What is the School Year Sports League (sysl)?

Welcome to a year-long competition where YOU own teams in four professional and three college sports, along with a PGA golfer. Participants pick a team or player from each of 8 different professional and college sports leagues. Points are accrued based on how well each of your teams do during their respective seasons. Bonus points are earned for winning championships/majors. Players with the most total points at the end of each quarter and at the end of each season earn payouts of the total pot.

Rules/FAQ

• How long is the season? The “season” runs for an entire year: September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026.


• What do I have to do? Not much besides picking your teams. The league organizers keep track of points for your teams. Results are updated automatically on this website. The only tinkering you may need to do is to trade out one of your non-performers during the year (one time only, and not mandatory).


• What is the entry fee? You can enter one team for the year for $30. Enter more than one team and get a deal! Can’t decide whether to go heavy in football or golf? Now add a second entry for just $20 more, and a third for another $20!
  • One entry: $30
  • Two entries: $50
  • Three entries: $70

  Sorry, discounts are per person (no clustering!).

  Payment is handled after you register. All registration fees must be received by September 15 in order to participate.


• What sports are we picking from? Each participant will select a team in each of 8 professional/collegiate sports:
  • MLB
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • NHL
  • NCAA football
  • NCAA men’s basketball
  • NCAA women’s basketball
  • PGA Tour


• Are there prizes? YES. Total prizes will depend on the number of participants. 2014-15 totaled $2,100! The pot is distributed as follows:

  Quarterly:

  • 1st place - 5% of the total pot
  • 2nd place - 4% of the total pot
  • 3rd place - 3% of the total pot
  • 4th place - 2% of the total pot
  • 5th place - 1% of the total pot

  Quarters are: Q1 - September-November; Q2 - December-February; Q3 - March-May; Q4 - June-August.

  Season:

  • 1st place - 15% of the total pot
  • 2nd place - 7.5%
  • 3rd place - 6%
  • 4th place - 4%
  • 5th place - 2%
  • 6th place - 1.5%
  • 7th place - 1%
  • 8th place - 1%
  • 9th place - 1%
  • 10th place - 1%


• TRADE A TEAM/PLAYER: Trade one of your teams or players! You might need some cap space to trade out one of your teams or players for a better performing one. Each player gets to trade out one team/individual during the year for another in the same sport. However, you can’t go over the salary cap for your specified style. You can trade for a cheaper alternative, a more expensive one, or one at the same price - as long as you don't go over the cap! Once you trade out a team or individual, you get any future points from the new team/individual (plus the points up to that date earned from your old team).
  
  

  Example: Your total picks equal 76, and your NFL team is the Jacksonville Jaguars. You realize that choosing Jacksonville was a dumb idea. Now you can swap that pick out! Since you had $4 left under the cap, you can trade the Jaguars for another NFL team - for as much as $4 more than Jacksonville's value. You only get one trade for the year, and each sport will have a specific trade deadline date (see below). Trades must be made by and take effect on the dates specified.



• MORE GROUND RULES ON TRADES: You can only make one trade during the year among the 8 sports. You CAN trade down (meaning, swap a more expensive team for a cheaper team), but you don’t get to use any freed up cap space. You DON’T HAVE TO MAKE A TRADE at all if you are satisfied with your lineup.


• What if one of my teams wins the championship? Good for you! Bonus points are awarded to teams (or driver or golfer) that win their championship (or win one of the four major tournaments in golf).


• Leagues play different numbers of games. How are scores determined to keep it fair? Point values for victories are different depending on the league and how many games are played. The league is designed to give approximately the same weight for each of the 8 sports.


• Point Values
  • MLB - 2 points per win
  • NBA - 3 points per win
  • NFL - 14 points per win
  • NHL - 4 points per win
  • NCAA Football - 18 points per win
  • NCAA Men's Basketball - 7 points per win
  • NCAA Women's Basketball - 7 points per win
  • PGA Golf - 10 points per Top-10 finish; 20 points for a Top 5; 30 points for a win. Bigger points for majors (20 for Top-10; 30 for Top-5; 50 for a win)


• Championship Bonuses (50 points each, except PGA)
  • 2025 World Series Winner
  • 2026 NBA Champion
  • Super Bowl Whatever it is (played Feb-2026) Winner
  • 2026 Stanley Cup Champion
  • 2026 BCS or whatever College Football Championship Game Winner
  • 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champion
  • 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion
  • 2026 FedEx Cup Championship (25 points)
  • 2026 PGA Majors (20 points in addition to win)


• Trade Deadlines for Each Sport (entrants may only make ONE trade in ONE sport during the year)
  • NCAA FB: September 30, 2025
  • NFL: October 31, 2025
  • NHL: November 30, 2025
  • NBA: December 31, 2025
  • NCAA Mens BB: December 31, 2025
  • NCAA Womens BB: December 31, 2025
  • PGA: April 30, 2026
  • MLB: May 31, 2026