Daily fantasy sports (DFS) have become a hugely popular way to wager on sports in the US. Daily fantasy sports have a lot in common with traditional sports betting, although DFS often focuses more on individual player performances than the actual outcomes of contests.
Traditional DFS contests are “player-versus-player” games in which bettors create their own fantasy lineups to compete against others for a large prize pool. There are also now “player-versus-house” contests that involve fantasy sports sites offering particular wagering opportunities that can resemble prop betting.
Whichever type of fantasy sports you prefer, we’ve got you covered. Our expert team has reviewed all the best daily fantasy sports sites. Read on to learn all about the top DFS sites, where they are available, and how to get started playing fantasy sports.
Where are fantasy sports legal?
Daily fantasy sports have been around since the 2000s, and in most US states, it is legal to enter real money DFS contests. Some states have passed laws explicitly legalizing fantasy sports while many have no laws allowing or prohibiting DFS sites from operating.
From the player’s perspective, there is no practical difference between states that have legalized DFS and states that have no specific DFS laws on the books. However, some states have expressly forbidden fantasy sports, and you’ll find DFS sites avoid making their games available in those locations. States where fantasy sports are not legal include:
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Washington
Note as well that some states have begun to treat fantasy sports sites that specialize in so-called “pick’em” contests differently from traditional DFS sites that offer player-versus-player contests. When visiting a fantasy sports site, be sure to check its availability to see if you can actually deposit money and play the games in your state.
Best daily fantasy sports sites
Here are our choices for the top daily fantasy sports sites available right now with some information about what you can expect to find at each.
SuperDraft
SuperDraft is The Sporting News’ own fantasy draft platform that features several different ways to wager. First introduced in 2019, SuperDraft offers fantasy players a variety of game modes that give plays lots of different ways to play and win.
Playing in Salary Cap mode most closely resembles traditional DFS, only you are given a salary of $80,000 with which to draft your fantasy line-up. You can also choose Multiplier mode which adds a multiplier value (e.g., 1.5x, 2x and so on) to every single player eligible to be drafted, adding an extra wrinkle to your line-up decisions.
There’s also Champion mode which is more like DFS “Captain” contests which have just one player getting 1.5x the points. Another popular way to play at SuperDraft is Super 15 for which you draft a five-player team using a $15 salary cap. Contests cover all the most popular US sports as well as NASCAR, MMA, and even poker.
There are other ways to play at SuperDraft as well, including Fantasy Props and Jackpot Drops. Most SuperDraft DFS contests are available in 39 states plus DC with some exceptions for college football. Meanwhile, availability varies for the Fantasy Player Props and Daily Props Jackpots — check the site for details.
- Welcome offer: Use bonus code PLAYBONUS and receive Free Play & $20 Deposit Bonus on Sign Up
- Types of games offered: Salary Cap, Multiplier, Champion, Super 15, Fantasy Player Props, Daily Props Jackpots
Underdog Fantasy
Underdog Fantasy first arrived in 2020 and is another fast-growing DFS site offering multiple ways to play fantasy-style games.
In Underdog Fantasy Pick’em contests, you play against the house and make 2-5 over/under-type picks involving individual players. The prizes increase the more picks you select and get right. A “Pick 2” winner pays 3-to-1, while a “Pick 5” winner pays 20-to-1. There are variations, too, such as taking “insurance” and winning a partial prize if you miss a pick or designating a “scorcher” pick among your selections to boost the max payout.
Underdog Fantasy Drafts are a different way to play. These player-versus-player games start with a snake draft in which each of the entrants picks players for a fantasy team. The teams then compete against each other for a designated period, and the top finishers split the prize pool. There are different varieties of fantasy draft games, including Battle Royale and Best Ball.
Underdog’s pick’em contests are available in 32 states (plus DC), while the fantasy sports contests are available in 41 states (plus DC).
- Welcome offer: Use bonus code TSNBET and receive up to $250 in bonus cash plus a Pick'Em Special on deposit (Note: Pick’Em Special not available to users in Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania)
- Types of games offered: Underdog Fantasy Pick’em (Battle Royale, Best Ball, Rivals), Underdog Fantasy Drafts, special tournaments
Betr Picks
Betr Picks is one of the newest DFS sites to launch, having debuted in 2023. As the name of the site implies, it’s all about pick’em games. Betr Picks users in 23 states (plus DC) can wager in these player-versus-house contests.
Designed for casual sports fans, Betr Picks keeps it simple by inviting players to guess “yes” or “no” to questions about players reaching a certain total in their individual stats.
