For my Ultimus week task I will be selecting option 6 and writing about some recruitment ideas for the ISFL.
As an original member of the S23 class, for as long as I have been a member here in the ISFL, our primary method of recruitment has always been through Reddit recruitment. The S22 class saw our most successful version of this, as the league experienced massive growth as a huge crop of new creates poured in, from the league's most successful recruiting post of all time, right in the peak of Covid. I myself saw this same post, but rather then acting on it as so many others did I instead saved it, and let it linger in my Reddit savers for several months before finally deciding it was now or never and creating my first player.
Since that incredibly recruiting class, Reddit classes have seen a steady decline. S25 and S28 were both really strong as well, but recent efforts have shown diminishing returns. This has proven difficult for us as a community as we became quite reliant on r/nfl as a source of new members given our shared interest in the sport. In recent days the recruitment team has tried a plethora of other tactics all with varying degrees of success, but nothing that’s proven as successful or even remotely on par with what r/nfl was for us for a period of time. During this time, we’ve also seen league numbers slowly drop as the league struggles to keep their burnoff rate in line with their recruitment rates. A challenging thing to watch for so many of us who have come to love this league and its members over the years.
I should note here, this is not some sort of slight on the recruitment team…. Far from it. There are a number of factors completely outside their control that have affected the decrease in new creates we’ve witnessed. Perhaps most notably a group of radicalized terrorists storming the Capitol building as a r/nfl recruitment post goes up, or also just the decline of Covid as people have regained the freedom to pursue additional ventures outside rather then being confined to their homes.
So, what can be done? This is an important question if we want to see this league continue to be successful and continue to grow on the foundation that so many have worked hard to establish. A little over a year ago now I posted a media piece which was really just my application for the position of Recruitment Head, in it I outlined a number of steps I felt that we as a league could take to try to establish new routes for recruitment and begin to lay the foundation for them. While I fear that at this stage, it may be too late for many of the suggestions there, I do think there are still several steps we could take to improve our outreach to new creates right now.
Please, for the love of god, someone work on our Reddit. While r/nfl recruiting might not be working, having a functioning reddit that we could point potential creates to would make a MASSIVE difference when we are advertising to reddit communities. The barrier to entry to clicking on subreddit when you’re already on reddit, to clicking on a random Discord invite or two links to other sites is MASSIVE. Currently our subreddit states that the Las Vegas Legion are currently 0-2 and that it’s season 7. SEASON 7!!!! Please, please, please someone update this and make it functioning, and if you don’t want to take my word for it because I’m old, jaded, and incredibly handsome; perhaps consider this feedback from one of the rare individuals who’s actually replied back to one of our Reddit recruitment posts.
I’ll be honest, I had more points to make….. But I’m already pushing nearly 700 words, sooooooo be sure to tune in next offseason for more!
As an original member of the S23 class, for as long as I have been a member here in the ISFL, our primary method of recruitment has always been through Reddit recruitment. The S22 class saw our most successful version of this, as the league experienced massive growth as a huge crop of new creates poured in, from the league's most successful recruiting post of all time, right in the peak of Covid. I myself saw this same post, but rather then acting on it as so many others did I instead saved it, and let it linger in my Reddit savers for several months before finally deciding it was now or never and creating my first player.
Since that incredibly recruiting class, Reddit classes have seen a steady decline. S25 and S28 were both really strong as well, but recent efforts have shown diminishing returns. This has proven difficult for us as a community as we became quite reliant on r/nfl as a source of new members given our shared interest in the sport. In recent days the recruitment team has tried a plethora of other tactics all with varying degrees of success, but nothing that’s proven as successful or even remotely on par with what r/nfl was for us for a period of time. During this time, we’ve also seen league numbers slowly drop as the league struggles to keep their burnoff rate in line with their recruitment rates. A challenging thing to watch for so many of us who have come to love this league and its members over the years.
I should note here, this is not some sort of slight on the recruitment team…. Far from it. There are a number of factors completely outside their control that have affected the decrease in new creates we’ve witnessed. Perhaps most notably a group of radicalized terrorists storming the Capitol building as a r/nfl recruitment post goes up, or also just the decline of Covid as people have regained the freedom to pursue additional ventures outside rather then being confined to their homes.
So, what can be done? This is an important question if we want to see this league continue to be successful and continue to grow on the foundation that so many have worked hard to establish. A little over a year ago now I posted a media piece which was really just my application for the position of Recruitment Head, in it I outlined a number of steps I felt that we as a league could take to try to establish new routes for recruitment and begin to lay the foundation for them. While I fear that at this stage, it may be too late for many of the suggestions there, I do think there are still several steps we could take to improve our outreach to new creates right now.
Please, for the love of god, someone work on our Reddit. While r/nfl recruiting might not be working, having a functioning reddit that we could point potential creates to would make a MASSIVE difference when we are advertising to reddit communities. The barrier to entry to clicking on subreddit when you’re already on reddit, to clicking on a random Discord invite or two links to other sites is MASSIVE. Currently our subreddit states that the Las Vegas Legion are currently 0-2 and that it’s season 7. SEASON 7!!!! Please, please, please someone update this and make it functioning, and if you don’t want to take my word for it because I’m old, jaded, and incredibly handsome; perhaps consider this feedback from one of the rare individuals who’s actually replied back to one of our Reddit recruitment posts.
I’ll be honest, I had more points to make….. But I’m already pushing nearly 700 words, sooooooo be sure to tune in next offseason for more!