Fantasy Court

Held: Where a league punishment draft winner selected “hot ones audition tape” without defining parameters ex ante, the minimum requirements are: (1) a video featuring the punished manager eating ten wings with hot sauce while answering questions from league members in the format of the television show; (2) submission of the completed video to the show’s host; and (3) use of at least one genuinely punishing hot sauce such as Da Bomb, though authentic Hot Ones brand sauces for all wings are not required where cost would exceed reasonable bounds relative to league stakes.

Held: A dynasty league trade executed under mutual mistake of player identity warrants partial reversal with punitive damages. Where both parties believed “T. Etienne” referred to Travis Etienne rather than Trevor Etienne, we restore the 2026 second-round pick but forfeit the 2027 third-round pick to balance equitable relief against the initiating party’s duty of reasonable diligence.

Held: A fantasy manager hospitalized for nine hours immediately preceding Thursday Night Football is entitled to retroactive roster substitution. The hospitalization constituted a genuine medical emergency beyond the manager’s control, and the league operates as a competitive but not high-stakes environment.

Held: Threatening to disclose a league member’s conduct to his spouse in exchange for favorable trade consideration constitutes blackmail. Such coercion violates fundamental principles of fair dealing and may not be used to extract fantasy football value.

Held: A league rule requiring any manager whose player scores zero points to shotgun a beer applies uniformly to all zero-point performances, including early-game injuries. The rule’s plain language admits no exceptions, and the randomness of injury-based zeros serves the rule’s purposes of entertainment and league camaraderie.

Held: An unwritten league rule providing that any team scoring exactly 69.0 points automatically wins must be enforced when a team legitimately achieves that threshold. A rule consistently discussed and acknowledged over ten years, whenever teams approached 69.0 points, demonstrates universal awareness and acceptance among league members.

Held: A league commissioner may trade with fantasy football novices, but faces heightened fiduciary duties. He must choose one of two permissible paths: nurture these members to become engaged participants, or exploit their ignorance ruthlessly and accept the consequences. He may not “thread the needle” by extracting maximum value while avoiding detection.

Held: A Commissioner who ignores explicit written instructions from an auto-drafted team owner and systematically acquires the specifically requested players for himself engages in textbook self-dealing and abuse of power requiring immediate player swaps and, where appropriate, retroactive scoring adjustments to remedy competitive harm caused by the Commissioner’s misconduct.

Held: Championship competitors who deliberately bench their entire rosters to force a 0-0 tie and split the prize money forfeit the right to have their names engraved on the league trophy. They got the money. They may not also claim the glory.

Held: League members may not veto a trade negotiated in good faith between two engaged managers solely on the basis that one party’s roster is already competitive and the trade would further improve that team’s championship odds.