DRAFT — NOT IN FORCE

Founding Dynasty Constitution

A durable first framework for fair access, responsible franchise ownership, and a league built to last.

Preamble

The Southerners Cup is intended to outlast any one season, one roster, and one commissioner. Its championship should reward judgment over time: drafting, trading, development, weekly stewardship, and the honest pursuit of victory.

We therefore establish a dynasty league governed by transparent rules, equal competitive access, durable ownership obligations, and restrained commissioner authority. Every franchise holds its roster in trust for both its present manager and the continued health of the league.

Article I — Authority and membership

1. The governing document

Upon ratification, this constitution governs league play. Sleeper settings implement it but do not silently amend it. If the platform and constitution conflict, the Commissioner shall disclose the conflict promptly and apply the constitution where technically possible, subject to the dispute process below.

2. Membership

The league consists of twelve franchises. A manager accepts responsibility for dues, roster stewardship, timely lineups, trade integrity, draft participation, and reasonable responsiveness. Admission, removal for cause, and replacement require the vote threshold selected at ratification. A manager whose own franchise is affected may speak but shall not administer the vote.

3. Good standing

A franchise is in good standing when current dues are paid and its roster is managed in good faith.

4. Dues

Annual dues are $50, held by Treasurer Kyle. Any increase requires a two-thirds vote of all franchises. Prize allocations and payment deadlines shall be announced before each league year.

Article II — Founding format and scoring

1. Lineup and rosters

Each franchise shall hold twenty-six active players and start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 2 FLEX, and 1 SUPERFLEX. The league shall use neither team defense nor kicker. There shall be no injured-reserve or taxi squad.

2. Scoring

Scoring remains full PPR with standard fractional yardage. Passing touchdowns are worth four points and interceptions minus two. Tight ends receive no positional premium.

3. Platform settings

The Commissioner shall publish a final settings sheet before the startup draft and certify that Sleeper matches it. Material scoring or lineup changes may not take effect midseason except to correct a clear implementation error.

Article III — Player acquisition and equal access

1. FAAB

Each franchise receives a $100 annual FAAB budget. $0 bids are permitted; FAAB does not carry over. Ties follow Sleeper’s rolling waiver priority.

2. Periodic processing

Player acquisition shall favor equal opportunity over constant attention. The intended structure is daily FAAB in the offseason and one weekly in-season waiver run followed by a free-agent period, subject to confirmation that Sleeper can implement it cleanly. The final processing calendar remains open for platform review.

3. Post-draft and offseason waivers

Drafted and dropped players observe at least a two-day waiver period. Offseason acquisition windows and annual FAAB reset dates shall be published before league year turnover. The Commissioner may temporarily lock acquisitions only for a platform migration, dispersal, or documented competitive-integrity emergency.

Article IV — Rosters and lineup duty

1. Legal rosters

Managers may not exceed active roster limits except during a platform-granted grace period. An illegal roster may trade or cut players but may not add players or submit a regular-season lineup until cured.

2. Weekly obligation

Every franchise must set a complete, legal lineup of active players reasonably expected to play. Honest mistakes are corrected prospectively; repeated or strategic violations trigger the anti-tanking process.

Article V — Competitive integrity and anti-tanking

1. Permitted rebuilding

Managers may rebuild aggressively through trades, youth acquisition, and draft capital. A weak roster is not itself tanking.

2. Prohibited conduct

It is prohibited to intentionally bench superior healthy options without a defensible football reason, leave avoidable vacancies, dump players without rational value, lend players, coordinate results, manipulate another franchise’s playoff or draft position, or make any agreement outside the recorded trade consideration.

3. Draft order

Non-playoff rookie draft order follows reverse regular-season standings. Playoff teams select in reverse order of postseason finish, with the champion last and runner-up next-to-last. Lineup duties and anti-tanking enforcement remain fully applicable.

4. Enforcement

For a first negligent lineup violation, the Commissioner issues a warning and records it. Repeated or intentional violations may result in loss of FAAB, movement to the end of a draft-order tier, loss of draft picks, or removal, but only after notice, evidence, an opportunity to respond, and approval under the discipline threshold selected at ratification. The least severe effective remedy should be used.

