If you’re passionate about sports and have dabbled in the past with sports betting, the chances are you may have come across Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) sites too. While they may appear similar on the surface, with both requiring knowledge and strategy to pick athletes to perform well, they are actually quite different beasts.
Within this article, we’ll break down how DFS and online sports betting differ in the US. We’ll explore everything from how they function to where it’s currently legal – and why one or the other is better for different people.
The basics of DFS and sports betting
DFS is essentially a contest in which you hand-pick a virtual line-up of real-life athletes for a competition. Their real-life performance translates into points in the competition, with the most prolific line-ups scoring the highest points. Points translate into cash prizes, so those at the top of the leaderboard win the most cash. Think of it as a chance to live out your dreams of becoming a general manager but, instead of picking a team for a whole season, you can pick a DFS team to play over just one game week.
By contrast, sports betting requires you to stake money on the outcome of a game, specific team or player performances, or other bet types. You’re betting directly against a sportsbook and not up against fellow DFS players. The payout is based on the odds displayed by your sportsbook.
How they are regulated
The key difference between DFS and sports betting is legality. Some states consider DFS to be a game of skill rather than outright gambling. This has enabled DFS apps to launch in more US states than online sportsbook apps, which are classified as pure gambling pastimes.
Speaking of DFS apps, there are some standout platforms that have already started to dominate the US market. Underdog is one of the best DFS apps, along with Dabble, both of which have delivered some much-needed energy into the DFS scene. They now compete on a level playing field with the likes of market leaders DraftKings. These platforms make it easy to draft line-ups and enter tournaments, as well as best-ball competitions where only your highest-scoring players are counted.
Differences in strategy and skill
What differs between DFS and most sports betting is that DFS requires you to go up against other players to win prizes instead of a sportsbook. As a result, success comes down to a factor of skill, research, and line-up optimization. It’s your mission to seek the value picks and successfully manage a salary cap by finding undervalued athletes capable of over-performing.
As for sports betting, it’s more about finding value in the odds offered by a sportsbook. There’s skill in researching trends, pre-game and in-play statistics and such like, although the sportsbook builds its own edge into the odds known as “vigorish” or “vig”. Sportsbooks make a return by ensuring that, over time, they turn a profit regardless of the outcome of their customers’ wagers.
Which one should you play?
This really depends on personal preference. If you’re someone who enjoys crunching the numbers and monitoring player form closely, DFS may be more to your liking. If you’re more of a traditionalist and prefer to simply bet on the outcome of a game or the performances of individual players, your best bet could be an online sportsbook.
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