Daily Fantasy Sports In Arizona

Sports betting isn’t the only option for sports fans in Arizona. Daily Fantasy Sports is also live in the state.

The main DFS sport at this point in the sports calendar is baseball, but the major daily platforms offer contests for a variety of other sports like golf, MMA, motorsports, and soccer. With football season nearing, you’ll soon be able to enter contests during the NFL preseason if that’s your thing.

In the latest Fantasy Sports Contest Revenue Report from the Arizona Department of Gaming, over $3.4 million in entry fees were entered across daily fantasy sports platforms in Arizona for the month of May 2022. DraftKings led the pack with a nearly 58% market share for the month.

The Top Daily Fantasy Sports Sites In Arizona March 2025

DraftKings and FanDuel are the most popular DFS apps that are available in Arizona, but other DFS apps are also available for Arizona sports fans.

DraftKings DFS

DraftKings has been a fan favorite for DFS since it launched in 2012 and Arizona is now one of the states to offer the DFS app as well as DraftKings’ sportsbook app.

The platform is safe and secure and offers daily, season-long, and in-game fantasy contests for all major sports. DraftKings also promotes new contests all the time and hosts its weekly NFL Millionaire Maker Tournament (commonly called the ‘Milly Maker’), which has a $10 million prize pool.

Players can access the DraftKings DFS app from their mobile phone and desktop. DraftKings has plenty of resources to help new players get started. They have contests with incredibly small entry fees which can help you get a feel for the games as well.

Plus, new players can take advantage of a $3 sign-up bonus. Once a player registers for an account and deposits at least $5, they can earn $3 in free credits to use.

Another bonus for new players is a 20% deposit match bonus, up to $3. But, this bonus does require a 5x playthrough that must be completed within 90 days of the deposit.

Click here to claim your $3 credit and 20% deposit match with DraftKings DFS

Compared to FanDuel, DraftKings offers more sports and more contests to play.

FanDuel DFS

FanDuel launched in 2009 and is currently one of the top DFS apps on the market. Just like DraftKings, it was one of the first DFS apps to launch in Arizona.

Similar to its sportsbook positioning, FanDuel trails only DraftKings in terms of its Arizona market share for DFS players. FanDuel offers a variety of contests across multiple sports, some starting at less than $1. For those brand new to DFS, FanDuel offers contests where only beginners and intermediate players can join in an effort to make playing more fair and balanced. The Sunday Million, a weekly FanDuel contest, awards $1 million to first place during the NFL season.

Available for download on a mobile phone and desktop, FanDuel offers a $10 referral credit for every player you get to sign up and deposit.

New players who sign up with our exclusive FanDuel DFS link can receive $100 bonus, if you deposit $10 or more.

Click here to claim your FanDuel Fantasy bonus

Other Arizona DFS Apps

There are other apps out there that offer DFS, they just aren’t as popular as FanDuel and DraftKings.

The following DFS apps have also launched in Arizona:

  • FFPC – The FFPC, or Fantasy Football Players Championship, is a site dedicated to mostly season-long fantasy football leagues. The FFPC also features entry fees much higher than what you’ll find in the leagues with your family or coworkers.
  • Yahoo Fantasy Sports – You can find DFS contests similar to DraftKings and FanDuel at Yahoo, but the platform isn’t near as popular. Yahoo also features best ball drafts and a sportsbook that is powered by BetMGM.
  • StatHero – This is a unique platform where your only competition is against “the house”. You’re only playing against StatHero in daily fantasy games across several different professional sports.
  • Underdog Sports – Although Underdog has only been live for just over two years, it has quickly become a fan favorite. Underdog originally started off with “best ball” drafts for NFL, but has expanded to include prop bets across multiple sports and more.
  • PrizePicks – PrizePicks is a unique platform utilizing player total parlays, with the user having to pick at least 2 over/under bets. The more players involved in your parlay, the higher the potential payout. PrizePicks is gaining steam after striking deals with microinfluencers in the fantasy and betting spaces. In fact, PrizePicks was only behind DraftKings and FanDuel in total entry fees for May 2022.

What Is Daily Fantasy Sports?

DFS uses the same concept behind traditional fantasy sports but transforms fantasy sports into public contests that can last as short as one day. As opposed to season-long fantasy leagues, you can draft a new group of players for every single contest you enter. Many of these contests offer massive potential payouts.

To start, download and sign up for an app like FanDuel or DraftKings. Then, decide which sport you would like to play, such as basketball or football. After deciding which contest you want to enter, it is time to put together a roster to try and earn as many fantasy points as possible. However, instead of having a draft like traditional fantasy sports, each DFS player will need to create a roster by staying under a certain salary cap, like $50,000 for fantasy football.

Fantasy points are earned based on in-game statistics, the same way as traditional fantasy leagues.

But unlike traditional fantasy leagues, where players play one-on-one in weekly games, DFS usually consists of tournaments with thousands of players and a variety of different contests offered. Pretty much all of the DFS platforms include sports such as the NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA, MLB, NASCAR, international soccer, and even esports. If playing against hundreds or thousands of other players is overwhelming, you can filter the contests by the number of entrants. For some contests, you can even choose to go head-to-head with another player.

What Are The Top Daily Fantasy Contests Available?

Salary Cap

Most of the DFS contests use a salary cap to put together a team. Meaning, a price is put on individual athletes and DFS players have a certain budget to create a team.

Take a look at DraftKings for example. Players playing fantasy football will receive a $50,000 salary cap. A player can purchase any player for its fantasy team, as long as they remain under that amount. It takes a certain strategy to assemble the best team to win.

Guaranteed Prize Pools

Guaranteed Prize Pools (GPP) are one of the most popular contests because they have the potential for big payouts. Not just one team gets paid, but the top-performing teams get paid.

They are usually in the form of weekly contests offered by DFS platforms during the NFL season.

“Cash” Games

Cash games typically feature smaller field sizes than GPP contests and therefore the payouts aren’t as high. While that may sound boring, the reason why they’re attractive is because of the flat payout structure. As long as you finish with an upper percentile score, you win. For example, if you’re in a contest with 50 other people and the lineups that finish in the top half win, your 24th-placed score is as good as 1st place. Below are some contest examples for cash games.

  • Head To Head – Just like in traditional fantasy leagues, this contest involves playing one-on-one with another player and usually features a double-or-nothing payout structure.
  • 50/50s – Just like the name implies and the example above, as long as you finish in the top half of the field, you’ll earn close to double your entry.
  • Multipliers – These contests take your entry fee and assign a “multiplier” for the payout. These will be anywhere from double to as much as 10x your entry. The payout structure is flat, as in 50/50s, but the amount of people who win is a smaller percentage.

Single Game

Single-game contests are extremely popular in fantasy football. These contests also use a salary cap, but DFS players can choose only players that are in that game for their roster. An athlete is usually designated as the captain and will earn 1.5x fantasy points.

Prop Bets

Just like prop bets in sports betting, DFS also offers contests where players can predict and play a contest based on an individual athlete’s stats during a game or throughout the whole season.

Leagues

Similar to the traditional fantasy sports setup, leagues can be done across an entire season instead of weekly and daily contests on DFS platforms. Players have the option to choose leagues to be private or public.

Tiers

Tiers contests do not use a salary cap, but instead, it divides all available athletes into different tiers. To assemble a team, DFS players must choose one player from each tier.

Types Of Bonuses At Arizona DFS Sites

Deposit Match Bonuses

Sportsbooks often offer deposit match bonuses and so do DFS platforms. This is when players are awarded extra funds that match a certain percentage of their first deposit.

DraftKings offers new players a deposit match bonus of 20% up to $3. This means that at the most, players can earn $3 in bonus. Terms do apply, as players need to play 5x the original deposit to earn the max bonus. Let’s say you deposited $50. You would receive a $10 deposit match once you played in contests with a total of $250 in entry fees.

Sign-Up Bonuses

Also just like sportsbook apps, DraftKings and FanDuel offer players a sign-up bonus. That means once a player makes a minimum deposit (as determined by each platform), they will receive free credits just for signing up and depositing funds. FanDuel offers $10 in free credits.

Referral Bonuses

Players looking to invite friends to join them to play DSF can earn a referral bonus. For example, FanDuel offers a referral bonus of $10 in bonus credits every time a referral signs up and plays. That means the referred player will need to deposit funds to unlock this bonus.

