theFOBL.com : Constitution (Print Version)

We the owners of the Front Office Baseball League (“FOBL”), in order to form a more perfect union of dorks and their dork league, establish a smackdown forum, ensure the destruction of our real-life relationships, provide for the common E-rated defense, promote the general welfare of wacky German programmers, and secure the blessings of dolaposting to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Front Office Baseball League, with Calzones and Burritos for all.

I. ORGANIZATION

A. The FOBL is made up of 36 teams which are divided into two leagues of 18 teams each. Each league is further divided into three divisions of six teams each. The names of the leagues and divisions are:

Gindin League
Dola Division
Prairie Division
Wilderness Division

Vaughan League
Calzone Division
Darn Tootin’ Division
Nor’Easter Division

B. Any changes to the names or organization of the Leagues or Divisions must be accomplished by Constitutional Amendment; however, any changes to League structure are subject to the limitations of OOTP.

II. GOVERNANCE

A. The FOBL will be governed by a Board of Governors, which consists of the Commissioner and the President of each league.

B. Commissioner

1. General Powers

a. The Commissioner may take, subject to the review of the Board of Governors, actions in the best interests of the League, to the extent that such actions are not expressly precluded elsewhere in the Constitution.

b. The Commissioner has ultimate responsibility for (i) setting procedures for roster submissions, (ii) running simulations, (iii) maintaining the League website, (iv) supervising the draft, (v) overseeing free agency, (vi) maintaining the Waiting List of potential owners, and (vii) all other issues of day-to-day governance of the FOBL.

c. The Commissioner may delegate his responsibilities as necessary.

2. Election/Removal

a. The FOBL Commissioner is elected by the Board of Governors, including the outgoing Commissioner, to a lifetime term.

b. The Commissioner may retire or be removed by the following procedure.

i. Proceedings to remove the FOBL Commissioner may be initiated by any one current, “Active” Owner calling for a removal vote. After one owner has called for a vote, at least three additional owners must support the motion in a post on the league Forum for a removal vote to be called.

ii. Once an owner has called for a removal vote and three additional owners have supported the motion for a removal vote, such vote must be held not sooner than 48 hours and not later than one week after the removal vote is called. This is to allow for proper reflection and comment and to provide for a definite end to the process.

iii. At least 24 votes of the Active Ownership are required to remove the Commissioner. If the Commissioner is a team owner, he is allowed to vote.

iv. If more than 18 and less than 24 of the Active Ownership cast votes in favor of removal, then the matter will go before the Board of Governors for a new vote. The Commissioner will be removed if all members of the Board of Governors vote for removal in the new vote, excluding the Commissioner, who is not allowed to vote.

C. Board of Governors

1. Composition

a. The Board of Governors consists of the Commissioner and both League Presidents. No owner may hold more than one concurrent position on the Board of Governors.

2. General Powers

a. The Board of Governors has the final authority to make reasonable interpretations in the case of provisions of this Constitution that are ambiguous or contradictory.

D. League Presidents

1. League Presidents are elected by a simple majority of owners of the League which they will represent.

2. League Presidents are elected to a term of no longer than 3 FOBL seasons.

3. A League President is free to retire; however, he may be removed by the vote of 12 owners from the League he represents. The procedure for the removal vote will be the same as the procedure for removal of a commissioner, except that, in the circumstance described by Section II.B.3.iv, the League President that is the subject of the voting will be excluded from the vote, and the Commissioner will be allowed to vote (if the Commissioner is an owner in the same league as the League President who is the subject of the vote).

4. If a League President retires, a successor must be nominated and voted on by the owners in the outgoing President’s League as soon as is reasonably possible. The elected successor will serve only through the end of his predecessor’s term, at which point he is free to run for re-election or defer to another nominee.

5. There are no term limits for League Presidents.

III. OWNERSHIP

A. FOBL cannot survive unless its owners participate on a regular basis. To this end, if an owner persists in an extended period of inactivity, the Board of Governors may vote to remove that owner. In determining if an owner is inactive, the Board of Governors will examine, among other things, submission of exports, presence and activity on the FOBL Forum, participation in league votes, attendance at simulations and communication and interaction with other league members. However, no single factor is determinative in evaluating an owner's activity in the FOBL.

B. If an owner is not going to be able to participate in the FOBL for a short period of time, another owner from the opposing league may take over his team.

1. The absentee owner must inform the Commissioner that he will not be able to participate and when he will be able to resume active ownership.

