We focus mostly on the Fantasy Premier League Official game on this site. This is because more than 2 million players from around the globe manage teams in this league. However, there are other games that are played around the world. One of those, one of the most popular of the alternatives to the Official FPL, is the game run by ESPN.

There are some key differences you should note. To start: the scoring is a bit different. There is no bonus points awarded and goals/own goals have different values. Players prices fluctuate based on performance, and transfers are not generated each week.

g. Scoring. Only starting or automatically substituted players will earn points for your team. The Promotion scoring system is as follows:

• Games Played = 1 point
• Play 60 Minutes = 2 points
• Defender/Goalkeeper Goal = 8 points
• Midfielder Goal = 6 points
• Forward Goal = 4 points
• Assist = 3 points
• Defender/Goalkeeper Clean Sheet = 3 points
• Midfielder Clean Sheet = 1 point
• Saves = 1 point per 3 saves
• Penalty Save = 5 points
• Penalty Shot Miss = -3 points
• Goals Conceded by Goalkeeper/Defender = -1 point per 2 goals
• Yellow Card* = -1 point
• Red Card* = -3 points
• Own Goal = -3 points

*- If two yellow cards lead to a red card, then only the red card is counted (-3 points).
**- Any goalie, defender, or midfielder who plays at least 60 minutes in a game where their team shuts out their opponent receives “Clean Sheet” points.

Now, the obvious difference here is the scoring of goals. Defenders receive a massive points boost from the 8 points per goal.  This is partially reflected in the prices where top defenders are priced in the £7-8 but top forward options are only priced in the £8-9m range.

Another difference is that a players team needs to complete a clean sheet even after that player has left the pitch in order for the player to be credited a clean sheet. Ashley Cole play 75′, departs with the score 1-0, andChelsea give up two in the final 15′? Cole loses his clean sheet and is scored a -1 (for allowing 2 goals).

Salaries are also handled a bit differently as there is an official hard cap on price movement:

A player’s initial “Price” is based on 2011-12 final season statistics and projected 2012-13 performances. For purposes of the Salary Cap, a player’s “Salary” is defined as the player’s Price at the time that player is last added to your roster.  A player’s Price may adjust from +$0.3M to -$0.3M each gameweek during the season based on that player’s performance, but these adjustments will not affect the Salaries of your rostered players (for Salary Cap purposes). Note, however, that all Prices will reset after Segment 1 and every Entrant will need to select a new roster at the beginning of Segment 2.

The “segments” are the other major difference. The ESPN season is split into 2, seasons of different lengths. The first segment runs 21 weeks from Gameweek 1 (Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 10:00am) until Gameweek 21 (Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 10:00am). The second segment runs just 17 weeks and begins Gameweek 1 (Saturday, January 12, 2013 at 10:00am), ending Gameweek 17 (Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 10:00am).  TRANSFERS: are limited to 20 per segment. That means you have 20 for segment 1 and 20 for segment two. Left over transfers to not carry into the segment 2. THERE IS NO WILD CARD.

The sale of players is also handled differently. In the Official Fantasy Premier League:

[A player's] selling price may be less than the player’s current purchase price as a sell-on fee of 50% (rounded up to the nearest £0.1m) will be applied on any profits made on that player. For example, if you buy a player for £8.3m and when you transfer him his price is £9.0m, his selling price will be £8.6m.

In the ESPN game, the players selling price is not subject to a sell-on fee so profits can be far greater. This is theoretically mitigated by the price adjustment cap of +$0.3M to -$0.3M each gameweek, but the price is also dependant on PERFORMANCE, not POPULARITY:

Player prices change during the season dependent on the popularity of the player in the [Official Fantasy Premier League] transfer market. Player prices do not change until the season starts.

Finally, the ESPN game does employ a captain. However, if your captain does not play during the gameweek, the system will NOT automatically assign a new captain.  There is no ‘vice-captain’ selection either.

The prices are vastly different from the Official Fantasy Premier League game and we will be publishing a full primer (in one post) of the value propositions. Below is a sample screen shot of the ESPN Fantasy Premier League with an example of a team that can be built in that game: