FanDuel vs DraftKings

FanDuel and DraftKings have changed the betting scene in the US forever since their beginning in 2009 and 2011, respectively. They changed the way fantasy sports fans look at betting and lifted daily fantasy sports to a whole new level. As a result, they’ve become the two most popular sportsbooks in the US and established themselves as industry leaders.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, these rivals fight for first place on the market. With all their amazing promotions, competitive odds, and great user experience, it’s tough to say which one’s better. So, there’s only one way to decide which sportsbook wins this rivalry: by doing an in-depth analysis of them both.

Let’s get started!

FanDuel vs DraftKings: Overview

FanDuel and DraftKings are amazing sportsbooks for fantasy sports fans. They both offer players generous welcome promotions, competitive odds, an app, a user-friendly interface, and a real-life user experience. They share their design, layout, and step-by-step roster construction. Moreover, they both allow you to deposit and withdraw money, search content, enter contests, and track results in real-time.

DraftKings

Founded as a Daily Fantasy Sports provider, DraftKings has quickly become a sports betting site. A few years later, it merged with SBTech and a special purpose acquisition company. Today, it offers users 3 options:

• DraftKings Sportsbook – an online sports betting platform available in larger states
• Daily Fantasy Sports – an online sports gaming platform available across the country
• Casino – online casino available in some states

FanDuel

FanDuel also started as a Daily Fantasy Sports provider. In 2018, it became a sports betting site after Paddy Power Betfair bought over 50% of the stake. Soon after, it bought 95% of the stake and transformed FanDuel into the largest sports betting company in the world. Today, it offers users 4 options:

• Fantasy – online sports gaming
• Sportsbook – online sports betting available in larger states
• Racing – horse racing betting
• Casino – online casino

FanDuel vs DraftKings: Features

Which one is better, FanDuel or DraftKings?

It’s a real tough question to answer. That’s why we did an in-depth analysis of them both by comparing their features. Let’s see which one wins!

Feature	FanDuel	DraftKings
Welcome Offer	Deposit bonus of up to $1,000	Deposit bonus of up to $1,000
Risk-Free Bet	Yes	No
Deposit Match	No	Yes
Daily Odds Boosts	Yes	Yes
Promotions	Ongoing	Ongoing

Welcome Offers

FanDuel offers new players a risk-free bet of up to $1,000 if they don’t win their first bet. No promo code is required to enter and win the bonus.

DraftKings offers first-time bettors up to $500 with a minimum $5 deposit. To first-time payers of Daily Fantasy Sports, it offers up to $1,000. The bonus is in the form of site credits you can use to bet. No promo code is needed to register and start betting to win the bonus.

Both offers seem generous, but you may be drawn to FanDuel’s offer more because the bonus is bigger. However, you will win that bonus if you lose your first bet. If you win it, you get nothing. On the other hand, DraftKings will give you $500 for a $5 deposit regardless of whether you win or lose your first bet. You win anyway!

Ongoing Promotions

Apart from the welcome bonus, both sites feature ongoing promotions and bonuses.

FanDuel offers several promotions, such as free bets, enhanced odds, parlay insurance, and more. You can find all promotions in the “Promotions” section of the site.

DraftKings also offers many promotions to players, including daily free-to-play pools, NBA parlay boosts, refer-a-friend, and more.

As you can notice, both sites are pretty even in this feature. This makes choosing a winner between the two even harder. But, let’s see what else they offer!

Loyalty Program

Winner: DraftKings

These both also have loyalty programs for their regular players. FanDuel gives you loyalty points but only for the Daily Fantasy Sports. Hence, you get no points if you bet on sports. On the other hand, DraftKings gives you loyalty points, a.k.a. Crowns for betting on sports. There are 6 tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Black which you can reach according to the number of points to have. You can use them for free bets and contest entries and you’re entitled to daily rewards when reaching each tier.

And, this is one of the differences between FanDuel and DraftKings. In fact, it’s one of the pros for DraftKings and cons for FanDuel. Judging according to this feature, DraftKings is the winner!

Sports Available

Winner: FanDuel

When it comes to the sports available, FanDuel and DraftKings are almost even. Both sites offer more or less the same games, with DraftKings lacking three: horse racing, swimming, and surfing. So, we can say that FanDuel wins in this feature with a very small advantage over DraftKings.

Sport	FanDuel	DraftKings
NFL	Yes	Yes
NCAAB	Yes	Yes
NCAAF	Yes	Yes
NBA	Yes	Yes
MLB	Yes	Yes
NHL	Yes	Yes
NASCAR	Yes	Yes
Horse Racing	Yes	No
MMA (UFC)	Yes	Yes
Premier League (EPL)	Yes	Yes
MLS	Yes	Yes
Golf (PGA)	Yes	Yes
Tennis	Yes	Yes
Boxing	Yes	Yes
Rugby	Yes	Yes
Volleyball	Yes	Yes
Athletics	Yes	Yes
Aussie Rules	Yes	Yes
Darts	Yes	Yes
Cricket	Yes	Yes
Swimming	Yes	No
Surfing	Yes	No
Waterpolo	Yes	Yes

Daily Fantasy Sports Available

Apart from sports betting, both sites offer Daily Fantasy Sports they can enjoy.

