The writing is on the wall. Our annual survey won’t close until March 15, but it’s clear already that one topic on the survey will pass overwhelmingly.
Our prepayment/autorenew requirement is changing for dynasty, legacy, and keeper leagues. And we’re doing this immediately, not waiting until the survey closes, because it’s implementation is time-sensitive.
This is exciting, fantastic news for our dynasty customers! We at DataForce are happy too about the rule change that you voted for. It updates the 2026 rule changes described earlier in a December newsletter.
The Old Rule Described
In the past, if you ended the year with less draft capital than you started with, you’d be required to renew in January for the coming year. “Less draft capital” usually meant you traded away any one of your future-year picks, and didn’t replace it with an equal or better pick from another team. If, for example, you reached the end of the year having traded away your 3rd-round pick for the next year, and you had no extra 3rd-round pick or better acquired from some other team, renewal of your team would be required.
At the moment your trade capital dipped into negative territory, you’d receive a pop-up warning (right in the middle of your trade) and then the autorenew status on your team would be set for the coming January.
This rule was clumsy, hard to understand, somewhat arbitrary, and especially frustrating for MyFantasyLeague customers, where no pop-up could be programmed. It resulted in a massive amount of autorenewals at end-of-year, with customers required to apply their winnings immediately to new entry fees, and often required to deposit money for existing leagues before they could buy or renew other teams. And it resulted in massive amounts of “unrenews,” with customers writing in January to say “hey, I forgot to ask you turn off the autorenew because I finished the year with positive draft capital. Can you reverse the renewal that just happened?
We aim to lower the bar for when autorenew is required, cut wayyyyy down on forced renewals, prevent any need for “unrenewing,” and discourage walkaways with a small required prepayment of future-year entry fees.
The New Rule Explained
Say it with me, now: NO MORE AUTORENEW.
It’s simple, guys. Trade away your own future first-round pick, and you’re expected to play again next year. You’ll be asked to pay half of next year’s entry fee in advance. The whole concept of required renewal goes away … if you don’t renew next year, you lose your partial prepayment.
For leagues hosted on the DataForce software, at the moment you offer or accept a trade that results in your own future first-round pick going away, you’ll receive a pop-up warning that a partial prepayment for next year will be required.
The actual prepayment occurs after DataForce approves the trade, with the amount deducted from your DataForce account. Should this transaction result in a negative balance, you’ll need to deposit additional money into your account.
Because dynasty leagues allow trading picks up to two years in advance, you may be required to make a double prepayment. If you trade your first-round pick two years in advance, you’ll need to deposit prepayments for the next two years.
Again, the prepayment rules now relate only to trades in which you trade your own future-year first-round draft pick, and the prepayment of half the entry fee is non-refundable. It does not matter if you later obtain your pick back through trade, or if you acquire somebody else’s first-round pick.
MyFantasyLeague Impact
If your league is hosted on MyFantasyLeague instead of DataForce, where we cannot program a pop-up warning or easily monitor trading, we still require that you prepay half of next year’s entry fee in order to enable future-year pick trading. See this announcement from our December newsletter.
If you reach the end of the year, having prepaid, and still owning your own first-round picks, you can request that the prepayment be returned. In this way, MyFantasyLeague differs from DataForce leagues.
This requirement remains in force for MyFantasyLeague. However, we are going to soften our prepayment stance for reliable customers, rewarding their longevity in the league. If you have remained in your MyFantasyLeague contest for three years or more, we’ll turn on your future-year trading automatically, no prepayment necessary. Yet the rule still remains in force that if you trade your first-round pick, you’ll have to prepay next year as soon as the trade is approved by the commissioner.
How it is Being Implemented
The new rule is in place now, as of today. It begins with the 2026 season. Any trading of your first-round pick going forward will require a partial prepayment.
Future-year trading rights are now being turned on for MyFantasyLeague owners who have been in their league 3 years or more!
But what about autorenew settings and prepayments that have already occurred this year?
- Autorenew is going away. Fuggitaboutit. Have I said that enough?
- If you already traded away your own future-year pick, prepayment will not be enforced for that trade.
- For MyFantasyLeague contests: If you have already made a prepayment for next year to enable future-year pick trading, and you’ve been in the league now for three years or more, just let us know. We’ll happily reverse your payment until you trade away a first-round pick.
Please feel free to contact us with comments or questions at [email protected].
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Lee Harmon
Commissioner