2. The absentee owner must inform the Commissioner which owner is to take over temporary guardianship of his team.

3. During the period of time that the temporary replacement owner manages the absentee owner’s team, the temporary owner may only manage the absentee owner’s rosters.

C. If an owner is not going to be able to participate in the FOBL for an extended period of time, the Board of Governors may assign an owner from the opposing league or an officially recognized vulture (“vultures” are individuals on the Waiting List or former owners whose contributions to the league have merited special status with respect to certain FOBL matters) to take over the team until the absentee owner is able to resume active membership.

1. The BoG has the discretion to define the scope of the long-term replacement owner’s powers with respect to trades, free agency, the amateur draft and all other aspects of team management.

2. If the absentee owner is able to vote, he may do so at the Commissioner’s discretion, either by voting normally on the forum or by informing the Commissioner or any other member of the Board of Governors of his vote, whereby the Commissioner or other member of the Board of Governors will record the vote on the forum. The long-term replacement owner may not participate in any vote on behalf of the absentee owner unless the Commissioner decides that allowing the replacement owner to vote is in the best interests of the league. Under no circumstance may the absentee owner and the replacement owner record separate votes on the same issue.

D. No vulture may serve as a replacement owner before such vulture has ratified this Constitution.

E. If an owner resigns or is removed from the FOBL in accordance with Section III.A, a person from the Waiting List shall be chosen as the new team owner, except as provided in Section III.E.4, with all the attendant rights and responsibilities of FOBL ownership.

1. The Waiting List shall be maintained by the Commissioner. Any person who requests placement on the Waiting List and who provides information requested by, and follows a procedure created by, the Commissioner, may have their names placed on the Waiting List subject to the Commissioner’s discretion.

2. There is no express order to the Waiting List. Being on the Waiting List confers no rights to a team nor does it guarantee future FOBL ownership.

3. The Board of Governors shall set the procedure for selecting new owners.

4. If a new owner cannot be selected after a reasonable period of time according to a majority vote or other reasonable procedures established by the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors shall choose the new owner by any reasonable procedure they agree upon. In the event that the Board of Governors must select a new team owner, the Board of Governors may choose an individual who is not currently on the Waiting List.

F. If an owner shows a pattern of failing to vote on league issues or otherwise delaying the league through his inaction, the Board of Governors may, in its discretion, take disciplinary action against the owner. Such disciplinary action may include fines, loss of draft picks, and/or expulsion from the FOBL.

IV. GAMEPLAY

A. Regular season simulations will be run 3 times in every 7-day period, preferably on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. After the trade deadline has passed, a 4th sim every week on Sundays will be added. The Commissioner, subject to oversight by the Board of Governors, may alter the date of any simulation at his discretion provided that reasonable notice has been given to the ownership of such change.

1. To the extent that an owner wishes to submit a roster export, such export is due to the Commissioner by 10:00 PM (ET) on the night the simulation is run.

2. If an owner is unable to submit an export, he may communicate his wishes to the Commissioner via Instant Messaging or any other method, including another team owner if necessary. The process is meant to be informal and all reasonable effort should be expended to allow an owner to change his roster prior to the scheduled simulation actually being run; however, the Commissioner may disallow an owner’s roster changes at his discretion if that owner fails to follow any procedures for roster submissions that have been designated by the Commissioner.

3. An owner who shows a pattern of submitting faulty exports that endanger the physical integrity of the league file shall be subject to discipline at the discretion of the Board of Governors.

4. Games may or may not be simulated live. The Commissioner may delegate another owner to run the simulation.

5. Each regular-season simulation will process one week in the FOBL and will be run without interruption. No changes may be made once the simulation has commenced. If, after the simulation has commenced, an error is found that makes continuation of the sim impossible or endangers the physical integrity of the league file, the Commissioner (or other owner delegated to run the simulation) may (i) make any changes to a team’s roster, (ii) abort the simulation, or (iii) take any other reasonable action that he deems to be in the best interests of the league.

6. If the Commissioner is unable to simulate games according to schedule, he will make every reasonable effort to notify the owners that there will be a delay, either by e-mail or via the FOBL website or Forum.

7. A new league file will be made available and corresponding HTML output will be updated as soon as possible following the conclusion of the scheduled simulation.

