Blum of Davis, California by 5.95 points.

As if that wasn’t enough, our NFFC Post-Season Contest set a record with 1,140 teams as John Sciacotta of Chicago, Illinois won the $75,000 grand prize, finishing 30.25 points ahead of Dominic Mignano for the title.

In our high-dollar private leagues, Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York won the 3rd annual NFFC Platinum League, earning $150,000 for the top score in the Championship Round and most total points during the regular season. Lowy finished 28.27 points ahead of Larry Schechter of Boca Raton, Florida for the Platinum League title.

Schechter finished second in the Platinum but he dominated the NFFC Diamond League to win $80,000 as he had the most points and best head-to-head record during the regular season. He then finished 45 points ahead of Matthew Shepherd of Napa, California in the Championship Round for the Diamond title.

Shawn Gundy of Charleston, South Carolina edged Scott Stauffer by 4.39 points to make a clean sweep of the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League enroute to winning $36,000, while Riku Vihreasaari of Tampere, Finland swept all of the top prizes in the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League to win $40,000. This was Riku’s second 14-Team Ultimate League title.

Winning 12-Team Super League titles and $14,000 each were: Neil Hassett Jr. of Nissequoque, New York, Glenn Lowy of Farmingville, New York, and the tag team of Kevin Bass/Marc Fleisher of Potomac, Maryland. Roger Gonzalez of Dayton, Ohio won the NFFC 14-Team Super Auction League title and that $15,000 prize.

Winning private auction league titles were Eddy Betancourt of North Bellmore, New York, Mike Sanda of Warwick, Rhode Island, Jason Steeves of Calgary, Alberta, Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois, Scott Stauffer of Loves Park, Illinois and Thad Shirley of Henderson, Nevada. Winning private Draft Champions Live Leagues were Derek Anderson of Shelby Township, Michigan, Tony Graupensperger of Auburn, California and Mark Moyer of Johnson City, New York. Moyer also won the NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League in dominating fashion, while Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia won our 2nd annual NFFC Throwback League.

That’s a lot of great champions in one season. Good job all.

The NFFC continued to grow in 2015, our 12th season, as total prize money grew to over $2.8 million. The NFFC had over 7,200 teams competing in 2015 with four national competitions having top prizes from $80,000 to $150,000. Live drafts were again held in Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago and Online, with Las Vegas hosting two weekends of live drafts for the fifth straight year.

In the 12th year of our signature event, the NFFC Classic, we crowned a 12th different champion as Robert Rose of Coral Gables, Florida won the title and the $80,000 grand prize. Rose set a new Classic Championship Round record of 730.57 points, topping the previous record of 715.34 points that was set by Mark Srebro during our debut season of 2004. Rose edged Chad Schroeder by 27.98 points to win the Classic title after starting the Championship Round 15th overall. A total of 252 teams competed in the Classic in 2015.

Mike Santos of Tulare, California and his partner Kurt Kuekes topped a record field of 480 teams in the NFFC Primetime to win the $150,000 grand prize. Santos and Kuekes set a Primetime Championship Round record with 740.39 points, smashing the old record of 717.57 points set last year by John Pausma. And they needed every single point as they edged Ream & Val Lazaro by just 10.55 points for the Primetime grand prize. The Santos/Kuekes team started the Championship Round 67th out of 124 teams, but got hot at just the right time.

During his debut season in the NFFC, Matthew Bredin of Clyde River, Prince Edward Island won the $100,000 grand prize in the 2015 Rotowire Fantasy Football Online Championship. Bredin had a dominating team from start to finish as he beat 2,280 teams for the $100,000 grand prize, starting the Championship Round 3rd overall. He held off Joseph Kalinowski to win the title by 16.68 points, setting a record in the Championship Round of the Online Championship with 746.57 points.

Thomas Greenwald of Carpentersville, Illinois won the 2015 NFFC Cutline Championship as he edged David Hubbard by 13.81 points for the $80,000 grand prize. Greenwald battled 2,184 teams for a spot in the Championship Round, where 12 teams fought for the top prize. He scored 193.9 points for the title.

Wayne Ellis of Evansville, Indiana became our first two-time national champion when he won the 2015 NFFC Draft Champions National Championship and the $20,000 grand prize. Wayne also won the NFFC Draft Champions National Championship in 2011 when we combined the live event DCs. This year we had a record 1,704 teams in this contest, consisting of 142 leagues. Ellis had a winning total of 3,211.60 points to edge David Hubbard by 41.9 points for the title.

