Fantasy Football Betting Sites And Offers 2023

1. Introduction

The good news is that yes you can. We’re going to walk you through how fantasy football works, which leagues and daily games you should be looking out for, and which websites you should be using to place your bets.

But first…

2. What is Fantasy Football?

Fantasy Football originated in the US in the mid 1960’s where league players would create their ‘draft’ National Football League (NFL) team, with points awarded based on the draft team’s players on-pitch results.

The format was quickly adopted in the 1970’s where us Brits have been playing it ever since, with points awarded to players based on goals scored, assists in goals, and clean results sheets.

The more points scored by the players in your team, the higher up the leaderboard you will be placed, so the person that selects the best combination of points scoring players will win the tournament. Rules stipulate budgeting and transfer windows, so managing a fantasy football team can be highly strategic.

3. What is Fantasy Football Betting?

SImply put, fantasy football betting is backing your team to accumulate the greatest number of points over the timeframe of the bet. This team is your individual team, so your player selection and management can dictate how well your team will perform.

 

For this reason, lots of people prefer betting on their own fantasy football teams rather than a real team, and fantasy football is often played purely for entertainment with no wagers at stake.

4. How Does Fantasy Football Work?

The name says it all – fantasy football teams are purely that – fantastical, or made up. Of course, you can opt to create your fantasy team to replicate a real team, but where’s the fun in that? These are the other major differences between fantasy football and live football.

Points Scoring

Unlike a real match of football where points (via goals) are awarded on a team basis, in fantasy football, points are awarded to individual players based on their relative performance in the match. Here is a sample of some of the points that are awarded to players in the Fantasy Premier League.

 

Action	Points Awarded
For playing up to 60 minutes	1
For playing 60 minutes or more	2
For each goal scored by a defender	6
For each goal scored by a forward	4
Defender Clean Sheet	4
Midfielder Clean Sheet	1
For each goal assist	3
For each penalty miss	-2
For each penalty save	5
For each red card	-3

 

This points allocation method means that even a fantasy team with players on losing teams in real life matches can still gain more points in a week than a team with fewer points scoring players on winning sides.

In fantasy football, it’s not about picking winning teams, it’s about picking point scoring players

Transfers

Most fantasy football tournaments allow transfers within a transfer window, and a specified number of transfers per week after that. For example, there is one transfer per match week allowed in the Fantasy Premier League, but three per match day in the Bundesliga Fantasy League.

Betting Markets

As you’re betting on the outcome of your fantasy team rather than the outcome of a match against two teams, the available markets for fantasy betting are different from those offered in live football markets. Typically bets are offered on:

• Seasonal Tournaments – The winning team in the fantasy tournament will receive the top prize. This is the most popular market, partly thanks to its social nature in getting friends together to each build and back their own dream team.
• Weekly Tournaments – The fantasy team with the greatest number of points scored in that week is the winner.
• Player Markets – Where bettors place their bets based on who they believe will accrue the greatest number of points in a week or season. Those backing rank outsiders can win big if a player does unusually well.

5. How to Get Involved

Choosing Your Bookmaker

Before you start building your team you need to decide upon a bookmaker with which to build your team and enter into a league. There are a few bookmakers that you can choose from when it comes to building your team, however the choice is more limited in fantasy betting sites than it is in live sports betting.

Look for a provider with lots of daily competitions that you can get involved with, across all the big European leagues. Daily prizes can range from as low as £5 up to £100,000.

Choosing Your Team

When creating your team, you are given a strict budget with which to ‘buy’ players, which generally consists of a team of 15 players, including;

• 2 Goalkeepers
• 5 Defenders
• 5 Midfielders
• 3 Forwards

Once your initial squad is selected and the tournament has begun, each week you are given the option to select your 11 man squad, allowing you the option of putting players on the bench and selecting your favourite players that week.

For daily tournaments, you may only be asked to select an 11 man squad.

Backing Your Team

Once you have chosen your squad, they will be entered into the league. Pay close attention to players on your own team to see who is scoring the most points, and who is not doing so well. It’s also wise to have a look at the highest point scoring players that are not on your team as you may be able to transfer them in before the next match.

6. Differences to Live Football Betting

Whilst you’re still betting on outcomes related to Football matches and tournaments, you should note that you are definitely not betting on the same thing in fantasy football and live football betting.

