Fantasy football draft day has evolved into much more than everyone sitting around a laptop picking players.
For many leagues, draft weekend has become an annual guys’ trip—complete with golf, food, drinks, pools and plenty of trash talk. And Scottsdale, Arizona has almost everything needed to turn a fantasy football draft into a full weekend experience.
Turn Draft Day Into a Guys’ Trip
Most fantasy leagues only get everyone together a handful of times each year. That makes draft day an obvious excuse to plan something bigger.
Instead of drafting from someone’s living room, groups can rent a Scottsdale vacation home for the weekend and create their own draft headquarters.
Large rentals with pools, outdoor spaces and entertainment areas give everyone somewhere to hang out before and after the picks are made.
Start the Weekend With Golf
Scottsdale and golf go hand in hand.
A morning tee time can be the perfect way to kick off draft weekend, especially when half the league has traveled in from different cities.
And nobody has to be particularly good.
The point is getting everyone together, talking trash and probably starting arguments about who is going to waste their first-round pick.
Make the Draft an Actual Event
The draft itself should be more than twelve guys staring silently at their phones.
Set up a draft board, create a dedicated commissioner station and put the draft order somewhere everyone can see it.
Adding prizes and punishments makes things even better. Give out awards for the best pick, biggest reach and worst draft of the night.
Then save the harshest punishment for whoever finishes last at the end of the season.
Bring the Entertainment to the House
One advantage of renting a private house is that the group doesn’t necessarily have to leave once the draft ends.
Food, bartending and entertainment can all be brought directly to the rental.
For groups looking to turn draft night into more of a bachelor-party-style experience, Scottsdale companies such as Scottsdale Fantasy Co offer private entertainment that comes directly to groups at their location.
That makes it possible to finish the draft and immediately transition into the night’s entertainment without coordinating another round of transportation.
Spend Saturday at the Pool
After a late draft night, nobody necessarily wants a packed itinerary the following morning.
That’s where a Scottsdale pool day comes in.
Stock the house with food and drinks, put the games on and let everyone recover around the pool.
Groups that want something more organized can also turn the afternoon into a full private pool party before heading out for the evening.
Finish the Weekend in Old Town
Eventually, somebody is going to want to leave the house.
Old Town Scottsdale gives groups plenty of options for restaurants, bars and nightlife within a relatively concentrated area.
That makes it easy to finish the weekend with dinner and a night out without planning another complicated itinerary.
A New Kind of Fantasy Football Tradition
Fantasy football is supposed to be about having fun with friends.
Turning the annual draft into a Scottsdale weekend takes something the league already looks forward to and turns it into a tradition everyone can plan around each year.
Golf in the morning. Draft in the afternoon. Pool time, private entertainment and Old Town afterward.
Just remember one rule:
What happens in Scottsdale won’t save you from getting roasted for drafting a quarterback in the first round.