This guide explains each league setting in clear, practical terms. Whether you're running a private group or building a full competition structure, these options define how your league behaves.

1. League Name

This is super important. Name your league.

2. League Type

Choose the sport or combination of sports your league will use. Single‑league formats support season‑based shortcuts like B.O.S. and E.O.S.. Multi‑league formats disable those shortcuts to keep timelines consistent.

3. NFL Pick'em (set after creation)

NFL Pick'em turns a league into a weekly NFL Pick'em board instead of an ordinary league: it forces straight, no‑odds picks (home or away, no spreads or totals) and hides the fields that don't apply. Players get the whole week's games on Thursday and can save their picks over several visits before submitting - a completely different rhythm from the daily-play leagues below.

Pick'em is no longer set on this create form. Create the league as an NFL league first, then turn Pick'em on from Advanced League Settings once the league exists (the toggle is only available for NFL leagues). See the full Pick'em guide for how saving, locking, and grading work.

Don't want the dedicated Pick'em board at all, but still want an NFL league that's scored once a week rather than daily? You don't need Pick'em for that - create an NFL league (with spreads/totals on if you want odds-based play) and set Grading Mode (below) to Windowed (Weekly). That groups the week's games into one board for scoring purposes while players still submit picks the ordinary day-by-day way, rather than filling out the whole week's board in advance.

4. Game Type

• Parlay: Multiple picks form a chain. One miss ends the run (but you keep your units!)
• Straight: Each game stands alone. Your score is the net result.
• Unit Advantage (teaser): A simplified mode where points are added or subtracted regardless of direction.

5. Default Games

The number of games players are expected to pick per play. This sets the general pace of your league. Your plan caps how many games a league you create may include in total - see plans and limits for the current caps.

6. Minimum Games

The fewest selections allowed for a valid play. Minimum may be equal to or lower than Default Games, but never higher.

7. Play Frequency and Access

Players may submit multiple plays per day. The free Sandbox plan allows 1 play a day; paid plans unlock more, up to 10 a day on Vanguard.

• Max Plays Per Day: Sets the daily limit. Plan rules apply automatically.
• Create As: Private league, competition seed league (Emerging plan and up), template or public competition (admin only).

8. Grading Mode

Grading Mode defines how and when a league's plays are scored. Different modes group events into "boards" based on time windows or event completion.

• Daily: Grades each event individually as it finishes. No windows.
• On Completion: Grades only when every event in the group is finished, canceled, or otherwise resolved (used for multi‑day events, and how NFL Pick'em boards are typically graded).
• Windowed (Daily): Groups all of today's events into a single daily board and grades once the day ends.
• Windowed (Weekly): Groups all events from Monday–Sunday into a weekly board and grades at week's end.
• Windowed (Custom): Uses user‑defined start/end dates to create a custom grading window.

By default, a fully-resolved group is held until the next calendar day (in the league's timezone) before it's graded, even once every game in it is finished. Owners who want results scored the moment they're resolvable, same day as the games, can turn this on; see Advanced League Settings for the allow same-day grading toggle that controls this.

A separate, related setting - allow same-day new plays - controls whether a player can submit a brand-new play in the league on a calendar day where one of their own earlier groups already graded, so they can't pick again same-day knowing how their last group landed. It only ever looks at a player's own results, never other members'. This one is allowed by default for most leagues, but starts off (blocked) for public competitions, and can only be changed by league owners on a paid plan (Emerging and up) or admins - it doesn't appear in Advanced League Settings for Sandbox owners.

9. Play Type

Parlay or Straight, Odds, Spread, Over/Under, and Unit Advantage. Enable additional scoring mechanics if desired. These are optional — simple winner‑only leagues work perfectly well.

• Unit Advantage: Adds or subtracts points based on league type. Available only when odds are enabled.
• NFL: ±7 points
• MLB: ±1 point
• NBA: ±5 points
• NHL: ±1 point

10. Start Date

Select a specific date or use a shortcut:

• B.O.S. — First regular‑season game (single‑league only)
• Today — Starts immediately
• B.O.W. — Beginning of next week
• B.O.M. — First day of next month
• B.O.Y. — January 1

11. End Date

Choose a specific date or use a shortcut:

• Today: One‑day league (grades next day). Must go live within 7 days.
• E.O.W. — End of week
• E.O.M. — End of month
• E.O.Y. — End of year
• E.O.S. — End of regular season (single‑league only)

12. Reset

When enabled, the league continues after the end date but resets scores, plays, and rankings. A new end date must be set within 7 days or the league will be removed.

13. Add Playoffs

Includes playoff games in the league's schedule. Useful when regular‑season games are limited.

14. Game Selection Mode

Which of these modes you can pick depends on your plan: Random is available to everyone, Show All unlocks on Varsity and up, Flex Play on All-Star and up, and All Required on Pinnacle and up. See Subscription Plans for the full breakdown.

• Random: System selects games to match your default count.
• Show All: Players choose from all available games, up to the default count.
• All Required: Every available game must be selected before a play can be submitted. This is also what makes an NFL Pick'em board "no partial boards allowed."
• Flex Play: Players choose between minimum and maximum allowed, and may save partial progress before submitting (Pick'em boards use this to allow submitting before the whole week is picked).

15. Create League

Once all required fields are complete, the Submit button becomes active. Select it to create your league.

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16. Advanced Settings (after creation)

A handful of less-common settings aren't on the creation form at all - they live on the Advanced Settings page, reachable from League Administration once your league exists. That's where you'll find league timezone display, same‑day grading, the live-odds toggle, and the pre‑kickoff cutoff buffer. See the full Advanced League Settings guide for details on each one.

17. League Types Explained

• Private League: Invite‑only and hidden from public lists.
• Seed League: Defines the ruleset for a competition group.
• Template League: Admin‑created blueprint used for cloning.
• Cloned League: Created from a template; inherits rules.
• Public Competition League: Visible to all; multiple leagues may share the same competition_id.

18. Cloning a League

Cloning creates a new league from a template. The clone inherits rules and structure; you may rename it during creation. End dates and participants are set later through administration tools.

In competitions, all cloned leagues must share identical rules to ensure fairness across the group.

For advanced adjustments, consult your league administrator or review extended settings.