Auction Drafts are based on a bidding format and differ considerably from traditional Snake Live Drafts. In Auction Drafts, teams have the chance to draft any player they want, as long as they have the available funds. Cam Newton and Adrian Peterson could be drafted by the same team, which would rarely happen in a Snake Draft, because both players are so early and close to one another in the Snake Draft ranking order.
- Auction drafts are available to Standard and Custom Leagues (both ESPN Custom and League Manager Leagues)
- The option for “Live Auction Draft” will appear on the draft settings page once all teams have joined the league
- Teams have the chance to draft any player, as long as they have the available funds
- Leagues that use the auction mode to draft are setup with a preset budget ($200) to spend on a set number of players (16-man roster)
- For League Manager Leagues, the LM can determine the preset budget each team is given
- Standard Leagues will have preset default auction values assigned to all players in the pool
- Custom Leagues have the option to edit the player default auction values to be loaded in the draft application prior to the draft start
- This page can be accessed via the “Edit Auction Draft Values” link on the main “My Team” page
- Once a player is nominated for auction, the bidding begins
- Team owners can bid any monetary value that their budget permits
- Bidding continues until there is a single remaining high bid. The system will then alert bidders and the winning team will have money deducted from their budget
- This process repeats until every team’s roster is completely filled
- When the draft is complete, the league will move into “in-season” mode where teams can start making roster moves, waiver claims, trades, etc.
- Auction salaries do not carry over into “in-season” mode. There is no advantage in finishing the draft with a remaining budget