Every major sport, one fantasy league. Set a 10-player lineup drawn from across the sporting calendar — and prove you're the best all-around sports fan, not just the loudest one about a single game.
The goal isn't to be the best football fan or the best racing fan. It's to be the best all-around sports fan — the one who knows when to start a NASCAR driver at Bristol, flex an EPL striker on a midweek Champions League night, and grab a tennis player for a major.
Your active roster holds 15 players and stays the same year-round. 10 start each week, 5 sit on the bench.
The scoring week runs Monday through Sunday. Every game or event that concludes in that window counts toward that week's score.
Your lineup rolls over week to week until you change it. Go quiet and the team keeps playing — but a starter whose sport is in offseason scores zero.
| Sport | In Season |
|---|---|
| NFL | September – early February |
| NBA | October – mid-June |
| MLB | Late March – early November |
| NHL | October – mid-June |
| NASCAR Cup Series | February – November |
| IndyCar | March – September |
| PGA Tour | Year-round |
| MLS | February – December |
| English Premier League | August – May |
| Formula 1 | March – December |
| WNBA | May – October |
| Sport | In Season |
|---|---|
| College Football | August – January |
| College Basketball | November – April |
| BIG3 | Mid-June – August (~13 game dates) |
| Category | When |
|---|---|
| UFC | Most weekends — PPV & Fight Nights |
| Men's Tennis Major | Australian, French, Wimbledon, US Open — final week only |
| Women's Tennis Major | Australian, French, Wimbledon, US Open — final week only |
| Major Horse Racing | Triple Crown, Travers, Breeders' Cup, Pegasus |
Your starting 10 must come from at least 6 of the 18 sports. You can't load up on one sport and call it a day.
No more than 2 starters from any single sport. The diehard can't ride three quarterbacks.
You can start any rostered player, but a starter whose sport is in its offseason scores zero that week — an NFL receiver started in May earns nothing. Keep your lineup current.
Each starter locks individually at their event start — Sunday kickoff, NBA tip, NASCAR green flag, PGA first tee. No single weekly deadline.
Why the rules: they force you to actually play multiple sports. That's the whole point of the league — breadth over depth.
For multi-game sports (NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, College Basketball) and multi-match soccer, only the player's single best game or match of the week counts. Hunt ceiling, not volume.
Counts: league, domestic & continental cups, Club World Cup, senior national team.
If he plays, he scores. Mid-season trades don't break your roster — the player follows the player. National team call-ups and international competitions (Olympics, Four Nations) count. A soccer transfer between MLS and EPL moves the roster spot automatically on the official transfer date.
Exhibitions never count. NFL preseason, NBA/MLB preseason, soccer friendlies, F1/NASCAR exhibitions, and All-Star games of any sport are all excluded.
The season runs November through October — all 52 weeks, no offseason. Each week (Mon–Sun), the highest total lineup score takes the week. Four seasonal quarters, each a 10-week regular season capped by a 2-week playoff, then a 4-week Grand Championship every October. The calendar is timed so the Grand Championship final lands on the sport's biggest fall weekend — World Series, NASCAR's Finale, and the Breeders' Cup at once — so the start floats by a week or so year to year.
Win the Winter quarter playoff. Nov–Jan.
Win the Spring quarter playoff. Feb–Apr.
Win the Summer quarter playoff. May–Jul.
Win the Fall quarter playoff. Mid-Jul–Sep.
Most total weekly wins across all four quarters. Tiebreaker: total points.
The big one. Win the October Grand Championship.
| Quarter | Dates | Headline |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | Nov – Jan | CFP · NFL playoffs |
| Spring | Feb – Apr | Super Bowl · Madness · Masters |
| Summer | May – Jul | NBA/NHL Finals · Indy 500 · Wimbledon |
| Fall | mid-Jul – Sep | MLB stretch · US Open · CFB kickoff |
| Grand Champ. | October · 4 wk | World Series · NASCAR title |
Each quarter is 10 weeks of regular season + a 2-week playoff. Weekly wins reset to zero each new quarter — a slow start never sinks your year.
Every quarter ends in a 2-week playoff — all 8 owners play. The top 4 by weekly wins enter the Title bracket (Semifinals 1v4, 2v3, then a Final and a 3rd-place game); the Final winner is that Quarter Champion. The bottom 4 play a consolation bracket in the same format. Every game decides a placement, so all 8 teams get a 1–8 finish that sets the supplemental-draft order.
A 4-week finale, two-week rounds. The four Quarter Champions play for Annual Champion; the other four play for the #1 pick in November's draft. Each bracket also plays a 3rd-place game, so the full 1–8 finish sets the November draft order.
