Rules & FAQ
Gameplay
- Q: What does a league consist of?
- Q: How long are Fanitics seasons?
- Q: What is my line-up each day?
- Q: Will Fanitics include Governor, House or Senate challengers?
- Q: What happens if my presidential candidate drops out? Doesn’t that bring my whole score down significantly?
- Q: How many transactions can I make each week?
- Q: Can you describe the different types of point scoring?
- Q: How does each position score points?
- Q: What are Power Rankings?
- Q: How does Fanitics account for a negative story? Can a politician lose points?
- Q: Doesn’t Fanitics penalize members of Congress who solve problems without legislation?
- Q: Q: I am new to fantasy politics and fantasy sports. What is the difference between a league and a team in fantasy? Who are the players? What is a utility player? What is are bench players?
What does a league consist of?
A: A league is made up of 8-16 “Chairmen” or team managers, one of whom is the Commissioner. The Commissioner is responsible for setting up the league settings and inviting the Chairmen to join the league. Each Chairmen is responsible for drafting and managing the politicians on their team. Each week Chairmen play Head to Head match-ups against a different Chairmen to see whose team of politicians score the most points that week. The Chairmen with the most number of weekly wins will win their league. *
* Optional -- setting up a playoff calendar in which the highest scoring teams from the regular season play against each other in a playoff schedule to crown the champion.
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How long are Fanitics seasons?
A: Fanitics is open for play year round since politicians are “performing” year round. Each Fanitics season, however, is fully customizable. If one particular league (say a collegiate government class) wanted to just play a semester long season with play-offs built in, they can. If another league wanted to set Super Tuesday as their final day of play, they can as well. We have “season recommendations” for general users, but ultimately the length of the season is up to you.
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A: Every day your team will have 11 total politicians :
- 1 Presidential Candidates
- 1 Governor Incumbent
- 2 Senators
- 2 House members
- 2 Utility players (this position could be anyone)
- 3 Bench players
- Only active politicians can score points for that day. Bench players do not count toward daily performance.
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Will Fanitics include Governor, House or Senate challengers?
A: We will be looking at including challengers for the Governor, House, and Senate races as a 2012 feature. They will be available as a separate position (i.e. House Challengers, House Incumbents, Senator Challengers, Senator Incumbents, etc.). Challenger positions will be scored using a different set of metrics.
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A: If you sense that your candidate may be dropping out of the race or is losing steam as a candidate, then you need to trade or drop him or her immediately! You can either try to trade your candidate to an opposing manager or you can simply “drop†that person to The Wire and pick up another candidate.
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How many transactions can I make each week?
A: We've set the default to 10 transactions a week. Each time someone is added or dropped is counted as one transaction. In the future, this will be a customizable setting that you can choose when you set up your leagues.
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Can you describe the different types of point scoring?
You can always see an explanation pop up box for the point scoring metrics by clicking on the words: FUND, POLLS, BILL, PA, NM, BWM, or SM in your Scoring Summay.
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- Fundraising - Fundraising is based on the combined aggregate number of fundraising dollars your politicians have accumulated each day based on the latest quarterly reports. This is weighed against your opponent’s team total. The team with the higher sum of fundraising dollars that day wins this category.
- Polls - Favorability polls are based on the change (positive or negative) in selected reputable polling of presidential candidates. The team with the highest change in polls that day wins this category.
- Bills - Bills track the legislation process of each bill introduced in Congress. Every bill has a sponsor, and that sponsor politician will receive points on each of nine stages of a bill becoming a law (to see the nine stages, click here). To receive these points, that politician must be ACTIVE on your team the day that his/her bill makes it to the next stage. If you trade or drop a politician while he/she still has an active bill, you retain the points from the politician in the past, but do not receive any more points for his/her bills in the future. Similarly, if you add a politician while he/she has an active bill, you do not receive any points from prior to the transaction but are eligible to receive points given that they are active on your daily roster.
- Public Appearances - The team with the highest number of public appearances by their politicians wins this category on that day.
