What is DFS in fantasy football? All you need to know

DFS is short for Daily Fantasy Sports. It is a subset of fantasy sports games which involve known fantasy sports leagues. Players can compete by building a team of professional athletes from a particular league or competition while remaining under a salary cap. They earn points based on the actual statistical performance of the players in real-world competitions.

Daily Fantasy Sports in fantasy football works similarly to the way it works in other fantasy games such as basketball and baseball. As in most DFS leagues, players put money in a pot, and the overall winner(s) takes the total at the end of the game day.

How does DFS work?

Daily Fantasy Sports contests task the player with drafting a team of players to score as many fantasy points as possible. Here, fantasy points are based on the statistical performance of the players you draft.

How is DFS different from fantasy football?

Daily Fantasy Sports contests are unlimited and can span anywhere from a single day to an entire season. You and your squad can compete against hundreds of players in a tournament or even compete in season-long contests.

Is DFS profitable?

The aim is to make a profit. This is the main reason players eschew the easy-to-regulate NFL Fantasy Football League and partake in a shotgun version of it. However, fantasy league players must have a certain level of experience to profit from these games.

This is because these games are harder to predict in the long run. A single injury can derail your match day, even worse than if the same injury occurred in your fantasy league. Also, Daily Fantasy Sports is not as regulated as official fantasy leagues.

As such, these games do not rank highly in profitability. Rather, they could serve as a cool way to test your NFL knowledge, drafting ability, and the technicality of making the right decision under pressure.

Is DFS legal?

Yes, Daily Fantasy Sports is legal as it is regulated by a registered body. Today, there are a plethora of sites that offer DFS services, with the main bodies being DraftKings and FanDuel. DraftKings and FanDuel regulate 95% of Daily Fantasy Sports games, while other bodies, such as Underdog, share the rest.