B. A playoff simulation schedule and the corresponding process by which the playoffs are to be simulated will be at the Commissioner’s discretion. Preferably, the Commissioner should adopt a schedule and a process which allows the participating owners maximum flexibility in submitting exports and changing lineups. This may include allowing playoff teams to alter their lineups on a game-by-game basis.

C. An unofficial All-Star game may be simulated at a time determined by the Commissioner and/or Board of Governors.

D. The FOBL may utilize the automatic scheduling feature of OOTP or may use a customized schedule, with the requirement that, per season, each team play 18 games against every other team in their division in addition to 6 games against every other team in their League. There is no Inter-league play.

E. No “simming ahead” is allowed except by the Commissioner, the Board of Governors or their delegates in their official capacity, and such “simming ahead” should only be conducted when such action is in the best interests of the league. “Simming ahead” is defined as (i) simulating scheduled regular season or playoff games before the season in which those games would have occurred is completed or (ii) any other action in which the league file is used to simulate games or events in advance to gain a competitive advantage over other league owners. Any owner found to have done so is subject to discipline at the discretion of the Board of Governors.

V. FREE AGENCY

A. No contract may be more than 5 years in length.

B. Players remaining in the free agent pool after the season has begun may be signed prior to the end of the regular season (“In-Season Free Agents”).

C. In-Season Free Agents

1. The Commissioner may implement and modify, as necessary, reasonable procedures for signing In-Season Free Agents.

2. In-Season free agents may only be signed to 1-year contracts for a minimum value of $100,000 per year. No minor league contracts are allowed, even if the player asks for one.

3. No In-Season free agent may be traded until after the All-Star break of the season in which they were signed.

4. A released player must be in the free agent pool for one sim period prior to being signed by another team.

D. All free agents signed after the last post-season game has been simulated and up to the final round of the following year’s Amateur draft are considered Off-Season free agents.

1. The Off-Season free agency process will be defined by the Commissioner and will take place prior to the Amateur Draft.

2. Bids on Off-Season free agents may be for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 5 years and for any amount, subject to rules of the Financial System and Section V.D. of this Constitution.

3. There are no restrictions on trading Off-Season free agents.

E. The following is the process by which teams will be allowed to sign Off-Season free agents:

1. Stage 1: Qualifying Offers

At the end of each season, each team will have the opportunity to make a Qualifying Offer on a contract extension to each player with an expiring contract they would like to retain. All Qualifying Offers may be for a period of 1-5 years, and must be for a minimum annual salary equal to or greater than 3/4 of the player's current salary or $1 million, whichever is greater. Any player who does not receive a Qualifying Offer becomes an unrestricted free agent, and enters the regular free agent auction.

2. Stage 2: Restricted Free Agency

All players who received Qualifying Offers will become Restricted Free Agents, and enter the RFA auction. The auction will be conducted with the FOBL's auction software (or any other method that the FOBL may employ for conducting free agency) and with the same contract length valuation rules used during the Unrestricted Free Agent auction. The auction will last 5 days. If, during the RFA auction, a team holds the highest bid on a player for 24 consecutive hours, the auction for that player closes. The identity of all bidders will be hidden until the auction for a player closes, whereupon only the identity of the winning bidder will be revealed.

If the high bidder changes within the final three hours of the auction period, a blind bidding auction will take place between any bidders who held the high bid for the player during the final three hours. All blind bidders may submit a final bid no lower than the displayed leading bid at auction close and no lower than the highest bid they entered. The highest bidder will receive the player at the contract amount of the second highest bid. In the case of a tie in the blind bidding, the tied bidders will be asked to resubmit their bids until there is a winner.

If a restricted free agent's current owner is the high bidder, the current owner may apply the following discounts to its bid, as applicable:

Loyalty Discounts:

Minimal - 5%
Average - 10%
Loyal - 20%

Hometown Discount:

Any Restricted Free Agent who played his first major league game with his current team and has never been traded or released, and has not otherwise played for another team since his first game receives an addition 5% discount regardless of loyalty ratings. The hometown discount is taken at the same time as the loyalty discount. Thus, the total discount for an applicable player would be 10% for minimal loyalty, 15% for average loyalty, and 25% for a loyal player. Teams are responsible for registering players who are eligible for the hometown discount at the time they make the qualifying offer. The penalty for falsely registering an ineligible player is forfeiture of all discounts. Legacy Discount:

If a current team wins an auction, it may elect to apply an additional, optional “legacy” discount on players who have spent more than 5 consecutive seasons with the current team. The legacy discount shall equal 2% multiplied by the number of consecutive seasons beyond 5 that the player has spent on the current team while playing under a paid (non-MLC) contract and without playing for any other team. If the current team elects to take this legacy discount, the player is then untradable for the length of his new contract. To indicate that the player is untradable, one dollar shall be added to his annual salary.