Article VI — Trading and future obligations

1. Presumption of managerial freedom

Trades stand merely because they are uneven, unpopular, or risky. Review is limited to collusion, concealed consideration, roster dumping without a plausible franchise purpose, material mistake promptly reported by a party, or violation of an express rule. League vetoes shall not substitute consensus valuation for managerial autonomy.

2. Review procedure

Trades process immediately and receive no routine review. They may be challenged only when a manager raises a specific claim of collusion, concealed consideration, material mistake, or express rule violation. If the Commissioner is involved, a neutral designee handles the challenge.

3. Deadline

Trades close after the final game of NFL Week 12 and reopen after the fantasy championship.

4. Future picks

Draft picks may be traded no more than three rookie drafts into the future. Prepayment of future dues is not required. Conditional trades are valid only when their measurable terms are recorded before acceptance.

Article VII — Drafts

1. Startup draft

The founding player pool, including rookies, shall be allocated by snake draft. The order, clock, and pause hours shall be published at least seven days before the draft.

2. Annual rookie draft

The annual rookie draft shall be four rounds and linear. Non-playoff order follows reverse regular-season standings; playoff teams follow reverse postseason finish. Ties use points for, then a transparent random draw.

3. Missed selections

When a clock expires, Sleeper auto-pick or the published queue rule applies. The Commissioner shall not choose a player based on personal preference for the absent manager. A technical outage affecting reasonable access pauses the draft for all teams.

Article VIII — Season and playoffs

The regular season lasts fourteen weeks. Six teams qualify for the playoffs; the top two seeds receive byes, and one-week rounds conclude in Week 17. Week 18 shall never decide the championship. Seeding uses record, then points for.

Consolation games do not alter rookie draft order unless a prize is approved before the season.

Article IX — Orphans, dispersal, and expansion

1. Departing managers

A manager should give notice as early as practical. The franchise, roster, picks, FAAB position, paid dues, and liabilities remain intact. The league shall disclose all material obligations to replacement candidates.

2. Orphan replacement

The league should seek a qualified replacement on equal terms. Managers may not strip or privately reserve orphan assets. The league may waive or subsidize first-year dues to recruit a replacement, using league funds or a separately approved assessment.

3. Dispersal

If two or more orphans exist together, the league may conduct a dispersal draft of their players and picks if approved before recruiting replacements. Draft slots and process must be transparent; incumbents may participate only if they surrender their complete franchise into the same pool under identical terms.

4. Expansion or contraction

No expansion, contraction, merger, or redistribution may occur without a supermajority vote and a written plan covering protected assets, draft picks, schedule, dues, competitive balance, and transition timing. Such change takes effect only in an offseason.

Article X — Commissioner powers and records

The Commissioner administers settings, schedules, drafts, waivers, records, deadlines, and published rulings. The office may correct an obvious platform or clerical error, preserve evidence, pause an affected process, and take the minimum temporary action necessary to prevent irreversible harm. It may not invent a substantive rule, secretly alter outcomes, disclose private communications, or decide its own conflict.

Material decisions shall identify the facts, governing text, remedy, and any conflict. A co-commissioner or neutral league designee handles matters involving the Commissioner’s franchise. Sleeper timestamps and official league records control factual disputes unless shown unreliable.

Article XI — Disputes, collusion, and appeals

A protest should be raised promptly and identify the act challenged. The Commissioner gathers facts, gives affected managers a chance to respond, checks precedent, and issues a written decision. Private messages may be reviewed only when voluntarily submitted by a participant and should not be published beyond what is necessary to explain the ruling.

Collusion requires coordinated conduct intended to confer an improper advantage or defeat league rules. Friendship, negotiation, or a mistaken valuation alone is not collusion. Proven collusion authorizes reversal, draft-pick penalties, suspension, or removal proportionate to the harm.

An appeal filed within 72 hours is decided by a two-thirds vote of disinterested franchises. The original decision remains in effect unless a stay is necessary to prevent irreversible harm.

Article XII — Amendments and ratification

Ordinary amendments require written notice, at least seven days for discussion, and a two-thirds vote of all franchises. Changes to scoring, starter counts, roster size, draft-order method, dues obligations, or league size take effect the following league year unless unanimously approved for immediate effect before the startup draft. Clerical corrections that do not change meaning may be made with notice.

This founding constitution takes effect by declaration of the league’s founders. It supersedes prior inconsistent transition notes. Thereafter, amendments require a two-thirds vote of all franchises.

Ratification and open decisions

Source and status notes