OnRoto is great

[wannabegriffey]

I agree with the pros and cons of both sites. For us, the idea that some site is going to tell US what our rules are was a total dealbreaker, so we have onRoto. It is ugly, but it gets the job done and cheap. And any minor hiccups indeed have been fixed quickly - our fault or theirs.

I don't think any of our owners has missed an auction or even been late in more than 10 years, so that aspect doesn't help us.

My league wants cbs because it looks nice and they are used to it. However, NONE of them do what I do behind the scenes and last I looked, cbs STILL does NOT archive free agent bids...which is just totally incredible INSANE.

[Fresno Bob]

Does yahoo still offer "free" leagues, what about ESPN? How are they?

[Judge Jude]

Having the auction/draft room embedded in the mobile app was a huge plus, but not having the mobile app itself for everyday use would be the dealbreaker. I use my iPad almost exclusively at night now (I can barely remember the days of breaking out my laptop to chill on the recliner), and some sites just don't react well on mobile devices -- for instance, anyone try using baseball-reference.com on a tablet? It's a disaster.

Well, remember that our YOUNGEST owner is in his late 40s, last year's champ is 71, and the majority of our owners date back to the 1980s (and all since 2002). Cutting edge, we ain't. But fair point.

[Mithrandir]

Does yahoo still offer "free" leagues, what about ESPN? How are they?

My league uses the free Yahoo league. It suits our needs. We don't have FAAB.

[DMT]

Yeah, the interface at TQ/OnRoto is embarrassingly terrible and counter-intuitive. That shit doesn't even cost that much to upgrade, either, in terms of programming time/difficulty.

CBS doesn't "tell you what rules to use". That's a non-starter (or, more appropriately, a red herring.) They don't archive FAAB, which I'd be pretty shocked if that was in anyone's league constitution. There are some other oddities that they have been apparently unable to handle since they went to an auction site with an auction room.


There are pros and cons for both, clearly. CBS' interface is miles away superior to that of OnRoto. Their auction room is extremely slick and they haven't had the massive hiccups like what happened with DMT. OnRoto is much more friendly to leagues with gimmick rules or special needs (yep) and has great customer service but has a terrible interface and dubious track record.

I thought the price difference was a lot greater than it is. $10 is just not that much to justify a move to an inferior site. $70 certainly would be.

Across 12 teams, $70 is a little under $6 per person.

Also, as for FAAB archiving, they preserve them for the current season. I suppose if someone was looking to compile historical data than this would be a problem but the percentage of customers who'd actually do that can't be high (I'd guess less than 1%).

[wannabegriffey]

Yeah, the interface at TQ/OnRoto is embarrassingly terrible and counter-intuitive. That shit doesn't even cost that much to upgrade, either, in terms of programming time/difficulty.

CBS doesn't "tell you what rules to use". That's a non-starter (or, more appropriately, a red herring.) They don't archive FAAB, which I'd be pretty shocked if that was in anyone's league constitution. There are some other oddities that they have been apparently unable to handle since they went to an auction site with an auction room.


There are pros and cons for both, clearly. CBS' interface is miles away superior to that of OnRoto. Their auction room is extremely slick and they haven't had the massive hiccups like what happened with DMT. OnRoto is much more friendly to leagues with gimmick rules or special needs (yep) and has great customer service but has a terrible interface and dubious track record.

I thought the price difference was a lot greater than it is. $10 is just not that much to justify a move to an inferior site. $70 certainly would be.

The reason our league - ANY league - would need archived bidding is simple: when there are issues regarding the bids, how are you possible going to KNOW who bid what without question?

Also, cbs dictates who wins ties in bidding with a random system (which NO ONE can explain from cbs customer service) - NOT your league standings (which is pretty much standard...lowest team gets the player).

[DMT]

I checked a couple years ago and Yahoo still did not have a contract field on their roster pages, which is a deal-breaker if you have salaries. I emailed them several years in a row asking that they add it but I gave up after 3 years.

[DMT]

The reason our league - ANY league - would need archived bidding is simple: when there are issues regarding the bids, how are you possible going to KNOW who bid what without question?

FAAB data is preserved throughout the season. Do such issues arise across seasons?

Also, cbs dictates who wins ties in bidding with a random system (which NO ONE can explain from cbs customer service) - NOT your league standings (which is pretty much standard...lowest team gets the player).

The first tiebreaker is indeed the reverse order of the standings, but then after that it resets like a waiver wire. It is odd, but in the past five years there has only been one instance of a team not winning a player for this reason.

[wannabegriffey]

FAAB data is preserved throughout the season. Do such issues arise across seasons?



The first tiebreaker is indeed the reverse order of the standings, but then after that it resets like a waiver wire. It is odd, but in the past five years there has only been one instance of a team not winning a player for this reason.

You can see the winning and losing bids on cbs? this is awesome.

[DMT]

You can see the winning and losing bids on cbs? this is awesome.

League/Transactions/Add drops

[Pauly]

League/Transactions/Add drops

you cant see losing bids on any cbs league I am in.

For the record, I tried Shandler's new game this month (took advantage of the free entry) - it uses onRoto, and the interface is horrendous.

[DMT]

you cant see losing bids on any cbs league I am in.

Ah, I misunderstood. No, losing bids are not displayed, but any issues that arise revolving competing bids should be dealt with that week anyways, and the bids are preserved on the roster pages until the following FAAB deadline. So, as ElD noted, screenshots can resolve any issues.

[cavebird]

My league uses the free Yahoo league. It suits our needs. We don't have FAAB.

ESPN has FAAB and is free and shows losing bids. It isn't horrible. Its biggest problem is that the live chat is not on the same page as the live standings, which pretty much kills the live chat.

[cavebird]

TQ Stats

Bingo. That's the one I was talking about. Given the comments about OnRoto, it must be those guys: great customer service, incredibly customizable, and clunky as all get out.

[DMT]

ESPN has FAAB and is free and shows losing bids. It isn't horrible. Its biggest problem is that the live chat is not on the same page as the live standings, which pretty much kills the live chat.

So they have added a contract field? If the live chat is the biggest problem, we might be switching next year.