We have a new feature this year for the draft. That’s right, I cannot leave well enough alone. We will be having a lottery to determine the top three picks. Why? Just like the NBA, we need to get some teams a boost, as well as energize the nonplayoff market altogether. Here’s how the draft lottery works this year, why we’re doing it, and how the live draw is going to go down on our Zoom call.
Why we’re doing this
If you’re out of the playoffs by Week 15, there’s usually no reason to keep trying. You bench your good players, ignore your waiver wire, and coast to the end of the season.
This lottery gives you a reason to keep caring. Where you land in these final weeks changes your draft odds. So even if you’re not making the playoffs, you’ve still got something to play for.
The Urinal Cake Game
Same as always, our two worst teams play each other in the Urinal Cake Game. What’s new is what winning and losing actually mean now.
- Urinal Cake Winner: 28% chance at the #1 overall pick
- Urinal Cake Loser: 22% chance
Losing this game still stings, but it doesn’t lock you into last place anymore. It just means your odds are a little worse than the winner’s.
The Lottery Shootout
The other six non-playoff teams play out a bracket over Weeks 15 through 17. This is single elimination, so how far you advance is what sets your odds, not your total points.
- Shootout 1st: 15%
- Shootout 2nd: 11%
- Shootout 3rd: 9%
- Shootout 4th: 7%
- Shootout 5th: 5%
- Shootout 6th: 3%
If two teams get knocked out in the same round, we’ll break the tie using total points scored during bracket play. So points still matter, just as the tiebreaker, not the main event.
What happens after the top 3
The lottery only decides picks 1 through 3. Everything after that stays exactly the way it’s always worked: non-playoff teams get their usual TFV discount, and the rest of the draft order is set by locked keeper TFV, lowest to highest.
How the live draw works on Zoom
We’re not doing this behind the scenes. We’re drawing live, on the call, so everyone sees it happen in real time.
Each team’s odds are represented by actual balls in a virtual drum. The Urinal Cake winner gets 28 balls, the loser gets 22, and the rest get split up across the Shootout teams, for 100 balls total. Every team gets its own color, so you can watch your own odds the whole time.
The balls swirl around the whole time we’re on the call. When it’s time to draw a pick, we grab one ball at random. Whoever’s ball comes out wins that pick. We’ll throw up a big banner with the team name for a few seconds, then it settles into place on the board.
After each pick, we clear that team’s remaining balls out before we draw again. You’ll see a door open on the side of the drum and the balls exit. That keeps the odds accurate as we go, since a team that already won a pick shouldn’t still be in the mix for the next one.
We’re drawing pick 1 first, then pick 2, then pick 3. Nothing’s decided ahead of time. Whoever’s running the call pulls it up on screen and we all watch it happen together.
Bottom line
Win the Urinal Cake Game or make a deep run in the Shootout bracket, and you’ve got the best odds at the top pick. Come up short, and you’re still in the mix, just less likely to land there. Either way, these last few weeks actually matter, and you’ll see exactly how the draft order comes together.
See you on the call.