The private leagues were also historic, starting with the 2nd annual Platinum League. Santos and Kuekes capped off an incredible comeback in Week 16 to win the NFFC Platinum League title and the $130,000 prize. Their Coyote Miscreants team scored 204.5 points to pass Stephen Stith for the top prize. Chad Schroeder dominated the Championship Round of the NFFC Diamond League to win that $60,000 league prize, topping Joseph Jefferson by 63.87 points for the title. Jefferson did come back to win the NFFC Ultimate League 14-team title and that $30,000 prize as he topped David Hubbard by 25.02 points. Steve Lucinski of Bilwin, Missouri won the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League title and the $26,000 league prize as he rode a strong 3-week playoff push to win the title by 77.80 points over Dan Leonard of Seal Beach, California.

Winning Super League titles were Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois in the 14-Team Super Auction League and the Las Vegas/Online 12-team Super League, and Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia in the New York Super League.

Winning private auction league titles were Andy Saxton of Bear, Delaware, David Martino of Melville, New York, Daren Eliason of Beulah, North Dakota, KJ Duke of San Diego, California, Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois and Gregory Glukhovsky of West Hills, California. Winning private Draft Champions Live Leagues were George Melbrod of Rancho Santa Fe, California, David Dorman of Deerfield, Illinois and Reed Kasaoka of Amherst, New York.

KJ Duke won the NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League, while Frank Mammola won our debut NFFC Throwback League, a contest that consisted of 12 owners who had to make their picks by memory over 26 rounds. It was just another new addition to the NFFC offerings.

And to top off the season, we finished with a record of 1,050 teams in our NFFC Post-Season Contest, which had a $70,000 grand prize. What a year.

In 2014 the NFFC set a record with over $2.7 million in prize money as it had four different national contests with a $100,000 grand prize or more and a debut NFFC Platinum League that awarded a top prize of $170,000. Live drafts were again held in Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago and Online, with Las Vegas hosting two weekends of live drafts for the fourth straight year.

In our 11th season of the NFFC Classic, an 11th different champion was crowned as Roger Gonzalez of Dayton, Ohio edged David Webb of Littleton, Colorado by 8.11 points to win the $100,000 grand prize. Roger looked like he had no chance to win the overall title late in the fourth quarter of the Monday Night Game when he trailed Webb by a couple of points, but a Pick 6 Interception by Peyton Manning to Gonzalez’s Cincinnati Bengals’ defense pushed Gonzalez ahead of Webb. It was another unreal finish in this contest, which had 252 teams in 2014.

John Pausma of Tinley Park, Illinois also had an improbable finish to win the $150,000 grand prize in the NFFC Primetime. Pausma edged Robert Zarzycki of Viera, Florida by just 0.79 points in our closest finish ever for this contest, but it was Glenn Lowy who finished third by just 7.48 points when WR A.J. Green got hurt on the first series of the Monday Night Game and didn’t score a single point. It was an unreal finish for a contest that had a record 468 teams in 2014.

The Rotowire Online Championship also set a record in 2014 with 2,148 teams and Oliver Gold of New York City bested them all to win the $100,000 grand prize. Gold had just one team in this contest and he edged Kris Carroll of Bedford, Massachusetts by 7.19 points in the Championship Round for the title.

Also winning $100,000 was Chris Baker of Dublin, Texas in the NFFC Cutline Championship. Baker also had just one entry in this contest and it was his first entry in any NFFC contest, but he survived six weeks of the Cutline to top a record field of 2,290 teams for the title. What a debut.

The NFFC also set a record in the Draft Champions National Championship with 1,500 teams and NFFC veteran Parnelli Baker of Columbus, Indiana won the $20,000 grand prize as he edged Thomas Wagner of Las Vegas, Nevada by 13.05 points.

In 2014 the NFFC also introduced a new league called the NFFC Platinum, which was a private 12-team league with a $20,000 entry fee. The tag team of David Hubbard/Nelson Sousa/Derek Pierson won $130,000 in the Championship Round as they edged Glenn Lowy by 17.75 points for the top prize. Lowy had dominated the regular season and won $40,000 in what was a fantastic debut league. In our other top private leagues, Kyle Johnson of Edmonton, Alberta dominated the NFFC Diamond League to win $70,000; Steve Lucinski of St. Louis, Missouri topped Chad Schroeder in the Championship Game of the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League to win $35,000; and Kevin Blayne of Thousand Oaks, California won the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League title and the $26,000 prize.

