Auction Draft Setup

Configure an auction draft's budget, roster target, nomination order, bid clock, and keeper salaries before opening the room.

An auction draft replaces the normal pick-by-pick order with a repeating nomination and bidding cycle. Every team can compete for every available player, but each team must fill its roster without spending more than its starting budget.

Auction is a draft type, not a league format. You can use it with Re-Draft, Keeper, or Rookie leagues.

Understand what changes in an auction

Snake, linear, and custom drafts assign each selection to a team before the draft begins. An auction uses the configured team order only to decide who nominates next.

For every nomination:

One team chooses an available player and a whole-dollar starting bid.
The nominated player is revealed to the room.
Teams submit literal bids or private maximum bids from their phone controllers, depending on the selected bidding mode.
The player is sold to the highest bidder when the bid clock expires.
DRAFTNIGHT deducts the purchase price, adds the player to the winner's roster, and advances to the next eligible nominator.

The draft ends after every team fills its roster target. Auction rooms do not use a round-by-round pick grid, and live pick or player trading is not available during the auction.

Configure the auction settings

In Draft Settings, select Auction as the draft type, then review these values:

Setting	How it works
Starting budget	Gives every team the same amount to spend. The default is $200, and the allowed range is $1 to $10,000.
Bid clock	Sets the initial bidding time for each nominated player. The default is 15 seconds, and the allowed range is 5 to 120 seconds.
Bidding mode	Proxy bidding uses private maximums and remains the default. Direct bidding makes every submitted amount the immediate public price.
Rounds or roster	Determines how many total players each team must finish with. Keepers already assigned to a team count toward that total.
Team order	Determines the first nominator and the rotating nomination order. Full teams are skipped automatically.

The nomination clock is fixed at 30 seconds. The minimum starting bid and minimum bid increment are both $1.

Arrange teams in the order you want nominations to begin. Unlike a snake draft, that order does not reverse; it cycles back to the first eligible team after reaching the end.

Plan budgets around open roster spots

DRAFTNIGHT protects enough budget for every team to finish its roster. A team's displayed Max Bid is its remaining budget minus $1 for each roster spot that would still be empty after the current purchase.

This budget limit applies in both bidding modes. Direct bidding removes automatic proxy-price protection; it does not let a team spend money reserved for its remaining roster spots.

For example, a team with $20 remaining and three open spots can bid at most $18 on the current player. The other $2 remains available for the final two spots. After a team fills every roster spot, it can no longer bid or nominate.

For Re-Draft and Keeper leagues, the configured roster supplies the roster target. For Rookie leagues, the number of rounds supplies the target. Confirm this total before launch because the auction completes as soon as every team reaches it.

Set salaries for auction keepers

Assign keepers to their teams during team setup. When Auction is selected, enter a positive whole-dollar salary for every keeper in Auction Settings.

Each keeper:

Counts as one filled roster spot.
Deducts its salary from that team's starting budget before live bidding begins.
Remains unavailable to nominate during the auction.

Every team must retain at least $1 for each roster opening left after its keepers. DRAFTNIGHT prevents launch if keeper salaries leave a team unable to fill the rest of its roster.

Review the room before launch

Before selecting Create Draft Room, confirm:

Auction is the selected draft type.
The starting budget and bid clock match your league's rules.
The roster target or rookie round count is correct.
Teams appear in the intended nomination order.
Every keeper has the correct team and salary.
Every team can afford at least $1 for each remaining roster opening.
Team owners know whether entered amounts are private maximums in Proxy mode or immediate purchase prices in Direct mode.

After creating the room, have every owner join and claim the correct team before the commissioner starts the draft. See Hosting & Joining a Draft for the room workflow.

Continue with the live auction

Read Auction Nominations & Bidding before draft night. It explains the 30-second nomination turn, automatic nominations, both bidding modes, late-bid clock resets, sales, and commissioner controls.

For general league configuration, return to League & Draft Setup. For display, audio, and connection guidance, see Draft Controls & Broadcast.