Run your season

The season has 18 weeks. Each team plays one game a week and has one bye. The Dashboard is where you move the season forward. For how leagues work in every game, see Leagues.

Pick a league

1. Open My Leagues.
2. Create a league and choose the one team you will run all season, or join a friend's league with an invite code.
3. Open the Dashboard to move the season forward and follow the standings.

If you want to start from a roster file, see Custom rosters.

Who plays the games

A league runs one of two ways. In a scheduled league, the games play on their own at the time shown on the Dashboard. In a manual league, only the commissioner sees the advance button. If you are not the commissioner of a manual league, set your depth chart and wait for the commissioner to run the games.

The commissioner can invite friends to claim teams from the Commissioner screen.

Regular season

1. On the Next sim card, select Advance week to play your games. Then watch the standings and your playoff picture move on the Dashboard.
2. Before you advance, look at Needs you. Finish what it lists. A red row, such as a gap on your depth chart, is the one to fix first. See The sim controls.
3. Open the Schedule screen from your team to see all 18 weeks. The bye is a quiet row, so the week numbers still read straight down.
4. Open a finished week to read its box score. The drive log is the part worth reading.

Open Calendar to see what is coming. The league year runs in this order: the trade deadline at week 9, then the playoffs, then the offseason steps.

Playoffs

Rosters are frozen in the playoffs, so there are no more trades. Sim each round to play toward the title.

Offseason

The season is over, and it is time to rebuild. The advance button now reads Next step. The offseason is a list of 10 steps, from honors and retirements to the schedule release. Most steps run on their own. Three wait for you: the contract window, free agency, and the rookie draft. For what each step does and what to do at it, see Offseason.

The sim controls

The sim controls sit in the panel on the right of every league screen. On a tablet they sit in a bar, and the flag button opens the panel.

• Next sim card: in a scheduled league it counts down to the next sim. In a manual league it shows the week to play. Only the commissioner of a manual league gets the button.
• Advance week: plays one week. In the offseason it reads Next step and runs the league to the next decision.
• Sim to…: the arrow beside the button. Sim to end of season plays every week and the playoffs until the title is decided. Sim to next season plays out the season, then the whole offseason, up to week 1 of the next season. On that run the game makes the draft picks from your own board and fixes roster limits for you, so it shows only in a league where you are the one human GM. With friends in the league, the offseason runs one step at a time. In the offseason the menu shows only Sim to next season, so in a league with other GMs the arrow does not show then. While a Sim to… run plays, the button shows its progress, for example Week 7 of 18 · 16 games….
• If a sim fails, an error message tells you why: "The sim didn't run" for one advance, "Sim to stopped early" for a Sim to… run. Weeks already played stay played.

When your depth chart has a gap

A gap is a starter slot with no healthy player. In a manual league, the commissioner's card then shows a red Depth chart has a gap. Fix it first. link above the button, and the button changes to an outlined Advance anyway. Select the link to open your Depth chart and fill the slot.

You can still advance. The gap stays in Needs you and as a red badge on Depth chart in the left rail until you fill the slot. In a scheduled league the card does not change, but Needs you still shows the gap.

Needs you

Needs you sits under the card. It lists what waits on you, most urgent first. You can dismiss most rows. A row that blocks the sim has no dismiss button and stays until you fix the cause. For a gap the row reads Depth chart has a gap, with "No healthy starter at" and the slot, for example QB1. When the list is empty it reads "Nothing needs you."

Where you are in the year

The top bar of every screen shows the phase: Regular season, Playoffs or Offseason, each in its own color. Beside it is the date: "Week 7 · 2026" in the season, the round in the playoffs, or "Step 3 of 10 · 2026" in the offseason.

Under the top bar, the Last week strip shows the final scores of the latest week played, your game first. Select a score to open its box score. The strip is hidden in the offseason and before week 1.

Rail badges

A red badge on a left rail item means you have to act: Draft when you are on the clock, and Depth chart when a starter slot is empty. A plain badge is a count or a notice: offers waiting on Trade, an open round on Free agency, open focus slots on Scouting.

On a phone

• The top row shows your club name, your record and your streak. Tap it to open League and account, with Switch league, Notifications, Theme and Sign out. The game switcher, Send feedback and help sit on the same row.
• If you have no club, the top row shows the league name and "No club claimed", and a Claim a team row sits below it.
• Two section pills sit under the top row: League and your club. Each names the screen you are on. Tap one to list its sections. The Notepad button sits beside them.
• Every screen shows its title with the phase and the week or step.
• The sim bar sits at the bottom: the Needs you flag with a count, the Next sim clock, and ADVANCE (NEXT STEP in the offseason) with the Sim to… arrow.
• When your depth chart has a gap, a red strip above the sim bar links to the Depth chart, and the button reads ADVANCE ANYWAY.
• Tap the flag to open the list. Its title reads "Before the next sim", or "Nothing needs you" when the list is empty.