MTL Gameplay

MTL is a season-long, commissioner style, pick'em game with a twist: We use teaser lines to create a unique format of play that enhances excitement! Unlike fantasy football with its excessive weekly time commitment, MTL is fast and simple. There is no draft, no research, no debating over which players to start. Simply make your picks against a teaser spread every round and compete against each team in your league.

Win by getting ALL of your teased picks correct, lose by missing or pushing one pick. Miss more than one pick and incur a penalty. Every round, each team that loses concedes to each team that wins the number of MTL Points your Commissioner has set for your league. Every round is a new round and a new opportunity to make picks and move up in the standings.

There is an entry fee per team paid directly to MTL, who provides the technology and customer support that powers the game. The game’s format and real-time online platform ensure a uniquely exceptional and fun user experience. Included with the fee is the live scoring platform called MTL Gameday, which makes watching games on Sunday awesome. MTL also provides online picks, real-time standings, and league pick history that allows teams to track league data both for the current season and historic seasons. Teams can easily follow all the action and immediately see which teams won, lost, or are on the brink each round.

MTL is Fun

  • You get to root for NFL/CFB teams as a whole and watch football the way it was meant to be watched. Unlike fantasy where all the focus is on individual players.
  • Every game matters because even if your picks won, you still want other teams’ picks to go down.
  • On average over the course of a season, about half the league wins and half the league loses, so there is not just one or two big winners like you see in fantasy.
  • Unlike fantasy, where a big injury in the early season can derail your entire season, in MTL the standings shift every round so you are never out of it and a comeback is always possible.
  • MTL's software is great, making it easy to play and follow along in real time.
  • MTL offers NFL, College Football, and March Madness teaser leagues, and has more game formats in production. Look for an NBA and possibly NHL format coming soon.

MTL Points & Standings

After all the winners and losers are established for the round, each losing team concedes to each winning team the number of points the league Commissioner has established for the league (referred to as "MTL Points").

MTL Points accumulate over the course of the entire season and will be tracked on the standings page of the MTL platform. Your league’s Commissioner will reconcile the standings at the conclusion of the season.

A typical round in a league with 20 teams and 20 MTL Points.

In a league with 20 teams and a point amount of 20 MTL Points, there are 400 MTL Points up for grabs each round. Suppose in this league on a given round there are 5 teams that win and 15 teams that lose. The winning teams would gain 20 MTL Points from each of the 15 losing teams, for a total winning of 300 MTL Points for the round. Conversely, the losing teams would each concede 20 MTL Points to each of the 5 winning teams, for a total loss of 100 MTL Points for the round.

A typcial season (NFL = 22 & CFB = 21 rounds of action)

Continuing with the example above, a league with 20 teams playing for 20 MTL Points, on average would result in the biggest winner winning approximately 1,760 MTL Points and the biggest loser losing approximately 1,760 MTL Points and the rest of the league will fall somewhere in between.

It’s important for a Commissioner to know that the overall standings in the MTL is a function of BOTH League Size and the MTL Points. Both variables need to be managed in order to control the overall standings and set expectations for the teams in the league.

Season Total MTL Point Estimator

How do I get started?

Invite a group of friends and start a league today. Ideally 20 or more teams is best but leagues are still fun with as few as 10 teams. Pick one person to lead your league, referred to as the "Commissioner." Commissioners get their team’s MTL entry fee WAIVED (a $50 value) and MTL’s Commissioners Corner makes the job of a commissioner simple.

Establishing winners and losers

Every round, pick teams using the MTL Spread for each pick. The MTL Spread = published spread +13 points for NFL or +15 points for CFB. Because a team gets the benefit of the MTL Spread on each of its picks, the team must cover all picks in order to win for the round. Don’t cover or push one or more picks and lose for the round. A push is always considered a miss or not covered in MTL.

The Lions are playing the Packers and the Lions are favored by 6 points. The published spread would be Detroit -6 and Green Bay +6, and the MTL Spread would be Detroit +7 (-6+13=+7) and Green Bay +19 (+6+13=+19). So, in a given week, if a team wanted to pick the following NFL teams and associated published spreads: Denver +3; Oakland -17; San Fran -13; and Pittsburgh -7.5, its picks and associated MTL Spreads for that week would be: Denver +16; Oakland -4; San Fran +0 (or even); and Pittsburgh +5.5.

Note: Due to the nature of a MTL Spread, it is possible to pick both NFL teams playing each other in a game and cover both picks. We call this "The Straddle" and is essentially a prediction that the game will finish close to the published spread.

The Penalty Pot

In addition to the win/loss point structure of the picks, there is also a penalty that applies when teams miss more than one of their picks. It is used to break ties in the standings and provide a penalty for teams that make awful picks!

The idea is for teams to incur a penalty by conceding additional MTL Points into the Penalty Pot, which will then be distributed as additional MTL Points to the league’s top teams, or however the Commissioner sees fit, at the end of the season. A penalty is incurred if a team does not cover 2, 3, or all 4 of its picks in any given round, and penalties for a 3rd missed pick and a 4th missed pick can get progressively more punitive if the Commissioner selects a Progressive Penalty Pot.

Standard Penalty Pot

If a team loses for the round by failing to cover 1 of its 4 picks, then it is NOT subject to any penalty. However, if a team loses for the round by not covering 2 or more of its picks, then that team shall concede a fee of 2x the MTL Points to the Penalty Pot for that round. This example uses 2x the MTL Points but a Commissioner can set the penalty at any point level. Teams are subject to the Penalty Pot for each round of the season where more than 1 pick is made.

Progressive Penalty Pot

If a team loses for the round by failing to cover 1 of its 4 picks, then it is NOT subject to any penalty. However, if a team loses for the round by not covering 2 of its picks, then that team shall concede 2x the MTL Points to the Penalty Pot for that round. If a team loses for the round by not covering 3 of its picks, then that team shall concede 3x the MTL Points to the Penalty Pot for that round, and if that team missed all 4 picks it would concede 4x the MTL Points. This example uses 2x, 3x, 4x the MTL Points but a Commissioner can set the penalty at any point level. Teams are subject to the Penalty Pot for each round of the season where more than 1 pick is made.

End of Season Reconciliation

MTL Points for the season are tracked on the standings page of the MTL platform. Each league’s Commissioner will be responsible to reconcile the standings at the end of the year.

Official Rules

Always refer to the official rules for a full explanation of the game. NFL Rules | CFB Rules | NCAA Men's Conf. Tourney Rules | March Madness Rules