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I refuse to join fantasy leagues and I'm a sports fanatic. I watch my team's games every season, because I'm a lifelong fan, but as far as other players on other teams go, I can't keep up with every little thing that happens. Plus, unlike my friends, I have a full-time job with an actual commute.
One day in our group chat, One Bite, my friend Anthony said he was signing up for FanDuel's Fantasy Sports League. I told him I was out - "Ok, you guys have fun" - and went back to my day while they talked about their picks. That Sunday, the group chat was going nuts. Two of them won money with FanDuel. I said "Wait, already???"
I scrolled back up to Anthony's messages - instead of committing to a 4-month league, the FanDuel App lets you switch up your teams on a weekly basis. You get to play on a week-to-week basis, so you have the chance to win every Sunday. I'd only need to research for a week-long period instead of a 4-month commitment, and I can opt out if I'm really busy. This seriously changed things for me.
I went online to sign up - there's a FanDuel app, too, so I made a mental note to download it for my ride to work. After I put in my credit card info, they asked for my social security number and I panicked. Were all my friends getting scammed? I checked in and somebody said "scroll up, dude" - they'd also had this panic and checked the site - it's actually to avoid you getting scammed and to avoid professional coaches, players, or team owners from playing.
The website was really clear and easy to navigate - it wasn't a complicated bracket or excel doc. To start, there are Free Play contests where you can win money without putting anything down. Awesome.
I went to go pick my players for the week, newly excited by the $10,000 weekly prize pool. There's also a $100,000 prize pool for the season winners. Damn. We're doing NFL, but they also do NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, soccer, and golf.
Our group chat debated for over an hour about our picks, and then we locked them in. When I watched Monday Night Football, my adrenaline was through the roof. My team wasn't even playing, but my eyes were glued to the screen of a game with one of my players and my friend's quarterback.
Not gonna lie, I lost my first game. Hard. But three of my friends won this time and I won the next week! You get to pay yourself out immediately, and it's deposited into your bank account soon after. Sure, our group chat is mostly trash-talking now, but I'm already getting a head start on next season with FanDuel.
