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© 2021 Daily Fantasy Nerd. Daily Fantasy Football Site Review: DraftDay DraftDay is an up and coming daily fantasy site offering games ranging from free to $1,060 buy-ins for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and PGA.
DraftKings is currently legal in 43 US states, but not legal in, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, and Washington. FanDuel is available in all the same states as DraftKings. New York, which legalized DraftKings and FanDuel in 2016, is now wrestling with the idea of making daily fantasy sports illegal once again.
Founded in 2012, DraftKings has been competing with FanDuel for six years, and together the two behemoths account for over 90% of the total Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) market share. According to Crunchbase, DraftKings has received $644.8 million in funding to date, which has helped the company develop a DFS Sports platform with over nine million registered users.
DraftKings has been one of the first movers on the sports betting front as well, partnering with casinos, opening the first sports betting app in New Jersey, and partnering with Bdubs for exclusive DFS contests. If you live in New Jersey or a state that will soon have legalized online sports betting, I recommend reading our DraftKings sportsbook review.
Sports Offered
DraftKings currently offers contests for ten different sports, outmatching FanDuel’s seven.
DraftKings currently offers contests for ten different sports, outmatching FanDuel’s seven. Below is a table of some of the most popular sports and leagues offered. NCAA football is currently only available in 26 states.
| Feature | DraftKings Daily Fantasy |
|---|---|
| Total Sports Offered | 10 |
| Aussie Rules (AFL) | No |
| Baseball (MLB) | Yes |
| Basketball (NBA) | Yes |
| Basketball (NCAA) | No |
| Boxing | No |
| Cricket | No |
| E-Sports | Yes |
| Football (NFL) | Yes |
| Football (NCAA) | Yes |
| Golf (PGA) | Yes |
| Hockey (NHL) | Yes |
| Horse Racing | No |
| MMA (UFC) | Yes |
| Rugby (League) | No |
| Rugby (Union) | No |
| Soccer (EPL) | Yes |
| Soccer (MLS) | Yes |
| Tennis | Yes |
| Sports & Bets Offered | Stars |
Bets Offered
DraftKings offers a variety of contests, free and paid, that provide users an exhilarating eperience.
DraftKings offers users a range of contests. They can join or create public or private contests, each with a unique number of entrants, rules, and fees. DraftKings also allows users to enter daily contests against complete strangers or compete against friends all season by creating a league.
DraftKings’ contests allot users a virtual $50,000 to draft their team, regardless of the sport. Users then draft a team, usually comprising between six and nine players, each with their own respective price tag. Individual sports such as golf allow you to select the six golfers you think will perform best, while team sports such as football make you fill a roster with various positions. The typical NFL football lineup has 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1FLEX, and 1DST.
Contest Types
DraftKings contest types include featured, beginner, casual, tournament, head to head, 50/50s and double ups, multipliers, and satellites and qualifiers. The entry fee for these contests ranges from free to over $1,000 per entry. The most expensive entry fee I saw on DraftKings was $26,200.
All new DFS users should play beginner contests until they reach a tier on which they are no longer allowed to do so. Beginner contests allow new users to play with a pool of beginners, therefore increasing the chances of winning a contest.
Week one of the 2018 NFL season offered $1 million, split between all entrants based on their score of correctly picking the winner of each game that week. Another free contest offered tickets and hotel accommodation to the Canelo vs. Triple G fight in Vegas.
Other smaller, free contests are offered throughout the year, such as a random MLB contest on Thursday afternoons, with a $500 prize.
All in all, free contests are exciting and made me pumped to watch as much football as possible on that first Sunday of the season. My boss and I set aside a few minutes each Thursday after lunch to pick winners for the free weekly NFL Pick'em contest.
In my experience with both DraftKings and FanDuel, I had several takeaways:
- Both sites offer free contests. DraftKings tends to have a bigger pot, while FanDuel has a wider variety of contests, spreading across more sports.
- Both sites offer NFL Pick’em contests each week of the season. DraftKings has offered more in prize money for this contest.
- DraftKings allows users to alter their picks before the game starts each week, while FanDuel locks in a player’s choice as soon as it is made.
Player Data
When drafting a lineup, users can select players to view their recent performance, news linked to them, and current stats. DraftKings gives users a tad more data than FanDuel, although FanDuel presents the data in a cleaner manner. Below is what typical data look like on DraftKings.
Odds
DraftKings takes in a variable commission, depending on the style of contest. For a guaranteed prize contest, if the contest does not fill up, DraftKings will lose commission on the contest to payout all prizes. If this happens, users essentially get a higher expected value on their entry.
DraftKings has the following commission structure. This information was taken straight from their website and was last updated on October 19, 2017.
Banking Options and Fees
DraftKings currently offers a few banking options, allowing users to deposit money via credit/debit card and PayPal.
DraftKings currently offers a few banking options, allowing users to deposit money via credit/debit card and PayPal. The current deposit options can be seen below. Users who want a higher deposit limit can apply for it by filling out a few documents. The maximum limit after completing these documents varies from state to state but is comparable to FanDuel’s $10,000 limit.