Winning NFFC Super League titles this year were: Ryan McMichael of Suffolk, Virginia in the 12-Team Super Online; Tim Miller of Little Rock, Arkansas in the Las Vegas 14-Team Super Auction League; and Chris Vaccaro of Staten Island, New York in the New York 12-Team Super League.

Mark Moyer of Laurel, Maryland also won the 3rd annual NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League title and more than $8,000 in prizes. Winning Auction League titles were: Michael Edelman of Elmwood Park, New Jersey in the New York 12-Team Auction, Tony Wilhelm of St. Louis, Missouri in the Las Vegas-Chicago 12-Team Auction, Rob Silver of Toronto, Ontario in the Las Vegas 12-Team Auction, Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois in the Las Vegas Sept. 5 12-Team Auction, and Jason Steeves of Calgary, Alberta in the Las Vegas-Chicago 14-Team Auction.

Winning Draft Champions Live League titles were Ted Kasten of Chicago, Illinois in the Chicago-Las Vegas 12-Team League and Mark Srebro of York, Pennsylvania in the Las Vegas-Chicago 14-Team League.

And if all of this wasn’t great enough, in 2014 the NFFC opened its doors to the NFFC Hall of Fame and invited 7 worthy champions in. Our inaugural class of the NFFC Hall of Fame included: Jules McLean of Los Angeles, California, Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska, Chris Vaccaro of Staten Island, New York, Tom Yates of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Michael Edelman of Elmwood Park, New Jersey, Kyle Pope/Derek Anderson of Shelby Township, Michigan, and Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia. Congratulations to each of these great champions, who are now in our NFFC Hall of Fame.

The 10th anniversary season of the NFFC was another record-breaking year as more than $2.3 million in prize money was awarded. Live drafts were again held in Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago and Online, with Las Vegas hosting two weekends of live drafts.

In our 10th season of the NFFC Classic, a 10th different champion was crowned as Ken Ford of Kailua, Hawaii earned the $100,000 grand prize, topping 279 other teams. Ken entered the Championship Round ranked 6th out of 61 teams, but his Hawaii Warriors had the 4th highest score in Week 14 and the top score in Week 15 en route to a 10.33 point lead over Duke Viveros of Highland, California for the overall title and the $100,000 grand prize.

In the NFFC Primetime, two brothers, Ty and Shawn Siegele of Kansas City, Missouri, dominated the competition in record fashion. They not only topped 432 teams for the $150,000 grand prize, but they also had the runner-up team to earn another $25,000. In all, the Siegeles won 5 NFFC Primetime league titles in 2013 and more than $200,000 in prize money.

Sam Botnick of Tarzana, California won the $100,000 grand prize in the Rotowire Fantasy Football Online Championship as he topped 1,800 teams for that title. He did it in dramatic fashion, too, rallying from 10th place in the final Monday Night Game between Atlanta and San Francisco to pass Chad Schroeder and Brian Ng on the Falcons’ final drive. With the game out of reach, Tony Gonzalez caught two passes to put Botnick ahead of Schroeder by 1.99 points for the title and the $100,000 grand prize, with Ng just 3.07 points behind.

Thomas Wagner of Las Vegas, Nevada topped 1,200 teams for our $15,000 grand prize in the NFFC Draft Champions National Championship. Wagner edged Ralph Byron of Cicero, Illinois by 22.11 points for the title in this “Best Ball” format.

The NFFC also added another national championship in 2013 with the introduction of the NFFC Cutline Championship. This 10-team “survivor” format rewarded teams that qualified for the playoffs from their leagues and then survived the “cutline” during the six weeks of playoffs. The Cutline Championship drew 1,850 teams in its debut season with Ted Neff of Downey, California edging Terry Wells of Mooreville, Mississippi by 5.89 points for the $50,000 grand prize. This format was a big hit during its debut season as multiple drafts were held every night in July and August.

Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska was a force in the high-dollar private leagues as he swept the NFFC Diamond League to win $80,000, while also winning the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League ($26,000). The tag team of David Hubbard/Nelson Sousa/Derek Pierson had a fantastic season as they teamed up to win the $30,000 top prize in the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League, emerging from the 5th seed to win their last three head-to-head matchups, and they also won $14,000 in the New York Super League. Jack Haan of Palos Heights, Illinois edged Rob Silver by just 0.91 point to win the NFFC 14-Team Super Auction League and the $15,000 prize, while Gino Yu of Torrance, California won the NFFC 12-Team Super League and the $14,000 prize.

John Rozek of Chicago, Illinois won the 2nd annual NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League title and more than $8,000 in prizes. Winning Auction League titles in 2013 were: Scott Paige of Battle Creek, Michigan, Mike Weber of Freehold, New Jersey (he won the New York and Las Vegas league titles), Simon Simonian of Hermosa Beach, California; and Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois. Winning Draft Champions Live league titles were: Kyle Brinkmann of Albion, Illinois, Ted Kasten of Chicago, Illinois, and Tony Graupensperger of Auburn, California.

The NFFC had a record-breaking 2012 season as it awarded almost $2 million in prizes with live events in Las Vegas, New York and Chicago. Roger Mathews of Chico, California became the 9th different champion of our signature event, the NFFC Classic, with a historic finish. Mathews entered the Championship Round in 48th place out of 54 teams, but his team got hot over the last three weeks of the playoffs to win the $75,000 grand prize. During only his second season competing in the NFFC, the 63-year-old Mathews finished on top of 251 other Classic owners.

Christopher Vaccaro of Staten Island, New York also made history in 2012 as he bested 420 teams for the $150,000 grand prize in the NFFC Primetime. Chris entered the Championship Round ranked 18th out of 107 teams, but rode three solid weeks to edge out Ronny Mor by 15.29 points for the largest grand prize in NFFC history.

Henry Muto of Geneva, Ohio also won a six-figure prize in 2012 as he beat out 1,872 teams for the top prize of $100,000 in the NFFC Online Championship. This was the closest finish in our 9-year history as Muto edged out Ken Magner of Freehold, New Jersey by 1.89 points for the title. Muto had another team finish 4th overall for a pair of teams in the Top 5 overall. Amazing job.

In our final national contest, Steve Geisbert of Westminster, Colorado won our 2nd annual Draft Champions National Championship and the $10,000 grand prize as the NFFC attracted a record total of 1,164 teams for that “Best Ball” format.

In the high-dollar private leagues: Paul Clein of Nashville, Tennessee swept the NFFC Diamond League to win $70,000; Peter Berall of Montreal, Quebec swept the NFFC 14-Team Ultimate League to win $30,000; and Riku Vihreasaari of Finland won the NFFC 12-Team Ultimate League and $26,000. Winning Super League titles were Rob Silver of Toronto, Ontario ($22,500) and David Martino of Melville, New York ($14,000).

The NFFC went back to individual league prizes for the Auction and Draft Champions Leagues in 2012 and finished with 5 Auction Leagues and 3 DC Leagues. Winning Auction League titles were Jason Steeves of Calgary, Alberta, Chris Eibl of Chicago, Illinois, Roger Gonzalez of Dayton, Ohio, Jeffrey Potok of Lake Worth, Florida and Jim Wiseheart of New Albany, Indiana. Winning Draft Champions league titles were Tom Mangan of Shaumburg, Illinois, Maris Brenner of Sandusky, Ohio and Jeffrey Mitz of Chicago, Illinois.

The tag team of Shawn Childs and Chris Schinker won the debut NFFC Kickoff Gridiron League, a DC-style draft where real money is used to bid for your first two draft slots. It was another new addition to the growing stable of NFFC contests.

The 2011 off-season started abruptly for the NFFC as Liberty Sports Interactive announced plans to shut down Fanball.com on Jan. 4. The NFFC and NFBC assets were officially sold to Greg Ambrosius on Feb. 18th and on Feb. 19th it was announced that STATS LLC had acquired a majority interest in the NFFC and NFBC, hiring Ambrosius and Tom Kessenich for their new consumer fantasy games division.

The partnership quickly led to a record-breaking season in baseball and continued into football, even with the NFL lockout. The NFL lockout wasn’t resolved until late July, and that work stoppage, coupled with WCOFF’s bankruptcy, made it tough on all high-stakes fantasy football contests.

