Hosting the best day of the year for your fantasy football league may seem like an easy task. However, you need to plan accordingly to ensure your fantasy football draft party lives up to its lofty expectations.
An uncomfortable fantasy football draft experience can ruin the day and disband even the most hardcore fantasy leagues. Long-time leaguemates may stick around as part of the league for the sole reason of attending the fantasy football draft party.
For round-by-round draft strategy, be sure to check out The Wolf’s 2024 Fantasy Guide! For just $10, you can support a small fantasy brand while getting the guide that pushes you over the edge!
Let’s look at some key aspects of hosting the best live fantasy football draft party!
How to Host the Best Fantasy Fantasy Draft Party
Priority No. 1 is having enough spots for everyone to sit comfortably with their laptops and draft guides (hopefully, you snagged our 2024 Fantasy Draft Guide). Tables are also essential to hold beverages, laptops, and printable cheat sheets for everyone. Comfort is key for a peaceful (and efficient) draft.
Snacks and Food
The all-important first question everyone usually asks before a gathering is, “What are we going to eat?” Some leagues may opt to have their leagues draft at a local owl-themed establishment, so there are scenarios where the menu takes care of itself.
Personally, I’ve always thought the fewer distractions on draft day, the better. Walking the line between licking your wing-sauced fingers (in front of your leaguemates no less…awkward) and eating enough to avoid getting hammered on a single IPA is something that should be considered when choosing the draft day menu.
The most straightforward answer is always the best. Order a few pizzas and assign the others in attendance the traditional Doritos and chips/salsa combo. Everyone BYOB (or Polar Seltzers for us old folks), which is standard fare. Keep the food simple, and spend your energy staying focused on the task at hand, which is to dominate your draft.
Restrooms and Amenities
After pounding a few Treehouse IPAs, and downing a few slices of ‘roni pizza, one will undoubtedly need somewhere to relieve the pressure. It’s important for all to know the rules and locale of the restroom of the draft venue.
If you’re lucky enough to have multiple bathrooms, ensure everyone knows which one is specific for handling business (especially if it’s a mixed company with the wife watching her murder shows on Netflix in the other room while the draft is happening). If you like going the extra mile to keep the wife or significant other happy, a port-o-potty rental is not as expensive as one might think…
Draft Board and Pick Tracker
The main event for any draft is, of course, the draft board. If your league still does snake drafts (you really should graduate to an auction format, but I digress), you’ll want something everyone can see from distance, or after they’ve finished their 8.5% 4-pack of beers.
Having a centralized spot for the board where everyone can see from their seat (see the first paragraph) is critical to keeping a good pace. If this is a keeper league, it’s also imperative to ensure all kept player stickers are applied to the board BEFORE the draft begins. This will ensure any already spoken-for players and picks are easily accounted for and seen by the league.
Technology
A good WiFi network is the second most crucial draft day amenity after indoor plumbing. With fellow drafters relying on sites (obviously The Wolf’s 2024 Big Board) during the draft, it’s important for access to up-to-the-minute training camp information to be seamless.
The other important aspect of a good tech setup is for remote drafters. We all have that one leaguemate who texts on the morning of the draft (after the date has been locked in since Memorial Day) saying he won’t be able to make it. Have a Bluetooth speaker set up for them to listen in to the picks and announce theirs (give this owner the last pick, both as punishment and convenience for the rest of the league).
If this is an online auction draft, it’s important to ensure enough bandwidth for everyone to connect their devices simultaneously. Also, make sure the Xfinity bill is paid and up to date.
Extras and Fun Factor
Last but not least, the most important part of draft day is to have fun. As the years pass and responsibilities increase, fantasy football draft day is one of the few excuses left to gather in the middle of the afternoon with the sole responsibility of putting stickers on a board with your best buds.
If this is a long-running league, be sure to have any punishment-related items ready to go, as well as post-draft entertainment. Music, cornhole (ultimate frisbee for you young bucks), the newest copy of Madden, etc.. are all acceptable options to waste away the last couple of hours in the day after the draft has been completed.
Make sure your significant other knows about Gary (fictional name to protect the innocent) not being able to make it in person to the draft, which made it take much longer than initially expected to gain a few extra hours away without judgment. After all, you know you’ll have to pay back these few hours tenfold on upcoming Sundays in the apple orchard and pumpkin patch at 1 in the afternoon.
Godspeed, and enjoy draft day. It’s the “last day of school” equivalent in terms of happiness for us old heads.
