Editor’s note: Our very own Chase covered a similar topic for our weekly Not Another Roster Update newsletter. Be sure to check that out for even more tips and information!
Franchise Mode is one of the most popular modes in sports video games. Providing players with the ability to control and build their own franchises, it puts you in control of all the decisions, rather than just playing on the field. But once you’ve had enough playthroughs, it gets kind of monotonous.
You can change up the teams, employ new tactics, but you might feel like it’s just not hitting like it used to. Well, you’re not alone, and I’m here to change that. Franchise Mode can become stale after enough time, but there are ways to keep it fresh, regardless of the game you’re playing.
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How To Keep Franchise Mode Fresh
Spectate Over Playing
This is one of the most common ways players use to kill boredom or monotony in Franchise Mode. The main aim of Franchise Mode is to take over a franchise and get it to glory, right? So why not focus solely on the managerial aspect of the game, and leave the gameplay aspect to the AI?
The reason this works is that many players hit the difficulty cap in games. They’re able to win games at the greatest difficulty, even with below-average teams. If you’ve hit the difficulty ceiling, letting the AI play can put your team-building decisions to the test instead.
Use the ‘Spectate’ or ‘Simulate’ options if you’re running Franchise Mode in games like MLB The Show 26 or Madden 26. If we’re talking about WWE 2K26, you can control a few events and let the AI decide the main events. If you’re confident in your administrative decisions, your team will still come out on top, maybe with a slightly closer margin, but victors nonetheless.
Leave It Up To Lady Luck
Luck usually doesn’t play a major role in Franchise Mode games. You control all the decisions, and you’re the one playing the matches. So, how do you incorporate a bit of randomness and risk into your next Franchise Mode save? Roll a die to determine outcomes.
Before starting a new save file, roll a die. If you roll an odd number, you’ll bench your star player. The number on the die will determine how many games/months/seasons. Or flip a coin at the next four potential contracts that come across your desk. Landing a head means you sign them, while a tail means pass.
The only important part of this tactic is that you have to stick to it, no questions asked. No matter how important your star player is, or how much potential the next contract has, if you set a stipulation, following it is a must. Imagine playing an entire season without your star quarterback in College Football 26.
The reason why this tactic is so much fun is that the possibilities are limitless. You can make up the rules yourself: the duration, the stipulation, and who’s affected. It’s a great way to test your improvization skills and see how you do under pressure. Of course, you can set the difficulty of this challenge depending upon your own skill level, so things don’t get out of hand.
The Trade Deficit
Making up trade rules is practically part of the ‘experimental playbook’ at this point. But there must be a reason if players have been using it for so long to keep things entertaining. The Trade Deficit simply means not picking up any top-tier free agents, but rather focusing on scouts and fresh talent. Talent you have to build up rather than one that’s already prepped.
But there’s no one way to go about this. You could completely cut off new contracts and focus only on the players in your starting lineup. Or you could go for players fresh out of high school/college (depending on the game you’re playing).
Another interesting technique to keep the team on its toes is that every time you win a major championship, trade away your highest-paid player. And no, that doesn’t mean you bring in someone exactly like or better than them. You then bring in some fresh talent with lots of potential and rebuild your team to find your next superstar. This will keep sending top-tier players into the market, which will keep competition high in the league.
If we take this in terms of Madden, you could draft a player with high potential but low OVR, and let go of your star QB or WR. By doing so, your next season will be completely different from the one you had, and you’ll have to come up with new tactics all together.
Keeping Up The Win Streak
The previous tactics all focus a lot on keeping things interesting, and are usually viable once you’ve cleared the greatest difficulty in the game. But when you’re just starting, I think the best way to keep yourself challenged is to try to win all the championships/trophies with each team. Will this take a long time? Yes. But it also gives you a great long-term goal.
Now I will say, this one has the highest chance of feeling stale the fastest. I won’t say this is for everyone. But if you’re someone who thrives off success and that feeling of coming out on top, this is a great challenge to try out. You could alternate between top-tier and bottom-tier teams. This ensures you’re not always the underdog, and also that you’re not just bulldozing your way through the leaderboard.
You can couple this method with the other methods mentioned above to increase the difficulty if you want. But once again, that is up to your discretion. Just make sure whatever you do, you’re having fun doing it.
Published: Apr 16, 2026 04:30 pm