Deposit Methods
Both debit/credit card (American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover) and PayPal deposits are fee-free at DraftKings.
| Feature | DraftKings Daily Fantasy |
|---|---|
| Total Deposit Methods | 2 |
| No Debit/Credit Card Deposit Fees | Yes |
| Deposit Min/Max - Debit/Credit Card | $5/$2,000 |
Withdrawal Methods
Before making any withdrawals, users are required to complete a W-9 form for identity verification. Withdrawals are easy and straightforward. Check and PayPal are currently the only two withdrawal methods. Both are fee-free.
| Feature | DraftKings Daily Fantasy |
|---|---|
| Total Withdrawal Methods | 2 |
| Check Payout Speed is < 10 days | No |
| No Withdrawal Fees - Check | Yes |
| Withdrawal Min/Max - Check | $1 Min |
Mobile Betting
DraftKings provides users a top-notch mobile betting platform with the DraftKings mobile app. The app is easy to use and has no lost functionality from the desktop version.
Users can make lineups on one device and upload them from another, giving them complete autonomy on where and when they want to bet. Creating lineups and being able to import them later is a useful feature DraftKings offers and FanDuel does not.
Furthermore, on DraftKings you can make multiple lineups for a slate of games, think about them, and then decide which one(s) you want to use. On FanDuel, you would be forced to take screenshots of the lineups you created, would not be able to alter them, and would have to re-enter them to enter a contest.
DK Live
DK Live is another app in which DraftKings provides live stats and scores, as well as news and leaderboards for top fantasy players. DK Live is awesome when you have active lineups and want to see how they’re performing against the field.
Combining the DK Live and DraftKings app would be convenient, but at the end of the day, DK Live is a useful app designed to give active users a better experience.
Education and Research
Overall, DraftKing’s training guides through Playbook are far superior to the education FanDuel offers. They contain way more substance, depth, and overall strategy.
For basic scoring rules, contest rules, and FAQs users can use the DraftKings home page.
For training guides and strategy, users should navigate to DraftKings Playbook. Playbook has guides with tips and strategies for drafting NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and Golf lineups. Also, each league has about 10-15 articles within Playbook that are especially useful to new users on the site.
Overall, DraftKing’s training guides through Playbook are far superior to the education FanDuel offers. They contain way more substance, depth, and overall strategy.
Playbook
DraftKings’ research “platform” is called Playbook, and provides daily research, strategy, recaps, news, and more. Most of these subcategories are just articles for the sports DraftKings covers. The “stud” and “value” picks in the daily research section were a definite highlight of the platform. Video content under the strategy category was also quite useful.
DraftKings TV
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DraftKings TV, or DKTV, provides videos on draft strategy for whatever sports are in season. Since DFS is not covered by a company such as ESPN, DKTV provides helpful insights for DFS users and fans.
Customer Service
My only complaint about customer service for both DraftKings and FanDuel is the lack of a dedicated phone line for general inquiries.
DraftKings offers live chat and email support for general support inquiries. The quality of support is excellent, and provides quick and knowledgeable responses. Compared to FanDuel, DraftKings’ response times were noticeably faster. That said, both sites had knowledgeable employees.
My only complaint about customer service for both DraftKings and FanDuel is the lack of a dedicated phone line for general inquiries. Instead, support hours for DraftKings are 7 am-12 am Monday to Friday and 9 am-12 am on Saturdays and Sundays.
Reputation
DraftKings has a solid foundation as a Daily Fantasy Sports company, with no real payout or banking issues. The only issues the company has are as follows.
- DraftKings and FanDuel are facing lawsuits for employees participating in contests using nonpublic information. Both sites now have policies that state their employees are not allowed to participate in any public contests on any DFS sites.
- DraftKings and FanDuel have also faced scrutiny for false/misleading advertising. This relates to the companies making it seem easier for a novice player to win money than it actually is.
- Less than 25% of active DraftKings’ users are net winners/breakeven for the past 30 days. This dramatic range of winners and losers can be attributed to professionals entering multiple lineups based on algorithms and data that highlight the best users.
- DraftKings posts what percentages of its users are winners in the past 30 days in links all over its website. All DFS users should be aware of the limited chances of winning public contests on all DFS sites.
Other Notes
Promotions & Loyalty Programs
Although promotions are not part of our overall rating, they are a factor in deciding which Daily Fantasy Sports site to use. DraftKings typically gives new users a free contest entry worth $1-$5. They also offer free contest entries that range in value when users refer a friend. In addition, users will receive different kickbacks depending on how much they wager.
Crowns Loyalty Program
Crowns is DraftKings’ version of a loyalty program. Users earn crowns for completing various “missions” DraftKings assigns the player every day. Crowns are also earned by playing in all paid contests.
Sometimes DraftKings will also offer a crown multiplier or bonus crowns for entering certain contests. When this review was being conducted, DraftKings offered bonuses for MLB games, some of which can be seen below.
Crowns can be used to enter contests once users accumulate enough. While the concept is unique, FanDuel’s Players Club still offers a better overall rewards program with its tiered system.
