Yahoo Daily Fantasy Sports Review
Yahoo Fantasy is the most durable and time-tested fantasy platform on the planet. Although Yahoo has slid into obscurity relative to its days as an internet juggernaut in the 1990s, Yahoo Fantasy remains a popular, relevant, and well-executed daily fantasy product.
Some of Yahoo Fantasy’s persistence in an age of billion-dollar DFS and sports betting valuations has to do with long-term players who value Yahoo’s season-long leagues, but that’s not the whole story.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy also operates as a well-populated second-tier DFS provider. Yahoo DFS traffic numbers come nowhere near those boasted by FanDuel and DraftKings, the leaders in the space, but it is a viable alternative that receives regular updates and new features.
Continue below for a full Yahoo Fantasy review that discusses contest types, daily fantasy offerings, season-long leagues, promotions, and more.
Yahoo
Pros
Large, reputable fantasy brandLow rakeYahoo has extensive experience in season-long fantasyAbility to attract casual, unskilled playersCons
Lackluster signup bonusDoes not stand out from the pack in any significant wayYahoo has offered season-long fantasy sports contests since the 90s and entered the daily fantasy space in 2015. Its season-long games are some of the most popular in the nation, with tens of millions of registered users. Overall, Yahoo has done a commendable job operating and maintaining its season-long fantasy leagues.
Yahoo’s daily fantasy platform never managed to break into the top tier of DFS providers, but its platform is still popular enough to attract thousands of daily users.
Yahoo Fantasy Promo Code and Bonuses
$10 Site CreditNew users who sign up for accounts and make their first deposit receive a $10 site credit. The Yahoo Fantasy bonus is non-withdrawable, but fans can use it to enter contests and earn cash prizes.
Yahoo Fantasy does not require a promo code – all new customers qualify by registering, making a first deposit of at least $10, and entering one real-money contest.
The Yahoo Fantasy deposit page features a field where users can input promo codes, but customers can leave it blank. All new users receive the same bonus whether they input a promotional code or skip it.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy App
Fantasy sports players can visit Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store to download the Yahoo Fantasy app for iOS and Android devices.
From the app, players can browse the fantasy lobby, enter contests, monitor their games live, view player stats, make deposits, and request withdrawals.
The Yahoo Fantasy app provides a ton of functionality, but it is not as intuitive as other major operators’ apps. New users will likely spend more time than they would like accomplishing simple tasks such as finding contests for a specific sport.
Navigation starts to make more sense fairly quickly, but it is not the most newbie-friendly app in the daily fantasy world. Once users get through the initial learning curve, the full extent of the app’s capabilities becomes clear. Users can get a lot done through the app, including obtaining updates on the latest sports news that could impact their lineups.
Yahoo Mobile DFS App Screenshots
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Contests
Yahoo Sports offers daily fantasy contests for each of the nation’s major sports leagues:
- MLB
- NBA
- NFL
- NHL
- Golf
- Soccer
The selection is limited compared to other major providers such as DraftKings and FanDuel that host contests for college sports, MMA, esports, and more.
However, this is likely a calculated decision on Yahoo’s part due to its smaller user base. By limiting its game selection, Yahoo can funnel players into fewer contests and support bigger prize pools than it could otherwise. What Yahoo gives up in variety, it gains in quality.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy contests give players $200 in salary, with athlete salaries ranging from a few bucks to $55. Players who have experience with other DFS sites will feel at home at Yahoo Fantasy.
Yahoo Fantasy is simple in presentation, but it provides more features than one might expect at first glance.
QuickMatch
Choose a QuickMatch game to jump into a head-to-head contest against another player of roughly even skill. The Yahoo Fantasy leveling system “fairly and automatically” selects two users to play the match, providing both players a level playing field.
Players must compete in five ranked contests for any sport to earn their ranking and gain access to QuickMatch games. It does not have to cost anything to earn a ranking; players may compete in free or real money ranked matches to receive a ranking.
Best Ball
Best Ball is Yahoo’s simpler, less involved season-long fantasy format. Every player drafts a team and can then sit back and watch with no further action needed.
Each week, the best athletes on your team in each position automatically count toward your fantasy total. At the end of the season, the players with the most fantasy points win the league.
Yahoo hosts free and paid best ball leagues each season with weekly payouts. Players can participate in up to 50 best ball leagues at a time, which is feasible because there is very little time commitment after players draft their athletes at the beginning of the year.
Draft Together: Yahoo Fantasy Video Draft
In 2021, Yahoo Fantasy launched a video chat feature just in time for MLB’s Opening Day for players unable to get together with their friends. The feature is available for private leagues with 12 teams or less, making it possible for friends to reconnect and talk trash face to face.
Yahoo Fantasy Plus
Yahoo Fantasy Plus provides users access to advanced statistics, tools, and insight from skilled players for a very affordable $8 per year. Tools include:
- Research Assistant: Handy interface to compare athletes with straightforward recommendations, stat comparisons, and insight from Yahoo Fantasy Diamond level players
- Optimal Starters: Activate the Start Optimal Players tool to ensure the best players are in your lineup every week with a single click or tap
- Trade Insights: Use this tool to view the strengths and weaknesses in every position for every team to make more informed trade decisions
- Advanced Stats: Access to Yahoo Fantasy Plus unlocks advanced player stats in My Team, Players, and Research Assistant
Yahoo Fantasy Lobby and Interface
Yahoo operates its daily fantasy and season-long games through a single lobby, but it clearly delineates game types. Users can use a dropdown selection to switch the lobby view from daily fantasy to season-long games and back.
