Fantasy: What is a Dynasty League?

If your friends talk about their dynasty league team and you immediately think they are talking about the long-running primetime soap opera, this article is for you.

Dynasty leagues are considered the ultimate challenge for serious fantasy football owners.  Unlike a redraft league where you select a new team each year, players remain on your team each year unless they are released or traded.  This environment allows owners to keep their favorite players year to year and build their franchise over time as they see fit.

After the initial season in a dynasty league, all the teams in your league are headed in different directions.  Some teams remain in contention for the league title, while some teams may choose to rebuild their franchise for the future and acquire multiple rookie draft picks and young talent.  With the ability to trade future draft picks and young talent, teams can decide to mortgage part of their future for short-term gains.

This makes one of the most important aspects of a dynasty league the annual rookie-only draft to disburse the new incoming talent in to the professional ranks.  Unless it is an auction dynasty league, the rookie draft order is typically the reverse order of how the previous season concluded.  Dynasty owners need to have a closer eye that most redraft owners do on the NFL Draft each year, since finding the next star player can give you an edge over your league mates.

Dynasty leagues are for serious fantasy football owners that are looking for a challenge that can require a year-round commitment.  You will find that other owners are willing to exchange trade proposals in March and April instead of during the season with redraft leagues.  If this interests you, there are several great resources on the Internet for finding established leagues looking for new dedicated owners or start-up leagues looking to have an initial draft.

This is a high-level overview of what a dynasty league is, and as the year progresses, we will cover additional topics that will help you succeed in your dynasty league.  Look for articles from our dynasty experts including roster management, rookie draft strategies, the art of trading and much more.

Don’t forget to check out our frequently updated dynasty rankings using the exclusive PFF Premium Data that you won’t find anywhere else.

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