How to Play

Play the Draft® is an interactive fantasy game that is simple to play. Don’t let the “stock market” lingo make you think the game is more difficult than it actually is. Play the Draft® is simpler than your typical fantasy football competition and has broad appeal to both avid and casual fans. If you are a “draftnik” who aspires to be a scout or express your opinion on who will be drafted where on draft night, you are going to love Play the Draft®. If you are a casual fan who might not be interested in tracking your portfolio daily, then pick your draft stocks once and join in on draft night fun with friends as your stocks prove to be winners or losers as the actual draft order becomes known.

Your goal is to find “draft stocks” that you believe are undervalued

Every player begins the competition with $12 million in “rookie salary cap” fantasy dollars, with the goal of having the highest value portfolio in your league after the third round of the draft. Check your team/fund often, as stock prices are adjusted daily as NFL Draft analysts update their mock drafts based on new information. You can change the draft stocks in your team/fund at any time until 2 hours before the start of the NFL Draft at 7pm EST on April 25, 2013. Then, while watching the draft, see where the athletes in your team/fund are selected and compare your team/fund value to those of your friends in the global competition or your own private league.

Draft Stocks

Every athlete competing for selection in the first 3 rounds of the NFL Draft has a “draft stock” that you can pick for your fund. You either own the stock or you don’t – there is no owning fractional shares or multiple shares of the same stock, and no “short sales” that allow your fund to increase in value if the athlete’s stock falls in value.

Cap Values

There is a pre-determined “value” for each pick in the NFL Draft, which represents the estimated NFL rookie salary for the athlete chosen with that pick. For 2013, the estimated rookie salary for the #1 pick is $3.8 million (in the game, all values are in 000s, so the stock value is shown as $3,800). The 5th pick is $3.0 million, the 10th pick, $2.25 million, and so on until the projected last pick of the 3rd round, which is in the ballpark of $550,000. (View the official cap values for the 2013 Draft Season.)

Price Floor

Play the Draft® continues through the first three rounds of the Draft (April 25-26, 2013). The minimum price for any athlete stock is $425 (representing a rookie salary of $425,000, or the estimated average of the rookie salaries of 4th to 7th round draft picks and rookie free agents). If an athlete in your portfolio is not selected in rounds 1-3 (including any supplemental picks added at the end of round 3), the liquidation value for those stocks will be $425.

Buy low, sell high, repeat

Find the draft stocks of the athletes you know and check out their current price. The “FRX Index” value will help you quickly translate the current price to the corresponding draft selection. For example, a 12.5 FRX Index means that the current price, $2,025, is halfway between the cap values for the 12th pick, $2,050, and the 13th pick, $2,000. If you believe the draft stock for the athlete is undervalued because you expect him to be drafted by the team holding the 5th pick, then pick up the stock for your team/fund.

You can see how your favorite athletes are currently valued relative to where you think they will ultimately be drafted by using the FRX value finder.