UFHL Expansion Franchise Auction
The UFHL’s Expansion Franchise Auction will welcome a 32nd franchise owner to the Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League on March 1st and mirror the NHL’s expansion process for the Seattle Kraken, including an expansion draft with the same guidelines.
The starting price is $1,500 USD — the average value from the UFHL’s 10 most recent franchise sales ($2,400 USD being the highest to date) — with bidding increments of $50 USD.
Deadline for franchise payment is 48 hours after the conclusion of the auction on Monday, March 1 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT — thus payment deadline is Wednesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
The winning bidder will receive the following:
UFHL Expansion Franchise — select a franchise name, primary and secondary logos, colour scheme, and jersey designs among other branding aspects available to franchise owners (merchandise, social media accounts, franchise website, etc.).
Minimum 31 Players — select 1 player from each of the 31 existing franchises (filling 23-man active roster, plus 8 players for 27-man protected list). Trades negotiated in advance of expansion draft could land additional players as was the case for the Vegas Golden Knights (10 of 30 NHL franchises made trades with Vegas to avoid certain players or to select a specific player in the expansion draft).
Rights to UFAHL Affiliate Franchise — secure farm team for the 2022-23 season with a full year to build out that roster (mirroring Seattle’s AHL affiliate Palm Springs, also starting in 2022-23). This UFAHL affiliate for the AHL-based fantasy league would be optional, take it or leave it, but rights to the 32nd UFAHL franchise are part of this auction package. If not interested, that UFAHL franchise would be auctioned off separately but would still be affiliated with the UFHL expansion franchise going forward.
Equivalent to 3rd Overall Odds for 2021 Entry Auction — same odds as Seattle and Vegas entering NHL draft lottery (UFHL also utilizes lottery for Entry Auction). Expansion franchise starts with six draft picks — 1st and 2nd Round Picks in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (all franchises receive 2024 1st and 2nd Round Picks following 2021 Entry Auction).
Complete Expansion Experience — winning bidder will get to experience all things expansion from naming the franchise to drafting the roster, mirroring Seattle every step of the way with matching timelines. The UFHL Expansion Draft will take place on July 21 (same date as Seattle). The deadline for protected lists is July 17, allowing the expansion franchise a few days to prepare their selections.
Immediate Gameplay — start signing players from scouts immediately upon completing payment for franchise, just as Vegas did with Reid Duke becoming their first player in franchise history. Expansion franchise could also register an affiliated scout or scouting agency to begin building out protected list and UFAHL roster through the Open Market. Expansion franchise can engage in trade negotiations immediately, though no trades will be announced until the expansion draft on July 21.
Expansion Draft Information
FAQ & Rules (UFHL mirroring all rules pertaining to protected list, including minimum requirements for exposed players): https://www.capfriendly.com/expansion-draft-faq
Simulator (shows which players need to be protected/exposed and which players are exempt; identify potential targets and experiment with mock drafts): https://www.capfriendly.com/expansion-draft/seattle
Additional Notes
UFHL franchises will be honouring NHL no-move clauses (NMC) unless waived in the NHL.
Vegas players will not be exempt from the UFHL Expansion Draft and all 31 franchises will lose one player each to the expansion franchise.
Players traded or lost on waivers between Feb. 1 and the expansion draft on July 21 cannot be reacquired by that franchise until Jan. 31, 2022.
Revenue sharing from Expansion Franchise Auction — $200 USD towards league development, remainder evenly distributed to all 31 franchises as compensation for loss of player (regardless of player calibre).
Mock Expansion Draft
Here is a mock expansion draft to showcase the potential players available. Much will change between now and July 21, but this is a glimpse of how the UFHL expansion roster could look as of Feb. 13: https://uffsports.com/ufhl-mock-expansion-draft/
UFHL Rulebook
Here is a link to the UFHL Rulebook, explaining how it all works, how this is different from any other fantasy league, and highlighting all the innovative features from a scouting platform to the playoff format: UFHL Rulebook
About UFF Sports
UFF Sports is the future of fantasy, providing the most realistic experience by mirroring the real world 1:1 through digital asset ownership (NFTs) on the Zilliqa blockchain.
This is high stakes for serious players but also high rewards with a progressive prize pool that is exceeding $50K USD in the present, including a $10K base for both 2022 and 2023. Every franchise earns a payout on a sliding scale from 1-32 (bigger payouts for the 16 playoff franchises).
There will only ever be one NHL league on this platform (UFHL) and players will never be duplicated (1:1), with that scarcity driving franchise valuations up tenfold within the first year of operation ($200 USD to $2,000 USD since the UFHL launched in January 2020).
For more information, including the UFHL Welcome Package, email lfisher@uffsports.com.
Without further ado, best of luck to all the bidders in this UFHL Expansion Franchise Auction!