Inside the daily fantasy lobby, users can organize games by league and filter by entry fee and contest type. For example, users can adjust the lobby settings to see a current list of all head-to-head NFL contests with entry fees between $5 and $50 if they wish.
The lobby places small icons next to each contest’s listing to provide additional information at a glance. For example, Yahoo places the “G” icon next to guaranteed games, an “M” icon next to multi-entry contests, and so on.
The lobby provides a lot of information to users, but the layout makes it easy to sort contests and navigate at will.
Yahoo DFS Desktop Screenshots
Yahoo DFS Rake and Fees
While other fantasy sites require manual calculations to figure out how much they’re keeping from every prize pool, Yahoo Fantasy displays its rake upfront before users submit their lineups.
Yahoo’s willingness to post its rake (which it calls “management fees”) is a strong indication of the confidence that it offers better pricing for players.
Yahoo rakes 5% or less for standard head-to-head contests, which is on par with other major operators. However, Yahoo’s H2H QuickMatch games ($1 to $25) charge no rake at all – something the other operators do not offer.
On GPP contests, Yahoo rakes 11-12% from the prize pool. Other operators charge significantly more, taking upwards of 17% on their GPPs.
Below is a random sampling of the rake charged across similar game types offered at Yahoo, DraftKings, and FanDuel:
| Game Type | Yahoo | DraftKings | FanDuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 Head-to-Head | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| $15 GPP | 12% | 17.65% | 17.56% |
| $50 50/50 Contest | 10% | 13% | 11.1% |
Yahoo Sportsbook by BetMGM
In 2019, Yahoo partnered with BetMGM Sportsbook to integrate odds into Yahoo Sports content. A press release from the time described it as the launch of “Yahoo Sportsbook by BetMGM,” but the name is a bit of a misnomer.
Yahoo does not operate as a standalone sportsbook or directly accept wagers. Instead, the partnership allows Yahoo to provide betting odds in sports news content such as schedules and news stories. Additionally, users in states where BetMGM offers online betting can click or tap the odds listed anywhere on Yahoo to visit BetMGM Sportsbook to place that wager.
Readers can also visit the Yahoo Sportsbook homepage for a complete listing of odds for upcoming games, a guide to betting on sports, sports betting previews, and more. It is far from a full-fledged sportsbook, but fans can also visit Yahoo Sportsbook to access special offers from BetMGM.
For example, Yahoo Sportsbook recently notified users of a special golf betting offer that gave users $100 in free bets in return for making a first deposit of at least $10 and betting $1 on any golfer to win the Masters.
Yahoo Sportsbook at the Venetian Las Vegas
Yahoo Sportsbook at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas opened in August 2023, featuring a 1,700-square-foot LED wall, 30+ HD TVs, staffed teller windows, self-serve kiosks, and private fan caves with personal 98-inch TVs.
The 12,000-square-foot Venetian sportsbook marks Yahoo’s first foray into retail sports betting, but the arrangement is similar to Yahoo’s partnership with BetMGM. Although the Yahoo brand adorns the Venetia’s sportsbook, experienced Vegas-area operator William Hill powers the venue’s day-to-day sports betting operations.
Yahoo Sportsbook at the Venetian is open daily until 10 PM, but the self-serve kiosks and sports bar are open 24/7.
Yahoo Fantasy Sports Deposit Methods
Yahoo Fantasy comes up short on daily fantasy sports deposit methods, with PayPal as the only option. Users must have a credit or debit card linked to a verified PayPal account to fund their accounts.
However, Yahoo Fantasy is strong on withdrawals. Players receive their winnings within hours of winning a fantasy contest and can withdraw up to $100,000 per day via PayPal. Yahoo processes withdrawals to PayPal accounts within two business days.
Yahoo DFS Scoring Rules
Expert Opinion: Is Yahoo Fantasy Legit?
Yahoo is a behemoth in sports news and media, even if the company’s best days are behind it. Yahoo’s fantasy sports product is legal, acquires licenses where necessary, and has never failed to pay a winner.
Deciding if Yahoo Fantasy is suitable for you hinges on what you want out of your fantasy site.
Yahoo Fantasy, DraftKings, and FanDuel are largely even in terms of interface, security, and rules. Each has its quirks in these areas, but all three are roughly equal in these aspects.
Where the differences emerge are in rake, GPP contest prize pools, and league coverage.
Yahoo Fantasy comes up short in game variety, the types of leagues covered, and GPP prize pools. If you want to compete for million-dollar prize pools or try your hand at League of Legends contests, you’ll want to look at one of Yahoo’s competitors.
However, Yahoo Fantasy is above average in rake. Yahoo consistently rakes tournament prize pools less than the competition. If you don’t mind playing for smaller prizes or sticking with 50/50 and head-to-head contests, Yahoo Fantasy makes a compelling case because it lets users keep more of their winnings.
Additionally, Yahoo is an easy choice for season-long fantasy leagues. You can manage leagues with your friends, track results over the long term, and start new leagues every season with ease. Yahoo Fantasy also has a large user base, making it easier for lone wolves to find season-long leagues.
Wes Burns has more than a decade’s worth of experience as a writer, researcher and analyst in the legal gambling industry and is co-founder of BettingUSA.com. As a former professional online poker player, Wes approaches his work from the viewpoint of players.