Daily Fantasy Football Sites on the Rise – Advantages & Strategy

Daily fantasy football sites are now all the rage in the US, and have been ever since the emergence of DraftKings and FanDuel into the newly regulated North American marketplace. These sites have helped to create a global DFS market that was worth $27.20 billion in 2022 and is poised to peak at $87.07 billion by 2031.

The market leading DFS platforms now have lucrative advertising deals with major sports networks such as Fox Sports and ESPN. This has seen them evolve to overtake season-long fantasy sports games and betting, but what makes them so popular among US bettors? We’ll explore this and more in our comprehensive DFS betting guide below!

• Daily Fantasy Football and More – What is DFS and DFS Betting?
• The Rise of Fantasy Football and Other Sports – Exploring its Origins
• Why is DFS on the Rise? The Advantages of Daily Fantasy Sports Betting
• Building the Ideal DFS Betting Strategy – The Key Considerations

Daily Fantasy Football and More – What is DFS and DFS Betting?

If you’re unfamiliar with daily fantasy football or sports betting, you should know that this provides a stark contrast to traditional fantasy sports (which are focused on season-long events and outcomes). When frequenting daily fantasy football platforms, for example, you’ll access an accelerated experience that covers shorter durations such as hours, a day or a week.

While traditional fantasy sports players compete for cash prizes over the course of a season, DFS players participate in much shorter and more frequent contests. These see winners awarded a predetermined share of the total entry fees collected, while sites will retain a small percentage as rake revenue.

You’ll then create a virtual team of real-life players to compete against similar entities, in a bid to earn the most DFS points based on individual performances. At the best daily fantasy football sites, you’ll have to pick your fantasy team within predetermined salary cap, while DraftKings and Fan Duel offer an adjusting scale for player pricing across alternate sports.

While NFL team DFS betting is the most popular market in this vertical, there are also others for you to explore. For example, you can bet on the individual performances of a single athlete, during a particular game, week or campaign. There’s also round-by-round betting, which is an especially short-term market that’s focused on a limited selection of fixtures. These markets are also synonymous with DFS betting on individual sports such as golf.

Sports like golf unlock additional DFS markets too, including individual player matchups. Here, you’ll bet on two players who are going up against each other in a particular round, picking one to complete the course in the fewest number of shorts. This may unlock further performance bets and props, so you can also combine multiple picks (including spreads) in a single DFS parlay.

The Rise of Fantasy Football and Other Sports – Exploring its Origins

Of course, fantasy football and basketball markets are particularly popular, but where and when did the concept of DFS originate? According to most sources, this started with sportswriter Daniel Okrent in 1980, as he created a “fantasy baseball league” with his friends. The idea was subsequently expanded to cover additional sports, including football, soccer and basketball.

In the year 1984, the ‘Fantasy Football Digest’ publication emerged. This earmarked the first formal declaration of FS rules, tactics and strategies, many of which underpin the daily fantasy football sites that we know and love today. This also saw fantasy sports afforded a daily weekly column in USA Today, before the ‘Fantasy Sports Trade Association’ was launched in 1999.

At this time, fantasy sports were typically a recreational pastime and hobby, as people could pick teams and enter them into both national leagues and contests with friends and family members. Unsurprisingly, prizes were limited during this time, while leagues were built on the idea of community and engagement rather than real money wagering.

It was in 2007 that DFS emerged, largely in the form of daily fantasy football leagues. This immediately blurred the lines between fantasy sports and sports betting, while DraftKings and Fan Duel subsequently emerged to create the type of diversified and flexible wagering markets we’ve referenced above. DFS is now home to a huge marketplace, and one where players compete for frequent returns and real money prizes.

Why is DFS on the Rise? The Advantages of Daily Fantasy Sports Betting

With the fantasy football and wider DFS betting market poised to achieve a cumulative value of $87.07 billion by the year 2031, this sector is poised to experience a CAGR of 13.80% during the next seven years. This type of double-digit growth is indicative of a fast-growing and highly prosperous market, but what’s behind this relentless rise? Here are some of the advantages of DFS betting markets!

