The Wiff is Life League has announced the first part of its plans for the 2019 season. Announced are the amount of teams, gameday formats, standings / playoffs information, and the registration and prizes details. The league will feature 10 teams and compete in a modified regular season. There will be six days throughout the season where games will be played. Over three of the days the teams will play each team one time, while playing three games per day. The other three days will be a double elimination bracket style format. Playoffs will have 6 teams battle it out for the gold.
The ten team limit is the first time in league history that there will be a restriction on the amount of teams. In the event of more than 10 teams registered, the league front office will meet and determine the ten teams competing. The league will look at many factors in their decision in accepting a team, which will be highlighted by the commitment of the roster to the league.
The gameday format has a little twist built in it this season. Teams will be guaranteed 15 games and can play up to 33 on their regular season schedule, it will all depend on how the team does on tournament days. The 3 regular days feature the normal 3 games per day, this season all 3 games will be against a different team. Those three days ensure each team plays the other one time. There will be 3 tournament days alongside those regular days. All tournament bracket seedings will be determined by a random drawing, taking place at least one week prior to the date. The tournament will be completed in one day in a double elimination style.
Playoffs for 2019 will take a similar look as they did in 2018, in the format way. The regular season standings will determine the seeding for the playoffs. Standings will be in a point system, teams will receive 2 points per win on a regular game day. For tournament days the top 5 finishers that day will receive points, starting with 1st place getting 5 points going in sequential order down to 1 point for the 5th place team. The top 5 finishers in the regular season standings will earn a spot in the 2019 playoffs. The 6th seed will then be determined by the “Six Seed Extravaganza”. The 8 seed will play the 7th seed in the first round of that extravaganza, following that the winner will take on the 6 seed for the final spot in the playoffs. The remainder of the playoffs will follow a normal 6 team seeded bracket that will be 3 game series. All playoffs will be completed in a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday span. The full schedule will be released this week by the WILL.
Commissioner, Jacob Davey, says that changes were made to “increase competitiveness” in the league and were talked over with the Rules Committee and the Co-Founder.
Team rosters will remain the same, with a minimum of 3 players and a maximum of 6. Prospective captains can register their team by clicking here. Upon acceptance each player will fill out a registration form of their own. The registration fee will be upped to $100 per team for the 2019 season. The league will be renting out fields and other added expenses caused the increase. Prizes are easier to acquire this year in response to the increased fee. Each of the 3 tournaments will feature prizes to the winners and the playoffs will payout to the top 3 finishers. The league is currently looking to create partnerships with local businesses to make more ways for players to earn prizes such as gift cards or vouchers. For all the latest news follow the WILL on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, @wiffislife. The season schedule and more on the 2019 season are set to be released later this week!