2026 transition: the new calendar takes effect mid-year, so only Summer and Fall crown Quarter Champions this season. The October 2026 Grand Championship fills its Title bracket with the two next-best teams by weekly wins. Normal four-champion seeding starts in 2027.
Waivers process Tuesday night, priority by inverse standings — worst team claims first. After they clear Wednesday morning, anyone unclaimed is a free agent, first-come first-served until the next cycle.
Drop any player any time — except a starter whose event has already locked (a benched player is always droppable). A 48-hour re-add lockout applies to anyone — including you — to stop dump-and-grab schemes.
Propose year-round except playoff weeks — frozen during the 2-week quarter playoffs and the 4-week October Grand Championship. Recipient accepts, then commissioner approval — anti-collusion only; bad trades are allowed. Ignored offers auto-decline at 72h; commissioner review auto-approves at 24h.
UFC, tennis, and horse racing players hit free agency one week before their event. Standard waiver/FCFS rules. They auto-drop after the event resolves unless kept on a roster slot.
Snake, in-app, held in November after the Grand Championship and keeper deadline (90-sec clock). Order follows the Grand Championship's full 1–8 finish: the Draft-bracket winner gets the #1 pick, the Annual Champion picks 7th, the runner-up last.
Async draft between every quarter to re-tool. Protect 11, expose 4. Claim up to 4 from free agents plus everyone's exposed players. Order follows the quarter's 1–8 playoff finish — Consolation-bracket winner first, Quarter Champion 7th, runner-up last; every game's winner picks ahead of its loser. Each claim drops you back to 15; lose an exposed player and you get a make-up pick.
Keep 5 players into next season; the other 10 spots return to the draft. Each keeper costs a draft pick — and the cost climbs the longer you hold.
| Scenario | Yr 1 cost | Yr 2 | Yr 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drafted Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 (cap) | Round 1 |
| Drafted Round 5 | Round 5 | Round 3 | Round 1 |
| Drafted Round 14 | Round 14 | Round 12 | Round 10 |
| Waiver pickup | Round 12 | Round 10 | Round 8 |
Cost rises +2 rounds per consecutive year held, capped at Round 1. No sport limit on keepers (weekly lineup rules still cap at 2). Tier 3 players can't be kept. Keeper cost travels with the player through a trade or supplemental-draft poach; a true free-agent claim resets to Round 12. Picks due 48 hours after the October Grand Championship, before the November draft.
The 52 League is a year-round, multi-sport fantasy competition among friends and family. Recreational, not commercial. 8 owners total, by invitation, confirmed by the Commissioner.
Mike Burch serves as Commissioner — maintains the app and data, approves or vetoes trades, resolves disputes, enforces the bylaws, proposes amendments, and enters results for any sport off automated feeds.
Limits: no unilateral power to change scoring mid-season, reverse completed games or transactions, add/remove owners without league discussion, or alter their own roster outside normal competition.
Term: serves until stepping down or replaced by a 6-of-8 vote.
Tier 1 (keeper): NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, IndyCar, PGA Tour, MLS, EPL, F1, WNBA. Tier 2 (keeper-eligible, in-season): College Football, College Basketball, BIG3. Tier 3 (event-week): UFC, Men's & Women's Tennis (Grand Slam final weeks only), Major Horse Racing.
Adding or removing a sport requires a 6-of-8 vote before a season starts.
15 players per owner — 10 starters, 5 bench. No position-locked slots; all are flex-eligible subject to the sport-diversity rules in Article V.
10 starters per week. Minimum 6 different sports, maximum 2 per sport. You can start any rostered player, but an out-of-season starter scores zero; Tier 3 players count toward diversity when they have an event that week.
Lineups carry over until changed. Each starter locks individually at their event start — no single weekly deadline. A carried-over starter who is in offseason, dropped, or ineligible scores zero.
Each sport is calibrated so a great week tops out near 50 points. Scoring week is Mon–Sun. For multi-game sports and multi-match soccer, only the player's best game/match of the week counts.
"If he plays, he scores" — trades, national-team call-ups, and international competitions all count; MLS↔EPL transfers move the roster spot on the official transfer date. Exhibitions and All-Star games never count. No negative weekly totals — a player floors at zero.
Full sport-by-sport rules live in the app and are summarized in the Scoring section above.
