College Football Bowl Pick'Em Website FAQs

What is a "College Football Bowl Pool"?
A football bowl pool is a "PickEm" type pool where the contestants will be picking the 34 games that make up the 2009-2010 college football bowl schedule. The bowl season begins with the New Mexico Bowl on 12/19/09 and ends with the BCS National Championship Game on 1/7/10. Due to this schedule, a college football bowl pool is a great way to bring additional cheer to your friends/family/co-workers over the Holidays and New Year's season. If you have a business website, a college bowl pick'em is a great way to attract visitors to your website during this crucial shopping period.

What rules can be determined by the commissioner?
For a complete review of available options, visit the demo website and review the options from the "Admin" menu. Here is a list of some of the options...

• Pick the winners or against the spread
• Confidence points used to determine winner
• Several other point scoring options to determine winner
• Use all 34 bowl games on the picksheet or just some
• Use the total score of the BCS Championship as tie-breaker
• Pick the over/under in addition to the game
• The pick deadline for each game can be set individually
• Many more options...

How much does the website cost?
The cost is based on the number of picksheets entered in the pool ($0.50 per picksheet) with a minimum cost of $24. Renewing websites receive 10% off the per-picksheet rate.

What will be my pool website URL (address)?
Your pool will be located at http://name.bowl.sporsfan.com where you get to specify name. If you have your own website, you can have the pool website appear seamlessly through your own domain how this works

What browsers are compatible with the pool website?
The website essential functions have been successfully tested on all major modern browsers, including Internet Explorer on Windows and Mac, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Opera, and Safari.

Will the general public be able to see my website?
There is no public listing of private bowl pool websites, so people would have to know the URL of your website in order to see it. Only people in your pool will be able to log in to your website. You can specify whether guests are allowed to view your site. Some pages, such as the member list and finances report can only be accessed to logged in players.

How long will it take for the website to be setup on the server?
Website orders placed between 9AM and 3AM ET will usually be available online within 15 minutes. After that, you should allow yourself about an hour to familiarize yourself with the administrative controls of the website and to setup your website with your rules and style choices. We will be glad to assist you setting up your website. Website orders placed between 3AM and 9AM ET may not be setup on the server right away. You will be notified before placing your order if your website setup will be delayed beyond 30 minutes.

Can I customize the website title? Color? Images?
The website title, logo and color scheme can be customized by the commissioner. Review the "Admin > Website Style" menu at the demo to see all of the options.

How long will the website be available?
The website will be online until the start of next year's College Football bowl season.

Will the pool data from this year be available for next year?
The "Standings" and Member List reports will be available in subsequent years.

Can I protect the website with a password?
You can limit participation to people that you invite to join by providing a sign up code needed before someone can log in.

How does the website get updated with bowl game results
This is done automatically as games are played. The commissioner does not have to do anything as the website does it all by itself.

What happens if someone in my pool doesn't have internet access?
As commissioner, you can create and manage picks for anyone else. If someone doesn't have internet access, they would have to communicate their pick to you and then you put the pick into the website. As commissioner, you can make or change picks at any time (even past the deadline).

Can one person enter my pool more than once?
Yes. The commissioner can specify the maximum number of entries to allow per person or can allow for unlimited entries.

Can the commissioner make picks for other people?
Yes.

Can the commissioner change picks after the deadline?
Yes.

Can the deadline for picks be customized?
The deadline for making picks can be set by the commissioner based on a date or based on the gametime for each game.

Do the game times and deadlines have to be listed in ET (Eastern Time)?
Everyone in your pool will be able to set their own time zone preferences.

Is the website information backed up?
Every website will be automatically backed up to tape daily.

Is there a player limit?
We offer pools with up to 1000 entries. If you anticipate more than 1000 entries, please contact us.

Can I collect an entry fee through the pool website?
The website can not be used to process monetary transactions. You must arrange for collection of any entry fee used for your pool (e.g. via PayPal, in person, mail). There is a "Finances" screen on the website which helps keep track of finances. Use of the website indicates consent to the user agreement and legal policies. The website offers the use of "single-use" signup and entry tokens which can be used as a way of pre-approving people from signing up for the website or from adding entries. This can be used to require payment before someone can sign up or add an entry.

Is there a refund if I'm not satisfied?
Full refunds are offered if you cancel the website prior to the start of your pool. Please contact us to cancel.