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***Canadice***

State of the League

Gearing up for the final couple of weeks of the S25 season, we are coming to you with a half-time State of the League in addition to the regular one at the beginning of the season. This announcement will be tied to one subject; the size of the current player base.

As we touched on in the S25 State of the League and the S22 State of the League, the recent growth of the league has meant that the BoD is keeping a closer eye on the current player total and the number of starting XI positions in all current teams of both the Majors and Minors.

With the success of the S26 class (74 players, tied for 2nd most all time) and the current retention rates (80% active after the Academy season) we are seeing us hit the ceiling for available starting positions within the next two seasons. As a league, we strive to provide all active players with the chance to play starting XI minutes and in order for that to continue we will need to plan for an expansion.

The permanent and incentivized use of substitutions has been brought up many times during the league’s life as a way to extend the number of active players fielded during a season. However that option has never seen any real impact on league growth, instead we have used, and will continue to use, it as a temporary measure to mitigate the ceiling until a time where more teams and starting positions are introduced.

Expansion Announcement

The BoD has decided to announce an expansion for the S27 season, using the remainder of S25 and S26 to allow for applications, appointments of new managers, working on team brands and completion of the expansion draft.

The expansion will consist of (at minimum) two organizations, giving us a total of 14 organizations with 28 teams in total. The Final Form :™: of the league with 16 organizations (32 total teams in Major and Minor) split into two divisions is still the end goal and we will allow for us to jump to that structure if we deem it feasible during the application process.

For more information about the application process, please read the hiring post here.

The following processes are detailed using the 2 organization expansion structure and are subject to change if we go through with a 4 organization expansion.

Expansion Draft Process
The expansion draft will consist of 11 rounds of snake style picks where each Expansion Organizations (EXP) will pick one player/pick package from each organization. The final 12th player is the EXP OM who is assigned automatically as a pick from that organization for that EXP. This means that any organization will only lose two players during a normal draft process and the EXP will consist of 12 players prior to the S27 Prospect Draft.

Any co-applicant (EXP AM) needs to be drafted by the EXP in the 2nd round of the Expansion Draft.

If the EXP OM and AM come from the same organization, the organization is given the 2nd round pick from EXP in the S27 Prospect Draft as compensation.

Protection Lists
Each organization must send in a protection list to the BoD prior to the Expansion Draft. Each organization can by default protect 11 players while their OM is automatically protected and not part of the 11 slots.

The following players must be protected:

any Assistant Manager, whether they are active or retiring at the end of the S27 season
any player with a NMC, unless waived by the user

The following players must be left unprotected:

any EXP OM or AM, whether active or retiring at the end of the S27 season. The EXP must select this player as the pick from the organization.

An additional 2 protection slots can be “bought” by the organization for a package of draft picks which will then be available for any EXP to pick instead of a player from that organization. The cost for each slot is:

Slot A: S27 1st round pick + S27 3rd round pick
Slot B: S28 1st round pick + S27 2nd round pick

These picks do not necessarily have to be the organization’s own picks in the given draft and earlier round draft picks can be used as payment for the protection slot. For example Slot A can be bought by using an S27 1st + S27 2nd pick instead of the 3rd.

Any exposed player or pick package that is not drafted by any EXP at the conclusion of the Expansion Draft are returned to the original organizations.

Any player picked by an EXP in the Expansion Draft may not return to the original organization in Free Agency for the next FOUR (4) subsequent seasons (S27-S30). This includes exposed pending Free Agents for S27, who are considered part of the organization they were under contract with at the time of the protection list deadline in S26.

Retiring Players
Non-manager players that have announced their retirement prior to the Protection List deadline are excluded from both protection and exposed lists.

If an exposed non-manager player chooses to retire during S26 after the Protection List deadline or S27 after being selected in the Expansion Draft, the EXP who is selecting/selected that player will be given a compensatory pick in the closest upcoming Prospect Draft between the Xth and Yth round in order of retirement. For example if two selected players for EXP A retire prior to the S27 Prospect Draft, EXP A is given two compensatory picks, one between the 1st and 2nd round and one between the 2nd and 3rd round.

Trades
Trades between an EXP and a non-expansion organization are allowed prior to the start of the Expansion Draft. These trades are exempt from the Trade Deadline for S26.

These trades are handled internally between the organizations and the BoD until the conclusion and announcement of the Expansion Draft results, after which they are published on the forum as normal.

Any trades between non-expansion or EXP organizations are not allowed following the Trade Deadline of S26.

Prospect Draft
The EXP organizations will be given the 1st and 2nd picks in each round, the reverse order from the Expansion Draft 1st and 2nd picks.

If an EXP AM is an S27 Academy player with no retiring player, they must be drafted with the given 15/16 pick in the 2nd round.

If an EXP OM is an S27 Academy player with no retiring player, they must be drafted with any 1st round pick.

For any questions, please reach out to your nearest BoD member.

/Commissioners and BoD