The most thrilling way to build your squad
The Auction is where Fantasy Squad comes alive. Picture this: your whole group gathered together — online or in person — armed with a list of players they want. The admin starts calling players one by one. The atmosphere builds. Someone overpays for a striker. Someone sneaks a bargain goalkeeper. By the end, every team is unique and every manager has a story to tell. You can decide to go role by role — starting from the goalkeeper for a more dramatic and structured experience — or go freely for a more chaotic and unpredictable auction.
Fantasy Squad's auction runs on live, instant updates. The admin controls the entire flow from their device: opening each player for auction, assigning them to teams, and confirming results with a single tap. Every participant sees the same thing at the same moment — no refreshing, no delays.
There's no single "right" way to run an auction. Fantasy Squad lets you conduct three different types of auction as suggestions, each with its own flavor of fun. You can mix styles or invent your own — the app just mirrors what happens. You can also choose to go role by role (starting from goalkeepers) for a more exciting and structured experience, or go freely for a more chaotic auction with no role order.
The classic, most social format. The admin calls out a player, sets a minimum starting price, and managers compete by raising bids. The last bid standing wins the player. The energy in the room — or on the call — is electric.
Our take
The most entertaining format by far. Watching someone get into a bidding war over a midfielder they didn't even need is peak fantasy football drama. It takes the most time — typically 3–5 hours for a full squad auction — but every minute is worth it.
A format built on secrecy and precision. For each player, every manager writes down their maximum bid privately. All bids are revealed simultaneously — the highest wins. No back-and-forth: one shot, one chance. Perfect tension.
Our take
Fast and surprisingly tense. The moment all bids are revealed at once is electric — did you bid too low and miss out? Did you overbid and waste budget? Much faster than open bidding (1–2 hours for a full auction) but still packed with drama.
Skip the bidding entirely. Teams take turns selecting players in a predetermined order. No budget needed — just pure squad-building strategy and knowing when to pick for positional need versus best available player.
Our take
The fastest format — a full squad draft can be done in under an hour. Still fun because every pick is a strategic decision: take the best available player or pick for positional need? Great if your group has limited time but still wants the excitement of a live squad-building event.
| Format | Time Required | Strategy Depth | Fun Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Auction | 3–5 hours | High | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Sealed Bid | 1–2 hours | Very High | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Draft | ~1 hour | Medium | ⭐⭐⭐ |
Each manager gets an equal budget and bids on real players one by one. The highest bid wins the player, who is added to that team. You keep bidding until every squad is full, so no two teams are ever the same.
Three: classic open bidding (managers raise bids live), sealed bids (everyone submits one secret maximum bid), and a snake draft with no budget where teams pick players in turn.
A full open auction usually takes 3–5 hours, sealed bids around 1–2 hours, and a draft under an hour. You can auction role by role or freely to control the pace.
In an auction you spend a budget and bid against rivals for the players you want. In a draft there is no budget — teams simply take turns picking the best available player.
The league admin sets a starting budget that every manager shares equally. Smart budget management — knowing when to splash out and when to save for late bargains — is the key to winning the auction.
