Private Leagues Overview

In a guillotine league, there are no head-to-head matchups, which means there are also no win/loss records. Starting in Week 1, the team whose starters score the fewest points is ELIMINATED from the competition.

After each team has been eliminated, that team's roster is placed into the league’s free agent pool and are eligible to be acquired via blind bidding. The remaining owners can acquire these players in preparation for the next week's action, when the scoreboard is reset, and the lowest scoring team gets cut from the league.

So, to recap, one of the original 18 teams will be eliminated after Week 1, which means 16 teams will remain in Week 2. After the lowest scoring team is chopped in Week 2, 15 teams will be left standing in Week 3. This process continues throughout the season. You get the idea.

Note, unlike contest leagues, your private league can have fewer than 18 teams, and as such, may end earlier than Week 17. As an example, if you have 12 teams, you can use our private league platform. A champion would be crowned after Week 11.

Entry Fees and Prizes

Because private leagues are not contests and have no prizes, anyone over the age of 13 may participate, as well as anyone currently residing in any of the 50 states. If the participants of your league choose to use an entry fee, you agree that those fees are wholly separate and unrelated to our site. Fees or charges paid for private leagues are for the use of its software only, and specifically not for prizing. This site does not handle entry fees or prizes associated with private leagues. If your league decides to offer entry fees and prizes, you're on your own to handle those funds. We will not participate in, reimburse, or adjudicate any disputes that may arise between private league participants.

League Size and Duration

A standard size guillotine league is 18 teams, with gameplay that lasts from Weeks 1 through 17 of the NFL regular season. However, private leagues are available with fewer teams, if you choose.

Drafts

All GL drafts are serpentine style, meaning the draft order is reversed after each round has ended. All drafts consist of 14 rounds (14 picks per owner). The draft timer depends on which draft format you choose, Live (Online) drafts or Slow (Email) drafts. Further detail provided below.

You will be able to set your pre-draft player rankings from the league's home page at any point before the draft starts (see below). We highly encourage you to set your player rankings, which provides guidance for our systems if you are unable to make your selection. Your pre-draft rankings are also global, meaning you can use them for future drafts.

Drafts after the conclusion of Thursday Night Football (TNF)

TNF players will be locked into your starting lineup if there is a starting roster spot open at the time they are drafted (that includes an open FLEX spot). If any TNF player is drafted after you have filled all starting rosters spots, they will be locked on your bench until the following week.

Live (Online) Drafts (if chosen)

*Draft Timer: 60 seconds per pick

All live drafts are held in our online draft room that can be accessed on either a mobile or desktop device. You can access the live draft room at any point after registering, and once your league has filled, the draft order will be randomly generated (results will also be sent via email). We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the draft room prior to your draft, and you need to arrive at least several minutes before its scheduled start to ensure that you are not experiencing any technical issues.

When it's time for you to make a selection, you will have 60 seconds to make your pick. There is an available player queue which provides guidance for our systems if it needs to auto-draft for you. The auto-draft control is located underneath the draft clock in the upper-left of the draft room (see below).

If you do not make a pick before the 60-second timer has expired, the system will select the top-ranked player in your queue. Or if your queue is empty, the top-ranked player (with an open roster position) from the remaining available player pool will be selected. In addition, if you fail to make a pick before the draft timer expires, you will automatically be put on auto-draft, which must manually turned off (see image above). Also, if you are late to the draft room for the start of the draft, you will put on auto-draft, which must be manually turned off upon entering the draft room.

It is your sole responsibility to ensure you make it to the start of your scheduled draft. If you think you may be late or miss your draft entirely, remember to utilize pre-draft player ranking feature (mentioned above) to ensure you have the best chance to obtain your preferred players.

Slow (Email) Drafts (if chosen)

*Draft Timer: 2 or 6 hours per pick (both options available)

Slow drafts are held in our same online draft room as live drafts, but the difference is slow drafts take days to complete, not hours. Upon registering for a slow draft, you will have the option of choosing a draft timer of 2 or 6 hours per pick. Please note, the draft timer will be suspended every night from 11:00 PM CST to 7:00 AM CST. (For those on Pacific Time, note that the clock will resume at 5:00 AM PT, so be sure to have your preferred players in the queue.)

Just like live drafts, you can access your draft room at any point after registering for your slow draft. Once your league has filled, the draft order will be randomly generated, and you will be emailed your league's draft order and the scheduled start time (generally 1 hour after league has filled). As you could prior to the start of the draft, you can enter the draft room at any point while your slow draft is in progress, and you will be notified vie email every time you are on the clock (settings can be adjusted on site).

Depending on your league's timer, once the draft has started, you will have either 2 or 6 hours (when on the clock) to make each pick, and you will be able to move players in and out of the queue for reference, or for use with the auto-draft feature. The auto-draft control is located underneath the draft clock in the upper-left of the draft room (see below).

