FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports Review

FanDuel offers legal daily fantasy sports contests in 44 states and is one of the nation’s most successful and well-known DFS operators.

The FanDuel Fantasy app has expanded its offerings tremendously since launching in 2009 and now provides a vast range of contest types at price points ranging from free to $50,000.

As a licensed fantasy sports site and the official partner of every major professional sports league, FanDuel DFS leaves no questions regarding its legitimacy or safety. The primary question the following FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports review will answer is whether it suits your unique preferences as a sports fan.

FanDuel DFS
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FanDuel Fantasy Promo Code: Not Needed
  • Legal In 44 States
  • New Customer Bonus
  • Free Pick'em Games
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Pros

Customer Friendly BonusLightweight Mobile App

Cons

Weak Rewards ProgramNo Season Long Leagues
Bonuses and Promos
Deposits and Withdrawals
User Interface
Contest Types

Which States Is FanDuel DFS Available In?

States 1States 2
AlabamaNebraska
AlaskaNew Hampshire
ArizonaNew Jersey
ArkansasNew Mexico
CaliforniaNew York
ColoradoNorth Carolina
DelawareNorth Dakota
FloridaOhio
GeorgiaOklahoma
IllinoisOregon
IndianaPennsylvania
IowaRhode Island
KansasSouth Carolina
KentuckySouth Dakota
LouisianaTennessee
MaineTexas
MarylandUtah
MassachusettsVermont
MichiganVirginia
MinnesotaWest Virginia
MississippiWisconsin
MissouriWyoming

FanDuel DFS Promo Code

TitleDetails

FanDuel Fantasy Promo Code

Not Needed
Welcome Offer100% up to $100 First Deposit Bonus
How to Qualify
  1. Sign up for an account
  2. Make a first deposit of at least $5

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports Bonus

FanDuel Fantasy bonus

The FanDuel welcome bonus changes regularly, but there is always something on offer for new customers.

The current FanDuel Fantasy bonus gives new customers a 100% first deposit bonus worth up to $100. For example, a new user who registers and makes a first deposit of $75 qualifies for $75 in bonus funds to use on contest entry fees.

FanDuel DFS bonus funds are non-withdrawable, but customers may immediately withdraw any winnings obtained by using the bonus. Any unused bonus funds expire 14 days after receipt. New users do not need to use a FanDuel Fantasy promo code of any type to claim this offer; signing up for an account and depositing at least $5 is all that’s needed to receive the deposit bonus.

Compared to other DFS bonuses, this one of the better offers on the market.

Other FanDuel DFS Promotions

FanDuel also hosts frequent short-term promotions for existing customers. For reference, below is a review of the promos FanDuel had on offer at the time of this review.

  • NBA Hot Streak: Players who finished in the top 50% of FanDuel’s daily “Streak Eligible” contest started or continued their streaks. The players who finished with the longest streaks qualified for cash prizes at the end of the month.
  • Captain Morgan Soccer Pick’em: The weekly Captain Morgan’s Soccer Pick’em contest was free to play and offered $3,000 worth of prizes every week. Players simply entered the promo, made quick predictions for Saturday’s games, and got paid if their picks were correct.
  • Hoops Challenge: The free Hoops Challenge by Hulu promotion had players pick which team will win each playoff series and in how many games. A new contest began each round, and the players with the most points earned a share of a $10,000 prize pool. The top 1,000 players qualified for the final round and a shot at the $5,000 prize pool.
  • NBA Over/Under: The NBA Over/Under promotion offered users a free chance to win $5,000 in prizes. After entering, players chose the over or under for selected prop bets and won cash prizes if they got more picks correct than the competition.

How FanDuel DFS Works

Players can enter daily fantasy games at FanDuel by signing up for an account, logging in, and choosing an open contest from the lobby.

The FanDuel lobby provides all critical information at a glance, including all upcoming contests, their entry fees, prize pools, and the number of registrants. Players may sort the lobby by sports league, contest type, and buyins.

FanDuel lobby

Selecting a contest opens a new window, which provides all the game details and is where players draft their teams. FanDuel provides many fantasy contest types, but they all involve selecting athletes who earn points based on their real-world counterparts’ performances. The players whose teams score the most points win cash prizes.

how it works

FanDuel DFS Contests

FanDuel hosts many different types of fantasy sports contests and frequently releases new variants, so there is always something new. The goal in every game is to accumulate the most fantasy points.

