What do you think of when I say auction? Is it a crowd of people huddled around an abandoned storage unit? How about a distinguished crowd of people with paddles? Or maybe you thought of an "e-Bay" type where multiple items you want to bid on simultaneously were available until a specified time?
Obviously there are many types of auctions but for this article we are going to focus on two types generally associated with fantasy sports auctions: fast auctions vs slow auctions.
Fast auctions; sometimes referred to as "live" auctions, can be in-person or online. These usually are completed in hours and owners will nominate players in turn that everyone can bid on. Let me say that fast auctions are better in-person for several reasons. Even though the pandemic gave us the tools to pull off live auctions virtually, technical issues can still arise at the most inopportune time and user error is always a guarantee.
However, the obvious benefit of online auctions is the ease that leagues can be filled and satisfy an immediate need. I'm looking at you DFS. And if you play Daily Fantasy Sports, you may be familiar with some of the auction formats.
But if your league can get together for a live in-person auction,.....
Do. It.
Seriously, get someone who can fulfill auctioneer duties and get ready to have a blast. It is all of the best parts of a live draft party without those painful and mind-numbing waits between draft picks. That's right. Every nominated player impacts you. There are different ways to determine the nomination order but generally there is only one player up for bidding at a time.
A slow auction may not be as chaotic and intensely nerve-wracking as a fast auction, but it provides a reasonable solution for leagues who are unable to get everyone together for a live in-person event. A slow auction can overcome the two difficulties of getting everyone in the same place at the same time. Location and timing.
In a slow auction, teams can usually nominate multiple players and bid an any or all players nominated by other teams. Players are won by the team with the highest bid amount; usually after a specified amount of time or at a pre-determined time.
Since slow auctions can support multiple nominations simultaneously, it allows large leagues to decrease the overall time needed to complete the auction. This increases the level of engagement while allowing plenty of time for high bids to come in. Usually a slow auction will take anywhere between a few days and a few weeks, depending on roster size.
As a result, slow auctions provide a lot of control to meet the unique needs of any league. And while there are just a few hosting sites that currently support auctions; that list continues to grow.