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Creative and Fun Fantasy Punishments Your League Should Steal

Seven creative and fun fantasy football punishments for your league's last place finisher.
Samuel Jacovitz|
Nov 25, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; A fan of the New York Jets wears a bag over his head during the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium.
Nov 25, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; A fan of the New York Jets wears a bag over his head during the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. | USA TODAY Sports

One of the great triumphs of Fantasy Football is its ability to bring people together.  It creates competition and camaraderie among friends, family, coworkers, and many a times just random people on the internet. 

A punishment for a last place finisher is a great way to increase competition and camaraderie and make sure the tenth member of your league remembers to set their lineup before 1PM on Sunday’s.  

What Makes a Great Fantasy Football Punishment?

 It has to be difficult, funny and embarrassing, but ultimately harmless at the end of the day.  If in the middle of the punishment your sacko has an epiphany to start prepping and mocking a few months earlier for next season, the punishment has done its job.  

Here I will dive into my leagues fantasy punishment that has had great success and made members think twice about not scouring the waiver wire during the season: The Great Saunter. 

The Great Saunter

In 2023, we were deciding on a punishment idea and a league member blurted out, “What if someone had to walk the perimeter of Manhattan”, as a joke.  Well, it immediately stuck, and The Great Saunter was born.  Now, three years in a row, the lucky loser has had to set their alarm before sunrise and embark on a 36 mile journey around the perimeter of Manhattan.  

Saunter, Fantasy Football Punishment
Strava guide of the 36 miles around Manhattan

What’s beautiful about the saunter is it seems like an impossible feat.  But, three years in a row league members have strapped on their walking shoes and completed the pilgrimage from FiDi to Inwood and back around, coming away with a full day of entertainment for their fellow league members, a good 8-10 hours to think about their late round draft picks, and lastly a pretty great story to tell on first dates for the loser. 

The Saunter hits all the bases of fun, misery, entertainment, and is at the end of the day harmless (after a very very long bath). If you can't walk around Manhattan, league members can get creative with similar physically grueling activities in your area.

Here are some other great punishment ideas that fit the same mold. 

The Classic:  IHOP Challenge

The most classic fantasy punishment around the country, spend 24 hours in an IHOP or Waffle House, with each pancake eaten is one hour off your time.  This one is pretty brutal.  If you have a good appetite, the sacko is still most likely spending approximately a full 8 hour shift at a pancake house after hosing down a good 16 pancakes with no butter or syrup. 

 If your league have some empathetic members, maybe they’ll check in on the poor guy and have a pancake or two with them to help pass the time.  

This punishment could possibly break the bank, but thankfully IHOP stepped in and teamed up with Malik Nabers last year to make the all-you-can-eat pancake dream a reality.  

By hour six, the loser may be cursing his luck and his team, but you most definitely will not be finishing last next season. 

Stand Up Set 

This is another great punishment, if you can withstand acute embarrassment for a short period of time, and can dodge some tomatoes.  Here, the non-losing league members will craft the worst stand-up set of all time and join the Sacko at their local open mic and watch them read the terribly crafted jokes that were made for him.  

At the end of the day, this is harmless as well, but after the 12th dad joke, and blank stares from the crowd, it might not feel like that way for the sacko.  

Retake the SAT’s 

In this punishment, the sacko has to put their brain power to use. They must come prepared with a No.2 pencil and TI-84 calculator, sacrificing an early Saturday morning to retake the Standardized test for college admissions with 30 other nervous 17 year olds at their local high school.  

A tweet recently went viral about a girl freaking out about forgetting her calculator during a test and a sacko member taking the test gave her his calculator saying, “I graduated from Vanderbilt 14 years ago, you need this more than me.”  So, the sacko might come away from this experience doing a good deed.  

Street Performing Until $20 is Made

 For the musically untalented, this one could take some time. The last place finisher will put on their most daring fit, and place their hat right in front of them, and sing or play an instrument of their league members choice (a flute is a good one) until they make $20 in donations from pedestrians either moved by their musical ability, or truly emphatic to their cause.



It’s hard enough to make money as a street performer with talent, but singing The Pussycat Dolls and other famous pop songs out of tune on a busy street corner will definitely make a last place finisher think twice about their fantasy decisions. 

Join A Body Building Competition

In this punishment, the loser has to sign up and join a body building competition. If you’ve ever seen a body building competition, you know that these guys are absolutely ripped. The losing league member will more likely than not, stick out like a sore thumb. If there’s any consolation, it might push them to hit the gym a little harder coming into the next fantasy season.

Become A Social Media Influencer 

With TikTok jump-starting many influencer careers, your league loser could be next in line.  In this punishment, the loser has to post content on TikTok for 30 days straight to trendy dancing songs and show off their moves until they hit 100k views.  

If league members decide, the loser can do their best to mimic some of the signature moves of Charli D'amelio and Addison Rae.  Get ready to move your hips for some views.  

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Samuel Jacovitz
SAMUEL JACOVITZ

Samuel Jacovitz has a diverse background in the sports media landscape having worked with Mandalay Sports Media, NBC Sports, and the NBA. A born and raised New Yorker and Syracuse University Graduate, Sam focuses on research and analysis when it comes to his fantasy sports content.

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