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Structure of Zealots Field

The Zealots Empire is made up of online, fantasy-football leagues with a year-long schedule of activity. These leagues are essentially free, where no money is wagered or won, although members are expected to contribute a yearly dues payment to cover the costs of the message boards and league management sites (MFL) – this usually works out to about $7.00 per team each year.

Our Classic fantasy football leagues make up the majority of the fantasy football dynasty leagues in Zealots Field.  These are our core leagues, built around the rules originally developed by Oscar Knight in 2003. Each of our Classic Leagues consists of twelve teams, each named after an NFL team, as selected by the owner of the team. Team names are given to owners on a first-come first-serve basis, and no league may have more than one team of the same name. The leagues are set up in four divisions of three teams each, and a yearly battle for each league’s Super Bowl begins when the Super Bowl from the previous season is done. Each classic league is led by an appointed volunteer Commissioner and two volunteer Vice-Commissioners, all of whom have teams in the league.

Note  See the Overview of the Rules of Zealots Field page for details about the structure of the rosters, scoring, playoffs, free agency, drafts, duties of the Commissioners and Vice-Commissioners, and much more information.  Also see the Overview of the Code of Conduct page for information on the Zealots Code of Conduct – agreed to and signed as a pre-requisite for membership.

All of these classic leagues are numbered, beginning with Z-1, our oldest and first league, up to our most-recently added 48th league, not surprisingly named Z-48.

Our classic leagues are all grouped into “syndicates” of twelve leagues. Since we currently have 48 leagues, we also have four syndicates: Grange (Z-1 through Z-12), Nagurski (Z-13 through Z-24), Baugh (Z-25 though Z-36), and Blood (Z-37 through Z-48).  If you’re an old-school football fan, you may recognize these names as some of the earliest heroes of the NFL.

The Zealots 12-league syndicates are overseen by a Czar, a volunteer appointed by Oscar Knight who helps monitor and administer the syndicate.  Also, every Classic Syndicate features a very special league: the Masters League. Each of the twelve yearly winners of the leagues in the syndicate win a spot in the next year’s Masters League, pitting champion against champion for the claim to truly be the “best-of-the-best.”

When a new member joins Zealots Field, they are allowed to join only one Classic League.  After being in Zealots for a year, that member is allowed to take on a second team, provided their Commissioner agrees that they have been an active and involved member for the previous year.  A Vice-Commissioner may belong to two leagues, and then add a third after one full year of active duty.  A league Commissioner may belong to three leagues, and then add a fourth after one year of serving as an active Commissioner.

Overseeing the whole empire is founder and Lord Zealot Oscar Knight, Vice Lord Larry Hargis, and Vice Lord Bill Auer.  In addition, we also have our Syndicate Czars and some other special appointed Czars, covering our membership process, technical staff, MFL liaison, Rules Convention administrators, and others.  All these levels of leadership, from Vice-Commissioners and Commissioners up to Oscar Knight himself serve on an entirely volunteer basis. No-one ever makes a financial profit at Zealots Field. Instead, our leaders help serve because they love the game and want to help keep a great thing going - and growing!

The Zealots Empire operates in three separate, but interconnected, Internet components.  First is this Web site, which acts as a central location and a link to the outside world. Next is MyFantasyLeague, where each league has a site where the rosters are kept, the games are played, and all the mechanics of the league operate.  Finally, and perhaps even most important, is our third site: our Message Board site known as the Field House.  Here each league has a home forum where the life-blood of a great fantasy football experience occurs -- all the communication, banter, smack-talk, and debate that makes the whole thing fun.  In addition, there are many other forums where Zealots may mingle, share information, and discuss all matters of topics, all within the bounds of our Code of Conduct.

Note  See the Zealots Field Web Sites page section on this page for additional details about our Websites.

In additional to our Classic Leagues, Zealots Field also offers our members the opportunity to join and compete in other Specialty Leagues.  In these leagues there is no restriction on the number of leagues a member of Zealots Field may belong to, provided slots are available. We currently have several syndicates of these special leagues (also named after early NFL legends):

•  Lombardi Syndicate - Leagues consisting of 12-teams of auction-contract dynasty teams based on standard Zealots Field rules, but adding in more auction bidding, contracts, and a salary cap for even more roster-management challenges.

•  Thorpe Syndicate  - Our salute to the College ranks -- in these 16-team dynasty leagues made up of active college players, teams compete using some of the most in-depth college fantasy league rules ever made.

•  Halas Syndicate - Extensive dynasty leagues featuring finer IDP positional breakdowns, head coaches, and some unique rules, all played with a Roman Gladiator perspective – raid your opponents’ rosters after each season.

•  Hinkle Syndicate - Leagues consisting of 40-team dynasty leagues with deeper IDP and positions, but with a 'schizo' twist – every NFL player may be taken by up to three teams in the league.

Additionally, each year we experiment with several “test” leagues, along with Zealot-member survivor leagues (played using Xperts.com’s survivor leagues).

All-in-all, Zealots Field offers a tremendous amount of in-depth fantasy football for the truly zealous fan, all at a price that only covers costs, and against some of the finest players out there.  Our goal has always been to be a fantasy football experience unlike any other, aimed towards true fans, played with honor and sportsmanship, against the best opponents available, purely for the thrill of competition.  We welcome you to learn more about it, and to apply for membership if this matches what you want in your fantasy football experience.

©2008 Zealots Field. All Rights Reserved.

Zealots Field is not associated in anyway, affiliated with, endorsed, or licensed by the National Football League, any NFL team, or the NFLPA.