The Sky Sports Fantasy Football game for 2017/18 was officially launched on Wednesday.
This time around, the top prize has been doubled to a substantial ยฃ50,000 โ incentive enough to assemble a team in time for kick-off on August 11.
Itโs also worth noting that Sky Sports have introduced a handful of tweaks to their rules and scoring system for 2017/18.
We take a look at the main implications belowโฆ
Overhaul
Without doubt, Sky Sports’ biggest bombshell for this season is the new Overhaul feature, as described in the rules section on the site:
โFor 2017/18 we have introduced our new Overhaul feature. You will be able to take advantage of Overhaul twice this season; once in September and the other taking place in February. During these weeks, you will be able to make an unlimited amount of transfers but must remain within the budget of ยฃ100 million. These transfers will not come out of your 40-player transfer limit.โ
Akin to FPLโs wildcard, this new feature looks set to shape the way that Fantasy managers will play the game, with initial team selection likely to be heavily focused on the opening few weeks.
By using the Members ticker feature here on Fantasy Football Scout, you can stack up on the teams with favorable fixtures from the get-go.
Captain Scheduling
One of Sky Sportsโ biggest draws is the multi-captain angle and, thankfully, itโs here to stay for the season ahead.
They have, however, rolled out a scheduling feature to help Fantasy managers keep on top of mid-Gameweek swaps โ you can now pick your captain for each matchday ahead of time to avoid last-minute Wi-Fi related panics.
The Scoring System
There is just one tweak here, though itโs a welcome one that should help improve the prospects of defenders.
โDefenders will now only start to receive -1 point per goal conceded after the first goal they let in.โ
Shipping just one goal now means defenders hold on to their two appearance points rather than dropping to one as in previous years. Defenders from the lesser teams are therefore likely to hold more appeal than before and could begin to represent decent value for the season ahead.
Weekly Articles and Podcast
We’re delighted to announce that we will be back supporting the Sky Sports game with weekly articles again for 2017/18.
This begins with our pre-season coverage.
Over the next few weeks, weโll be providing Player Price List analysis articles, Man of the Match analysis and much more.
Also, Iโll be talking through the weekโs action and upcoming plans with FFS posters Buffrey and Lewis on our regular podcast โ the latest episode can be found here.
There will also be a new community article to exclusively deal with Sky Sports Fantasy teams.
Those looking to get involved should click this link.
Scout League
Of course, we have already set up our Fantasy Football Scout League and after winning the League of Leagues for each of the last four seasons, weโre looking to defend our crown in 2017/18.
Get your teams in โ the name is FFScout and the pin number to join is 8300422.