For example, rather than betting on which side you think will win or lose a match, in fantasy betting you will be betting on which combination of players will collect the greatest number of points in a given game or over the duration of the league.

And as we’ve seen earlier, points are distributed not only based on goals scored but by clean sheets, successful assists, and even deducted for foul play –  potentially creating very different outcomes in fantasy leagues compared to what’s on the scoreboard at full time.

Here is a summary of all the main differences between betting on fantasy football verus betting on live  matches.

 

Fantasy Betting	Live Football Betting
Betting on the performance of your fantasy team via the combined points scored by your players in their live matches	Betting on the match score, winners, number of goals, or similar.
You’re playing to beat other entrants in the fantasy league	You’re playing to beat the bookmakers odds
Your winnings are determined by the size of the prize pot	You determine your potential winnings by the size of your wager (although bookies will have a payout cap too)
You might pay an entry fee	Your ‘fee’ is your bet – which you get returned if you win
Prizes can be cash or goods	Payouts are either cash or free bets

 

It’s important that you know exactly what you;re betting on before you place your bets, as the last thing you want to do is lose your money due to your own misunderstanding.

7. Top Fantasy Football Bookmakers and Tournaments

There are fantasy football tournaments following all the main tournaments in Europe, so there is plenty to get involved with outside just the Premier League. Remember, when betting in a fantasy football league, you’re often betting to win part of a prize pot rather than betting on a specific outcome with given odds.

These tournaments can be free to play, or require a joining fee at the start of the season. The benefit of joining a league with a joining fee is that you’ll probably be playing for part of a larger prize pool than the free leagues, but with free leagues too, it means there is enough variety to cater to both ends of the market.

We’ve compiled a list of all the major fantasty betting sites and leagues alongside their prize pots and joining fees so you can quickly see how the prizes and entry fees differ.

 

League	Prizes	Joining Fee
PaddyPower Daily Fantasy	Up to £100,000 cash	Various
Sportito Daily	Up to £500	Up to £20
Fantasy Premier League	VIP Experiences, merchandise, and goodies	Free
Sky Sports Fantasy Football	£50,000 cash	Free
FanTeam Premier League	£1 million prize pot   £200,000 1st place	£20
Bundesliga Fantasy Manager	VIP Match Tickets, signed kits, and balls	Free

 

Alongside these big tournaments, you can also find fantasy football odds and player matchups from the following bookamers.

• William Hill
• Betvictor
• Betsafe
• 888sport
• Betwinner

8. Fantasy Football Tips and Strategy

Fantasy Football betting is enjoyed by many because of the skill involved in preparing your team, selecting players, and tactical transfers. But if you want to maximise your chances of winning, here are our top tips.

Optimise your team for points scoring

Remember that points are not only awarded for goals scored, but for time played, clean sheets, and assists. In our experience, spending some of your budget on strong defenders is critical, as they are more likely to stay on the pitch for the whole match and can easily rack up points by staying out of trouble.

Pay attention to injuries

Injured players are not point scoring players. If one of your players has picked up an injury or looks like they might be pushing themself too hard, it might be time to transfer them out and get a new player in.

Use transfers wisely

In most leagues you’ll get the option to transfer out a player at least once a week, so make good use of this ability! Use your transfer ability to hedge against injury, or swap in players from lower down the league table if you’ve spotted them scoring lots of points lately.

Keep track of your budget

Although you don’t have to use all of your budget, make sure you use it wisely. There’s no point blowing loads of cash on a top striker if they haven’t been putting the ball in the net much lately. You might be better off getting a couple of good midfielders who make lots of assists.

Remember who your opponent is

Remember that the goal here is to score more points than your opponent league players, not to beat the odds of the bookmaker. You don’t have to score the maximum number of points available, you just need to build a better point-scoring team than the other competitors.

8. Summary

Fantasy football betting is different to conventional football betting in lots of ways, and in many cases is considered more of a game of skill than of luck. We think it’s great fun to get involved with, and with big cash prizes to be won, it’s worth taking a shot and assembling your team.

Make sure you’re taking advantage of any joining bonuses when you sign up, as you can often get free or matched bets from the fantasy football betting site, and do your research before assembling your team. Remember that with far more flexibility in transfers, you’ll need to be ready to make quick changes if you want the best shot at winning.

Some highly football bookmakers;