Official Rules for Daily Fantasy NFL Contests (2024)

Contest Rules

For each contest, an entrant will have a set salary cap to draft real-world athletes into an entrant’s lineup. The salary cap for each contest will be displayed on the contest entry page. Athlete salaries will not change once Yahoo has added a contest to our Contest Lobby. The objective of each contest is to score the highest amount of points based on the performance of athletes in your lineup.

Contests marked as "Guaranteed" will always run (unless for reasons stated in the Cancellation Policy found in the Yahoo Sports Paid Fantasy Terms of Service), and predetermined prizes will be paid regardless of the number of entrants, or whether the contest has filled with the required number of entrants.

Contests not marked as "Guaranteed" will only run if the required number of entrants has been reached before the start of the contest. If the required number of entrants for non-guaranteed contests has not been reached, the contest will be canceled, and any entry fees for that contest will be refunded back to the entrants (e.g. If a 100-person contest only has only 99 entrants by the time the contest starts, and that contest is not marked as “Guaranteed”, that contest will cancel and all 99 entrants will be refunded their entry fee).

Contests marked as "Multi-entry" allow for multiple entries per entrant up to the maximum number of entries allowed per entrant as stated in the specific contest details. You can access the contest details by clicking on that specific contest listed in the Contest Lobby for more information (e.g. contest start time, # of entries, entry fee, prize pool, payouts, entrants, etc.). In all other cases and if a contest is not specifically marked as "Multi-entry", only one entry per entrant is allowed per contest.

Lineups

Multi-game contests: All entrants must draft athletes for their lineups from at least three (3) different real-world teams. Additionally, no entrant may have more than six (6) players from the same real-world team in a lineup.

Single-game contests: All entrants must draft at least one athlete to their lineups from both real-world teams, excluding a team DEF. Specifically, if the one athlete selected from a real-world team is a DEF, the entrant must draft one more selection from that real-world team. No entrant may have a roster consisting entirely of players from the same real-world team.

Deadlines

Contests may no longer be entered once the scheduled game time of the first game from which athletes can be selected for teams in that contest has passed (e.g. entries for a contest will close at 10:00 AM PT if the first game in that contest has a scheduled game time of 10:00 AM PT).

Lineup edits are permitted for any athlete in your lineup before that particular athlete's scheduled game time, but only if that athlete is being swapped for another athlete whose scheduled game time has also not yet passed.

Note: For the Yahoo Cup, you can join a weekly contest after it starts. You are eligible to fill out a lineup with players whose games have not started as long as there are two or more games remaining in the series.

Canceling Entries

Entrants may cancel entries under certain conditions by clicking on the "Edit Entry" button under the "My Contest" section of the site, then clicking on the "Cancel contest entry" link at the bottom of the Lineup page.

Entrants may cancel an entry for any non-head-to-head (H2H) contest that is unfilled before the contest starts, or for any filled non-H2H contest up to 15 minutes of contest start.

No entries may be canceled for matched H2H contests.

Postponements & Cancelations

For NFL contests, if any scheduled game is postponed or canceled, no points will be awarded to athletes in the contest who are participating in the postponed or canceled game unless the game is delayed and played on the same day as originally scheduled for the contest.

Any game that is played the following day or any time after will result in no points being awarded to athletes in the contest.

Suspensions

A game will be considered suspended if play has begun, but will resume at a later date.

For NFL contests, if any scheduled game is suspended within the contest period, any statistics accumulated within the contest period and up to the point of suspension will be included in the contest.

Any game that resumes play following a suspension any time after will result in no additional points being awarded to athletes in the contest unless the game is postponed and played no later than Wednesday of that week.

Position Eligibility

For all sports and contests, Yahoo will determine position eligibility for any athlete at its sole discretion.

Traded Athletes

When an athlete is traded to another team after a contest has been created that contains that athlete, the treatment will vary depending on the situation.

If players from an athlete’s previous team and new team are both eligible for selection in every contest that given week, points will be awarded to that athlete in the contest if he plays for his new team.

However, if players from an athlete’s previous team are eligible for selection in any contest that week, but players from his new team are not, no points will be awarded to that athlete in the contest.

Similarly, if players from an athlete’s previous team are not eligible for selection in any contest that week, but players from his new team are, no points will be awarded to that athlete in the contest.

Scoring Revisions & Corrections

Final box scores sent by our data provider at the conclusion of the slate's games will be the basis for calculating all scoring and results of each contest. Please note that live scoring and any accumulated statistics during a contest may ultimately differ from the final box score.

On occasion, box scores may be revised and resent by our data provider after the final box scores have already been released. Should this occur, contest scoring and results will not be revised.

A correction will be treated differently from a scoring revision. There are instances where a correction must be made, even after contests and payments have settled, due to various technical issues that may have affected contest scoring and results, or the settlement process itself.

Yahoo will determine, at its sole discretion, whether any corrections need to be made including whether settlements will be adjusted due to the corrections.

Contest Settlement & Payments

We will attempt to settle contests as quickly as possible, but this process may take longer depending on when the final box score is received.

Once a contest has settled, payments will be made to prize winners (subject to verification) shortly after, typically by the next day.

Prizes

All prizes offered are established and made known to contest entrants in advance of each contest and are listed on each respective contest page.

In the event of a tie for a cash prize, Yahoo will combine the winning prizes and evenly distribute the prizes to the tied entrants.

For example, if three participants tie for 1st place, with 1st place winning $100, 2nd place winning $50, and 3rd place winning $30, each of the tied entrants will receive $60.

