If you’ve been following me on social media lately, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been posting quite a bit about FanTeam. I thought I’d do a quick blog about the platform to explain why I’ve got involved and why it might be worth you taking a look at it too.

If you’ve played FPL or any form of fantasy football, the basic principles of FanTeam will be really familiar to you. It’s a daily fantasy sports (DFS) site, much like Footstock was, where you can use your football (and other sports) knowledge to compete in daily tournaments for money. It’s the biggest DFS site in Europe now and has been running for 8 years.

My mention of Footstock was deliberate. Since Football Index and Footstock collapsed, I’ve been looking for other platforms to fill my time and make the best use of my knowledge (and perhaps make me some money along the way). I’m already heavily involved with Sorare and with FiveYards but I still felt there was something missing as, for me at least, I see both of those as longer-term investments, whereas Footstock used to be my go-to platform if I wanted to add a bit of short-term excitement to a match.

FanTeam ‘scratches that itch’ for me and, unlike other platforms, the only financial commitment is whatever you decide to stake on the match (or set of matches) that you’re competing in. There’s no other money on the table so you’re not dealing with the same level of risk that we’ve seen elsewhere where you need to lock up large sums of money for long periods.

The basic premise is simple – paid-entry games that require you to build a team, usually within some sort of salary or other restrictions, and compete against other users to score the most points. The players score based on their performance on the pitch and the higher the overall team score, the larger the rewards. These rewards are based upon a prize pool made up of the entry fees, with FanTeam taking a small rake. Prizes can range from a few pounds up to £200,000 in their upcoming Euro 2020 game which has a £1 million total prize pool.

EPL football is the main draw to the site but FanTeam covers various different sports and leagues, including cricket, hockey and basketball. As well as the standard tournaments, there are Draft’n’go tournaments with a head-to-head format or entry cap, and the option to create private leagues to play against friends. FanTeam also offers ‘Player Matchups’ where you have to pick the highest scoring player from a number of head-to-head match ups to win a prize. This is the only time you play against the house, rather than against other users.

The game structure is simple and easy to pick up if you’ve previously played FPL, although there are some notable differences to the scoring, such as the defence stacking penalty and the impact points. Some elements of the game are different too – like the pursuit mode and safety net features. These give the game some additional tactical elements that you don’t find on other sites.

For these reasons, if you are looking to make the jump over from FPL, it’s really worth taking a bit of time to understand those differences. I cover some of the basics in this short blog on the FanTeam Focus site.

DFS games are notoriously difficult to win and people are quick to throw around stats about how few people manage to make a profit for them. If you’re looking at this as a get-rich quick scheme then you’ll need to really understand the game and have a huge amount of luck to come anywhere close to that. You’ll also need to understand that the nature of the game means that you will always lose more than you win: the key is to make sure that when you win, you win big.

Baring in mind that a lot of people don’t even make time to understand the basics, I think it is possible to turn a small profit if you’re good enough. You can see how I’m doing here: https://dfstats.net/stat/Fanteam/MDJ

Getting rich really isn’t my aim here though. Like I said before, I’m just looking for something I can dip in and out of to ‘scratch the itch’. If you’re also looking for something fun, low-risk, and you’re prepared to spend a bit of time learning the ropes, I think you might enjoy it too.

If you’re interested in getting involved, the guys at FanTeam Focus have genuinely got the best sign-up offer going right now. Sign up with this link: https://fanteam.co/join and deposit a minimum of £20 and you’ll get three free Monster tickets (the weekend cash tournaments) plus exclusive entry to some freeroll competitions that no one else has access to with a £1,000 prize pot. Be quick though, the first one is coming up this weekend.

Note that you must let me know (via a message on here or a DM on twitter) if you use the link so that I can make sure that they allocate you the tickets.

If you do get involved, keep an eye on the FanTeam Focus site for tips and suggested team selections. You might also want to sign up for their regular newsletter and join the Discord channel.

In case you’re wondering, FanTeam Focus is a team of sports fans who have come together to try to put their knowledge to good use. Most of us have been involved in other platforms like Footstock and Football Index in the past so you’ll probably recognise a few names. I’m writing the differential picks for them at the moment so feel free to follow my progress to see how I get on!