Best Daily Fantasy Sports Sites in Australia

Similar to the growth of sports betting when it first became available online, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) has blossomed over the last few years. With more players turning their focus to DFS and more operators competing for attention, the Australian DFS scene is an industry on the rise.

Traditional Daily Fantasy Sports involves competitors selecting a team from players of a chosen sport under a specific salary cap, and as they compete during their match they will gain or lose points depending on their performance. At the end of the fantasy tournament, the competitor whose combined players scores the most amount of points will be the winner. There are also betting variants of this with fantasy betting tournaments. 

Before joining a daily fantasy website, it is best to have an understanding of what each site has to offer. We have listed the best daily fantasy sites in Australia and offer a brief description and links to the review pages of each Australian DFS site.  

 

Draftstars

The revolution and growth of Daily Fantasy Sports in Australia went to a new level at the end of the March of 2016 with the launch of Draftstars. Since 2016, Draftstars has gone from strength to strength after the acquisition by international daily fantasy company, PlayUp. 

Draftstars currently runs DFS contests for the NRL, NBA, AFL, Cricket, Golf, and NFL. Their AFL contests are some of the largest in the country as they run several tournaments each weekend, sometimes with combined guaranteed prize pools in excess of $100,000. Draftstars also offer a revolutionary 'Live Final' for the AFL and BBL Grand Final where players can win tickets for as little as $1 and compete for a prize pool of up to $200,000. 

Recently, Draftstars set a new record for the largest DFS prize pool in Australia with their 2024 AFL Star contest reaching a $1,000,000 prize pool with $250,000 for the winner.

Draftstars use software provided by US-based company DraftDay. The software is of a world-class and makes navigating the Draftstars website easy and enjoyable and makes Draftstars the benchmark when it comes to DFS in Australia. 

Find out more: Draftstars Review

 

UPC Showdown

UPC Showdown is the newest fantasy betting site to hit Australia. Launching in March 2024, UPC Showdown awarded almost $2 million in prize money in their first six months of operation. UPC Showdown follows a "Set and Forget" format where you select the winners for nominated race meetings or sporting events such as NRL or AFL, prior to the start of the event. If you land more winners during the day than other players in the showdown, then you'll take home the top prize.

UPC Showdown offers a very top-heavy structure of payouts with some significant first-place prizes. Expect to see some juicy prize pools for their first Spring Carnival.

It's the Ultimate Punters Challenge!

Find out more: UPC Showdown Review

 

SportChamps

SportChamps are a site dedicated to fantasy betting tournaments. While not the traditional form of Daily Fantasy Sports, fantasy betting is proving to be very popular in Australia. Rather than use a salary to pick a team, fantasy betting is more interactive and requires players to compete against each other by betting on traditional sports betting markets using fantasy dollars.  At the end of the pre-defined contest, the player with the most fantasy dollars will take home the lion's share of the prize pool.

SportChamps have a great user interface and make it easy for new players to join and gain experience with fantasy betting. They also spread a wide range of sports including Horse Racing, AFL, NRL, Soccer, Baseball, Boxing, MMA and a whole more. They sometimes offer some fun betting markets which can make watching a sport or event a whole lot more enjoyable.

While SportsChamps have awarded some big prizes over the years, in September 2024 SportChamps announced they were removing all paid entry contests and moving to a free-to-play model only.

Find out more: SportChamps Review

 

DraftKings

DraftKings is now closed to Australian customers.

DraftKings is the largest Daily Fantasy Sports site in the world. They are making new millionaires every week, and in 2018 alone, awarded over $1 billion in prize money to DraftKings players around the world. In June, 2018, DraftKings officially launched in Australia, opening up their massive tournaments with weekly prize pools of over $1,000,000 to Australian customers. However their stay was short-lived as they withdrew from the Australian market in November 2021.

AFL was offered on Draftstars but contest sizes were relatively small in comparison to the massive contests offered across major sports like NBA, NFL, Soccer, Golf, NASCAR, MMA and Esports.

Find out more: DraftKings Review