Dear IFL Coach,
A truly historic set of events have taken place in one calendar year. Your commissioner has won his second IFL Superbowl, the Big Brett Christmas Annual Pie Bake Off, and the Riverbend Rally PaddleCross Canoe Race. These unbelievable feats coupled with the discovery of his 4% Norwegian heritage have created an absolute specimen of a human being - Oarling Haaland. In 2026, as he attempts the hat trick, three titles, you’ll be charged to withstand the great force of his mighty canoeing armada, led by the greatest viking to ever live - Oarling.
Here’s the rule changes we’re making for this year:
Amendment XXIII:
Players no longer will have a mandatory 24 hour hold after being dropped. They will go direct to either the next waiver, or free agency, depending on the timing of the drop.
Amendment XXIV:
IR Game-Lock Exceptions: Sleeper locks a player into their roster position once that player’s game begins. This can create situations where a coach is unable to properly use an IR spot because of a late injury designation, or can have their entire roster locked because a player left in an IR spot became active before their game.
Moving forward, the commissioner may intervene in these situations to recreate a roster move that could have legally been made prior to kickoff.
If a player is ruled Out within eight hours of his scheduled kickoff and is locked on the coach’s bench when the game begins, the commissioner may allow that player to be treated as if he had been moved from the bench to IR prior to kickoff, including allowing the corresponding roster transaction that the open roster spot would have permitted.
If the player was ruled Out more than eight hours before kickoff, no IR exception will be granted. It is the coach’s responsibility to make the necessary roster move before the player locks.
If the inactive player was instead left in the starting lineup, the league’s existing requirement that every owner put forth their best team still applies. As has historically been the case, the commissioner may move an inactive starter to the bench and replace him with an appropriate available player when necessary. However, that player will not also be retroactively moved from the bench to IR under this amendment. The IR game-lock exception is available only to players who were already on the bench when their game began.
The same protection applies in reverse. If a player becomes active but remains in an IR spot when his game begins, causing Sleeper to lock that player in IR and freeze the coach’s roster, the commissioner may allow the coach to make the roster move necessary to correct the situation rather than forcing them to drop the locked player.
These exceptions are intended only to work around Sleeper’s game-lock mechanics and cannot be used to gain a competitive advantage or intentionally use an IR spot as an extra roster position. Commissioner discretion will be used in cases where there is reason to believe the situation was intentionally created or exploited.
The buy-in is the same as last year’s, $60. With 18 owners, that now makes the total prize pool $1,080. The 2025 payout structure will be as follows:
Place Awards
Champion = $445
Runner-Up = $70
3rd Place = $10
Division Winner = $35
Wild Card = $8
Season Awards
Pick 'Em Champ = $25
The Bounty = $20
Regular Season Champ = $15
Weekly Awards
Highest Scoring Team = $15
Highest Scoring Player = $7
The draft will start at 6:00 PM on Sunday August 30th.
Godspeed men.