2002-2010 Founding Era
RFFL history starts in 2002. These seasons are part of the knowledge base, but they do not currently have the same structured season folders as the ESPN-era records from 2011 onward.
Use this page as the public coverage marker for the founding and pre-ESPN seasons. It explains what is represented, what sources support it, and where the current data stops.
Era Summary
| Years | Platform | Teams | Schedule | Current treatment |
|---|
| 2002 | Yahoo Fantasy Sports | 10 | Weeks 1-13 regular season, Weeks 14-16 playoffs | Founding season with archived/curated evidence |
| 2003-2006 | Fanball Custom Leagues | 10 | Weeks 1-13 regular season, Weeks 14-16 playoffs | Pre-ESPN legacy platform coverage |
| 2007-2010 | Fanball Custom Leagues | 12 | Weeks 1-13 regular season, Weeks 14-16 playoffs | Expanded pre-ESPN league coverage |
Individual Season Pages
These pages now exist as source-bounded historical pages. They document platform, schedule era, team registry, division structure, finance category amounts, and validated award/payout recipients.
| Page | Platform | Team count | Public treatment |
|---|
| 2002 Season | Yahoo Fantasy Sports | 10 | Founding season coverage |
| 2003 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 10 | Pre-ESPN legacy coverage |
| 2004 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 10 | Pre-ESPN legacy coverage |
| 2005 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 10 | Pre-ESPN legacy coverage |
| 2006 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 10 | Final ten-team season |
| 2007 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 12 | First twelve-team season |
| 2008 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 12 | Pre-ESPN legacy coverage |
| 2009 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 12 | Final two-division season |
| 2010 Season | Fanball Custom Leagues | 12 | Final Fanball season |
What Is Covered
| Fact type | Current source family | Treatment |
|---|
| League founding | Governance records | RFFL founded in 2002 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout |
| Platform history | Governance standards | Yahoo in 2002, Fanball from 2003-2010, ESPN from 2011 onward |
| Team participation | Team registry | Team-season records exist for 2002-2010 |
| Division history | Division registry and Operations Manual | Legacy division era is represented, with era-aware division names |
| Dues and payouts | Finance records and Operations Manual appendix | Year-by-year financial rows exist for 2002-2010 |
| Award and payout recipients | Pre-ESPN Archive Sources | Alpha/Beta results, division winners, top seeds, and Biggest Crank are validated for ledger use |
Current Boundaries
Do not treat this page as a full standings page, boxscore index, draft log, or weekly matchup record.
The repository currently represents 2002-2010 through curated historical records, not individual structured season folders. Do not infer missing final standings, playoff paths, drafts, box scores, or weekly scores from the existence of finance, team, or governance data.
Source Paths
| Source path | Use it for |
|---|
governance/rffl-gov-ops-001.md | League founding, structure, schedule eras, payout appendix |
governance/rffl-gov-std-001.md | Platform and schedule evolution |
finance/rffl_history_collections_payouts.csv | Collections and payout rows |
seasons/pre-espn-archive-sources.mdx | 2002-2010 award and payout recipients |
registries/RFFL_REG_TEAMS_001.py | Canonical team-season participation |
registries/canonical_teams.csv | Team-by-season reference |
registries/rffl-reg-div-001.md | Division codes, names, and eras |
Future Archival Work
The individual 2002-2010 pages are intentionally limited. They should only be expanded into full recaps after validated year-specific material exists for full standings, playoff paths, draft, weekly matchups, or roster data.Last modified on May 16, 2026