Daily Fantasy Sports Leagues
Daily fantasy sports articles for DraftKings and FanDuel. DFS lineup picks, cheat sheets for cash games and GPPs for MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA, NASCAR, NCAA, NASCAR. The Different Daily Fantasy Sports Leagues. Today’s daily fantasy websites are able to accommodate many different types of players by dint of the sheer abundance of sports and leagues. That’s a major reason bettors choose to get started with DFS in the first place. It’s true, there is something for everyone.
Introduction
The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association prides itself on providing the industry and our members with the most accurate, up-to-date and impactful metrics to help guide business decisions. All of the in-depth statistics are free of charge to our members. Just one of the many member benefits that our association offers.
Industry At A Glance
(Note: the information on this page is drawn from several research studies, each with a slightly different cross-section of subjects. Some were U.S. and Canada (12+), some were U.S. only (18+), some were people who identified as serious fantasy players or sports bettors – so please allow for some minor discrepancies when cobbling numbers together across the categories)
Demographics (from our 2019 survey):
Fantasy players
- 81% male, 19% female
- 50% are between the ages of 18 -34 (average age is 37.7)
- 67% are employed full-time
- 47% make more than $75,000 (national average is 34%)
Sports bettors
- 80% male, 20% female
- 50% are between the ages of 18-34 (average age is 38.1)
- 67% are employed full-time
- 45% make more than $75,000 (national average is 34%)
Currently, 19% of Americans aged 18+ participate in sports betting. And 19% of Americans aged 18+ participate in fantasy sports.
While we don’t have historical sports betting participation numbers, the fantasy sports number has grown 6% from 2014 (when 13% of Americans aged 18+ participated).
78% of fantasy sports players bet on sports in 2018. And 75% of sports bettors played fantasy sports in 2018.
- 78% of fantasy participants play fantasy football.
- 39% play fantasy baseball
- 19% play fantasy basketball (NBA)
- 18% play fantasy hockey (NHL)
- 14% play fantasy soccer
- 13% play fantasy golf
- 11% play fantasy esports
- 5% participate in fantasy Bachelor
- 62% of sports bettors places a wager on an NFL game in 2018
- 36% bet on baseball
- 36% bet on the NBA
- 27% bet on NCAA football
- 26% bet on NCAA basketball
- 21% bet on the NHL
- 17% bet on UFC
- 15% bet on esports
Our research found that sports bettors and fantasy players over-index on nearly every level of consumption. For example, sports bettors (56%) and fantasy players (57%) use Instagram far more than the general population (34%)
Multi Sport Fantasy League
Other examples include:
- Visited a fine dining restaurant in the last year (89% sports bettors, 87% fantasy players, 68% general population)
- Visited a sports bar (90%, 89%, 52%)
- Used Snapchat (32%, 31%, 16%)
- Had food delivered (80%, 78%, 46%)
- Used a food delivery app (69%, 69%, 28%)
- Bought Nike apparel (45%, 43%, 17%)
In 2018, our research found that 79% of fantasy players said there’s at least a good possibility they’d bet on sports if and when a bill is passed to legalize it in their state.
Cash Fantasy Football League
Our 2017 study found that the average fantasy sports player spends a significant amount annually on research materials, subscriptions, parties, fees, and more.
These include:
- 73% of fantasy players who pay for non-cash prizes (like a trophy or belt)
- 84% of fantasy players have a draft party. The median spend for the league’s party is $653.
- at these draft parties, 93% of leagues spend money on food ($180 league median spend), 91% buy alcohol ($189), 86% buy soda ($100), and 73% have spent on live entertainment ($160).
- 68% of fantasy players spend money on a league punishment (like a tattoo, toilet bowl trophy, etc)
Daily Fantasy Sports Leagues College Basketball
In 2017, there were 59.3 million people playing fantasy sports in the USA and Canada.
FIGURE 1. Number of fantasy sports players by year | |
Year | Estimated Number of Players |
1988 | 500,000 |
1991-1994 | 1 – 3 Million |
2003 | 15.2 Million |
2004 | 13.5 Million |
2005 | 12.6 Million |
2006 | 18 Million |
2007 | 19.4 Million |
2008 | 29.9 Million |
2009 | 28.4 Million |
2010 | 32 Million |
2011 | 35.9 Million |
2014 | 41.5 Million |
2015 | 56.8 Million |
2016 | 57.4 Million |
2017 | 59.3 Million |
Daily Fantasy Sports Leagues Fantasy
FIGURE 2. US-only, 18+ year old fantasy sports players | |
Year | Estimated Number of Players |
2015 | 42 Million |
2016 | 42.8 Million |
2017 | 43.2 Million |
2019 | 45.9 Million |