Welcome to the Electrosports League.

This league is intended to be played for fun, although owners will naturally put together the most competitive team they can. The league has, historically, required very few rules to play because of one overriding factor: when possible, we try to be ignorant to any exploits, pro-tips, optimum builds or similar that are rife in other leagues.

We call this Ignorance Is Bliss.

Every game is exploitable, and once that exploit is known it cannot be unknown again. To that end it is strongly suggested that owners of Electrosports teams do not venture into other leagues. Obviously, we can't stop you from doing so, but every rule we've ever had to introduce has come about because of exploits discovered outside this league.

An example of this - there was a running play (now removed from the game) that was guaranteed to gain a team 2 yards on every use. One of our owners used this and never punted or went for field goals on 4th and short ever again.

A second example - there was a severely overpowered defensive play that essentially killed both the run and the pass. We had one owner decide it'd be great to call that play 100% of the time.

Exploits do not make you a skilled owner. Using them in a friendly league? Well, that's just a pure **** move.

Suffice to say, the owner in question (yes, it was the same owner doing both these things - and more) was removed from the league. There are plenty of leagues where you can min/max and use every angle to win every prize, this isn't one of them.

Please note that you can play however you like as long as it doesn't guarantee a result. Want to put players in unusual positions? Run the same play all day? Not a problem as long as you're losing... unless you're losing to artificially improve your draft position. That's called tanking. Do you really need it explaining to you why this is a bad thing? If it does, you're in the wrong league.


Here are a few specific things to be aware of:

The league is currently operating with a 105% injury rate. Any changes to injury rate will be publicised in the season before it comes into effect.

Trading. No limit has been placed on trades. Understanding which players are and aren't valuable takes time (the same is true for trading draft picks). All owners are welcome to trade as much or as little as they please but it is recommended that you always do the following: get a second opinion on any trade before committing, this will avoid you being taken for a ride. Second, make any deal public on Discord - you may be able to get a better price.

All trades are subject to scrutiny. In the event that a trade is deemed to be extremely one-sided it will be overturned unless approved ahead of time.

Position restrictions. You may not play a lighter player than the position they're in. For example, playing a linebacker at defensive tackle or a wide receiver at tight end. Obviously, if you have permanently reassigned a player - like switching a receiver to play RB, there will be a period where they are adding weight. You are permitted to use that player while they are bulking up. Heavy players out of position is not restricted at this time, but this is subject to change if an exploit is noticed.

In the event that injuries (more severe than "Probable") force you to put players in unusual roles please ensure your opponent is aware ahead of the game so they have the opportunity to plan for it.

Play restrictions. Teams are expected to run a minimum of 50% of a full playbook on both sides of the ball. Routinely using a very restricted playbook is likely to be deemed exploitative.

Exploits. If an owner finds an exploit (anything undocumented that gives an advantage) they are expected to share the knowledge on the Sportsball Discord channel. The aim will be a level playing field between all owners. In the event that an exploit is judged to be against the spirit of the game it may be restricted.

Blow-out contracts. It is entirely possible to offer contracts with little risk to yourself that are considerably beyond the value of the player. These contracts tend to be offered during free agency negotiations. The recommendation is "don't" as it leaves a bad taste for those bidding in good faith, however this is not currently restricted.

Poaching coaches. This is entirely within the spirit of the game. You can poach strategically (ie from divisional rivals) if you wish and it's still within the spirit of the game. The same is true for contracts offered to coaches, since exhorbitant contract payments tend to hit a brick wall eventually.

Fundamentally, owners should play the game not the engine: you are the owner of an American Football team, you are not playing a game.

We operate with something we refer to as The Cheese Line. If you're using cheesy exploits to win games, you're on the wrong side of the line. If you're doing something odd and losing games (unless obviously tanking) you're likely to be on the right side of the line.

If you're so desperate to win that you purposefully target known weaknessed in the game you are in the wrong league. Teams who find themselves winning a lot or by large margins will come under significant scrutiny from other owners. This will extend to the examination of contracts, checking play by play results and basically using a fine-toothed comb to see if anything is amiss. In the event that you find something amiss please report it to the commissioner (that'd be me right now) or ask the owner in question whether it's intentional. We don't do witch hunts if we can possibly avoid them.

If you are felt to be exploiting the game engine you will be asked to stop. If you follow through with the request, it'll be forgotten soon enough. Failure to do so, or simply switching to a different style of min/max play will result in your being ejected from the league because it's evident that you want to get away with everything you haven't been specifically told not to do. This is not something we want to do, but if you fail to appreciate why it's important, frankly you're in the wrong league.

For the majority of owners none of this is something they'll ever bump into. Typically, those who are exploiting the engine know they're doing so. If this is you, stop it or find another league.