Welcome to Fantasy Week at WTOP.com, where we’ll be rolling out fantasy football related content to help you with your draft strategy, team names and more.
The stakes are high in fantasy sports.
In paid leagues, hundreds of dollars might be on the line. Daily fantasy leagues can offer even more. In the free leagues, bragging rights are worthless, yet priceless.
With so much riding on a team’s success, you had better believe there are nice folks out there who will pay for an edge. And because this is America, plenty of people are willing to do business, in the form of premium content and even one-on-one consulting.
It’s not as unusual as it sounds. There’s a real market for this stuff. According to the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association, fantasy owners spent around $7.2 billion overall in 2016–2017. And over a billion of that was spent on “ancillary” costs that include stats, advice and the like.
Not ready for draft day? Buck up and benefit from “premium content.” Here’s just a sampling of what’s out there and how much each service will set you back.
One of fantasy sports’ true OGs. It launched in 1997, and now syndicates data to “just about everybody in the fantasy sports industry,” president and co-founder Peter Schoenke told WTOP. “If you play fantasy sports, when you look at the player notes, you look at the injury icons, they likely come from us.”
He’s not kidding. They partner with ESPN, Yahoo! and CBS Sports, among others. Get the latest roundup of news in everything from the NFL to soccer and even cricket. And for extra, you can get lineup optimizers for daily fantasy league play and customized cheat sheets, among other tools. Rates range from $3.99 to $6.99 a month for football, depending on how many months and extras you want. See Rotowire’s pricing details here.
Their premium information has won them a fair share of industry awards in seasons past. Given that their offerings include personalized advice via email, dynamic cheat sheets, strength-of-schedule info and a “scientific injury predictor,” it’s easy to see why. They even claim that 77% of their subscribers made their league’s playoffs last season.
Fees range from $24 to $39, depending on how long you want access. See a detailed rundown of DraftSharks’ membership pricing here.
Get rankings, projections, injury-risk and volume-risk ratings, and even “machine learning model predictions” as part of their “Draft Package.” You’ll also gain access to private Facebook chats with their in-house experts. During the season, you’ll get such info as trade suggestions and answers to that recurring fantasy question: “Do I need to get rid of this guy?”
FFA has partnered with daily fantasy giant Draft Kings, so you can get that premium content for just $10 (instead of $20) if you sign up through Draft Kings for the first time. See a detailed rundown of FFA Draft Package benefits here.
Now in its sixth season, this business sets you up with a living, breathing adviser for one-on-one consulting. Their team has grown from eight to 20 since their launch in 2014, said Rockville, Maryland-based owner C.D. Carter. Last year, they had over 150 clients.
One key aspect of their service, he said, is explaining roster construction and making the most of late-round values. “It really is a learning process for the clients, as well,” he said. Having a consultant, he said, is especially helpful for someone who can’t be online during the league draft and wants to avoid the dreaded autopick.
Hourly fees begin at $33, and a season-long consultation is yours for $319. (See a detailed rundown of Draft Day Consultants’ rates here.)
This service is more for the hard-core fantasy owner, and offers three tiers of membership. Get support both for draft day (e.g., a mock draft simulator, a pick predictor and keeper league advice) and for in-season (e.g., a start/sit assistant, a trade finder and a waiver assistant).
Their highest tier includes extensive support for daily fantasy league owners, too. Monthly rates range from $2.99 to $19.99, depending on the tier and how many months you want. See a detailed rundown of Fantasy Pros’ tiers, benefits and prices here.
