How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (2024)


Experience the daily fantasy sweat and live the vibe of victory.


Experience the daily fantasy sweat and live the vibe of victory.

What is daily fantasy sports?

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) mirrors season-long fantasy sports but condenses it into a shorter, more sweat-inducing format. Heart-throttling contests range from a day to a week depending on the sport. Competitors draft a player roster and those athletes earn points based on their in-game performance. Sweat the sweat each and every play. Test your skills with friends or with other fans nationally and let victory chase you for a change.

DraftKings DFS is legal in most US states. Check out where DraftKings DFS is legal.

How to Play

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (1)
Pick a Contest

Browse the lobby to choose from a wide range of contests across all different sports. A contest is the specific competition you and your lineup will be competing in against other players for prizes. Generally a contest is for a specific real life game or set of games. You can sort by total prizes, contest type, sport, and more to find the perfect contest for you.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (2)
Draft a Lineup

Once decided on a contest, next you’ll want to draft a lineup of real players competing in the chosen games. In our salary cap contests, you’re given a fictional $50,000 as a salary cap to spend on your team. Each eligible player is assigned a salary. Create your lineup by selecting players listed in the Player Pool. Once you’ve filled all positions in your lineup (unique to each sport) while staying under your $50,000 salary cap, you can submit your lineup into the contest.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (3)
Sweat the Sweat

Watch your players accumulate points based on their performance in actual games. Track your team online or on your mobile device in our app and see your players earn points in real time.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (4)
Check Results

Check the standings when the last game is over and bask in your drafting genius. If you’ve won or placed into a paying position in a contest, the amount you’ve won, as determined by the prize structure of that contest, will be credited to your DraftKings account as soon as the contest ends. You can use your winnings to play even more contests or you can withdraw.

How to Play

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (5)
Pick a Contest

Browse the lobby to choose from a wide range of contests across all different sports. A contest is the specific competition you and your lineup will be competing in against other players for prizes. Generally a contest is for a specific real life game or set of games. You can sort by total prizes, contest type, sport, and more to find the perfect contest for you.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (6)
Draft a Lineup

Once decided on a contest, next you’ll want to draft a lineup of real players competing in the chosen games. In our salary cap contests, you’re given a fictional $50,000 as a salary cap to spend on your team. Each eligible player is assigned a salary. Create your lineup by selecting players listed in the Player Pool. Once you’ve filled all positions in your lineup (unique to each sport) while staying under your $50,000 salary cap, you can submit your lineup into the contest.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (7)
Sweat the Sweat

Watch your players accumulate points based on their performance in actual games. Track your team online or on your mobile device in our app and see your players earn points in real time.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (8)
Check Results

Check the standings when the last game is over and bask in your drafting genius. If you’ve won or placed into a paying position in a contest, the amount you’ve won, as determined by the prize structure of that contest, will be credited to your DraftKings account as soon as the contest ends. You can use your winnings to play even more contests or you can withdraw.

Contest Types

Contest Types

Beginner Contests

Know exactly who you’re playing. Players will have different badges throughout the site that signify experience level. These badges signify contest entry milestones for highly-experienced players. Anyone with an Experience Badge is ineligible for Beginner or Casual contests. However, if a player earns a badge after contest entry, they will remain in the contest. For more information, click below to check out our badges page.

Beginner Contests

Know exactly who you’re playing. Players will have different badges throughout the site that signify experience level. These badges signify contest entry milestones for highly-experienced players. Anyone with an Experience Badge is ineligible for Beginner or Casual contests. However, if a player earns a badge after contest entry, they will remain in the contest. For more information, click below to check out our badges page.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (9)

Experience Badges

Know exactly who you’re playing. Players will have different badges throughout the site that signify experience level. These badges signify contest entry milestones for highly-experienced players. Anyone with an Experience Badge is ineligible for Beginner or Casual contests. However, if a player earns a badge after contest entry, they will remain in the contest. For more information, click below to check out our badges page.

Strategy and Research

New to Daily Fantasy Sports? Check out the DK Playbook for in-depth fantasy
sports news, including expert analysis for fantasy lineups and more.

Strategy and Research

New to Daily Fantasy Sports? Check out the DK Playbook for in-depth fantasy
sports news, including expert analysis for fantasy lineups and more.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (10)

Life’s more fun with skin in the game, and any unfairness gets in the way. We’re committed to maintaining a fair and level playing field to preserve the competitiveness of the game

Additional Help Resources

For more information visit ourHelp Center.To learn more about our other products, visit our Sports Betting, Casino and Marketplace pages.

How to Play Glossary

PMR

PMR or Player Minutes Remaining is simply the total amount of game time left between all the players in your lineup. Track your PMR relative to other contestants to see how you stack up.

OPRK

OPRK or Opponent Rank tells you how many fantasy points per game the opposing team allows to players of a specific position. It can help you judge the matchup that a certain fantasy player faces.

50/50

A contest type where lineups finishing in the top half of the field win cash no matter the number of entries. All winning entries receive the same prize money.

Bankroll

This is how much money you have available in your DraftKings account to enter contests.

GPP

GPP or Guaranteed Prize Pool is a tournament-style contest in which there is a set amount of money in the prize pool up for grabs, regardless of the number of entries.

Chalk

A term used to describe a player that is projected to have a high ownership percentage. A “chalk” player is an obvious, conventional pick because they are widely expected to perform well.

Multi-entry

A contest type in which multiple entries are allowed. Each participant can submit as many lineups as they'd like, up to the maximum amount of entries as stated in the specific contest details.

FPPG

FPPG or Fantasy Points Per Game is the average amount of fantasy points a given player scores during one game. It’s a great way to quickly get a feel for a player when building your lineup.

Salary

In our salary cap contests, you have $50,000 to compile your roster. Each player listed in the Player Pool has an assigned fictional salary, which will fluctuate based on their recent performance.

How to Play Daily Fantasy Sports | DraftKings (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Eusebia Nader

Last Updated:

Views: 5904

Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Eusebia Nader

Birthday: 1994-11-11

Address: Apt. 721 977 Ebert Meadows, Jereville, GA 73618-6603

Phone: +2316203969400

Job: International Farming Consultant

Hobby: Reading, Photography, Shooting, Singing, Magic, Kayaking, Mushroom hunting

Introduction: My name is Eusebia Nader, I am a encouraging, brainy, lively, nice, famous, healthy, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.