http://rivals.myfootballnow.com/

Draft on and can't get in, has just happened

I'm back on now, but my browser (chrome) is saying 'Not secure', its weird because its only this league

It did this when I created that league as well. But it's not the league. It's the Google Ads widget that is notoriously prone to spreading malware through embedded JS attacks. Make sure you are using Adblock+.

This was on my phone and its rare for that to happen

Also, to fix this, you need to clear your cache.

help has arrived

ublock origin for google chrome = https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm

Just so you all know, this site runs on ads and credit sales. The ads bring in about 60% of the revenue. The total revenue is about 90% of the cost to run the site. The revenue from ads has been slowly decreasing disproportionately to the site traffic. Some of that may be because many of the users who play a lot have purchased credits. It could also be because the site needs a layout overhaul, which I have in progress. It may also be because of an increase in the use of ad blockers. A year ago, the revenue was covering right at 100% of the cost to run the site - which it had been doing for a while.

You may have noticed that I've had to slow down on the speed of development. I'm having to divert my attention to projects that can pay the bills. MFN, during its best months, has never done more than cover its costs.

I hope that this isn't an indication of a possible decline and demise of MFN. I've toyed around with changing the model to a subscription service, but I think most of you will agree the product is not strong enough to sustain a model where everyone is required to pay for it. But, I bring this up because, while I have no enforceable method to make sure that you don't use ad blockers and also understand the frustration of rogue ads getting through Google's servers (ironically, it is Google who serves the ads that then cause Google to block a site as malicious), I also want to be transparent about what using ad blockers means for the site and what it may mean for the future of the site.

I have no intention of shutting the site down at this point, but I pay for blocks of services at AWS 1 and 3 years at a time... and the current revenue is not keeping up with what will be required to renew those services. If the funds run out, I am not sure I'm going to continue to bankroll the project from my own pocket.

(Anyone with skill and knowledge to solve the above issues is free to PM me, I'm a programmer and not a marketer or businessman and am always open to hearing from people who are experts in their field in areas that I know I'm weak in)

My experience deals with building a digital audience, and leveraging analytics. I would have more time from June to October but could certainly amplify a non-existent social media imprint at no cost, and develop an easy-to-digest quick reference guide for newcomers. There is a chicken/egg problem, however. Without further development, you're not going to retain users. Without sustained users, you won't have the revenue to support development.

I'm curious what others thoughts are on the ad issues. I accept them as a financial reality. My biggest complaint is the obnoxious mobile ads (interstitials and sliding banners), but I tolerate them.

@JDB - you're not charging enough. Nowhere near. The game you have now is perfectly commercially viable. Does it have issues? Sure. But even with those issues I'd pay a subscription to play it. The upside of the subscription model is that you're far less likely to have owners randomly disappear from their teams. The down side is fewer players overall as you won't have freeloaders - or worse still freeloaders who adblock (pro-tip - there's already an adblocker for the game, it's called "buying credits".)

I bought $40 in credits when signing up, and with that I've run a league for 5 seasons, buying the right to edit every team each year. I still have $35 in credits left - you're not charging enough!

If you need some interim funding to cover the next AWS bill, stick up a Ko-Fi or GoFundMe link and run a month-long campaign to drum up some donations. I'd encourage all my guys to chip in as, I suspect, many other league admins would. Or you could go a step further and start a Patreon page to help fund ongoing development.

I know it has been discussed in the past, but has there been any consideration on going paid app based? I think in its present form, the Roster Only model would work and could at least help with the $$$ aspect??