The Drafty platform supports uploading your own list of draftable assets. The process is simple and this article will tell you how.
Here are examples of some of the custom draft pools uploaded to Drafty:
- Olympic athletes
- Award show nominees
- GamerTags
- Rec sports league participants
- Season ticket game dates
- Stock ticker symbols
Using your own list, you can literally draft anything on Drafty!
CSV File Format
Your custom asset list must be in a CSV format which is a universal spreadsheet file format. You can export to a CSV from any spreadsheet software (e.g. Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers) and using "save as" from many text editors (e.g. Notepad, VSCode).
Required Columns
Your spreadsheet must include three columns with the following headers in the first row of your spreadsheet:
- NAME - (max. 36 characters)
- POSITION (max. 12 characters)
- TEAM (max. 24 characters)
Feel free to use the POSITION and TEAM columns for your own arbitrary notations if you're not drafting a list of human players for a traditional sports league. For example, you might use the release year and director's last name for a movies draft, the universe and franchise for a superheroes draft, or the attack type and generation for a Pokemon draft.
If you wish to make a player eligible for multiple positions, separate the position labels with a forward slash "/" and no spaces (e.g. "PF/C" is correct; "PF,C" or "PF+C" is not). This will ensure the appropriate position filters are visible in your draft room.
Position Colors & Team Branding
To see a team logo for each player instead of the prescribed team name, use supported team labels in your uploaded CSV file. From Drafty's main menu, navigate to the appropriate sports league to find a list of supported team labels.
Similarly, each draft room will colorize position boxes when the label matches a supported value. Check the position label index for a list of supported position labels.
Player Portraits and Avatar Images
Portrait and avatar images are optional, but if you have a header in your first row called PORTRAIT (case-insensitive), Drafty will use those column values to generate an image for each player.
Make sure the URL in each data cell is for an image file - each one should end with something like .jpg, .png, or .jpeg. You can typically grab the correct URL from a website by right-clicking the image and selecting "Copy Image Address" or "Copy Image URL" (actual menu text varies by browser).
FAQ: Why are my player portraits not showing up?
Many cloud storage sites like Google Drive and Dropbox produce a page that features the image, but the URL of that page is not the same as the image file. For Drafty to properly display portrait images, the URL must be for a publicly accessible image file.
Pre-Assigned Keepers
If you want players included in your draft results but they're not draft-eligible because they're already assigned to a team, these are called keepers. You can assign keepers in your draft group manually, or you can properly notate them in your CSV so they automatically move to the appropriate team.
Two column headers compose a keeper assignment:
- KEEPER TEAM - this must match a team name in your draft group exactly. If an apostrophe or comma is out of place, the system will not match the player as a keeper.
- KEEPER PRICE - when a player is matched as a keeper because the team exists in your draft group, the price is the compensatory value that will affect the team who owns the player.
Keeper Values
Here's some additional context for defining KEEPER PRICE. The value for this cell should be a number without any commas or dollar signs/currency symbols.
In an auction draft, the cell value should honor the Number Format in your group's draft presets. For example, if you're using the "1K" number format on Drafty, a keeper valued at $47,500 should be noted in your spreadsheet as "47.5". Your draft group will correctly interpret this keeper value as "$47.5K".
In a draft board format, the cell value should be the draft pick value, defined as the round and pick number or the overall draft pick number. For example, in a 12-team draft the values "2.01" and "13" will be treated the same. Multiple keepers cannot be assigned to the same draft pick.
Make sure you double-check any imported keepers for accuracy and make manual adjustments as needed. Bug reports are welcome to help improve this new tool.
Player Stats
Stat data column headers should follow this format: "stat [stat row (e.g. 2026)] [stat column (e.g. Goals)]". As an example, you might have headers in your file's first row like these:
- Stat 2026 Points
- Stat 2026 Comp
- Stat 2026 Games
- Stat 2025 Points
- Stat 2025 Comp
- Stat 2025 Games
These headers would look like this alongside a row of data in the raw CSV:
Stat 2026 Points,Stat 2026 Comp,Stat 2026 Games,Stat 2025 Points,Stat 2025 Comp,Stat 2025 Games
312,.692,34,260,.774,25
And the resultant table data would look something like this:
| Points | Comp | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 312 | .692 | 34 |
| 2025 | 260 | .774 | 25 |
Make stat headers and data as short as possible by using abbreviations and rounded/truncated numbers. Big numbers, long words or decimals, and text strings are easy ways to make your stats look broken and unreadable. Do yourself this favor so the UI doesn't look like total crap - keep it short and tidy.
⚠️ Stat data in your uploaded player list will only be recognized by the draft room if your group has an active Dojo membership for the current year.
Player Profiles
Columns for profile data are optional. A column whose header does not match any of the above criteria for special treatment as a required column, portrait, or stat, will be treated as profile data.
Profile data is visible for the active player in the draft room. In an auction draft, the active player is the one currently on the auction block and receiving bids. In a draft board format, the active player for each team is the one atop the team's watch list.
Preview Imported Assets
During your draft room setup (or in the draft presets of your Drafty clubhouse) under Player Settings, select Custom and then upload your CSV by drag-and-dropping into the designated box, or click the box to search your computer for the file.
Once your file is uploaded, a list will appear that contains all the assets/players detected in your spreadsheet. Review this list to ensure that all names, positions, team affiliations, and portrait thumbnails show up how you expect them.
Edit your file and re-upload as needed before creating your draft room.
In-Draft Edits
Inside the draft room, you cannot remove assets from the draft pool, so make sure you accurately prune your list before opening your draft room. You can add players to the asset pool using the "add player" button at the top of your Undrafted Players list. A player added in-draft will not have a portrait or any profile data.
Create a clubhouse and upload your custom list in your Draft Presets to iterate mock drafts more easily. In a clubhouse draft room you're able to re-import your player list from the clubhouse as needed using the Commish Toolbox.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact support and include a link to the page where you're having trouble.