What Is A Best Ball Fantasy Football League?
If you’re someone who loves drafting fantasy football teams but isn’t so crazy about in-season management (free agency, setting lineups, trades), then a best ball fantasy football league is for you!
Growing exponentially in popularity within the fantasy football community, best ball fantasy football leagues (also known as “draft only” leagues) are total points leagues where owners just draft their teams and rack up points throughout the season. There are zero transactions of any kind (unless you are in one of our best ball dynasty leagues), and the winners are determined by which teams score the most total points over Weeks 1-17 of the NFL season.
How Is Best Ball Different from Original Apex One-Year Leagues?
Here are the differences between our best ball and original one-year leagues:
- There are 22 roster spots (instead of the standard 18) and zero IR spots.
- There are zero playoffs or head-to-head matchups – the standings are based on total points, and the season ends after Week 17.
- These are “draft-only leagues” – there are zero transactions, including trading and free agency.
- You never set a lineup – the best possible lineup will be set for you automatically after the conclusion of each week’s games. Your best lineup score each week is what constitutes the league standings.
- There are zero kickers or defenses (similar to our “Dynamic” league types).
Best Ball Fantasy Football Leagues on Apex
Apex offers multiple best ball fantasy league types:
- Dynamic Best Ball: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE)
- Dynamic Superflex Best Ball: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 3 FLEX (one of which can be a QB)
- Dynamite Best Ball: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 2 FLEX (one of which can be a QB)
Each best ball league will have a 22-round online live draft with 12 teams per league.
The league champion is decided by total points scored after Week 17. Total points are constituted by the accumulation of your best possible starting lineup each week until the end of the season.
Currently, all Apex Fantasy Football Money Leagues use the same PPR scoring format. For more information on PPR scoring, see League Scoring.
To see all of our draft dates, click here. We also offer Dynasty Leagues, Regular redraft (one-year), and Auction leagues.
Looking for Orphan Teams for sale? See what is available here! Not sure what orphans are? Read about Orphan Dynasty Teams.
Excited to draft? Sign up now! If you aren’t convinced, see what the biggest names in the fantasy football community are saying about Apex!
Live or Email Draft Leagues Contest Rules
Best Ball leagues can be Live Drafts or Email Drafts. If you would like more information, you can visit those pages to gain a better understanding of the drafting process.
Standings and Playoffs For Apex Fantasy Football Leagues
Standings will be sorted by total points scored over the course of the season. Points are scored by automatically calculating each team’s best possible lineup every week. In the unlikely event of a tie, teams will split league prizes.
Additional League Information
Conduct that is detrimental to the league or to Apex Fantasy Football will not be tolerated. This includes any harassment in the form of a post or email that serves no purpose other than to cause dissonance within the league or the Apex Fantasy Football Money Leagues organization. Any personal attacks toward fellow owners, the commissioner, or vulgarity in emails or on the message board will not be tolerated.
Failure to comply with league sportsmanship rules may result in immediate expulsion without refund. This also applies to owners failing to set their lineups – it is unfair for owners to receive free wins because other owners forget or choose not to set lineups or pick up free agents as necessary. Attempts to negatively impact the integrity of the league will also result in immediate expulsion without a refund from Apex. Apex also reserves the right to set your lineup for you if by our judgment you are intentionally trying to lose. These rules are simply meant to make Apex Fantasy Football Money Leagues as friendly, honest, and competitive as possible.
Apex’s average draft position (ADP) for recent drafts is listed publicly.
MyFantasyLeague applies stat corrections made by the Elias Sports Bureau on Thursday morning each week. The stat corrections can impact your game.
Apex does not take responsibility for the utilization of third-party applications and strongly urges owners to use MyFantasyLeague.com for all aspects of team management.
All prizes won are paid at the end of the season. After the completion of the playoffs, winners will have the prizes deposited into their Apex accounts. We take pride in paying owners promptly. Owners will be paid within a week of winning their league.
Payouts are available to be claimed and are accessed on your Apex account.
Go to the “My Account” page in our lobby and click “Claim Prize Winnings” to get the money into your Apex account. From there, you can choose to withdraw the money.
Apex notes the probability that players have of winning their league. Players have a 1 in 12 chance (8.33%) of winning first in their 12 team league and a 1 in 4 chance (25%) of winning a prize.
Exclusion for Contest: Players can exclude themselves from contests by contacting Apex. The player must contact Apex at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the draft so Apex maintains the opportunity to replace the player.
Expert Status: Apex categorizes players who have reached “expert” status differently depending on various state laws. This measure is in place so that beginners can be warned when entering contests with “highly experienced players”. You can note the expert symbol in the lobby when selecting leagues to join. Experts are denoted by the symbol of a crown.
Prohibited Players: any member, officer, employee or agent of an operator or registrant; any spouse, child, brother, sister, or parent residing as a member of the same household in the principal place of abode of any member, officer, employee, or agent of an operator or registrant; any individual with access to non-public confidential information about contests; any amateur or professional athlete whose performance may be used to determine the outcome of a contest; any sports agent, team employee, referee, or league official associated with any sport or athletic event on which contests are based; any individual located in a state where the conduct of contests is expressly prohibited; or any minor.
Position Eligibility: The position of a player is defined by his NFL team’s depth chart.
Apex Fantasy Football Money Leagues are neither affiliated, endorsed, nor licensed by the NFL or NFLPA.
