I am leaning away from contraction.
I will revisit the TEMP manager idea.
I doubt I can or institute a split cost scheme but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
I would prefer the product to be ready for the outside world before I commit any revneue to marketing it. Until you have fished money out of your own pocket to market a SIM, it is easy to suggest that it works. I have been trying to market SIMS since 1989 and it is a tough nut to crack! My opinion is that the answer lies in baseball fans who have never played a SIM (the vast amjority of baseball aficionados!)---and that takes a great entry level experience!
Until we have a viable entry level game that will make SIM players out of Fantasy players and other serious fans, I believe word of mouth is our best option. I DO think we can have a great entry level game sometime this season, that will can effecitvely mine the fantasy player pool for new managers.

NOTE to post below: I put scarce resources (time) into helping the unmanaged teams draft but there are mistakes made, as noted.

ALSO: When a league is very active, it can attract managers to bad teams who just want to be part of a great league. The more active you are in your league, the better chance it has to flourish.

I thank all the help and support (commish/reporters especially) that has gone into making this a very active spring in most of our TRAD leagues!

Mike Bravard (PB)