The Best Fantasy Football Draft Board Alternatives

A fantasy football draft board is a must have item for draft day, the day when leagues get together to socialize and hand-pick the winning championship team. Often, league commissioners get jammed up by having to write in each team’s selection and making their own choices at the same time. When I’m discussing draft board alternatives, I don’t intend to persuade any of you to avoid using a draft board. I think having one makes the experience ten times better.

However, there will always be fantasy football players and leagues that demand that they have unique needs and circumstances. That is why I have, reluctantly, broken down some of the best draft board alternatives (replacing the single use sticker boards).

Fantasy Football Draft Boards

Not every individual or league wants to pay the costs of having a new draft board every year. It’s completely understandable that they’d rather up their league fees and send that money to the winner. At the end of the day any draft board alternative that isn’t an online option is going to cost you money. Here are some of the top choices that I have seen implemented over the past 8 seasons.

1. The Classic

If you’ve been playing fantasy football for a few years you’ve likely experienced this one before. It tends to be a DIY model including some poster-board, a few markers and some tape/tacks to stick it to the wall.

It’s a quick, cheap and painless method that will get the job done. However it doesn’t take away from the experience ever so slightly. Many people will buy poster-board, draw some lines and then write the team names across the top and the round down the left-hand side.

It’s a good last minute move if you just created a league, however its one of my least favorite (minus drafting online). It keeps the spirit of drafting in person alive, however it usually isn’t color coded well enough to provide you with easy to scan names and positions as you move down the rounds.

2. The “I Almost Did It”

This is the “half-assed” model of actually buying a fantasy draft board. The league or commissioner likely voted down the idea of spending money on a board, so instead they purchased the color coded stickers for the players.

Although it isn’t all the way, I can respect this option. As long as you get serviceable poster-board or another alternative, you can have a great draft.

The stickers truly bring the board to life and allow everyone to enjoy the experience. If you don’t want to spend money on a draft board, at least consider buying the stickers. Your league will thank you in the long run.

3. Clicky Draft

I hate providing online solutions to drafting, however millions of people do it each year. So if you’re considering drafting in person but don’t want to spend any money, this may be your best bet.

You won’t have to use your sites drafting software, you won’t have to spend a dime and the virtual draft board will automatically resize to fit any size screen or monitor you use. I like to think of Clicky as a better alternative to using your sites software.

League commissioners can customize the board however they want, ensuring that if anyone needs to draft remotely, they can. The site also provides fantasy football rankings (although you should have your own by draft day), a chat room for those who are offsite and access to past drafts you may have done.

4. The Long-term Payoff

If your league is looking to make the commitment long-term, invest in a dry erase draft board. I’ve never personally had one, however it seems like it would be a great concept. You could also consider using a magnitized board or something to that effect, however you’d still need to get some updated names each season.

I’m sure there are some other great long-term fantasy football options out there, I just haven’t spent enough time with them to make a valuable recommendation.

Choosing a Fantasy Football Draft Board

Draft boards are essential for the fantasy football experience. Whether you choose to purchase one or use one of the recommendations from above, we wish you the best of luck in the coming season. Just make sure to prepare your ranks, study up and have fun. The second that any of this feels like a chore, you need to stop.

Do you have any other draft board alternatives that I missed? Share them below. I’d love to hear about them.