By Trevor Sullivan

Todd Bailey, a local from Ann Arbor and Dexter, has created a fantasy football experience like no other. After he started playing in the 80’s, he found himself bored with the standard structure, leading him to take matters into his own hands in 2018, where he crafted the Extreme Fantasy Football League, or the EFFL.

A League for Everyone

Within the EFFL, there are four different league structures:

1. Private
   • Structure: Formed privately for friends, open to unlimited members
   • Fees: $100 league creation fee, $25 for each team
   • Top 4 teams receive payout
2. Sponsored
   • Structure: Choose 1 of 5 sponsored leagues capped at 32 teams
   • Fees: $25 per team
   • Top 4 teams receive payout
3. Platinum
   • Structure: A single league, unlimited teams
   • Fees: $100 per team
   • Top 4 teams receive payout
4. Elite
   • Structure: Requires qualification to join
   • Winner takes all
   • Fees: $250 entry fee

Unique Gameplay Mechanics

One of the biggest differences the EFFL has compared to other fantasy football programs is that there is no draft: Instead, each week, members are able to select anyone to play on their team. However, they can only select each player once per half-season (9 weeks), which adds new strategies to the game.

Because of this, members of the EFFL can have overlapping players, removing the disappointment of not being able to use a desired player. “It takes the ability for you to make your decisions even more independently of what [other league members] do,” Todd says. 

The season is split to two 9-week halves, where the top 2 members from each half will go to the playoffs. If there’s more than 50 teams in a league, the playoffs will expand to 8 members total. If you finish top 2 in both halves of the season, your entry fee is fully refunded. 

“You have the ability in our league to have a 2-person, head-to-head dual for 18 weeks,” Bailey said. “You can also have thousands, tens of thousands of people who can be in one particular league, not just the 12, 13, 14 you might have in your normal league.”

All leagues have a 2-week full refund if members are dissatisfied. Members can even join a league for the second half of a season. 

Extreme Exchange

In addition to the leagues, Bailey has created the Extreme Exchange, a stock-market inspired platform where members act as the general manager for a team. For a cost of $50, members get $1000 in portfolio money, where they can spend it how they want. “If you want to buy [Christian] MccAffrey and spend ⅕ of your budget, you can. Or you can use that money and disperse it over any player you want.” 

As the season progresses, player’s value will fluctuate based on real-world performances, allowing members to buy and sell players as they see fit. Bailey also says, ““There are no restrictions on who you have to have. You don’t have to have a quarterback, or a receiver.”

Sign up for EFFL Today

To learn more or register, visit their website at extremeffl.com, where you can use promo code “EFFL2024” for a 20% discount for one league. You can find them on all social media by searching ExtremeFFL or Extreme Fantasy Football League.