I don't know who is going to hold the cash...but I say we do a deadline for the auction 24 hours before the start of the 1st game. (use rx post time as official)
you have 23 hours to send payment in (this means no one who mails money can do this unless they have someone vouch for them). 1 hour before kickoff if you are not paid in then it goes to the next highest bidder....
knowing ahead of time 23 hours is a long time to get payment in.