The Elite Association Bylaws
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What changed in 2026
A plain-language guide to the amendments between the September 30, 2025 and August 13, 2026 editions. The signed PDF above remains the governing text.
8 topics · 29 materially affected sections
Fees and the prize poolClarifies when the $350 annual fee is owed, refundable, deferred, or added to the prize pool.
Sections 2.3, 2.5
Annual fee replaces the initiation-fee wording
TEA now expressly has no separate initiation fee. The $350 annual fee is due before the draft, refundable after a pre-draft removal, and non-refundable once the draft begins. Deferred dues may be deducted from or delay payouts.
Sections 10.5
Double Fee Option is itemized
A returning last-place owner pays the ordinary $350 annual fee plus a non-deferrable $350 retention payment. The retention payment goes into the next season's prize pool.
Sections 11.1, 11.3
Prize-pool and payout timing are linked to collected dues
The $4,200 base prize pool may increase through retention payments, and payouts occur after both the championship and collection of required dues.
Commissioner decisions and reconsiderationReplaces binding peer appeals with a right to be heard and Commissioner-led reconsideration.
Sections 3.3, 4.10
Right to be heard and explained decisions
Members receive a reasonable opportunity to present their position before a final disciplinary decision, except when temporary action is immediately required. Material decisions are to be made and explained in good faith.
Sections 4.11
Appeals become requests for reconsideration
The 48-hour request remains, but any League vote is advisory. The Commissioner makes the final decision and may lift, vary, or retain the penalty.
Sections 11.6, 14.7
Final authority is stated expressly
A payout committee may recommend an outcome, while the Commissioner retains final authority over disputes, transactions, discipline, emergencies, interpretations, and other League decisions.
How future amendments are adoptedPlaces amendment authority with the Commissioner while preserving member proposals and the publication record.
Sections 4.13, 12.2
Commissioner approval adopts amendments
No member vote or approval is required. The Commissioner may initiate, adopt, reject, or revise amendments and make any amendment considered necessary or appropriate. Commissioner-approved changes are entered in the amendment history and distributed before the season.
Sections 14.3
Commenting and advisory participation remain allowed
Will Redl may continue to comment on rule changes proposed by another member or the Commissioner. Because amendments are approved by the Commissioner rather than by member vote, the former reference to his voting right was removed as unnecessary. Nothing in Section 14.3 prohibits him from participating in an advisory vote the Commissioner chooses to hold.
Draft and annual season setupMoves changing dates, times, settings, and deadlines into a season-specific notice.
Sections 5.1, 5.3
Draft details come from the annual notice
The draft remains on the Saturday before the NFL season, but its time and location are stated annually. Regina time governs unless the notice says otherwise.
Sections 9.1
Annual season notice is now part of the rules
Before each season, the Commissioner issues or approves the notice covering Yahoo settings, deadlines, draft logistics, and other season-specific variables.
Sections 9.2
Playoff wording no longer carries an obsolete calendar date
The playoffs remain in NFL Weeks 15 through 17, and tied playoff matchups now point to the new Section 9.4 rule.
Acquisitions and trade reviewAdds a weekly acquisition limit and makes the TEA review process apply even when Yahoo processes a trade immediately.
Sections 6.2
Five acquisitions per Yahoo matchup week
Yahoo's weekly count is authoritative. Trades and Commissioner corrections do not count unless Yahoo applies them to the limit; trades remain subject to the other bylaw controls.
Sections 7.1, 7.5
Every trade receives a 24-hour TEA review
A Yahoo-processed trade can still be reviewed. Six affirmative veto votes are sufficient; abstentions and non-responses are not veto votes. The Commissioner may finally affirm, veto, reverse, or remedy the trade.
Sections 7.2
Trade deadline moves to NFL Week 12
The fixed Week 10 and 2024 date are replaced by Week 12, with the corresponding date stated in the annual notice.
Sections 7.4
Warren Rule administration is aligned
The calculation time changes to Regina time, reconsideration terminology replaces appeals, and the adjustment language now matches the rule's 7% threshold.
Eliminated teams, last place, and playoff tiesKeeps eliminated teams active under safeguards and supplies objective standing and playoff tiebreakers.
Sections 9.3
Eliminated teams remain active but cannot trade
They must set competitive lineups and may make ordinary good-faith pickups within the weekly limit. Material player releases require prior approval, and the Commissioner determines whether a move is permissible.
Sections 9.4
The higher seed advances from a tied playoff matchup
The former regular-season head-to-head tiebreaker is replaced by the seed held at the start of that playoff round.
Sections 10.1
Last place follows Yahoo, then stated tiebreakers
Final Yahoo standings control. An unresolved tie proceeds to lower Points For, then worse head-to-head record among the tied teams, then a final Commissioner determination.
Sections 10.4
Removal uses reconsideration and the annual fee
A removed owner may seek Commissioner reconsideration within 72 hours. Any owner vote is advisory, replacement owners pay the annual fee, and extraordinary waivers remain with the Commissioner.
Emergency rules and continuityLets the Commissioner act immediately while adding notice, records, review, and an expiry rule.
Sections 13.3
Emergency action may be immediate
League votes are optional and advisory. The Commissioner records and communicates each emergency measure, and a temporary measure expires after the season unless continued or incorporated into the bylaws.
Sections 13.5, 13.6
Annual review does not displace final authority
Members may recommend what happens to an emergency measure. Material decisions are explained in good faith, but consultation does not stay the action or create a further appeal.
Publication record and editorial cleanupMakes the signed edition easier to date, trace, and administer without changing the untouched rules.
Execution page
The edition is dated August 13, 2026
A new amendment-history table records each executed edition and summarizes the 2026 amendment categories.
Throughout
Formatting and terminology are standardized
Headings, punctuation, capitalization, currency wording, time-zone references, and appeal/reconsideration terminology are made consistent. Articles and sections not identified above are substantively unchanged.
Document history
The Elite Association Bylaws — Amended September 30, 2025
The prior signed consolidated edition, superseded by the August 13, 2026 edition.
The Elite Association Bylaws — Amended December 6, 2024
The first amended consolidated edition, superseding the original July 11, 2024 bylaws.
The Elite Association Bylaws — Original 2024 Edition
The original consolidated bylaws of The Elite Association, dated July 11, 2024.