If you do not make a pick before your timer has expired, the system will select the top-ranked player in your queue. Or if your queue is empty, the top-ranked player (with an open roster position) from the remaining available player pool will be selected. In addition, if you fail to make a pick before your draft timer expires, you will automatically be put on auto-draft, which must manually turned off (see image above).

Roster Requirements

Rosters will consist of 14 players (8 starters and 6 reserves). Starting lineups must consist of the following:

Quarterback	1
Running Back	2
Wide Receiver	2
Tight End	1
FLEX (RB/WR/TE)	2

Scoring

Below is the scoring format for all leagues. Please note there are no negative points for turnovers.

Stat	Points
Passing Yards	.04 for each (1 for every 25 yards)
Passing Touchdowns	4 for each
Passing 2-Point Conversions	2 for each
Rushing Yards	.1 for each (1 for every 10 yards)
Rushing Touchdowns	6 for each
Rushing 2-Point Conversions	2 for each
Receptions	1 for each
Receiving Yards	.1 for each (1 for every 10 yards)
Receiving Touchdowns	6 for each
Receiving 2-Point Conversions	2 for each
Kickoff or Punt Return Touchdowns	6 for each

Stat Corrections

Guillotine Leagues do not recognize stat corrections for the previous week’s games. All weekly stats are considered final at the conclusion of the last game of the current week, typically after Monday Night Football.

Tie Breakers

In the event of a scoring tie at any point in the season (including Week 1), the follow tie-breaking criteria will be used:

1. The team with fewest year-to-date points is eliminated (excludes Week 1).

2. If Step 1 does not break the tie, the team with the starting player who scored the fewest points is eliminated. In the event of a continuing tie, this methodology continues by comparing the second-lowest-scoring player, the third-lowest-scoring player, and so forth until ties are resolved.

3. In the mind-bogglingly unlikely possibility that a tie still exists, we apply the above system to backup players, starting with a comparison of the lowest-scoring backup.

Free Agent Acquisition

All free agents are initially acquired via blind bidding using your Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB). All owners begin the season with a $1,000 FAAB, and in order to acquire a player on waivers, a minimum bid of $1 must be placed. Remember, this is blind bidding, so the other owners in your league cannot see what you have bid on a player until after waivers have processed.

Blind bidding occurs on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the regular season, as detailed in the next section.

A player is awarded to the owner with the highest bid, and in the event of a tie for the highest bid, the player will be awarded to the owner with the lowest overall season-to-date point total.

Following each Thursdays waiver wire period (detailed further below), all remaining available free agents can be added on a first-come-first-serve (FCFS) basis up until a player's respective kick-off time for that week. Once an available player's game kicks off, he is put on waivers until the next week's Wednesday waiver wire period. FCFS transactions are free, so even those with a $0 FAAB budget can still make FCFS transactions.

As an anti-cheating measure, when you add a free agent to your roster, that player cannot be dropped in the same week.

Waiver Wire Periods

Preseason Waiver Run: There will be one preseason waiver run on Wednesday, September 8 at 2:00 PM CST, which is the day before the NFL season opener. After the bids have processed, all remaining players on the waiver wire will be available on a first-come-first-serve (FCFS) basis starting at 3:00 PM CST.

In-Season Waiver Runs: After Week 1 results are finalized, Week 2 begins. There are two weekly waiver periods, running from Week 2 through Week 14 of the NFL regular season (there are no free agent transactions allowed from Week 15 through 17). The weekly waiver deadlines (in the aforementioned period of Week 2 through 14) are every Wednesday and Thursday by 2:00 PM CST. Players dropped during the Wednesday waiver period will be available for bidding in the Thursday run, and any players dropped during the Thursday run will be available for FCFS acquisitions in the same week. But any players dropped after the Thursday waiver period (during FCFS), will not be available until the following week's waiver periods. FCFS acquisitions become available every Thursday at 3:00 PM CST.

Forfeited Games

For the 2021 season, the NFL has threatened to institute a forfeit for teams that aren't healthy enough to play. If the NFL institutes a forfeit for any reason, no points will be awarded to players involved in that game. Hopefully, you will know about the forfeiture with enough time to make adjustments to your roster. Unfortunately, there may be scenarios, such as a last-minute forfeiture of a Monday night game, where you may not be able to make any roster changes. Even in that scenario, no points will be awarded to players involved in that game. You cannot elevate bench players who have already played to your starting roster.

Injured Reserve

There are no designated roster spots for injured or suspended players.

Trades (if chosen)

Your private league may allow trading, depending on the settings used by your commissioner. Importantly, note that our trading system does not allow for vetoes or any other form of authorization of trades. When a trade is accepted, the trade happens instantly and irrecoverably. This option should only be used among trusted league participants. Trades can be executed up until the conclusion of Week 9.