Expansion

[Chappy]

No for me as well.

[Qdog915]

I vote yes.

[tjsmith7 GA]

I'll vote no.  Don't think the talent pool can sustain expansion at this point.  We have to fix that and then give a couple of seasons to build up more talent for the new owners.  So it'd be like a double talent growth if we started now. Maybe that help with the dispersion draft.  Maybe that clusters things up too much.

[mstreeter06]

Expansion is definitely off the table until at least 2035 in my opinion judging by those who have posted their votes and concerns which are all certainly valid. I do want to get to 24 eventually but agree that we need to make sure the league is stable plus our current 20 franchises can handle expanding before we begin any concrete plans.

This topic will remain open to discussion as we continue to 2025 and beyond so please continue to post your thoughts and opinions.

[BaseballAddict32]

I think it should help that as the feeders are expanded teams should be able to build up more talent and that could make it more likely in 5 or so seasons that teams could be willing to vote for expanding at some point because they'd have more talent in their organization. So that definitely could be a bonus here.

[yuda]

I think expanding would have to be paired with chappy's suggestions about expanding the draft pool over time. Talent is thin as it is.

I like the idea of drafting for an expansion team in advance and building up a minor league system.

[mstreeter06]

No decision at this point and tabled for the future.

[mstreeter06]

While we work on getting the 2029 Offseason tasks completed, I figure we can discuss a few future ideas for the league..

I wanted to open up the Expansion discussion again to see how the league was feeling as we approach 2030 and OOTP17.

I still would love to get AFBL up to 24 teams at some point (I don't want to rush any future expansion like in 2017) and I think if we do expand, it should be lined with with a current version of OOTP to help attract new owners.

There are lots of great ideas and suggestions in this thread. Any thoughts/suggestions about the topic and/or potential timing from anyone?

[Ohio GM]

Still no from me.  Still feel the downward spin was a direct result of the loss of talent .

Now, if you want to expand without stealing my talent, no problems from me. 

[mikezone13]

Happy with 20 teams as is, no expansion from me.

[mstreeter06]

I'd still love to get to 24 teams eventually .

[Ohio GM]

Would it make sense to just create 4 teams with a complete computer generated players at all levels in a unaffiliated  league that runs for a year and then merge it into the AFBL at the end of a year or two  ?

Not really an expansion team, but teams that are more competitive right away.

[mstreeter06]

Would it make sense to just create 4 teams with a complete computer generated players at all levels in a unaffiliated  league that runs for a year and then merge it into the AFBL at the end of a year or two  ?

Not really an expansion team, but teams that are more competitive right away.

This is something I've had in mind as well as an option. Sort of like an independent league for teams to run alongside of AFBL and whenever the time is right, they can be promoted up or similar. I'm open to something like this or a traditional expansion team if this is something we eventually do as a league.

[JKGuy16]

We continue to have openings in the league right now.  I'm down with 24 but we need to actually go a couple seasons with 20 GMs and then make sure we have enough to cover those additional four teams. 

[mstreeter06]

We continue to have openings in the league right now.  I'm down with 24 but we need to actually go a couple seasons with 20 GMs and then make sure we have enough to cover those additional four teams.

I totally agree with this. I'm just planning for the future.