Contests vary by duration, the number of players, prize structure, drafting rules, and scoring rules. FanDuel hosts DFS contests for the following sports:

  • Football
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Hockey
  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • NASCAR
  • College basketball
  • College football
  • UFC
  • Tennis
  • League of Legends
  • CS:GO
  • ENASCAR
  • Rocket League
  • Call of Duty
  • Valorant

FanDuel introduced its shortest daily fantasy contests for the 2019 NFL season, giving players multiple chances to submit lineups on gameday.

If a player’s original lineup isn’t looking great, they can enter a single-game contest for the second half or even just the 4th quarter. Players draft five athletes from a single game and compete based on their picks’ performances during the second half or 4th quarter only.

In a 50/50 contest, the top 50% of the finishers earn double their money back. For example, a 6-person competition would double the money of the top-3 finishers. These contests may involve anywhere from 6 to 100 contestants.

FanDuel hosts beginners-only games that only accept entries from players who have played in 50 or fewer contests.

In turn, new FanDuel customers can sharpen their skills against other players of a similar skill level for their first 50 contests. Once players participate in 50 contests or win more than $2,500, they lose eligibility for beginners only contests.

Best Ball contests are season-long snake draft leagues. Each player drafts 20 athletes, and each week, the best-scoring athletes in each position count toward their weekly fantasy points. The players with the most fantasy points at the end of the season win.

Snake draft contests have players take turns drafting athletes without salary considerations.

Once a player makes a draft pick, no one else may select the same athlete that round. FanDuel randomizes the pick order and reverses it each round. Players have 30 seconds to make each pick, or FanDuel will make a pick for them. FanDuel offers single-game and multi-game snake draft slates.

Near the end of 2018, FanDuel took single-game contests one step further and launched half-slate contests that cover just half of one game. Players still pick a roster of five athletes (with one of those being an MVP who scores 1.5x points), but the scoring only begins after the second half.

Head-to-head contests pit two players against one another in a winner-take-all matchup. Both participants pay their entry fees, draft their teams, and the winner receives the whole pot, minus FanDuel’s commission. Buyins range from $1 to $5,300.

Leagues are daily contests that involve 3, 5, 10, 20, 100, or 250 contestants. The number of payouts depends on the number of entrants. A 3-person league only pays the 1st place finisher, while a 250-person league offers payouts of varying sizes to the top 27 finishers.

FanDuel launched single-game contests in 2018 to cover exactly one game. For instance, FanDuel holds a single game contest just for the Super Bowl every year.

Single-game contests involve a roster of just five players and use standard scoring rules with one exception: players designate one athlete as the lineup MVP who accumulates 1.5x points.

Survivor tournaments work in rounds. In a basic survivor contest, the top 75% of finishers advance to round 2. Round 2 begins, and then another 25% of the remaining players are cut before moving to round 3. The culling process continues until the final round, where the survivors receive cash prizes.

The strategy for Survivor Tournaments is unique because players don’t necessarily need to go for high-risk, high payoff picks. Survivor tournaments emphasize safe picks who can earn enough points to keep players out of the bottom 25%.

Daily fantasy tournaments have the most contestants and biggest prizes. Large tournaments are challenging to win, but they often provide massive payouts. Buyins range from $1 to $1,065 and sometimes even more. Cash prizes go to the top finishers and vary based on the number of participants.

FanDuel also has guaranteed tournaments that promise a specific prize pool no matter how many people join the contest. For example, the weekly NFL Sunday Million has a prize pool of at least $3 million every week with a first-place prize of at least $1 million.

Triple-up and quintuple-ups are similar to 50/50s except in a triple-up, the top 1/3rd of finishers get triple their money back. In a quintuple-up, the top 1/5th of finishers get five times their money back.

FanDuel Quick Pick Contests eliminate the salary cap and shift to a tiered player system that makes for much faster drafting, available in MLB, PGA, and NASCAR.

FanDuel.com DFS Championship Events

One of the primary advantages of playing with an operator as large as FanDuel is it has the numbers to support massive tournaments with huge prize pools. The weekly Sunday Million with its $500,000+ first place prize may be impressive, but FanDuel hosts contests with even bigger prize pools every season.

Typically, FanDuel’s season-finale events fly the qualifiers to destinations around the country to compete in person.