This bonus shall not affect the amounts of the any other applicable discounts, nor shall it affect the ability to trade a player if the legacy discount is not used.

If there are no bids on a player, the player receives a contract extension from his current team with a salary equal to the Qualifying Offer minus any hometown or loyalty discounts as outlined above, and a length equal to the qualifying offer.

Under no circumstances may the final salary of a player who has received a Qualifying Offer fall below the salary of the Qualifying Offer minus the relevant hometown, loyalty, and legacy discounts.

3. Stage 3: Unrestricted Free Agency

No loyalty or hometown discounts will apply during the UFA auction. Unrestricted Free Agency will be conducted outside of the OOTP engine using any applications or procedures reasonably deemed appropriate by the Board of Governors. Specific rules for conducting free agency have been intentionally omitted from this Constitution to allow the Board of Governors flexibility in adjusting the procedures as appropriate. However, the Board of Governors should make its best efforts to consult with and secure a consensus of the league members with respect to changes to UFA rules.

VI. TRADING

A. The trading deadline is July 31st in OOTP time. The final trades of the season will be processed following the completion of the sim week immediately prior to the sim week encompassing July 31st.

B. Any combination of players, draft picks, and/or cash may be traded, subject to the following limitations.

1. Prior to the All-Star break of a given season, only the draft picks of the upcoming draft are available for trading by an owner. After the in-game All-Star break has passed, but before the upcoming draft is completed, draft picks of both the upcoming draft and the following year's draft are available for trading by an owner. Once the upcoming draft is completed, only the picks of the newly upcoming draft may be traded, until the upcoming All-Star break. At no time may an owner trade a draft pick from a draft occurring after the upcoming and following draft, i.e., two seasons away.

2. “Players to be named later” and conditional picks are not allowed.

C. All trades are final after both owners have confirmed the trade on the Forum and the Commissioner has locked the thread; provided, the Board of Governors may review and cancel a trade at its discretion. The Board must provide a reason for canceling a trade.

D. All players who sign restricted free agent contracts are untradable until the all-star break of the first season of the contract.

VII. ROSTER, POSITION AND INDIVIDUAL PLAYER SETTING RESTRICTIONS

A. Unless otherwise noted, the following provisions related the restrictions in this Section VII will apply to both the regular season and playoffs.

B. Teams must keep at least 25 players on the major-league roster (i.e., the “Active Roster”) at all times. This number should be comprised of at least 12 position players (i.e., non-pitchers), and 10 pitchers.

C. Position players may be placed as either a starter or a backup at any position for which they have an assigned defensive range rating.

D. All position players (save the DH) must have an assigned backup player. The backup player must have an assigned defensive range rating for the position that they are backing up or be eligible to play a position for which they are not listed according to the following defensive scale (a player with listed range at a position can back up any position to the right of, and on the same row as, their position):

C > 1B
SS > 2B > 3B > 1B
CF > RF > LF > 1B

Backups for C, SS, and CF must have a range at that position.

E. There is no limit to the number of defensive positions a player can back up if they have a listed range for the position in question. A player with no range at the defensive positions they are backing up (according to the scale) can back up no more than one such position.

F. Backup position players who have a range at the position they are backing up may have a playing time percentage setting from 0-99%. Otherwise, the playing time percentage setting must be set to 0%.

G. During the regular season, each team must maintain a 5-man starting rotation. During the playoffs each team must maintain, at minimum, a 3-man rotation. Teams may use any of the “rotation mode” settings.

H. A pitcher with only a starter’s duration rating may be placed in either a Starting Rotation position or in the Spot Starter position. If he is not being used in either of these positions, or is being used as a Spot Starter with a frequency setting of up to 25%, then he can be used in the Mop-up Relief and/or Middle Relief positions. A pitcher with just a starter’s duration may not be placed in the Setup or Closer positions.

I. The number one slot for the four relief positions (Mop-up Relief, Middle Relief, Setup, and Closer) must always be filled. A pitcher eligible to relieve can be placed in more than one of the relief positions simultaneously, but cannot fill the number one slot in more than one relief position.

