Single-Game Fantasy MLB Contests
After a successful debut of single-game contests at the end of last football season, FanDuel and DraftKings are rolling out single-game fantasy MLB contests for certain baseball games. Both sites were reluctant to get into single-game territory due to legality concerns, but DraftKings got the ball rolling during last year’s NFL postseason and FanDuel quickly followed suit.
The new fantasy baseball contests at both sites feature reduced rosters and require you to pick at least one player from each team. FanDuel and DraftKings diverge from there in the other rules regarding lineups and scoring.
$100 Deposit BonusFanDuel Fantasy Promo Code: Not Needed
Terms Apply
FanDuel Single Game MLB Contests
FanDuel DFS introduced single-game MLB contests his week ahead of the San Francisco Giants vs. LA Dodgers series. At the time of this writing, FanDuel had just nine contests based on this game to choose from with buyins ranging from $1 to $333 and prize pools ranging from $250 to $25,000.
FanDuel’s biggest single game MLB contest at the time of this writing was a $25,000 guaranteed multi entry for $4 and a first place prize of $5,000. So far, FanDuel’s single game contests have been much smaller in size compared to their massive, multi-game GPP tournaments.
Single game MLB rosters at FanDuel consist of the following positions:
- One MVP player who earns 1.5x points
- One infielder
- One outfielder
- 2 UTILS
Here’s how the DraftKings MLB scoring system works taking into account your MVP player’s scoring bonus:
| MVP Player | Infielder, Outfielder, UTIL |
| Single: 4.5 points | Single: 3 points |
| Double: 9 points | Double: 6 points |
| Triple: 13.5 points | Triple: 9 points |
| Walk: 4.5 points | Walk: 3 points |
| Hit By Pitch: 4.5 points | Hit By Pitch: 4.5 points |
| Home Run: 18 points | Home Run: 12 points |
| Run: 4.8 points | Run: 3.2 points |
| RBI: 5.25 points | RBI: 3.5 points |
| Stolen Base: 9 points | Stolen Base: 6 points |
DraftKings Showdown MLB Contests
DraftKings DFS calls its single-game contests “Showdown” events and these too involve a reduced roster of 6 FLEX players. At the time of this writing, DraftKings had dozens of single-game MLB contests on offer with entry fees ranging from free all the way up to $10,600 and everything in between. Prize pools ranged from a couple bucks for 3-player showdowns on up to $50,000.
In fact, that $50,000 contest was the biggest of the night for this particular Giants-Dodgers slate. The Sunday Night Showdown had a $10 entry fee, guaranteed $50,000 in prizes and offered $10,000 to first place.
As far as the rules go, the only position requirements are that your lineup must include at least one player from each team and you may not have more than 4 hitters from any one team. Beyond that, there are no other position requirements. You can have six pitchers, six hitters or any other combination of players you wish as long as you follow the first two rules.
Here’s the DraftKings single-game MLB scoring system:
| Hitters | Pitchers |
| Single: 3 points | Inning Pitched (SP): 2.25 points |
| Double: 5 points | Inning Pitched (RP): 3.9 points |
| Triple: 8 points | Strikeout (SP): 2 points |
| Home Run: 10 points | Strikeout (RP): 3 points |
| RBI: 2 points | Win: 4 points |
| Run: 2 points | ERA: -2 points |
| Walk: 2 points | Hit Against: -0.6 points |
| Hit By Pitch: 2 points | Walk Against: -0.6 points |
| Sacrifice Fly: 1.25 points | Hit Batsman: -0.6 points |
| Sacrifice Hit: 1.25 points | Hold: 2.5 points |
| Stolen Base: 5 points | Save: 5 points |
| Complete Game: 2.5 points | |
| Complete Game Shutout: 2.5 points | |
| No Hitter: 5 points | |
| 10+ Strikeouts: 2 points | |
| 7+ Innings Pitched: 1.25 points |
You can check out the new contests at: www.draftkings.com
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.