Final Thoughts
It is apparent why DraftKings has succeeded as a challenger to FanDuel, squashing all other smaller daily fantasy sports sites in its path. DraftKings has the most sports and leagues available for Daily Fantasy Sports, an excellent selection of training guides and free research, and great customer service. DraftKings is a great choice for anyone interested in Daily Fantasy Sports.
Methodology
For the BettingBuck.com annual best online sportsbooks review published in 2020, a total of 2,300 data points were collected over six months and used to score sportsbooks. Additionally, odds data was collected for each sportsbook on over 1,400 bets to give each sportsbook a comparative odds ranking.
Sports betting sites were scored across seven core categories to computer an overall rating: total number of sports and bets offered, odds, live betting features, mobile apps, educational resources, ease of use, and current bonuses.
Learn more about how we test.
About the author: Joey Shadeck Joey Shadeck is the lead writer for Moneyline.com and content strategist for Michigan-based Reink Media Group. He has closely tracked sports betting in the United States for the last two years, compiling hundreds of data points across dozens of sportsbooks. He has 6 years of online betting experience with hundreds of bets placed during that time.
DRAFT.com is a great new take on Daily Fantasy Sports for those who are looking for something different. DRAFT lets you choose a team of players – just like real fantasy sports – but play with that team for one week only.
You can join a new draft any time and it only takes a few minutes to complete. No more breaking down ownership percentages and digging through salary cap values. Just choose the players you like best for that week and enjoy the game.
Sign Up For Draft
Use Our Promo Code: ROTODOGS
If you’re new to DRAFT and you’d like to see for yourself how much fun it is, you can use our promo code ROTODOGS when you sign up and you’ll receive a free entry into a $3 contest, just for giving it a try. Don’t want to remember our code? No problem! Just use our link here or click the banner below and you’ll receive the same offer!
What Is Draft.com (Formerly PlayDraft)?
We all agree that the best part of your season long fantasy basketball leagues is the draft. Like their name suggests, DRAFT lets you draft daily fantasy players for this week’s games, in a fast online draft that only takes a couple of minutes to complete.
Unlike salary based daily fantasy leagues like DraftKings and Fanduel, you don’t need to worry about player ownership or chalk players because the players you draft are only on your team and nobody else’s.
How Do You Play Draft.com?
Playing at DRAFT is incredibly easy. All you need to do is download the app on your iOS or Android device and set up an account. If you don’t have an account you can click here to get a free $3 entry for your first game.
Once you have an account and have the app installed, just choose your sport and select a draft. The standard drafts run from 3 to 12 people, though DRAFT also features larger field head to head tournaments if you’re looking to win bigger prizes.
Contests start at either a designated time or once they are filled, so there are usually games running all throughout the day. Be sure to pay attention to your draft time so your picks aren’t auto-selected!
Contests range anywhere from just $1 all the way up to $1,000 if you’re a high roller, and prizes depend on the number of entries and the entry fee for the contest.
Best Ball Tournaments
New for NFL football in 2018, DRAFT is rolling out best ball tournaments including a tournament with a prize pool of $1,000,000 and a $100,000 first place prize. To play you simply draft a team in a 12 team draft and DRAFT will automatically score your best performing players so you don’t need to worry about setting a lineup each week. All teams play weeks 1-12 and during the fantasy playoffs (weeks 13-16) the top scoring teams advance until one team is crowned. If you’re looking for a larger prize pool on DRAFT this is the way to go.
DRAFT Roster Requirements
Recommended Draft Order Fantasy Football
When you draft your weekly team, you need to choose:
- 1 Quarterback
- 2 Running Backs
- 2 Wide Receivers or Tight Ends
The lineups you need to draft are very simple, especially compared to season long. I really like that wide receivers and tight ends are grouped together. No more digging through bargain basement tight ends like you need to on DraftKings and Fanduel. Best of all, no more kickers!
How To Deposit and Withdraw Money
Draft Daily Fantasy
Depositing money in to your DRAFT account is incredibly easy. On the app just click “Deposit” in the upper right corner and you can deposit money using your PayPal account in just a few seconds.
Withdrawing money is just as easy. In the app click on Profile on the lower right and the little gear icon on the top left and select Withdraw. You can either have your money sent to you via PayPal to get your money within 48 hours or via a check, which will be sent within 14 days, if you don’t mind waiting.
Daily Fantasy Sites
My DRAFT.com Review
Grade Your Fantasy Football Draft
Overall I really enjoyed using the DRAFT app to play daily fantasy sports. As much as I do enjoy the challenge that DraftKings and Fanduel’s salary cap structure presents, DRAFT feels much more like the season long fantasy basketball that I fell in love with decades ago.
The app is extremely easy to use and since the contests are significantly smaller (especially in football) the odds of winning are greatly increased. Although the prize payouts are smaller, DRAFT is simply more fun to play for the casual daily fantasy players who aren’t looking to put in the daily grind that the other DFS sites require.
If you’re ready to give Draft.com a shot for your self sign up using our promo code ROTODOGS or just click the banner below and you’ll receive a free $3 entry in to one of their real money contests. What are you waiting for? Sign up and start drafting today!