J. Pitchers who have both a starter’s duration rating and a reliever’s duration rating may be used in either a starter role or reliever role as defined above, but not simultaneously, unless the pitcher is being used as a Spot Starter with a frequency setting of 25% or less.

K. A player with only a reliever’s duration rating may not be placed in the starting rotation or in the spot starter’s slot.

L. During the regular season, players who are listed as "out with injury" for seven days or greater do not count toward the 25 active player requirement and must be replaced on the major league roster until they are at least six days away from recovery. This rule does not apply during the playoffs. During the playoffs, players who are out with injuries may only be placed on the post-season roster if they will recover from their injuries during the post-season. Those players eligible may not be slotted in a role until the sim in which they will recover. If the injured player is normally a starter, the team must slot an eligible player at his position in the starting lineup.

M. Owners are responsible only for managing their own settings, not for in-game moves made by the OOTP AI.

N. To the extent that OOTP allows for individual player settings, no owner may change any of these settings from their default setting, except for the “Pinch Hit” setting.

O. The Board of Governors may implement and modify, as necessary, reasonable procedures for the enforcement of the restrictions set forth in this Section VII. Multiple violations in one sim are counted as one offense. Penalties for subsequent violations of the provisions in this section are as follows:

1st offense: Warning, accompanied by an explanation of the offense.
2nd offense: $525,000 fine
3rd offense: $1,050,000 fine
4th and Subsequent offense(s): Possible removal from the FOBL or other disciplinary action as the Board of Governors deems appropriate.

VIII. AWARDS

A. After the Solecismic Series, the Board of Governors shall coordinate a process by which season awards are determined. Generally, award winners should be selected by a vote of all league owners and officially recognized vultures. Specific rules relating to season awards (including, among other things, the nature of and voting procedures for season awards) have been intentionally omitted from this Constitution to allow the Board of Governors flexibility in adjusting the rules as appropriate. However, the Board of Governors should make its best efforts to consult with and secure a consensus of the league members with respect to changes to awards procedures.

IX. HALL OF FAME

A. Players shall become eligible for the Hall of Fame two years after retirement. For instance, if a player retires after the 2010 season, he will be eligible for election during the 2012 season.

B. During the offseason, an official committee of five (5) owners will assemble a slate of candidates. The committee will accept suggestions and lobbying from league members, but should strive to only place serious candidates on the ballot. There is no minimum or maximum number of players that shall be on the ballot. The official ballot should be announced on or before opening day.

C. After the ballot is posted, a period of two (2) real-time weeks will be allotted for discussion, debate, and lobbying.

D. After that two-week period, the vote shall commence. Each owner may vote for up to ten (10) candidates. Write-in votes are allowed. The voting period shall last one week. All owners and officially recognized vultures (“vultures” are individuals on the Waiting List and former owners whose contributions to the league have merited special status with respect to certain FOBL matters) are eligible to vote.

E. A player is inducted into the Hall of Fame if he receives votes totaling at least seventy-five (75) percent of the total number of ballots cast.

F. If a player receives less than ten (10) percent of the total vote, he shall lose his remaining eligibility. If a player is neither elected nor removed from the ballot after ten (10) seasons, he shall no longer be eligible.

X. LIMITED DUTY CALL-UPS

A. Players who have appeared in limited duty during their first season on a major league roster shall be eligible for a sixth year at minimum salary. Limited duty shall be defined as follows:

1. Position players shall not have appeared in more than 36 games.

2. Starting pitchers shall have started no more than 9 games. Starting pitchers used in a relief role or as both a starter and reliever shall be evaluated for eligibility under the rules for relief pitchers with a starter duration.

3. Relief pitchers without a starting pitcher duration rating shall not have pitched in no more than 24 games.

4. Relief pitchers with a starting pitcher duration rating will fall under the role in which they were used during the call-up. If they were used in both roles, the 24 game limit shall apply, but each start shall count as the equivalent of 2.5 relief appearances.

5. Players who appear on postseason rosters in their first year on a major league roster do not qualify for the additional minimum salary season.

B. It shall be the responsibility of each individual owner to apply for the sixth minimum salary year, and provide evidence of eligibility, after the list of fifth-year prospective free agents is posted by league executives. The preferred evidence of eligibility shall be a link to the player's page, where the qualifying statistics can be easily verified.

