I would pay for a subscription depending on cost and terms. I wouldn't mind ads if they were at the bottom of the page or a hovering banner instead of the top where I had to scroll so much (I play on my phone). I would even do both if there were multiple tiers of a subscription service where the lowest tier still had some ads.
I would not want to see this game become pay-to-win. Obviously, anyone paying for a subscription would expect some kind of payoff or advantage, but that is a slippery slope.

I haven't posted about this topic on the multiple threads about the business side of this game to this point. Here are my thoughts on it.

In general, the game suffers from the web 2.0 model where players can generate content, a lot of content, for free that becomes a cost for the game in server storage. And the catalyst for this was the creation of private leagues, which allowed players to infinitely expand the number of MFN leagues without paying enough upfront or continuously for their upkeep. On this point, I'm not all that sympathetic because it's a business problem that should have been projected and mitigated from the start.

Here's what I would propose to solve the business problem:

1) Reduce server costs immediately.

The easiest way to do this is to reduce the number of public leagues. The custom leagues, whichever ones are left, should go first since the private leagues fill that need now.

Then reduce the number of MFN leagues to a fixed number, say 20, maybe fewer. Leave these leagues as free, so they stay full and competitive.

2) Limit players to one free private league team (and get rid of the silly concept of renewing credits), and charge a nominal amount per additional team with bundle prices.

Giving players access to one private league team will whet the appetite for more competitive leagues where players are more active and generating more content.

Charging a nominal fee will mean that expansion pays for itself. How nominal? It depends on how much server space costs per team. I assume that 0.99 per month, per team would do it. And then bundle price like 2.99 a month for say 10 teams. Or 4.99 for 25 teams. Or 9.99 a month for unlimited.

Having free public leagues in limited size and one free private league team will keep the server size reduced and cut costs. And, I'm sure, there are enough players that would buy an additional private league team or two.

The problem with implementing a plan like this is that it will completely disrupt the current play structure, and make a lot of people mad.

Given how much abuse JDB contends with at present, making people mad is hardly going to change the status quo.

The issue is not just one of covering costs, but also in generating enough revenue to make the game worth the time needed to continue its development. The current payment model does not deliver on this, so alternatives need to be explored.

The first step should be to convert as many existing players into paying as possible. No need to remove the free-play options entirely, but they should be curtailed to encourage keen players to stump up the price of a coffee on a regular basis. "Pay to win" isn't a factor. "Pay for a better experience" should be the goal.

The second step should be to increase the cost of every paid option that exists now. The paid game is still very cheap.

The third step is to allow those with deeper pockets to buy something with their funds. Custom field graphics, prestige leagues, exclusive forum access, priority team ownership - all of these can be charged for. Some people watch football in a sports bar, some watch from the executive box - neither group changes the nature of the game, but the option to upgrade the viewing experience spans a significant pricing range.

Hopefully something that works can be found. This is the best football browser game I've played.

I would pay for an offensive play editor, but everyone else would quit.

JDB is in a catch-22 at the moment because of the mistakes that led us here. He doesn't have the revenue to justify further development, but he can't improve revenue without making the game better first.

In general, I agree with setherick. The obvious revenue strategy is allow one free team, pay for more.

Show me another NFL simulator that is remotely as good as this and I'll agree.

I've searched wide and far and this is the only game that has given me the satisfaction of actually feeling like I'm an owner of a team and can control everything with my team.

Plenty of people have suggested additions and improvements and honestly, the biggest issue is that it's a one man project and that he can't possibly and realistically run this game like it deserves.

Getting more revenue would make it easier for him to either do this full time or hire some programmers to help with the coding and maintenance.

Alternatively; we'll continue to be able to enjoy this very good game completely free of charge. JDB is the hero we have, but probably doesn't deserve.

Completely agree. One of my biggest beefs with this game is the rather limited playbooks.

I've given several suggestions to how we could work with player-created plays and I really believe that could make this game feel way more complete.

I was mostly being facetious, but a play editor is one of the things I would pay extra for.

IoT doesn't really want to face a bunch left, PA, boot right, shallow cross, FL go tho ... again.

In the ideal world, we'd be able to tailor our offenses to the key players we have. I agree that it can be pretty boring to see (and use) the same 15 very successful plays all the time, but when we're limited to a certain amount of plays (80? 100? 120?) and some sets simply doesn't have any plays or maybe 1-2, it just goes that way.

I've recently added 5 plays from the 122 set and in total I had 11 to choose from. That's just not enough.

Also, I firmly believe that if asked, the community would be happy to suggest, moderate and fine tune future plays, so we won't just see 20 FL Hitch clones to keep abusing, but every play has to bring something different to the table. I also believe that some of you guys, who know the sport way better than I do, would be able to help JDB come up with a better system for defensive playcalling so we don't see offensive plays running rampant like now.

Just want to bring focus of the thread back to revenue ideas vs a wish list of wants.
There has been some great contributions so far. please continue :)