- National Media (WSJ, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post) - National Media news mentions track the number of times each politician appears within every *article* on their website. If a politician appears in a news article (no matter how many times within that article), they are credited with a point. The team with the highest number of “news mentions” in National Media wins this category.
- Beltway Media (Politico, The Hill, Roll Call) - Beltway Media news mentions track the number of times each politician appears within every *article* on their website. If a politician appears in a news article (no matter how many times within that article), they are credited with a point. The team with the highest number of “news mentions” in Beltway Media wins this category.
- US Media (USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post) - US Media news mentions track the number of times each politician appears within every *article* on their website. If a politician appears in a news article (no matter how many times within that article), they are credited with a point. The team with the highest number of “news mentions” in US Media wins this category.
- State Media - State Media news mentions track the number of times each GOVERNOR appears within every *article* of the leading newspaper in the state capitol, or the recognized leading newspaper of that state. Website editions only will be used in tabulating the score. If a Governor appears in a news article (no matter how many times within that article), they are credited with a point. The team with the highest number of “news mentions” in their Governor’s State Media wins this category.
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How does each position score points?
- A. Presidential Candidates --
- 1. Fundraising
- 2. Approval polls
- 3. Public Appearances
- 4. National Media News Mentions
- B. Governors --
- 1. Fundraising
- 2. Public Appearances
- 3. US Media News Mentions
- 4. State Media News Mentions
- C. House and Senate members --
- 1. Fundraising
- 2. Beltway Media News Mentions
- 3. National Media News Mentions
- 4. Bill Tracking
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- A: Unlike sports where every player starts from zero each season, politicians carry over rank and prestige each year. We think this should be reflected in Fanitics play as well. A “powerful” politician is based on more than just their performance, but also on their clout and stature. We’ve come up with a ranking system in which we take overall rankings (like their state population, tenure, etc) and aggregate them into an overall POWER RANKING percentile. The politicians that rank the highest amongst their peers will receive a bonus multiplier on their raw, daily scores. This reflects more of what happens in real life. The more powerful a politician, the higher he/she is likely to score on a daily basis. You just gotta make sure you draft those power politicians early!!
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- Power Politician (86-99%) = Receives a BONUS 2.0 multiplier on their raw, daily scores
- Mover and Shaker (71-85%) = Receives a BONUS 1.5 multiplier on their raw, daily scores
- Rank and File (21-70%) = Receives no BONUS, their raw, daily score is their daily score
- Lame Duck (1-20%) = Penalized 0.5 multiplier on their raw, daily score
- Power Rankings for politicians are calculated once a year in January and last throughout that Congressional calendar year. You can see a politician’s Power Ranking in their Pop-Up Box or sort it in The Wire.
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How does Fanitics account for a negative story? Can a politician lose points?
A: We are looking at ways to penalize politicians for “negative” or bad stories. While we have not integrated these yet, some ideas are to generate news mentions from watchdog sites that track erroneous statements or facts made by politicians. These would work the opposite way as our current news mentions sites. Another possibility is a poll of Fanitics players. Look for negative point scoring to be introduced starting January 2012.
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Doesn’t Fanitics penalize members of Congress who solve problems without legislation?
A: Members of Congress who solve problems without legislation are rewarded by News Mentions in that their name would show up in news media outlets. Members of Congress who serve on multiple committees are also given higher “Power Ranking†status and enjoy a bonus multiplier on their points.
A more accurate statement may be: “Fanitics rewards those members of Congress who are able to introduce and pass legislation, or solve problems through non-legislative activity that is documented by news media.â€
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A: A league is a group of "teams" managed by a Moderator who invites you to play your own team. A team is managed by you and consists of 11 players (see above for the line-up list): 8 active players and 3 bench players. Utlitiy players are active players that any position can play. This just gives more flexibility for managers to maneuver their line-up. Only active players will score points for your team. Every politician will be used only once in a league, no matter if they are active or on the bench.
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