How Dynamic Pricing
Actually Works

Before the season, athletes are grouped into tiers based on last season's performance. Each tier's price is set as a percentage of the price range, so tier prices scale automatically when the range changes through escalation steps.

But here's the catch: everyone starts the new season with zero points. Tiers reflect what happened last year, not what's happening now. A Tier A athlete who dominated last season might struggle this year, while a Tier C dark horse could break out. Fixed tier prices can't capture these shifts — that's where dynamic pricing comes in.

Once the season is underway, dynamic pricing kicks in using two inputs: performance points (actual results accumulated during this season) and popularity (how many teams currently own them).

Performance points grow over the season as athletes compete. A Tier A athlete with zero points early on will be cheap despite their prestigious tier — and a Tier C athlete racking up surprise results will climb in price. Popularity captures what the market thinks. Together they drive each athlete's price. Hover over each dot to see where athletes land.

The two signals are combined into a single blended score using adjustable weights. A league commissioner can tune whether performance or popularity matters more.

The blended score maps to a dollar price through a power curve. The exponent controls the shape: values below 1.0 compress prices toward the top, while values above 1.0 push most athletes toward the floor and reward only the elite.

The min and max prices define the dollar range that dynamic prices can fall within. These bounds increase over the course of the season through scheduled escalation steps. Since tier prices are stored as percentages, they scale with the range — when prices escalate, tier prices rise too. Managers who built their rosters early benefit from locking in lower prices.

Dynamic pricing doesn't activate all at once. Each athlete must first compete in a minimum number of meets before transitioning away from tier pricing. Once that threshold is met, a smoothing window gradually blends from the tier price to the computed dynamic price.

You buy athletes at their current dynamic price. But when you sell, you only get back a percentage — the sell-back rate. This "haircut" prevents rapid flipping and creates real commitment to your picks.

Try it: buy and sell athletes below. Watch how your budget changes and how popularity shifts feed back into prices.

Now let's see it all in motion. Athletes start the season with zero points and accumulate them each round based on their talent — but with variance. Some high-tier athletes will underperform their billing, while dark horses from lower tiers might surge. Four AI-driven bot managers trade alongside the pricing engine. Watch how prices evolve and how each manager's score grows based on the athletes they own.