But the NFFC still had a record year in 2011 with over $1.3 million in prizes, led by the NFFC Primetime, which finished with 360 teams. This was easily the NFFC’s biggest total for the 12-Team Main Event as the NFFC expanded to two full weekends of live drafts in Las Vegas for the first time. Dave Clum of Pembroke Pines, Florida won the $100,000 Primetime grand prize with an unforgettable final night. Clum drafted in Chicago and vaulted from 10th place overall to the title on the final Monday Night Game of the NFFC season as he rode Drew Brees, Darren Sproles and Julio Jones to the title. Bradley Shairson of Hermosa Beach, California finished second in the Primetime.

The NFFC also set a record in the Online Championship with 948 teams and a $60,000 grand prize. John Rundle of Pembroke, Massachusetts won the Online Championship overall title as he edged Tim Eichten of Edina, Minnesota for the $60,000 top prize.

In the Classic, Michael Treffiletti of Moreau, New York edged out 279 other competitors for the $100,000 grand prize. Treffiletti was an 8-year NFFC veteran who actually went into the final weekend of the Championship Round leading his brother, Joe, by 10 points for the $100,000 grand prize. Michael eventually won the title, followed by George Melbrod of Rancho Santa Fe, California and Joseph Treffiletti of Sunrise, Florida, who finished third.

The NFFC also started the Slow Draft DC National Championship in 2011 and Joe Treffiletti won that title and the $3,500 league prize. The NFL lockout limited this debut event to 16 leagues, but it set the foundation for what would be a solid new event in the NFFC for years to come.

Kenny Stratton of Grimes, Iowa won the second annual NFFC Auction Championship as the NFFC finished with 4 auction leagues among the various cities. And Wayne Ellis of Evansville, Indiana won the NFFC Draft Champions National Championship, drafting out of Chicago.

Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska won $60,000 in the second annual Diamond League, while Jerry Sloan of Avon, Ohio won $30,000 in the Ultimate League as he won the title from the fourth seed. Winning Super League titles in 2011 were Chad Schroeder, Erik Peterson of St. Louis, Missouri, and Jason Steeves of Calgary, Alberta.

In 2010, the NFFC expanded to seven different cities and online as Boston, Buffalo, Dallas and Minneapolis were added to Las Vegas, New York and Chicago. Live drafts were held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Citi Field in New York, Arlington Park Trackside in Chicago and Gilley’s in Dallas. Tom Carbone of Harriman, New York won the NFFC Classic and the $100,000 grand prize, drafting out of New York. He edged Ante Meich of Bayside, New York by 10.56 points for the Classic title as a total of 308 teams competed.

Chad Schroeder of Omaha, Nebraska won the $50,000 grand prize in our third annual NFFC Primetime as he edged Stephen Jupinka of Waldwick, New York by 26.11 points. A total of 240 teams competed in the NFFC Primetime in 2010.

Also in 2010, the NFFC created the industry’s first national overall contests in the auction and Draft Champions formats. Jason Santucci of San Mateo, California won the overall Auction Championship title and the $8,000 grand prize out of New York, beating 55 other teams in the process. Eric Lundquist of Elk River, Minnesota finished second overall. William Cleavenger of Morganfield, Kentucky dominated the inaugural NFFC Draft Champions Championship and the $8,000 grand prize among 56 teams. Phillip McDonald of Huntsville, Alabama finished second in the DC Championship.

Another big winner in 2010 was the second annual NFFC Online Championship, which grew to 720 teams after planning for 600 teams. John Pausma of Tinley Park, Illinois won the $50,000 grand prize with Eric Lundquist also finishing second overall in this contest.

The NFFC also set a record in 2010 with four Super Leagues, with the following owners winning titles: Billy Wu of Flushing, New York; Billy Wasosky of Richmond, Virginia; Stephen Jupinka of Waldwick, New York; and Steve Luzzi of Downey, California. Glenn Schroter of Whitestone, New York dominated the regular season and the post-season to win $37,500 in our lone Ultimate League.

And in our debut NFFC Diamond League – a new 12-team league with a $10,000 entry fee – Peter Berall won $80,000 with a dominating regular season and an even more impressive post-season performance.

In all, more than $1.1 million in prizes was awarded in 2010, the largest total to that time.