Like the games described above, Betr Picks combines props and totals bets while inviting players to create multi-leg parlays. Choose anywhere from 2 to 8 picks. Winning a 2x bet earns you a 3x payout while hitting an 8-pick parlay will win you 100 times your wager.
Betr Picks offers another way to play called micro-betting, a version of live betting that enables you to make small wagers on outcomes during a game while it is in progress.
- Welcome offer: Use bonus code TSNBET and receive a 100% deposit match up to $250
- Types of games offered: Betr Pick’em contests, micro-betting
Other recommended daily fantasy sports sites
Those preferring traditional DFS contests have a couple of marquee fantasy sports sites to choose from, both of which are available in most US states.
DraftKings DFS
DraftKings hosts a huge variety of player-versus-player contests for which you can draft lineups in many sports and leagues.
You can play large guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contests in which the prize pool is guaranteed; “cash games” such as 50/50s, head-to-heads, and multipliers; showdowns and tiers contests, and more. DraftKings also has beginner contests for novice players, satellites and “steps” contests to win entry into larger tournaments, and free-to-play contests, too.
FanDuel DFS
FanDuel is the other big player-versus-player DFS site that offers just about every imaginable form of daily fantasy sports contest.
You’ll find GPPs, cash games, showdowns, and other varieties, with the same wide range of sports and leagues available. FanDuel also hosts beginner and intermediate contests, single-game (or showdown) contests, snake drafts, free-to-play contests, and more.
The history of daily fantasy sports
Fantasy sports date back to the old “rotisserie” baseball leagues that became popular in the 1980s. Participants would draft MLB players from different teams to create their own “fantasy” team and compete against each other in season-long leagues. By the late 1990s, the concept had moved online with ESPN and other sites hosting fantasy sports leagues.
Then, 2007 brought the launch of Fantasy Sports Live, the first daily fantasy sports website. Instead of creating a team that would compete over a whole season, players could pick lineups from games on a single day’s schedule, thus making the contests “daily.”
In 2009, FanDuel launched its daily fantasy sports site and quickly dominated the market. In 2012, DraftKings arrived with its rival DFS product.
More recently came DFS sites like PrizePicks (2018), Underdog Fantasy (2020), and Betr Picks (2023), offering a new spin on traditional fantasy sports. These sites’ pick’em-style games resemble props, totals, and parlays in traditional online sports betting. Despite their success, that resemblance has attracted legal scrutiny. Some states have moved to prohibit these alternative DFS sites.
Traditional daily fantasy vs. pick’em DFS contests
Today, you will encounter both traditional daily fantasy sports sites like DraftKings and FanDuel and the newer pick’em-style DFS sites like Underdog Fantasy and Betr Picks. Here’s a quick explanation of the difference.
- Traditional DFS: Traditional daily fantasy sports involve player-versus-player contests in which participants draft lineups of players to create invented (read: “fantasy”) teams that compete against other entrants’ lineups. Players’ performances determine how many fantasy points the teams accumulate, and the teams with the most points at the end of the contest period win the money. The players are assigned certain values (usually called “salaries”), and entrants only have a limited amount of salary to use when selecting players. That salary cap ensures entrants can’t simply fill their lineups with all the best players.
- Pick’em DFS: Pick’em DFS contests are much more like parlays in which players compile multiple props. Unlike traditional DFS contests, you don’t draft players and build a fantasy lineup to play pick’em DFS. These are player-versus-house bets; players are either winning money from the sites or losing money to the sites. Like with traditional parlays, the prize increases as you add more picks to your pick’em wager.
DFS vs. traditional sports betting
Daily fantasy sports differ from traditional sports betting apps in one key respect. Rather than bet on actual teams, as you might when placing a moneyline or spread bet, you build fictional or “fantasy” teams into a lineup that competes for cash prizes. Usually, you are required to have players from at least two actual teams on your fantasy team (i.e., you can’t build an entire lineup from just one), thereby ensuring it is a genuinely invented “fantasy” team.
The more recent pick’em-style DFS sites and contests have actually blurred the line between fantasy sports and traditional sports betting. That said, with the pick’em DFS contests, you’re never betting on a team to win or lose (or cover or not cover a spread). Of course, that’s a big part of traditional sports betting.
Types of daily fantasy sports games
There are many varieties of DFS games you can play. Here are some of the more popular kinds.
Beat the Score
This is a traditional daily fantasy contest in which players build a DFS lineup and hope to accumulate more than a designated number of fantasy points. If users do “beat the score,” they split the cash prize with anyone else who also does so. This is a little different from DFS contests in which you compete directly against other players, although your payout is affected by how many others beat the score along with you.
