4 ways to keep non-playoff owners active in your fantasy football league

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It's a tough time of the fantasy season for owners who missed the playoffs, and while there is nothing worse than an eliminated team snatching a highly sought-after player from the waiver wire, there are plenty of ways to keep non-playoff owners interested and involved.

There are endless methods to create motivation for owners to stay involved all year. Creating a monetary incentive is easy, and forms of public shaming will pop up across the internet over the coming weeks. Though, keeping it tasteful and canny is likely best for all.

Here are a few options to consider in yearly and dynasty/keeper leagues to spruce up the final weeks of the season for those out of the running for your league's championship:

Add a consolation round buy-back

Allowing owners to ante back up and play out the consolation bracket will quickly keep the competitive spirit going all year. Prize money could be awarded to the team that wins out or the club that scores the most total points during the playoffs. In particular, a winner-take-all payout could be a healthy return on investment.

Once precedent is set, the consolation buy-back could be entered into the league's constitution and become an annual staple of the prize pool. It would make it even more important to crack the playoffs to avoid dumping more money back into the league while also giving owners a chance to save a lost year with a late-season run.

Create a pay-per-loss prize pool

In a standard 12-team league that plays through Week 16, there are 96 matchups over the entire season. If each owner is paid for their wins and has to fork over a payment for each loss, there is ample incentive to win every game, every week. It's a great means of ensuring teams aren't mailing it in at any point of the season.

You'd have to put this payout structure in place ahead of the year, obviously. You don't have to eliminate a traditional prize pool of paying out the top finishers in the league, either. A fixed league fee can be charged at the beginning of the year for a pay out to the top teams, and then each owner can settle their win-loss balance at the end of the year.

Embrace the daily fantasy movement

Adding a weekly high-score payout to your league's prize pool would provide owners with motivation to start the best roster possible all season. If you're worried about your league fees climbing, adding this high-score prize for just the playoffs is also an option to keep everyone involved and the league competitive.

Adding a daily fantasy spin could bring all kinds of new elements to your league. The high-score prize could be scheduled every four weeks, which would add incentive to tailor your roster around matchups for those weeks once you're out of contention to make the playoffs.

Again, this is an example of something that would need to be set up in advance, but with the rising popularity of daily contests, incorporating aspects of them into your seasonal league will keep owners engaged regardless of their rank in the standings.

Don't reward last place

In dynasty/keeper leagues, not rewarding the last-place team with the first overall pick the following year should keep everyone competitive through the entire season. Professional teams tank, but it doesn't mean your virtual league has to allow it. After all, why not create some incentive to earn the No. 1 pick instead of just handing it over?

Non-playoff teams can compete for the top selection in a number of ways. Awarding the top pick to the winner of the consolation bracket or the eliminated team that scores the most points during the playoffs provides plenty of motivation to stay active and involved throughout the season.