Free DFS Contests

DFS platforms also offer free contests. After the first deposit, players usually receive free entries into these contents. DFS platforms offer a variety of these depending on the time of year, giving players a chance to win cash prizes without paying an entry fee.

Are Daily Fantasy Sports Legal In Arizona

Yes. Daily fantasy sports (DFS) were part of the bill that legalized sports betting in Arizona.

What Sports Are Offered In Arizona DFS Contests

As we mentioned, pretty much every major US sports league and some international leagues are offered in DFS contests. The most popular sport is by far the NFL.

NFL

Fantasy Football is the most popular sport on all DFS platforms. In fact, DraftKings and FanDuel have multi-million-dollar contests each week during the NFL season. With NFL teams only playing once a week, fantasy NFL is much easier to keep up with compared to sports that play multiple times a week.

NBA

The NBA is becoming more popular when it comes to DFS. With 82-regular season games,  DFS players have more chances to win because they can participate in more weekly and single-game contests compared to football.

MLB

Baseball is the sport with the most games, a total of 162 games in the regular season. The MLB gives DFS players the most chances to play DFS contests. However, because baseball is so complex and with so many games, it does become more of a challenge to win.

NHL

The NHL has an 82-game season, just like the NBA, so it gives DFS players the chance to play plenty of fantasy hockey on DFS platforms.

College Sports

Of course, college football and basketball are, and they are even popular when it comes to DFS. Arizona isn’t expected to have any DFS college sports restrictions, so DFS players will have hundreds of ways to play and opportunities to win with so many college programs and games to choose from.

NASCAR

NASCAR is an individual sport that is easy to follow with weekly races. DSF platforms offer players to participate in head-to-head and 50/50 contests in NASCAR.

PGA

Just like NASCAR, the PGA is an individual sport that is popular on DFS platforms. It is easy to participate in fantasy golf since there are matches throughout the year. This means players have year-long opportunities to win contests.

International Soccer

Just like any team sport, DFS players can play international soccer contests on most DFS platforms in leagues, single-game competitions, and even 50/50.

DFS contests involving the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, and Spanish La Liga

Esports

Esports is also available on most DFS platforms. The most popular esports contests include Call of Duty, Rocket League, and League of Legends.

Arizona Daily Fantasy Sports FAQ

Is DFS the same as sports betting?

No. Sports betting is a form of gambling that is legal. DFS is considered a game of skill that is legal. DFS players compete against other players, where sports betting is betting against the sportsbook.

Can you play DFS in Arizona?

Yes. When Arizona legalized sports betting, daily fantasy sports were included in the same bill.

What is the difference between DFS and traditional fantasy sports?

The main difference between the two is with DFS, you’re able to draft a new team every single week and across different contests. With traditional fantasy sports, you draft your team once at the beginning of the season and only make changes through trades and waivers. Since you can put together brand new teams each week, injuries and underperforming players don’t impact you outside of that particular week in DFS contests.

 

DFS includes a variety of contests where players assemble a roster of athletes to score as many fantasy points as possible while staying under a salary cap. Contests involve other players, prize pools, and public contests.

Traditional fantasy sports are set in a league format, where a group of players drafts a roster of athletes to complete teams. These teams then compete against each other throughout the league’s season.

Do I have to pay taxes on DFS winnings?

Yes. If DFS players win $600 or more annually, DraftKings and FanDuel must send a 1099-MISC tax form to players and the IRS.

Is DraftKings legal in Arizona?

Yes. DraftKings is legal in Arizona.

Is FanDuel legal in Arizona?

Yes. FanDuel is legal in Arizona.

Can I play DFS contests for esports in Arizona?

Yes. Esports contests are available in Arizona but not every DFS platform offers them.

How old do I need to be to play Daily Fantasy Sports?

18-years-old. DraftKings and FanDuel will verify identification and age during the sign-up process.

About the Author

Calli Varner

Calli is the editor and senior contributor of ArizonaCasinos.com. As a football fanatic and lifelong resident of Arizona, she proudly cheers on the Arizona Cardinals. But her heart belongs to her number one team, the Kansas City Chiefs. (Go Chiefs Kingdom!) You can follow Calli on Twitter at @CalliDoesSports.