r/riderville

Firstly I'd like to thank the mods who I reached out to for approving this post. Our league cannot grow without your support!

Football offseason got you down? What if I told you that there's a place where you could root for a new football team year round with your own player on it? The International Simulation Football League (ISFL) gives you the opportunity to create your own player, go through real drafts, join teams managed by real users, and fight for a chance at the Ultimus Trophy. And of course, play fantasy football with yours and others players! Our free to play, community run league has been going strong now since 2016 and there has never been a better time to join than now.

Quick Rundown, wall of text

The ISFL is a free online sim league where you create a professional football player and control their journey through the pros from pre-draft to retirement. With every position available and multiple archetypes per position there are more than 30 unique player types available, anything from a ball hawk safety to a receiving running back and even a strong legged kicker. Your player will first get drafted to the DSFL (Developmental Simulation Football League) and then after a season will proceed to the ISFL Draft.

Your player will compete in games (simulated in Draft Day Sports Pro Football 2021) two-three times a week for the duration of each season, culminating in playoffs and hopefully a chance to win the coveted Ultimus Championship. Each game premieres on our Youtube Channel nightly, Monday-Friday and hosted live with commentary through our Discord server. Each 16 game season lasts approximately 6 weeks, including playoffs. Following playoffs is a 2 week offseason. The offseason culminates in the DSFL and ISFL drafts setting the stage for the next season.

Complete stats are recorded in our league index, players are encouraged to create and develop their own wiki page within the league wiki and we even have tools for tracking historical stat records and our own Hall of Fame.

With 22 teams across the developmental and major leagues the ISFL is also a flourishing community of active users. Joining a team not only gives you the opportunity to live out your dreams as a professional athlete but also get the opportunity to engage with like minded people who enjoy getting a bit nerdy about football. Form tight knit bonds with your teammates and a host of former players as you root for your team to go all the way!

Sounds great, how do I start?

If you want to jump in right away our Rookie Discord Server is the perfect place. Our team of Rookie Mentors and active user base will not hesitate to answer any questions and steer you in the right direction as you Create Your Player in our Portal. If you want to read more before you dive in, check out our text Rookie Guide. It is a great resource to guide you through the on-boarding process.

What happens after I make my player?

After making your player you will be scouted by teams that are entirely run by other users in the league and drafted to a developmental team during the DSFL Draft which will premiere on Thursday February 5th on our YouTube channel. In the meantime you will participate in the Prospect Bowl where you will show off what you got to all the scouts.

During your player’s career, you can improve their attributes by spending 10-15 minutes completing optional tasks each week, like predicting the winners of each game or mocking the 1st round of the draft. The league is 100% free - there is no "pay to win" and nothing costs real money to unlock. You will earn fake league currency through your player's contracts or through creating content like written articles, graphics, or podcasts. You can use it to further upgrade your player and do fun things like collecting trading cards of ISFL players!

We are always looking for fun new people to join our league! Thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments under this post or in our rookie discord server.

League Features:

-30+ position and archetype combinations to choose from

-Attribute and point progression system (TPE) to level up your player

-8 developmental teams and 14 pro teams

-Live draft and award presentations

-Games streamed on YouTube 5 days per week (2 Developmental and 3 Pro Team games), with live commentary in our Discord servers

-Fantasy ISFL draft leagues with league money and TPE rewards

-User-driven and active community

-Always 100% FREE. You cannot pay to get ahead of others

Create your new player here:

https://portal.sim-football.com/create

Join our Rookie Discord Here:

https://discord.gg/wtkJkeRYvY

Read our Rookie Guide Here

https://forums.sim-football.com/showthread.php?tid=6235

We're always looking for fun new people to join the community. Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop any questions below or in our Rookie Discord!

Anybody know if Monday’s pressing game vs Calgary going to be streamed at all?

The CFL schedule shows no coverage at all. :-(

I've been a fairly dedicated Rider fan my whole life, closely watching the ups and downs of entire seasons. 2025 has been the highest point of my sports watching career (you can't beat winning the Grey Cup in Winnipeg), especially after watching my teams fail for years. I'm also a Leafs fan 😞

But signs of the CFL's new direction are extremely off-putting. Stewart Johnson comes across as extremely arrogant, and his top-down corporate leadership style seems completely contrary to what has led at least to the Riders' financial turnaround in the past 20 or so years. The Riders turnaround was largely grassroots, and wasn't led by self-styled "visionaries."

To do such significant rule changes with no consultation is a cardinal sin, and clearly the rule changes are meant to facilitate increased revenue from the US. All this at a time when Canadians are paying way more attention to what makes us special in the world. Who the hell knows whether or not it'll bring in any extra money. And what hell is a Wake Forest??

Furthermore, I have no reason to support a league that promotes rodeo clown Luke Willson to any position of prominence. He's an unprofessional, attention-addicted blowhard who doesn't even understand what his purpose here is.

Why not end a dedicated fandom on a high note. I'll still go to games if my friends/family lead the charge, but no longer will I be the lead in my friend group. When I went to school in Regina, I could easily bring in a dozen people and like $1,000 to the Riders organization on game day.

I'll always be a Rider fan and I'll spend money on the team, but rather than being a weekly depth chart follower, I think I'll become a waaaay more casual fan that appreciates the Rider organization's long term accomplishments over whatever the hell Frankenstein league Clueless Stu wants the CFL to be.