C. The deadline for application shall be the end of the Solecismic Series.

XI. AMENDMENT PROCEDURE

A. Amendments to the FOBL Constitution can only be implemented with the “yes” votes of 24 owners. Any owner may post a proposal at any time in the appropriate forum. If and when it becomes clear that the proposal has been fully discussed and has sufficient support to warrant a vote, a BoG member will post a voting thread, which should ideally include both the text of the proposed amendment and all other applicable changes to this Constitution necessary to ensure that the entire Constitution remains cohesive and consistent.

1. Even if all league owners have not voted on the proposed amendment(s) within a time frame to be specified by the Commissioner (usually a week), the amendment cannot be passed without 24 “yes” votes.

2. Votes that are neither a “yes” nor a “no” vote (including abstentions) will be counted as a “no” vote.

XII. TECHNICAL MATTERS

A. Designated Hitter

1. The FOBL will use the DH league-wide.

B. Amateur Draft

1. Non-playoff teams will always draft ahead of playoff teams, regardless of their respective records in the regular season.

2. Non-playoff teams will be seeded according to their regular-season records only. In the case of two or more teams having identical regular season records, the Commissioner and a Board of Governors member will determine which team will pick first using a method that randomly determines the draft order of those teams.

3. All teams that make the playoffs will pick between #29 and #36, and will be seeded according to the order in which they were eliminated from the playoffs. Between 2 teams who were eliminated at the same level in the playoffs, the team with the better regular season record will have the lower pick. If the 2 teams have identical regular season records, the Commissioner will determine which team will pick first using a method that randomly determines the draft order of those teams.

C. Spring Training

1. Spring Training will be run without allowing for manual adjustments to player time blocks by owners. The default settings shall be used.

D. Park Effects

1. The effects of various “Park Ratings” have been discussed and debated among the FOBL Ownership; as a result, the Ownership has decided to restrict the range of values for all stadiums in the FOBL.

a. RAVG and LAVG ratings must fall between 90-110.

b. RHR, LHR, 2B, and 3B ratings must fall between 75-125.

2. New owners (owners that acquire an FOBL franchise after the “real-time” date of November 3, 2001) will be given one "free" change to their ballpark, but only in the first off-season following the date when they assume ownership, or during the off-season in which they assume ownership, whichever is applicable.

3. Future changes to ballpark effects can be made by a team once per every three sim years, at a cost of $2,100,000, which will then be distributed evenly among the remaining 35 owners. The amount is set at $2,100,000 because $2.1 million results in each of the other 35 teams receiving an even $60,000. If the number of teams in the FOBL changes from the current 36, this Amendment will immediately be revisited by the Board of Governors.

E. Changing Player Positions

1. No learning of new positions in the minors will be allowed until/unless future testing and an accompanying amendment provide for it. Owners may change the primary position of their players so long as the player has a range or duration at the new position. Any pitcher with reliever duration may be specified as a Middle Reliever or Closer and can be changed to either Middle Reliever or Closer at any time.

F. OOTP Settings

1. The Player Fatigue Option in OOTP will be enabled.

2. League TV Contracts/Promotion nights will not be used.

3. All new players, starting with the 2005 Amateur Draft pool, will keep their game-generated personality ratings (Consistency, Leadership, etc.).

4. All “Team Market” and “Fan Loyalty” ratings shall be maintained at “Average” for each team, and each team’s ticket price will remain at $7. These values are not used in the FOBL Financial System as outlined below; however, there is a possibility that these values affect gameplay, and they shall remain equal for each team.

5. League minimum salary will be set at $100,000.

6. To the extent that the version of OOTP currently used by the league allows for the use of arbitration or minor league option years, the FOBL shall not use them. This provision should not be construed to suggest that the FOBL league will use any other OOTP feature not expressly provided for by this Constitution or by decision of the Board of Governors.

7. Rookie contracts will last for five years.

G. Financial System

1. The OOTP financial system as it relates to revenue is hereby discarded and replaced with the customized system detailed in Appendix A.

APPENDIX A: FINANCIAL SYSTEM

A. There are 4 components by which regular season revenue will be calculated for each team.

1. Current Performance (CP)

a. First, define a team's expected wins (EW) by the following formula: EW = [RS ^ 2 / (RS ^ 2 + RA ^ 2)], where RS = Runs Scored and RA = Runs Allowed.

b. Next, calculate the Expected Wins Factor by finding the average EW for the 36 teams, and dividing by .500.