Contests	FanDuel	DraftKings
Tournaments	Yes	Yes
Head to Head	Yes	Yes
50/50s & Double-Ups	Yes	Yes
Multipliers	Yes	Yes
Satellites and Qualifiers	Yes	Yes
Tiers	No	Yes
Beat the Score	Yes	No
Showdown Captain Mode	Yes (But users have to set an “MVP” for their lineup)	Yes
Leagues	Yes (Daily/Weekly/Seasonally with new lineups every week. The fantasy points accumulate over the season.)	Yes (Daily/Weekly)
Beginner contests	Yes	Yes
Single-Entry Contests	Yes	Yes

Both sites offer a wide variety of games to play. The types of games are the same, with a few differences. Namely, FanDuel doesn’t have Tiers and DraftKings doesn’t have Beat the Score. Additionally, FanDuel players have to set an “MVP” for their lineup and the fantasy points are accumulated over the season.

Live Betting

Winner: FanDuel

Both sites allow live betting and live streaming. The live betting section of both sites is well-organized and provides you with a plethora of live betting options. However, FanDuel provides more statistics on live games, additional spread and total, and slightly more live sports. So, we can say that FanDuel has a slight advantage over DraftKings in this feature.

Scoring

Winner: DraftKings

Now, this is the feature that the two sites differ most at. Namely, a reception in FanDuel scores half-point whereas in DraftKings it scores a full point. Also, DraftKings offers bonuses for milestones, such as a double-double in basketball.

We can say that DraftKings wins here because of its scoring and the milestone bonuses.

The App

FanDuel and DraftKings both have a mobile app you can download from their website. May we say, both apps are simply amazing. They come with a modern and user-friendly interface, are easy to use, and are continually upgraded. The difference in their design is that FanDuel‘s app has a light and clean interface whereas DraftKings’ app is dark-themed with a somewhat complex design.

Although both apps seem to be perfect in any way and identical, it’s not like. In terms of perfection, FanDuel’s app can crash more often than you’d like. Also, the sign-in process is annoying and complex. DraftKings’ app, on the other hand, seems to be stable and allows a simple sign-in/sign-out process. In addition, it provides a “Live” feature for news, content, and game monitoring.

When it comes to availability, both apps are available for Canada, while DraftKings also has an app for the UK.

Countries

So, where are FanDuel and DraftKings available exactly?

Both sites are available in:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New York (soon)
• Louisiana (soon)
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

The only difference between them in terms of location availability is that DraftKings is available in New Hampshire and FanDuel isn’t.

FanDuel vs DraftKings: Deposits and Withdrawals

Feature	DraftKings	FanDuel
PayPal	Yes	Yes
Play+	Yes	Yes
Debit/Credit	Yes	Yes
Online Bank Transfer	Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit	$5	$10
Maximum Deposit	$2,000	Varies
Minimum Withdrawal	$1-$15	None listed
PayPal Withdrawal	Yes	Yes
Bank Transfer Withdrawal	Yes	Yes

FanDuel vs DraftKings: Deposits

Both sites have a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal options. They accept all major debit and credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Play+. DraftKings also accepts ACH deposits on the site and cash in the casino cage at its partner properties.

The minimum deposit at FanDuel is $10 whereas at DraftKings is $5. This gives DraftKings some advantage especially in the eyes of first-time bettors and occasional bettors.

FanDuel vs DraftKings: Withdrawals

When it comes to withdrawing funds from your account, FanDuel does it better. While requesting a withdrawal is a one-click action at both sites, FanDuel processes payouts much faster than DraftKings. It usually takes less than 24 hours. On the other hand, DraftKings’ users may have to wait up to 7 days to withdraw their money.

The minimum withdrawal at DraftKings is from $1 to $15 whereas FanDuel doesn’t list it. There is no maximum withdrawal limit at both sites.

The Verdict

So, which one is better, FanDuel or DraftKings?

From what we’ve seen, both sites offer great welcome bonuses and continuous promotions. They also have excellent user-friendly mobile apps, allow live betting, and offer numerous sports to bet on as well as Daily Fantasy Sports to play. Moreover, they offer users various deposit and withdrawal options and secure transactions.

You see, they are almost identical in most of their features. But, they also differ in few. One of their main differences is the scoring system. Namely, a reception scores half-point at FanDuel while a full point at DraftKings. Also, DraftKings has a better loyalty program and more payment methods.

On the other hand, FanDuel offers a better welcome bonus, more continuous promotions, higher maximum win limits, and much faster withdrawals.

When you sum up the pros and cons of each site, we can say they are a tie. This makes it impossible to choose a winner between the two. So, which betting site to choose?

It all depends on your preferences. Look at their features and decide which one suits your needs better. Do you prefer a site with fast withdrawal times or the bonuses are more important to you? Do you mind if each reception is counted as a half-point?

Alternatively, you could enjoy the best of both worlds! Yes, you could sign up for accounts at both sites. In this way, you will enjoy the benefits of them both, such as two welcome bonuses and choosing the best odds on each game.

What are your thoughts?

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