The season runs November through late October — 52 weeks, no offseason. Four quarters named for the seasons (Winter Nov–Jan, Spring Feb–Apr, Summer May–Jul, Fall mid-Jul–Sep), each nominally 12 weeks: a 10-week regular season plus a 2-week playoff. The final four weeks (October) are the Grand Championship. The season is anchored to that year's championship Finale weekend — the Grand Championship final is scheduled to end on the NASCAR season Finale, alongside the World Series and Breeders' Cup — so the Commissioner sets the start date each season and the calendar flexes ±1 week, absorbed in one quarter's regular season. For 2026, week 1 is Monday Nov 10, 2025, putting the final on Oct 26 – Nov 8. Each week the highest total lineup score wins (tiebreaker: most individual high scores); weekly wins reset each quarter. Six win conditions: the four Quarter Champions, the Regular Season Champion (most total weekly wins), and the Annual Champion. Weeks are named by quarter (e.g. Summer Week 5), with playoff rounds named Semifinals / Final.
Each quarter ends with a 2-week playoff: all 8 owners, seeded by that quarter's weekly wins. The top 4 form the Title bracket (Semifinals 1v4, 2v3; then a Final and a 3rd-place game) → Quarter Champion; the bottom 4 play a consolation bracket in the same format. Every game decides a placement, so the 1–8 finish sets the supplemental-draft order. The October Grand Championship is a 4-week finale with two-week rounds: the four Quarter Champions in the Title bracket play for Annual Champion; the other four in a Draft bracket play for the November #1 pick — each bracket also plays a 3rd-place game, so the full finish sets the November order. Trades freeze during all playoff weeks; waivers and free agency stay open. 2026 bridge: only Summer & Fall crown champions, and the October Title bracket fills with the two next-best by weekly wins — normal seeding from 2027.
Main draft: snake, in-app, held in November after the Grand Championship and keeper deadline (90-second clock). Order follows the Grand Championship's full 1–8 finish: the Draft-bracket winner gets the #1 pick, the Annual Champion picks 7th, the runner-up last; then it snakes. Year 1's draft ran on a Google Sheet over Zoom with a random order; in-app thereafter. No sport-restricted rounds.
Quarterly supplemental drafts run async at each quarter boundary: protect 11, expose 4; the pool is all free agents plus everyone's exposed players; order follows the quarter's 1–8 playoff finish (Consolation-bracket winner first, Quarter Champion 7th, runner-up last), then snakes. Claim up to 4 (drop-to-15 on each), with make-up picks for any exposed player you lose. Tier 3 players are draftable but never keepers.
Waivers process Tuesday night, priority by inverse standings. Unclaimed players become first-come free agents Wednesday morning. Drops allowed anytime — except a starter whose event has already locked (benched players always droppable) — with a 48-hour re-add lockout. Tier 3 players reach free agency one week before their event and auto-drop after it resolves unless kept. During a quarterly supplemental draft, weekly waivers and free agency pause and resume once it completes.
Proposable year-round except playoff weeks — frozen during the 2-week quarter playoffs and the 4-week October Grand Championship. Proposer may rescind before a response; accepted trades go to commissioner review. Vetoes are reserved for collusion or clear competitive-balance violations and must be explained to both parties. Keeper round-cost follows the player through trades and supplemental-draft poaches. Offers auto-decline at 72 hours; commissioner review auto-approves at 24 hours.
Keep 5 players; the other 10 return to the draft. Year 1 cost = original draft round (waiver pickups = Round 12), rising +2 rounds per consecutive year, capped at Round 1. A player's keeper cost travels with them through a trade or supplemental-draft poach; only a true free-agent claim resets to Round 12. No sport limit. Tier 3 players cannot be kept. Selections due 48 hours after the October Grand Championship, before the November draft — miss it and you enter a full redraft with no keepers. Retired/inactive players release automatically.
The league iOS app is the system of record for rosters, lineups, scoring, standings, trades, and waivers. All owners need an Apple ID and a capable iPhone. Lineup locks, trades, waiver results, and standings come via push notification. A group chat is encouraged for trash talk but is not the official record.
Owners check the app at least weekly and answer trade offers within 72 hours. Three straight weeks of inactivity gets flagged; repeated inactivity is grounds for end-of-season removal. No tanking, collusion, or bad-faith trades. Removal requires a 6-of-8 vote (excluding the owner in question); replacement is by commissioner invitation.
Buy-in is TBD by league vote at the inaugural meeting — could be $0 (bragging rights) or a pooled cash structure, with payouts allocated across the six win conditions. Digital banners in the app mark every win condition regardless of cash.
Any owner may propose an amendment; proposals are voted during the Grand Championship and, if passed by a 6-of-8 vote, take effect for the next season — before the November draft, which follows immediately. The Commissioner may amend the bylaws at any time in the best interests of the league.
These bylaws take effect upon adoption at the inaugural meeting prior to the first draft, in November.
Eight owners, one year-round season running November through October. A few seats remain for the inaugural year. Leave your name and we'll be in touch with an invite and a TestFlight link.