In 2009, the NFFC was sold by F+W Media to Fanball.com with the sale being completed on Aug. 15, just weeks before the live events were held. The NFFC Classic went forward with 294 teams and the NFFC Primetime had a record 276 teams. Steve Luzzi of Huntington Beach, California started the NFFC Classic Championship Round with the lowest point total but rode three hot weeks to the $100,000 grand prize, edging Troy Young by just 3.20 points. Bill Strickler of Holiday, Florida had a dominating performance in the Championship Round to easily win the $40,000 grand prize in the NFFC Primetime after finishing second in his league during the regular season. A total of 182 teams competed in both the Classic and Primetime main events in 2009 with Darren Fecich of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania winning that total points race and earning free entries into both main events in 2010.

Larry Schechter of Rexford, New York won his second NFFC Ultimate League title in four seasons, earning a cool $32,500. The Super League was added for the first time in 2009 and Paul Clein of Germantown, Tennessee won the $16,250 league prize.

Also new in 2009 was the NFFC Online Championship as 512 teams competed in our debut 12-team online national contest with Paul Ladisa of Bayside, New York winning the $30,000 grand prize. The NFFC had planned for only 300 teams for the Online Championship in 2009, but demand pushed the total number of teams and the prize money up much higher.

2008 was a historic year for the NFFC as it marked the fifth anniversary of the event. It also marked a new era for the NFFC as F+W Publications partnered with NBC Sports that year and expanded to a second live main event. With the help of NBC Sports, the NFFC added a 12-team contest and a second $100,000 grand prize. The NFFC became the first live event with two main events on the same day, a fantasy football doubleheader that over 160 teams took part in. The NFFC Classic - our unique 14-team event - drew 308 teams with Tom Yates of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania earning the $100,000 grand prize when he edged Scott Newman of Princeton, New Jersey by 2.94 points in the Championship Round. A total of 252 teams competed in the debut NFFC Primetime main event (12 teams) and Dave Gerczak of Appleton, Wisconsin dominated the Championship Round with 694.66 points to win the $100,000 grand prize. In 2008, the NFFC set a record by awarding over $850,000 in prize money as the addition of the 12-team format led to more Auction Leagues, Draft Champions Leagues and Satellite Leagues. A total of 56 satellite leagues were held in 2008, while Gino Yu of Rowlands Height, California became our fourth different champion of the NFFC Ultimate League.

The NFFC's main event sold out for the first time in 2007 as the NFFC expanded to Tampa, Florida for the first time. With four regional draft sites on the agenda, the NFFC finished with 364 teams and 26 main event leagues. The tag team of Ryan Welch and Jeremy Jurewicz won the $100,000 grand prize during their debut season, becoming the second straight team to win out of Chicago. The biggest expansion of 2007 occurred online as the NFFC Satellite Leagues grew to a total of 51 leagues. In 2007, NFFC prize money had grown to more than $650,000 as the Auction Leagues and Draft Champions Leagues grew to a total of 11. Scott Stauffer of Naperville, Illinois won the third annual NFFC Ultimate League title and $27,500.

The NFFC 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. Thirty-two satellite leagues were held throughout 2006 during the first full season of online drafts, while the main event grew to 322 teams. The main event had a record 23 leagues in 2006, while the Auction Leagues and Draft Champions grew to a total of 9 leagues. Rob Benetti of Mokena, Illinois won the $100,000 grand prize with an incredible Christmas Eve day involving many of his favorite St. Louis Rams. Larry Schechter of Rexford, New York won the second annual NFFC Ultimate League and $32,500.

By 2005, demand had grown to where the main event grew to 280 teams and the Auction and Draft Champions Leagues had expanded to 8 leagues. Josh and Sid Ferenc of San Diego, California rode LaDainian Tomlinson to a league title and the $100,000 grand prize, edging Scott Stauffer by 2.05 points in the closest final ever for the NFFC. The NFFC also rolled out two new events in 2005: The NFFC Ultimate League where the entry fee was $5,000 per team and first place was worth $37,500, and the NFFC Second Chance Leagues. The Ultimate League consisted of one 14-team league in 2005 where owners from Las Vegas and New York were hooked up on a teleconference call. Eddie Gillis of Jamestown, Rhode Island won the debut NFFC Ultimate League title and $27,500. The Second Chance Leagues started in Week 4 and continued through Week 16 as the NFFC's first online leagues, giving some owners who got off to a rough start a second chance to still win a league title.