If you are interested in starting a DraftKings or FanDuel account to get your feet wet with Daily Fantasy, you might be curious about what kind of investment is needed upfront. You may feel more comfortable if you could try it for free for a while and so you need to know your options. Can you play DraftKings or FanDuel for free?
Yes, you can play DraftKings and FanDuel for free. There is no deposit required to setup an account with either DraftKings or FanDuel. Once registered, you will be eligible to compete in their free contests even if you have not deposited any funds.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings will offer Free contests throughout the year that have cash prizes. For example, the beginning of the NFL season may be a prime opportunity to find free contests with cash prizes because both DraftKings and FanDuel may be offering free contests as a way to get new users to signup in anticipation of the NFL season.
Here is a screen capture of a couple free contest examples, one from each platform. As you can see, at the time of this post, FanDuel is currently offering a Free baseball contest where the winner gets $1000. DraftKings will also offer free contests throughout the year with cash prizes, but below is a screen capture of a standard free contest with no cash prize.
DraftKings
DraftKings is my personal favorite. If you are looking to get started in DFS, DraftKings is a very solid platform with an excellent app and a wide variety of games to play.
DraftKings offers these fantasy sports:
- NFL
- MLB
- NBA
- College Basketball
- College Football
- Pro Hockey
- Golf
- Pro Soccer
- NASCAR
- MMA
- Esports
- WNBA
- Euroleague Basketball
- Canadian Football League
- Tennis
Can You Play DraftKings For Free?
Yes, you can play DraftKings for free. DraftKings allows you to setup an account for free and play in free contests on the DraftKings platform.
If you do choose to make a deposit, the minimum deposit allowed is $5 (USD).
FanDuel
FanDuel is also a fantasy platform that I use frequently. I like dfs baseball on FanDuel due to the roster flexibility they offer in comparison to both DraftKings and Yahoo.
FanDuel offers these fantasy sports:
- NFL
- MLB
- NBA
- College Basketball
- College Football
- Pro Hockey
- Golf
- Pro Soccer
- NASCAR
Can You Play FanDuel For Free?
Yes, you can play FanDuel for free. FanDuel will allow you to create an account for free and play in free contests offered on their platform.
Just like DraftKings, if you do choose to make a deposit on FanDuel, the minimum deposit allowed is $5 (USD).
What Type of Free Contests Do DraftKings and FanDuel Offer?
If you want to start out playing only free contests on DraftKings and FanDuel then it is important to understand that although DraftKings and FanDuel will occasionally run free contests that offer cash prizes, most free-entry contests do not have cash prizes and are simply just to be played for fun, practice, or both.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, the start of each major sports season is a good opportunity to look for free contests that have cash prizes. Also, major sporting events like the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, or Golf Majors (etc) will also be a good opportunity to check both platforms for free tournaments that offer cash prizes.
Cheap DFS Options
If you are truly looking to keep a tight budget but want a chance to win some actual cash, DraftKings will offer 10-cent satellite tournaments where you can qualify for larger tournament if you win.
Quarter Tournaments
Both DraftKings and FanDuel will offer quarter tournaments on a daily basis that have significant prize payouts. These will be large-field tournaments and the exact amount of prize money will vary day to day. But if you are looking to get involved in some cheap DFS actions, this is a solid way to start.
The prize pool on quarter tournaments is something else that may fluctuate due to sport or increase during major sporting events. These tournaments are almost always GPPs (guaranteed prize pools), which means DraftKings and FanDuel are guaranteeing the prize pool despite the amount of entries.
Here are some examples of quarter tournaments on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Remember, these payouts fluctuate day to day and sport to sport. In the examples below, FanDuel is offering larger fields and larger payouts, but that will not always be the case. There will be times where DraftKings will offer larger quarter tournaments etc, so don’t base your decision solely on these few examples.
