OSFL League Rules

[Dave]

• I. League Administration[list:dcbbcf166b]A. Commissioner[list:dcbbcf166b]1. The League Commissioner is responsible for running the simulations, uploading results to the league website and heading the League Office.

B. Conference Presidents

• 1. An owner in each conference shall be elected as a conference representative to assist the Commissioner in league duties as outlined below.

C. League Office

• 1. The League Office is comprised of the Commissioner and the two Conference Presidents. This 3-person body will examine, modify and draft league rules as well as helping to preserve the integrity and spirit of fair play in the OSFL.

D. Awards Committee

• 1. See section VIII below.

E. Hall of Fame Committee

• 1. See section IX below.

[/list:u:dcbbcf166b]



II. Owners

• A. All owners must remain active throughout all stages of a season by means of submitting regular exports and participating in league discussion on the forums. Any owner who cannot meet the participation requirements is expected to notify the Commissioner immediately. Any owner who fails to maintain the expected level of participation may be removed at the Commissioner’s discretion.
  
  B. Any new owners shall be brought into the league by invitation only. Current owners are encouraged to suggest names, but the final decision as to an offer of membership resides with the league administration. It is their responsibility to fill any vacancy there may be in the league.

III. Franchises

• A. An existing franchise may change their location in accordance with the in-game system of relocation.
  
  B. The only exemption to strict in-game relocation will arise if a new owner wishes to move their inherited franchise. Such “out-of-game” relocation can only take place in the period between the new owner’s initial season and the following season.
  
  C. In order to maintain realistic continuity, an existing franchise may only change their nickname during the off-season.

IV. League Schedule

• A. Stadium Plan/Relocation Submission
  B. Staff Hiring (1 stage)
  C. Ticket Pricing/Franchise Tag/Send to Summer League (3 stages)
  D. Free Agency Period 1 (12 stages)
  E. Amateur Draft
  F. Free Agency Period 2 (5 stages)
  G. Training Camp/Weight Training
  H. The pre-season schedule shall consist of the five ‘game day’ simulations, with a midweek turn occurring in between each game sim. This may be reduced to four if the schedule permits (i.e. if all teams that play the first week are then off during the second week).
  I. The Regular Season consists of two ‘game day’ simulations per week, with a midweek turn occurring in between each game sim. Game sims will run on Sunday and Thursday evenings, with midweek turn sims occurring on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Exports are due by 9pm on the day of each sim.
  J. The Post Season schedule will match that of the regular season.
  K. At the conclusion of the OSFL Super Bowl, the current season will be considered completed.

V. Miscellaneous

• A. Training Camp[list:dcbbcf166b] 1. There are no restrictions, except those set by FOF, on the settings that may be used in training camp.

B. Position Switches

• 1. There are no restrictions, except those set by FOF, on the amount or timing of position switches as long as a switch is not made with the explicit intent of significantly lowering the player’s skill set/ratings.

C. Gameplans

• 1. There are no restrictions, except those set by FOF, on the settings that may be used in their game plans.

D. Contracts

• 1. Any contract or contract offer can be subject to review by the League Office. If a contract has been determined to have exceeded established 'sportsmanlike' limitations (the determination of 'sportsmanlike' to be made by League Office), then the offending owner may be required to renegotiate said contract or release the player altogether. The offending owner could also be subject to additional penalties, up to and including expulsion from the league.
• 2. (Added 7/9/09) For every FA on the Grey Sheet, an owner must at least offer the number of years demanded by the player. This rule stays in effect until the second stage of FA has ended. This rule does not apply to players not on the Grey Sheet or RFA.

• If an owner offers a GS FA a contract for less years than he requests, The commissioner will ask the owner to withdraw the offer before the next sim and give him a warning. If an player signs the contract before the owner is able to withdraw the offer, the commissioner will immedaiately release the player from the team and the owner will have to take the cap hit associated with the release. If an owner continues to break this rule, he faces possible removal of draft picks.
• 3. (Added 7/9/09) Renegotiations will only be allowed with player's in the last year of their contracts.
  
  For the first and second violation of the rule, the owner will be given a warning and the contract will be voided. On the third violation, the contract will be voided and the commisioner has the option to take a draft pick. On the fourth violation, a draft pick will be taken and the commissioner will consider removing the owner from the league. <!-- / message -->

E. Depth Charts

• 1. There are no restrictions, except those set by FOF, on the way an owner should fill out their depth chart.

F. Roster Size

• 1. At no time should a team's roster contain more than 70 players under contract. Any violation of this limit will result in league mandated cuts and a possible loss of draft pick(s) at the discretion of the League Office.

G. Releasing Players

• 1. A team may release players at anytime before and during the season with the exception of the period between the team's last game (regular season or playoffs) and the mid-week export prior to the OSFL Super Bowl. If a player is found to have been released and signed by another team during the blackout period, the League Office reserves the right to reverse the signing. To accomodate cuts that will impact future seasons, players can be released the day of the OSFL Super Bowl.

H. Staff Hiring

• 1. There are no restrictions, except those set by FOF, on salaries offered during the staff hiring phase.

I. Salary Cap Restrictions

• 1. Each team must be under the league salary cap at the conclusion of Free Agency, Stage I. Failure to do so will result in league mandated cuts and a possible loss of draft pick(s) at the discretion of the League Office.

J. General Conduct

• 1. Any action that can be interpeted as an attempt to exploit a loophole in the game's design is subject to review by the League Office. Such an action could be punishable by league mandated cuts, loss of draft picks and/or additional penalties, up to and including expulsion from the league.

• 2. Any suspected attempt to gain an advantage by such methods as hacking the game file, loading the league file as the commissioner (or another team) or any method not named can lead to immediate dismissal from the league after a review by the League Office.

[/list:u:dcbbcf166b]



VI. Trading

• A. Players and draft picks may be traded as long as a team holds the rights to said player/pick. Future draft picks may be dealt as allowed by the game. All trades are subject to the game's limitations, most notably salary cap limitations.
  
  B. If a trade of questionable fairness occurs, an owner has the right to challenge the trade within one week of the date of the posted transaction. Once a challenge has been communicated to the League Office, it is the administration’s duty to resolve the issue to its best conclusion.
  
  C. Trades must be announced in the Trades section of the League Forum.
  
  D. Conditional trades are not allowed. These are trades where different players or picks are traded depending on whether or not certain conditions are met.

VII. Drafting Procedures

• This section TBD.

VIII. Awards Committee

• A. The Awards Committee shall consist of five owners who will be responsible for determining the end-of-year awards.
  
  B. The AC will be responsible for determining how many players appear on the ballot for each end-of-season award.
  
  C. The AC will receive nominations from league owners via email and compile the votes for each award.
  
  D. Finally, the Awards Committee will be responsible for creating new awards as necessary and for running the award voting in the Awards Forum.

IX. Hall of Fame Committee

• A. The HOF Committee shall consist of five owners who will be responsible for determining HOF eligibility requirements and managing the HOF entrance process.
  
  B. The HOFC will be responsible for determining which nominees will be on the ballot.
  
  C. The HOFC will receive nominations from league owners via email and compile the votes for each eligible player.
  
  D. The HOFC will decide which team's jersey a player will wear into the HOF and will provide a brief writeup for each entrant's career.

X. Owner Disputes

• A. Owners must make normal disputes public as soon as possible. Any dispute can be handled by either a league vote or by the League Office’s discretion. Concerns such as in game grievances can be overturned/approved/rejected by a majority vote.

[/list:u:dcbbcf166b]