Games

Designing competitive fantasy football systems

Interconnected mechanics across competitive fantasy football.

Context

The work connected competitive fantasy-football mechanics across Draft and Salary Cap systems: squad/formation, scoring, waivers/fairness, pricing, live substitutions, captain rules, standings, schedules and tiebreakers.

My Role

Owned

  • Draft
  • Squad / formation
  • Scoring
  • Waivers / fairness
  • Salary Cap
  • Pricing
  • Live substitutions
  • Captain
  • Standings
  • Schedules
  • Tiebreakers

The Problem

Design interconnected competitive mechanics that work together across Draft and Salary Cap fantasy football.

Constraints

  • The system spans both Draft and Salary Cap mechanics.
  • Fairness includes waivers and pricing mechanisms.
  • Competition structure includes standings, schedules and tiebreakers.

System Map

Reconstructed explanatory map

  1. 01Draft / Salary Cap
  2. 02Squad / formation
  3. 03Scoring
  4. 04Waivers / pricing / fairness
  5. 05Live subs / captain
  6. 06Standings / schedules / tiebreakers

Key Decisions

  1. Structure squads and scoring

    Connect squad/formation rules with scoring.

  2. Build fairness into access and pricing

    Use waivers/fairness and Salary Cap pricing as competitive mechanisms.

  3. Support live decisions

    Include live substitutions and captain rules in the competitive system.

  4. Close the competition loop

    Use standings, schedules and tiebreakers to structure competition outcomes.

Inside the Work

  • Draft
  • Squad / formation
  • Scoring
  • Waivers / fairness
  • Salary Cap
  • Pricing
  • Live substitutions
  • Captain
  • Standings
  • Schedules
  • Tiebreakers

Before → Learning → After

Before
Individual competitive mechanics across Draft, Salary Cap, squad construction, scoring, fairness and competition structure.
Learning
The case is about how competitive mechanics connect as one system rather than how generic fantasy football works.
After
Interconnected competitive fantasy football systems.

What Shipped

Competitive fantasy football systems spanning Draft, squad/formation, scoring, waivers/fairness, Salary Cap, pricing, live substitutions, captain rules, standings, schedules and tiebreakers.

Outcomes

Fact
  • Draft · squad/formation · scoring · waivers/fairness.
  • Salary Cap · pricing · live subs · captain.
  • Standings · schedules · tiebreakers.
Interpretation
The case demonstrates game design as interconnected competitive mechanics rather than isolated features.

Provenance

  • Public facts are limited to the approved portfolio design spec, approved homepage ownership wording and this case-study packet.
  • José designed the interconnected competitive mechanics listed in this case.
  • 13 competitions running simultaneously is an Operations/live fantasy fact and is not used as an outcome for this Games case.
  • The system map is a reconstructed explanatory visual; no raw source assets are published in this phase.