• DFS Betting is Simple: Sports betting is associated with a steep learning curve, especially when wagering on football and the NFL. After all, there are numerous markets and variables that impact the course of an NFL match, including injuries and home field advantage. In the case of DFS football betting, however, you simply need to analyze the performance of individual players and predict their output over a specified period of time. So, you can construct your team using historical and current performance data, while targeting a much smaller range of betting markets and outcomes.
• It Offers Tremendous Flexibility and Choice: As I’ve touched on, there are numerous betting markets associated with DFS, many of which can be leveraged by NFL and football bettors. In addition to team performance markets (which will be based on your DFS lineup), you can access fantasy over/unders, totals wagering and even go head-to-head with selected rivals. There are bespoke live DFS betting markets too, so there’s no doubt that daily fantasy sports unlock tremendous flexibility when wagering online.
• It’s Ideal for Knowledgeable and Analytical Bettors: If you’re a sports bettor who likes to analyze performance statistics in detail before placing wagers, DFS wagering is arguably ideal for you. This also explains why such markets have become increasingly popular in recent years, as we have now have access to a much broader range of performance statistics and metrics. When you engage in DFS gambling, you can utilize these datasets to select the optimal markets and make the most informed picks.
• DFS Gambling is More Immersive: When you draft a DFS team or wager on your favourite players, you’re engaging with sports betting in a much deeper and more meaningful way than usual. There also remains a unique community element to this, while it’s also incredibly fun and tests your sporting knowledge to the maximum. In comparison, traditional sports betting can appear a little dry, especially as it’s focused on established markets and allows for little interaction between bettors.
• Build a ‘Dream Team’ Featuring the Best Players: When drafting your DFS team (whether this is based on the NFL, NBA or a similar league), you’ll be able to draw the best players from across all competing teams. So, rather than being dependent on a single franchise’s performance, you can identify the best individuals and combine their talents in a single, virtual lineup. This will typically cover a specific gameweek, and while you must select players within the confines of the aforementioned salary cap, you can constantly change your selection to account for form, injuries and load management decisions.

Building the Ideal DFS Betting Strategy – The Key Considerations

Given the advantages associated with DFS betting, the growth of this particular vertical is easily explained. However, this is also a highly competitive space, so achieving success with your virtual teams or prop wagers is far easier said than done. Fortunately, we’ve prepared some helpful tips and insights to help you to cultivate the most effective DFS strategies!

• Identify the Best Performance Metrics: Form is a key indicator when building a DFS team, especially given the short timeframe in which outcomes are determined. So, review a player’s last five performances to determine their likely output and value, while also analyzing their past achievements against a particular opponent. You can also check to see how many fantasy points players have accumulated during previous seasons, which may unlock alternative and better value potential picks.
• Create Diversified Lineups: If one of the advantages of DFS wagering is that it minimizes your exposure to risk by negating the need to bet on a single team, it makes sense that you should diversify your fantasy NFL lineup. Try to select a diverse range of players from the best franchises and teams where possible, identifying those that perform best in specific positions. Take time to project each player’s projected points before making a selection too, while once again referencing their past fantasy performances.
• Understand Scoring Systems: Not all fantasy scoring systems have been created equal, although most are built on a similar format. For example, players may receive 0.1 points per rushing or receiving yard, or 10 points per 10 yards rushing or receiving. However, there may be a few subtle variations for some performance metrics, and we’d urge you to comprehend a platform’s precise scoring system before you choose your team (or access alternative DFS markets).
• Don’t Overvalue Star Players: Remember, your DFS selections will be limited by salary caps, so you must tread carefully when picking the highest value players. By overvaluing star players (whether this is a result of your own biases or a failure to analyze performance data), you may utilize large portions of your salary cap without achieving optimal value for money. Try to contrast a player’s stated value against their previous performances and form, while potentially seeking out cheaper alternatives that may boost your returns.
• Understanding the Impact of Injuries and Load Management: American football is a physically demanding sport, and injuries can often change a team’s lineup from one game to the next. So, when you draft your lineups for a particular matchday or gameweek, be sure to track the latest injury news to determine whether one or more of your potential selections may be unavailable. This strategy is also key when selecting DFS drafts for basketball and hockey, as teams in these sports play a huge number of games and rotate their players as part of a wider load management strategy.

The Last Word

The recent growth of DFS betting is undeniable, while this market will also experience double-digit growth between now and 2031. There are obvious reasons for its popularity too: from the flexibility and diversity of markets that it offers to its high levels of engagement and enduring novelty value.

However, building a successful DFS team can prove challenging, so performance analysis and detailed understanding of scoring systems is key here. You’ll also need to be adaptive and willing to change your draft from one matchday to the next, based on injuries, suspensions and load management strategies.