FanDraft Football: A Must Have When Drafting Together
FanSoft Media has recently released the 2009 version of their FanDraft Fantasy Football software. For those of you who have a league where you all get together in one place to conduct your draft, you MUST consider making this a part of your Draft Day. I know you all have the guy who likes to build the draft board on the big posterboard and the color coded markers and all that jazz. I only have one thing to say to that. The 1990’s called, and they want their way of doing things back! Welcome to 2009 my friends, FanDraft is the first digital fantasy football draft board software. Say goodbye to the old posterboard and say hello to an amazing setup that you can project on the wall if you have the capabilities, or you can connect your computer to your flat-screen HDTV.
The people at FanSoft Media didn’t miss a single detail, this program has every little nuance to make your draft as personal and fun as possible. It has all the options that you need to run an auction or a regular draft. Each team can have their own logo uploaded, as well as an owner image and a team theme song that plays while you are picking. You can have an announcer call the draft, you can have the software display teams, bye weeks, and positions on the draft board. What about keepers you ask? FanDraft allows you to set keepers for each team before the draft even starts, taking away any inconvenience from the past. This will assure you that it is YOUR draft, YOUR way and it definitely adds to the fun of the day.
For auction leagues, FanDraft keeps a running total of not only the players on each team, but the amount of money that each team has left to spend, taking away the chance of anyone messing with the math. You can even upload a song that will play for the final 15 seconds of the bidding of the players. You can easily set your salary cap, minimum bid, and required number of players. The bidding process could not be any easier. After selecting the player to put up to bid, a simple click of the logo of the team puts in their bid. If bidding ends before the clock hits zero, a countdown button is available to end the bidding early for those who set the timer to a high number. I haven’t competed in a ton of auction leagues, but while testing the software I ended up running the vast majority of a draft just because it was just fun to play around with even though it wasn’t a real league.
Traditional drafts are just as easy. Draft order can be set to serpentine or non-serpentine. You can edit the draft order for each individual round to accomodate leagues that allow trading of draft picks. There is a running ticker at the bottom of the screen recapping the picks, just like the real NFL draft. The software pauses in between rounds to recap the round before setting you up for the next round. If there is trouble, the draft is paused at the click of a button, and restarted just as easily. FanDraft can also accomodate trades during the draft right on the draft board. No need to go through any huge ordeal. A quick window pops up, and BAM, the trade is done. What if someone wants to draft some obscure rookie? The Player on the Fly option allows you to input a player that isn’t on the draft board. I told you, this program has everything.
Even after the draft, FanDraft gets an A+. You can run multiple reports with a click of the mouse. Draft summaries, team rosters, free agents, a replica of the draft board, and a recap of all in draft transactions are available once the draft is over.
Thanks to FanDraft, the only details you will have to worry about on your big day will be where to order the pizza from, how hot the wings should be, and what kind of beer does everyone like. The best part about it is that it won’t break the bank. The program costs $34.95, which means in a traditional 12 team league, everybody kicks in three bucks. Is that too much to ask to transform your draft from some dope with a marker to something that looks like the real NFL put it together? Believe me when I tell you that you will enjoy this program. It really is fun, easy, and convenient to use.