In the event of a tie for a non-cash prize where the next tier or prize(s) is different, the following tiebreakers will be used:

  • 1st tiebreaker: team with most total touchdowns

  • 2nd tiebreaker: team with most rushing yards

  • 3rd tiebreaker: team with most receiving yards

  • 4th tiebreaker: team with most passing yards

If a tie still remains after the 4th tiebreaker, there will be a tiebreaker playoff contest between the tied Players to determine the winner of the prize. All specifics of the tiebreaker playoff contest will be solely determined by Yahoo.

Additional Terms and Conditions

Each contest is governed by Yahoo Sports Paid Fantasy Terms of Service. For additional terms and rules, including rules regarding eligibility for each contest, please see the Terms of Service.

Official Rules for Daily Fantasy NFL Contests (2024)

FAQs

What is the DFS stack strategy? ›

Stacking is a strategy where a fantasy player selects multiple players from the same team for their lineup. Stacking aims to capitalize on the potential synergy and increased scoring opportunities that can arise when multiple players on the same team perform well.

How do fantasy football tournaments work? ›

In a fantasy football league, participants draft their teams before the start of the NFL season. The league's rules and scoring system determine how points are awarded for each player's performance. Participants set their lineups each week, choosing which players to start and which to bench.

How do you win big in daily fantasy? ›

Tips to Win at DFS
  1. Embrace Variance. It's no coincidence that many of the top DFS players are former poker players or poker professionals. ...
  2. Adopt a Bankroll Strategy. ...
  3. Listen to Vegas. ...
  4. Play Lower Buy-ins in Head-to-Head and 50/50 Leagues. ...
  5. Maximize Your Bonuses.
Mar 1, 2024

How do you win a daily fantasy football tournament? ›

Daily Fantasy Football Strategy
  1. Maximize ownership. With an entire week for an industry to realize the top plays in the most popular daily fantasy sport, ownership is extremely efficient in NFL DFS. ...
  2. Play high volume RBs. ...
  3. FLEX a RB. ...
  4. Targets are key. ...
  5. Stacking? ...
  6. Picking a defense. ...
  7. Use all of the salary.

What is the algorithm for DFS? ›

Depth-first search (DFS) is an algorithm for traversing or searching tree or graph data structures. The algorithm starts at the root node (selecting some arbitrary node as the root node in the case of a graph) and explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking.

What is the DFS path finding algorithm? ›

Depth-first search (DFS) is an algorithm for searching a graph or tree data structure. The algorithm starts at the root (top) node of a tree and goes as far as it can down a given branch (path), then backtracks until it finds an unexplored path, and then explores it.

How do fantasy football matchups work? ›

In head-to-head leagues, a fantasy team matches up against a different fantasy team from the league each week. The team that receives the most points of the two receives a win for that week, while the other team receives a loss.

How does fantasy football algorithm work? ›

Each football player and their respective team's statistics are scraped from publicly available football statistic websites using Python language. After gathering relevant statistical information on players, a prediction algorithm utilizing machine learning projects expected fantasy football points for each player.

What is the best ball tournament in fantasy football? ›

Best ball is a fantasy football format where the best possible lineup is automatically selected for each team. At the end of the week, the highest-scoring players are automatically inserted into the starting lineup spots.

What pick wins the most in fantasy football? ›

It's possible to draft a winning team from anywhere in Round 1. The most successful fantasy teams each season don't tend to come from either end of the draft but more toward the middle. So you're generally best off trying to land a draft position somewhere from Pick 3 to Pick 10 in a 12-team league.

What is the key to winning fantasy football? ›

Upside is crucial for winning a fantasy football championship. Players with breakout potential can make a big impact on your roster. A player's point distribution and ability to win a week are more important than their total points scored.

How to become profitable in DFS? ›

Some people suggest grinding cash games for a while, some suggest focusing on a few lineups every week. But we think that far and away the best way to build a bankroll is to mass multienter. And this means entering 10, 20, 50, or even 150 lineups, into small stakes GPPs with a lineup builder like SaberSim.

Can you win money in daily fantasy? ›

Payout: Participating in DFS through big sites such as DraftKings can consist of hundreds of thousands of competitors who each pay a few dollars to enter the competition, meaning that the winner has the potential to earn a lot more money than from a regular fantasy sports competition.

What determines who wins fantasy? ›

The team that accumulates the most fantasy points wins the game for that week. The results of each week's matchup will determine the regular season winning team. In non-playoff leagues, the team with the best winning percentage wins the league championship.

How does daily fantasy work? ›

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) mirrors season-long fantasy sports but condenses it into a shorter, more sweat-inducing format. Heart-throttling contests range from a day to a week depending on the sport. Competitors draft a player roster and those athletes earn points based on their in-game performance.

What is the DFS algorithm with stacks? ›

Depth-First Search or DFS algorithm is a recursive algorithm that uses the backtracking principle. It entails conducting exhaustive searches of all nodes by moving forward if possible and backtracking, if necessary. To visit the next node, pop the top node from the stack and push all of its nearby nodes into a stack.

Should you always stack in DFS? ›

Simply put, if we believe a quarterback can achieve a potential ceiling outcome, then it's very likely that their teammates will be productive too. If you're playing in DFS tournaments, particularly large field contests, stacking is essential.

How many players should you stack in DFS? ›

The most popular utilization of stacking in large-field tournaments is pairing two separate teams in a 5 or 4 lineup build. A 5 man build is only possible on sites that allow you to use up to five players on the same team.

Should I double stack in DFS? ›

Double-Stacking

Double stacking isn't necessary for the high rushing upside QBs. However, for the high upside passing QBs, I will look to double stack more often than single stacking. For example, double stacking Joe Burrow against the Ravens in Week 16 was a tournament-winning strategy.

References

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