If you are new to managing a team in fantasy football you have likely wondered what the commissioner of the league is responsible for. Fantasy football commissioners tend to take their jobs quite seriously and are usually quick to tell you about their role in the league.
A commissioner in fantasy football is responsible for handling the finances of the players, setting the rules for the season as well as determining the fairness of trades in the league.
In most cases, the fantasy football commissioner is going to be doing this with help of the rest of the league. Though it is usually up to the commissioner to have the final say on the matter.
Handling Finances
Handling the finances of a fantasy football league is a big part of the commissioner’s job. This job is also the one that your fantasy football commissioner likes the least.
It is their responsibility to reach out to each player in the league and make sure that they have paid their dues for the year. This can be especially annoying when the season comes to an end and some fantasy managers are refusing to pay their fees.
Once the season comes to a close and money needs to be paid out to the winners it is crucial that each player has paid their dues. Otherwise, the commissioner is put in the awkward situation of determining how to get money from the league taco to the champion.
Setting Up The Rules/ Rule Changes
Another responsibility that falls on the commissioner is being in charge of setting up the rules of the league as well as changing them in between each season.
At the start of a league year, all members should discuss which rules they plan on playing with for the upcoming season. If the league is starting then the basic rules such as scoring, roster size, and bench spots should be determined.
Usually, these rules will be set by the commissioner but some leagues may decide to vote to determine how they want to set up the league.
Additionally in leagues such as dynasty that stick around for years rule changes are often made between seasons.
In most cases, the commissioner is going to have a date in the offseason in which members of the leagues can put forward rules to be added during the next season.
This is not so different from how the NFL makes its rule changes.
The league will then vote on these new rules and if they should be included in the coming year.
Vetoing Trades
Another thing that fantasy football commissioners are responsible for is vetoing trades. Throughout the year fantasy teams are able to trade players from one team to another.
Most times these trades are going to be relatively equal in value. But on some occasions, you will find teams will make incredibly uneven trades due to collusion or lack of football knowledge.
This usually means one team is taking advantage of another or one player has decided to give up and help his friend win.
Either way trades like this often have to be vetoed by the commissioner. By vetoing a trade the commissioner can stop it from going through leaving the players on their original rosters.
Some commissioners may decide to veto trades based on their own discretion. Others may look to a league vote in order to determine if the trade was fair or not.
Either way, it is up to the commissioner to call out these kinds of trades and take action to stop them from being processed.
If you want to learn more about fantasy football check out our guides to Opp rank and PF in fantasy football.