Best Ball
Best Ball DFS contests invite participants to create a fantasy lineup via a snake draft. That lineup then accumulates points during the contest period where the highest-scoring players automatically remain in starting roles, and there’s less lineup switching. Sometimes the Best Ball contest is set up as a tournament with multiple rounds.
Daily Snake
Entrants create a lineup via a snake draft, usually against a relatively small number of opponents. Note that when you create a lineup this way, there is no salary cap involved, and you can just pick from whatever players are available when it is your turn. The contest then plays out in one day, and the highest-scoring teams divide the prize money.
Head-to-Head
You can play “heads-up” daily fantasy sports contests against just one other opponent instead of trying to beat a field of many thousands. These are winner-take-all contests with the prize generally adding up to something just short of twice the buy-in.
Multipliers
DFS multipliers are contests with fixed prizes that are multiples of the entry fee. For instance, if you play a 3x multiplier with a $10 entry fee, those who finish high enough to make the money will each win $30.
Pick’em
Pick’em DFS games invite you to compile picks of certain outcomes and submit them as a single wager. If you get them all correct, you win. The more picks you assemble, the bigger your prize. Pick’em DFS is very much like betting a parlay in which each of the bets are individual player props for which you are picking the over or under on a total.
Salary Cap
Most traditional DFS contests involve selecting players for a team while staying under a salary cap. For example, you might be able to pick nine players for an NFL contest, but you only have $50,000 to spend on all nine, which means you’ll have to choose wisely between higher and lower-valued players.
Single Game
Single game DFS contests, sometimes called “Showdown” contests, are similar to regular DFS contests except that instead of choosing players from multiple games to form your lineup, you can only choose them from one game. That said, you still have to choose players from multiple teams when creating your lineup, so you have to have at least one player from each team on your fantasy team.
Tournaments
The term “tournament” can mean different things in the context of daily fantasy sports. Sometimes guaranteed prize pool contests (aka GPPs) are called tournaments, as are other types of contests that pay out like poker tournaments with a certain percentage of top finishers splitting the prize pool.
What are daily fantasy sports rankings?
When you construct a traditional DFS lineup, you’ll see the available players ranked according to their potential performance. The best players are ranked the highest and “cost” the most to add to your team, taking up more of your salary cap than the lesser-ranked players do. Part of the fun of creating DFS lineups is trying to guess which players will outperform projections and score more points for you than expected.
Another fun aspect of DFS is to follow the leaderboard after the contest begins. As the games play out, you can watch your team move up and down the rankings. Being near the top of the rankings at the end of the night can be especially exciting as you find yourself within reach of the contest’s top prize.
DFS payment options
Daily fantasy sports sites typically feature multiple ways to deposit money into your account and withdraw funds later. You’ll discover most sites have more ways to deposit than ways to withdraw, although there will be plenty of options for both.
When it comes to deposits, you’ll find several payment options for daily fantasy sports sites. Most sites accept either debit or credit cards for deposits or using PayPal. You’ll find some also accept gift cards, online bank transfers, Apple Pay, or Venmo.
Most of those methods can be used to withdraw as well. Sometimes, to use a particular withdrawal method, you will need to have deposited with that same method. Spend some time searching through the various DFS payment options and pick the one that works best for you.
See more: Fastest payout sportsbooks
How to sign up for a DFS account
Registering for a new account at a daily fantasy sports site is quick and simple. It typically takes only a couple of minutes to complete. The process varies a little from site to site but usually involves the following steps.
- Visit the website or download the app and click “Sign Up” or “Register” (or the equivalent).
- Follow the prompts, which usually begin by asking you to provide an email address, choose a unique username, and create a strong password.
- The site will also need to verify your identity, which means providing your full name, your date of birth, and your current home physical address.
- If the site can’t verify your identity with that information, you might be asked to provide other items, such as a value state-issued ID or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
- Once you’ve completed all the needed information, click “Create Account” or “Submit” (or the equivalent), and your account will be created.
That’s usually all you have to do to create your DFS account. When you want to deposit funds (see above), you will need to provide additional information.
Daily fantasy sports FAQ
What is the best DFS site?
It depends on what kind of daily fantasy sports contest you like to play. For those who prefer the pick’em DFS games, sites like Underdog Fantasy and Betr Picks are great choices.
Can I win real money at DFS sites?
Yes, most contests require you to pay an entry fee, and the prizes all come in the form of cash as well. You’ll find some DFS sites have free-to-play contests or will give you free tickets to games that have cash prizes, too.
Can I play DFS on my phone?
Yes, all of the daily fantasy sports sites we recommend above are available to play on smartphones. You’ll find DFS apps available both for iOS phones (in the App Store) and Androids (in the Google Play Store).