The WFFC is the premier event every year for NFL fans. Last year’s World Fantasy Football Championship awarded nearly $6 million in total prizes across the two main events, one held online and one held in-person in Puerto Rico.

Eighty players qualified for the live championship through satellite contests held online at FanDuel.com. Each qualifier received a prize package consisting of flights and accommodations for two at a resort in Puerto Rico, access to the WFFC welcome reception, entry for two to a $50K single-game championship, admission to the after-party, $300 in resort credits, and entry to the WFFC itself.

The WFFC paid $2.5 million in prizes, and nobody went home empty-handed. The first, second, and third-place finishers received $500,000, $250,000, and $150,000, respectively, but nobody left without at least $10,000 no matter where they finished.

Meanwhile, the online championship guaranteed $3.5 million across 15,085 spots with a first-place prize of $1 million. Players could qualify for this one through satellite contests featuring buyins ranging from $1 to $25.

Where NFL fans get the WFFC, MLB fans get the WFBC. The World Fantasy Baseball Championship works like the football championship but with a $2 million prize pool and $500,000 reserved for the first-place winner.

In its latest iteration, 125 finalists qualified online through satellite contests at FanDuel.com. FanDuel flew them to the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego and gave them three nights of hotel accommodations in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.

Each finalist received two passes to the welcome reception at Moonshine Flats, complete with a surprise country music performance, two entries to the $50,000 MLB single-game contest, two tickets to the Sunburn Pool Party at Hard Rock Hotel, and admission to the WFBC itself.

The 125 finalists competed in-person for $2 million in total prizes. First place was good for $500,000, while second place received $250,000, and third place earned $100,000. Payouts extended to all 125 finalists, with not a single player receiving less than $5,000 just for showing up.

Just like the other major FanDuel championships, the WFBBC holds qualifiers online and sends finalists to compete for a massive prize pool in person every year. Last year’s World Fantasy Basketball Championship sent 75 finalists to the Terranea Resort in Southern California to compete in a $1.5 million live final.

Each of the 75 qualifiers received $1,000 cash for travel expenses, three nights of resort accommodations, entry for two to the $50K single-day contest, and admission to the WFBBC Main Event. The main event awarded $300,000 to the first-place finisher, $150,000 to second place, and $100,000 to third place. Everyone else won anywhere from $70,000 to $5,000, with nobody going home empty-handed.

FanDuel DFS Deposit Options

Bank Transfer Credit Card Debit Card Game On Gift Card PayPal Venmo Wire Transfer

Expert Opinion: Is FanDuel DFS Legit?

FanDuel.com has not maintained roughly 40% market share for years as one of the top-two fantasy sites in the country by accident. Massive prize pools, varied contest types, and buyins for any budget make FanDuel is an easy pick for anyone new to daily fantasy.

The competition can get tough at higher buyin levels and in multi-entry guaranteed prize pool tournaments, but the beginners-only contests and smaller tournaments give everyday sports fans a legitimate chance. Most importantly, FanDuel holds licenses in multiple states and pays winners quickly.

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ

Yes.

FanDuel only operates in states where daily fantasy sports contests are legal. Many states passed laws to formally authorize and regulate fantasy sports after FanDuel and DraftKings rose to prominence, giving both sites firm legal footing.

Even before that, online fantasy was exempted from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). The law affected other forms of online gaming, but it specifically exempted daily fantasy contests.

However, state laws do vary. Several states have laws on the books that appear to classify fantasy sports as a form of illegal gambling. As a result, FanDuel does not accept customers from the following states.

Restricted states: Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington.

Yes, but only to a limited degree. Funds deposited to each FanDuel product must stay on that product. However, anything you win on any platform is transferable between FanDuel Fantasy, Sportsbook, and Casino (if available in your state).

For example, you cannot deposit to FanDuel Fantasy and then transfer that money to FanDuel Casino or FanDuel Sportsbook. However, if you win money from a fantasy contest, you may transfer your winnings to the sportsbook or casino.

Yes. Customers can log in to set the following limits:

  • Number of contests entered per day, week, or month
  • The amount deposited per day, week, or month
  • Maximum contest entry fee

No, but FanDuel offers something similar. Customers can use Friends Mode to create private contests lasting anywhere from three days to the full season. Friends Mode contests are like season-long leagues except entrants receive immediate payouts and draft new teams each week.