How to Leave Your Fantasy Football League
When it comes to fantasy sports, everyone is capable of hitting their breaking point. Perhaps you’ve just hit a cold streak and are sick of flushing money (and pride) down the drain. Maybe life demands have taken over your time. There are countless other reasons why a fantasy manager in any sport might decide that calling it quits is in his or her best interest.
So even though we’re in the business of fantasy sports enjoyment and inclusion, we get the realities of life. If leaving your fantasy football league, whether it’s from Sleeper or another platform, is a must, then read on so you can take action.
Reasons for Quitting a Fantasy Football League
As we were saying, life happens. Fantasy football can be a welcome distraction from all of it, but it can also become a time-sucking burden, depending on your personal situation. With that said, here are a few common reasons why you may decide to quit a fantasy football league.
Toxic relationships with other league players
Maybe the trash talk has crossed the line, or perhaps a trade debacle or some other league controversy has threatened to turn things hostile for the long haul. If that toxicity becomes too overwhelming and ruins the fun, and no amount of peace talks will mend the fences, then backing away might be a good idea.
Just for the record: fantasy football is supposed to be a fun and loose outlet where jokes can fly and managers can be roasted. There’s no need to be excessive with it, and nobody should feel pushed to the brink of quitting because of other managers’ actions.
Lack of time to properly manage your team
This is likely the most common reason for quitting. Between work, kids and other life stressors, you might forget to check the Sunday morning inactives and start a receiver who isn’t playing. Or maybe it slips your mind to put in your FAAB bids or waiver claims on Tuesday night because of the big project that’s due that week.
Whatever the reason, it’s understandable if, over time, fantasy football becomes less and less of a priority. If it hits the point where you can’t maintain the integrity of your team and you feel detached altogether, then it’s time to go. It’s easy enough to set reminders for yourself to check and set your lineups, so you may want to try that before withdrawing to see if that will help first.
It’s not a wise move financially
Perhaps you’re in a league with a buy-in that, due to whatever is going on in your life, suddenly is not a worthwhile investment. Your finances are your business, and if that money is better served elsewhere, then don’t commit it to fantasy football.
Note: Sleeper’s season-long leagues are free and don’t require a buy-in; any financial elements would be handled privately and offline by leagues and their commissioners.
You’re just no good
There’s no shame in admitting that after years of failing to win you’ve had enough. Depending on how competitive your league is, it could be incredibly hard to get lucky even one year (and don’t kid yourself: luck and good fortune are big factors when it comes to fantasy football success). If you’re sick of taking the Ls, then call it a day and move on, but if you keep at it, the ball will likely bounce your way one of these years.
How Can You Leave a Fantasy Football League? 4 Tips
If you’re going to leave your fantasy league, please consider doing it the right way. An abrupt, poorly timed and unexpected exit will leave the rest of your league scrambling and reeling, which is not fair in the least. Here’s a small and simple guide to follow.
1. Give ample notice to the commissioner
Should you come to the conclusion that you’re out, communicate it to your commissioner with time to spare so he or she can make for the proper accommodations to replace you. If you’re in a head-to-head league, your departure will make for an uneven number of teams, which threatens to turn your league’s season upside down. If the commish can set out on finding a replacement in time, then there’ll be no problems carrying on.
2. If possible, leave before the draft (or after the season)
If someone is going to be replacing you, they should have the opportunity to draft their own squad. Bolting mid-season or simply after the draft is rather selfish and does not take into consideration what that would do to the other managers in the league. There are exceptions and extenuating circumstances of course, but you also have from January to August to make your decision, so there’s no reason it needs to come down to the wire.
3. Be honest about the reasons you’re leaving
Nobody should hold it against you that you need to quit your league. Just be upfront and share your reasoning, as long as it’s not extremely private or, for some reason, threatens national security, and your decision will be accepted. If you're oddly cryptic and quiet about it, fellow managers will probably have more questions than answers.
4. Wait on finding a replacement unless asked
It may be the easiest solution for your league if you have a ready-made replacement lined up, but that might not be what the rest of your league wants. Considering that they’re the ones who will be carrying on playing while you back away, they deserve the right to choose the next member. If they do want your assistance in filling out the league, then by all means open up the Rolodex and phone a friend.
How to Leave a Fantasy Football League on Sleeper
We would hate to see you go, but if you have your reasons, then so be it. Sleeper makes it easy to leave or delete your league before a season begins or after it ends. Here are the steps you can take:
- Open the Sleeper app
- Find the League tab before moving onto League Settings
- Scroll to find “Leave League”
- Tap that and confirm your departure
If scoring has started for your league’s season, then a team cannot quit and leave the league. Its ownership can be taken over by someone else or, more drastically, the whole league can be blown to smithereens and deleted. That measure should only be taken if everyone decides as a whole that the league should not stand in the event that one manager wants out. Tread carefully.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove teams from my fantasy football league?
If you’re a commissioner, you should have the controls in your league settings to delete teams (and replace them) no matter what platform you’re using.
How do I delete a fantasy league?
If the whole league is going under, then you’ll have to abide by whatever settings your platform allows for as it relates to deleting a league. On Sleeper, it’s quite simple to find the “delete league” option under the settings.
Can I quit a dynasty league?
It’s easier to bolt from redraft leagues, since things reset every offseason (save for the occasional keeper, if that is part of your league’s custom settings). Dynasty leagues have a longer-term buy-in, though, and finding a replacement owner means turning to someone who is willing to take on the outlook of the team whose manager is stepping away.
So yes, of course you can still quit. No fantasy team is part of a binding contract (none that we know of, anyway). But there are bigger implications to quitting a dynasty league, where all managers are taking into account present and future seasons.
In Case You’re Having Second Thoughts…
This article may be about how to leave a fantasy league, but if you’re itching to join a new one or are just seeking a more user-friendly platform with top-notch features, then give Sleeper a try. You can get started either by signing up on the website or downloading the app, and from there you can explore all of the bells and whistles that Sleeper has to offer.
If you are still done with season-long fantasy leagues altogether but don’t want to be totally left out from the fun, try playing daily fantasy sports (DFS) with Sleeper Picks. You can maximize your winnings up to 100x just by making a few selections involving players and whether they will exceed or fall short of their projected stats, and you can take advantage of Sleeper’s generous deposit match when you sign up.