Over the past few years, daily fantasy sports has exploded into a constant part of sports and an increasing part of the fantasy sports market. However, if you are looking for a DraftKings or FanDuel contest to enter for tonight’s Super Bowl XLIX, there are none to be found.
The reason that the daily format of fantasy football struggles on the biggest game of the year is simple: lack of options. For the salary-cap, one-week leagues to function there needs to be enough options for players to build different and varied lineups. With only the Patriots ad Seahawks in action today, there just aren’t enough players to make a pool to choose from. In the AFC and NFC Championship games, the pools were shallow but still offered enough variety to make playing daily fantasy football possible.
Legally, fantasy sports games are allowable as games of skill (not gambling) since they are based on “multiple real-world events.” With only one event for today, daily fantasy sports sites are forced to get creative.
DraftKings did come up with a solution to incorporate today’s game into their fantasy football options combining this week’s stats with last week’s Pro Bowl in their “Desert Bowl” competition. I think other sites will pick up on this idea and copycat the competition next year. Even this solution has it’s challenges, though, since the Pro Bowl is just an exhibition and tends to be unpredictable. The other trick is that rosters have to lock before the Pro Bowl so there isn’t any way to get into the contest the day of the Super Bowl.
There is one other way DFS fantasy football is staying in the spotlight this week. Many of the contests throughout the season included a trip to the Super Bowl as their prize so expect plenty of pictures, blogs, and reports on the winner’s great trips to Phoenix. Their success is sure to inspire many owners to continue to play daily fantasy sports next season and in the ongoing basketball season and the upcoming baseball season.
To help you with your picks for those games and for next year’s fantasy football action, follow us @FansidedFantasy on Twitter where you can find our daily fantasy sports picks, advice, and updates on a continual basis. Enjoy the game tonight, and be ready to get back to daily fantasy sports as soon as the “multiple real-world events” allow us to take on the challenge on our favorite DFS sites.