What is a Fantasy Football Orphan Dynasty Team?
An orphan dynasty team is simply a fantasy football team in an ongoing dynasty league that has been abandoned by its owner. Once abandoned, the team is labeled as an “orphan” and goes up for sale. On Apex, orphans are “for sale by owner”, so the previous owner sets the price and can be compensated for selling a good team. If orphans are not sold by May 1st, they go to the orphan auction. For additional information, visit the “for sale by owner” and orphan auction page.
The orphan teams will continue to play in their dynasty leagues and compete for cash prizes!
See available orphan teams here! There are several tools available in the Orphan Marketplace to help you find orphans you may be interested in. You can show certain orphans by selecting a certain price point(s) or lineup type(s), and now you can also now sort by price, most recently dropped, or most recently price-reduced orphans! We have also added the ability to search by specific player or rookie draft pick.
Why Buy an Orphan Dynasty Team?
Purchasing an orphan dynasty team is a cheap and discounted way to enter a year-to-year dynasty league. All of our dynasty leagues require paying an initial deposit (equivalent roughly to the regular entry fee) upfront to ensure that all teams remain in the league.
By requiring a deposit, Apex limits the number of orphans and keeps leagues intact. In fact, we have never had a dynasty league fold. When purchasing an orphan team, the price of the deposit is already paid, resulting in about 50% savings compared to joining a brand new startup draft.
It’s also fun! Though teams are sometimes abandoned due to poor performance, many owners enjoy the challenge of turning around an orphaned dynasty team through the annual Rookie/Free Agent draft, trades, and free agency. Rebuilding can be very fun
Some very good, championship-ready orphan dynasty teams are dropped when owners can no longer continue to make the ongoing commitment to a fantasy league.
Rebuilding Can Be Very Fun
There’s nothing like rebuilding a team from scratch and making it successful. Not only can you sell assets to acquire draft picks, but those draft picks can often make a tremendous impact on your team. Think about the impact that CJ Stroud has on his dynasty team: high-end production is coming, and at 23 years old, he’s going to be productive for a very long time.
Sam LaPorta was drafted in the second round of rookie drafts last season and is already in the discussion for the best tight end in the league. Travis Kelce is 35 and still performing at a high level, to draft LaPorta gives you a high-end asset for a long time. And there’s nothing more rewarding than stacking those young assets together on your dynasty team.
Where and When Can I Buy an Orphan Dynasty Team?
You can buy a dynasty orphan here at Apex Fantasy Leagues! Orphans can also be found on the Apex Lobby by going to the “Keepers” tab on the right and clicking “Buy Orphans”. There, you can view a list of all orphan dynasty teams available for purchase, including their current roster and draft picks!
Starting in 2022, teams must renew by May 1st each year, so many orphan teams become available around that time. If you’re looking for an orphan team, it’s a good idea to keep checking our Lobby as teams become available. Attractive teams can sell very quickly, so check back semi-regularly as teams are “abandoned” relatively often!
If you have decided that orphan teams are not for you, we also host start-up dynasty drafts. You can see what leagues are available at the Apex Lobby.
All orphan and start-up drafts fall into the dynasty fantasy football league category. If you are looking for a league that only lasts one-year (a “redraft” league), we also have those. You can see what leagues are currently available at the Apex Lobby.