EWF = [Sum(EW)/36]/.500

c. Next, calculate Current Performance (CP) per the following formula: CP = WP + EW/EWF, where WP = current WP.

2. SportsCenter Component (SCRANK)

a. First, rank all 36 teams in Runs Scored (RS) and Runs Allowed (RA) from 1 to 36, 1 being best and 36 being worst; e.g., the team scoring the most runs is ranked 1 in RS and the team allowing the fewest runs is ranked 1 in RA.

b. Next, calculate a team’s SportsCenter Component (SC) for each team per the following formula: SC = (RS rank * RA rank)

c. Then, rank all teams from 1 to 36 according to their SC, 1 being best and 36 being worst. A team’s numerical rank is their SCRANK.

3. Bandwagon Component (BWRANK)

a. First, calculate the Bandwagon Component (BC) for each team per the following formula: BC = [(3 * last season’s wins) + (2 * wins two seasons ago) + (wins three seasons ago)] / 6

b. Then, rank all teams from 1 to 36 according to their BC, 1 being best and 36 being worst. A team’s numerical rank is their BWRANK.

4. Payroll Component

a. First, look at the team’s Front Office screen inside of OOTP.

b. Next, define Final Payroll (FP) as the half of the amount listed as “Player Expenses so far” immediately after the Solecismic Series. If “Player Expenses so far” > $60 million, then FP = $30 million.

5. Ties

a. If there is a tie for RS Rank, RA Rank, SCRANK, or BWRANK, they are broken by averaging the positions that are "used up" by the teams which are tied.

Examples:
- Two teams tie for 7th. They are using up ranks 7 and 8, so they both get 7.5 ranks.
- Three teams tie for 21st. They are using up ranks 21, 22, and 23, so they all get 22 ranks.

6. Tank Coefficient (TK)

a. Tank Coefficient is dependent on total Games Won by each individual team in the relevant season:

Games Won = 50-162, TK = 1.0
Games Won = 46-49, TK = 0.95
Games Won = 42-45, TK = 0.8
Games Won = 30-41, TK = 0.4
Games Won = 0-30, TK = 0.0

B. A team’s regular season revenue is calculated in the following manner:

1. Determine total player expenses for the entire league (EXP). Also determine the total payroll component (tFP).

2. Define the pool for performance revenue (PERF Pool) as: PERF Pool = EXP - tFP - 15 million

3. Define the minimum, increment, and average as follows:

MIN = PERF Pool / 54
INC = MIN / 35
AVG = PERF Pool/36

4. A team’s regular season revenue is calculated per the following formula:

Revenue = [ .4 * AVG (CP + BC) + .2 * MIN ] * TK + .2 * INC * (36 - SCRANK ) + FP

C. If a team makes the playoffs, they will receive an additional $1 million in revenue, and an additional $1 million for each playoff series they win. Therefore, the SS winner will receive $4 million, the SS loser will receive $3 million, the LCS losers will receive $2 million, and first-round losers will receive $1 million.

D. There is no cash maximum.

E. There is a salary cap of $60 million for each team, known as the “League Cap.” Additionally, before each season and at the trading deadline, an “Owner’s Cap” will be calculated for each team. The Preseason Owner’s Cap is calculated as (2 * (last season’s non-payroll revenue + cash)). The Trading Deadline Owner’s Cap is calculated as (2 * (current-season projected non-payroll revenue + cash)). While an Owner’s Cap may exceed $60 million, a team’s actual payroll at the checkpoints shall result in a fine if it exceeds $60 million.

1. The “Owner’s Cap” and “League Cap” are checked before week 1 of the regular season and following the sim week which includes the July 31st trading deadline.

2. The penalty for being over the League Cap at the checkpoints is:

$1 for every $1 over the Cap for the first $5 million;
$2 for every $1 over the Cap for the next $5 million;
$3 for every $1 over the Cap for the next $5 million; and so forth.

3. Teams must also be under their Owner’s Cap at each Cap Checkpoint. If a team is over their Owner’s Cap at the Cap Checkpoint, the Commissioner and/or the Board of Governors will take the necessary actions to get the team under their Owner’s Cap. These actions may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the auction of players and/or draft picks.

F. Fines

1. Any revenue lost due to a team's TK being less than 1.0 shall be evenly distributed to all teams with TK equal to 1.0.

2. All other fines of any team for any reason shall be evenly distributed to the other thirty-five teams.

Last edited: March 2005 by Simms