Last week, in a discussion in our Daily Fantasy forum, there was talk about a site called PokerScout.com, which rates the popularity of online poker rooms. It was suggested that a similar ranking effort would be helpful for Daily Fantasy sites. In other words, if we knew the popularity of DFS sites, we’d have a better idea of the talent that’s playing there—and at the very least, the potential size of the player pool.
Some of the smaller DFS sites don’t offer the big paydays found at more-established places, but you might be less likely to run into high rollers and sharks. For the typical player, that means more opportunities to battle other non-pros for potential wins.
I decided to rank all the DFS sites by the number of visitors they get using Alexa, considered one of the best site-ranking tools on the Internet. It’s not nearly as precise a measurement as what you’ll find at PokerScout, but it should provide a decent gauge for ranking DFS sites nonetheless.
Which DFS Sites Are the Most Popular?
Understand that the rankings given are for April 2015, and some of these DFS sites are more popular for different sports and/or don’t have the exact same offerings. That means some sites get more visitors in different months. We hope to update these rankings in the future to compare them to past data points.
1. FanDuel.com — U.S. Rank: 940
It’s no surprise these guys rule the DFS roost, as they had over $57 million in revenue in 2014, just five years after starting in 2009. According to FanDuel, they had more than one million paid active players during football season last year.
FanDuel is partially owned by NBC Sports Ventures and has deals with the NBA and several traditional Fantasy sites, like CBS Sports and RotoWire. Their “FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship” is considered the biggest DFS tournament of the year.
2. DraftKings.com — U.S. Rank: 1,106
FanDuel’s biggest competition comes from DraftKings, which has been aggressive in buying up other DFS sites, like DraftStreet and StarStreet. Most recently, however, they signed two major deals with ESPN, Major League Baseball and the NHL. Those deals could push them ahead of FanDuel for the summer, but FanDuel should return to being King of the DFS Hill once football season arrives.
DraftKings brought in more than $17 million in revenue in the last quarter of 2014. Over $1 billion was paid in entry fees to the top two sites on this list.
3. Victiv.com — U.S. Rank: 29,635
This is one of the newest DFS sites on the block, as they just showed up for football season last year. And yet, here they are, in their first baseball season, and they already rank third in popularity among DFS sites. This is a company based out of Austin, Texas, with a statistician physicist on board to help with predictive salaries.
Victiv has an interesting “Bankroll Builder” plan for first-time players, which doesn’t require a deposit. Users can sign up for free and receive three tickets to “Bankroll Builder” games, where they can win money to use in cash games. DFS veterans will be excited to know they also have anonymous Head-to-Head games. You won’t know who you’re facing until after the rosters lock!
4. FantasyAces.com — U.S. Rank: 33,818
In an effort to stand out, FantasyAces offers a game the two super sites don’t: Salary Pro. A user can go over or under the $55,000 salary cap, with bonuses and penalties issued for doing so. In other words, if you are as confident with the cheaper players as you are with the expensive ones, then why not use them and get bonus points for every $500 you remain under the cap? (Oppositely, you lose points for going over the cap.) In the past, they’ve had personal deals with athletes like Matt Forte and Pablo Sandoval.
5. DraftDay.com — U.S. Rank: 35,985
DraftDay bought FanThrowdown last year and picked up its users. My favorite part of DraftDay is its array of different Daily Fantasy games, including Rapid Fire contests, which match up five different pairs of players. Choose which player will do better in each matchup, get three of the five right, and you’ve doubled your money (minus the rake). Other interesting offerings include brackets and live drafts.
6. FantasyScore.com — U.S. Rank: 64,424
FantasyScore ranks high in large part because it is backed by USA Today and RTSports. (USA Today also acquired the content team at KFFL last season). Users can play in draft or salary cap leagues in all four major league sports.
7. FantasyFeud.com — U.S. Rank: 65,125
For a while, it seemed like FantasyFeud was either going to join the major DFS sites or end up getting snatched up like DraftStreet or FanThrowdown. Instead, neither of those things happened. But FantasyFeud trots on independently and covers the four major sports—along with PGA, college football and college basketball. It also features games for the National LaCrosse League. The site’s chat feature makes it easy to go up against players you’re already communicating with.
8. ScoreStreak.com — U.S. Rank: 77,818
This site offers a different type of Daily Fantasy game in that it doesn’t use a salary cap. You can build your team however you want, but you need your players to accomplish certain objectives—in categories like hits, strikeouts and total bases—and then slot them accordingly. So, if you pick the right guy to get four hits, and another to get three hits, and another to get two hits, then you score points for choosing them correctly. It’s much easier than it sounds.
9. FantasyHub.com — U.S. Rank: 124,019
It’s not the gameplay that makes playing on this site much different than the others, it’s actually the way the entire business model is set up. Play Daily Fantasy games and help out charities at the same time. Percentages of winnings go toward dozens of great causes, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, American Cancer Society, ASPCA and many other charities and foundations run by athletes. This is a great way for the hobby to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate.
10. MondoGoal.com — U.S. Rank: 132,294
This is a whole other version of “Fantasy Football,” as this site caters to fans in America and abroad by offering Daily Fantasy soccer games. Despite launching just eight months ago, MondoGoal already has deals with football clubs like Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. One interesting note is that you can get their 200 percent deposit bonus if you deposit U.S. dollars, and you can get the bonus again if you deposit in GBP (Great British Pounds). Then you just choose which types of games you want to play in – USD or GBP.
As you’d expect, this site’s world rank (260,000) would be enough to rank them sixth on this list. No doubt, this is a DFS site that will be on the rise in America in the coming months.
Outside of the top 10 DFS sites in popularity are these sites:
11. Ballr.com — U.S. Rank: 140,965
12. SportsTradex.com — U.S. Rank: 237,662
13. StarFantasyLeagues.com — U.S. Rank: 289,986
14. StatClash.com — U.S. Rank: 300,613
15. FantasyUp.com — U.S. Rank: 322,321
16. RotoDerby.com — U.S. Rank: 353,017
17. PlayDraft.com — U.S. Rank: 474,587
18. FanNation.com — U.S. Rank: 484,199
19. Swoopt.com — U.S. Rank: 526,295
20. SKYLLZONE.com — U.S. Rank: 839,830
21. Fanamana.com — U.S. Rank: 896,809
As we said, as the spring months roll into summer, and summer changes to fall, we’ll see these DFS sites change in their popularity rankings, but it’ll be interesting to see which DFS sites make the biggest jumps.