FanDuel and DraftKings are most well known for their daily fantasy sports products. As natural rivals in DFS, FanDuel and DraftKings are squaring off again with their online sportsbooks. So, with a built-in customer base already busy wagering on sports, it comes as no surprise that these two companies jumped headfirst into the sportsbook game.
Competition is a customer’s best friend, and we’ll take a look at how these companies will vie for your disposable sports betting income by looking at their interface, bonuses, promotions, and much more.
Bonus Breakdown
Let’s start with the fun stuff, the bonuses DraftKings and FanDuel entice you with to sign up. While DraftKings offers both a deposit bonus and a free bet bonus, FanDuel only provides the free bet upon initial signup.
DraftKings Deposit Bonus
DraftKings offers a deposit bonus of 20%, up to $500 total. So, if you deposit $2500 your bonus is $500. If you deposit $100 your bonus is $20.
Now for the important part, the playthrough amount. The bonus is not immediately available to you for withdrawal. For instance, if you deposit $2500, you don’t immediately get your $500 bonus. You’ll get a $50 bonus initially, but you must first hit your playthrough amount to access anything above the instant $50 bonus.
For DraftKings, the playthrough amount is 25x. It’s also important to note that you must hit your playthrough amount by a certain date. After that date, your bonus is equal to the amount you’ve earned at that time.
DraftKings Free Bet
DK also offers a free bet up to $200 for first users. If you win your bet, you keep the winnings. If you lose, you will be refunded the total amount of the bet.
FanDuel Free Bet
FanDuel does not offer a deposit bonus but does give out a much larger free bet than DraftKings at $500. If your bet loses, you’ll be refunded with site credit within 72 hours.
FanDuel Promotions
While FanDuel drops the ball with no deposit bonus, they greatly exceed DraftKings in other available promotions. Most of these promotions have to do with sportsbook losses that happen late in games:
- NFL Close Loss Insurance – Up to $50 back if your team loses by 6 or less.
- World Series Insurance – Up to $50 back if your team has a lead at the end of the 7th inning and loses.
- NBA 3rd Quarter Insurance – Up to $50 back if your bet loses in the 4th
- NHL Goal Bonus – If you place a $25 moneyline bet in a featured game, you receive $5 back for every goal your team scores.
- Multi-Sport Parlay Insurance – Place a 5-leg parlay and if all legs hit except 1, get up to $25 back.
- More will get added in the future as well
DraftKings Odds Boost
Similar to FOXBet, Draft Kings does an Odds Boost which gives you improved odds to entice you to place a bet. Unless these Odds Boosts are on the actual moneyline for the game and not on random prop bets, they’re more gimmicky than valuable.
Where Can You Play?
There are only a select few states that currently have online sportsbook access for DraftKings and FanDuel. More and more will become available in the coming months and years, so check back for updates. Here are the states where you can currently wager online at FanDuel and DraftKings.
FanDuel
DraftKings
Online Interface
This aspect ultimately is determined by personal preference, and FanDuel is the clear winner from this user’s perspective.
DraftKings black background has never been my favorite when playing DFS, and they’ve continued to use this theme in their sportsbook. The color is more of a dark charcoal gray, and it seems to make navigation harder.
On FanDuel, the theme is split between a soft navy at the top and a clean white background for the spreads. This is much more pleasing to the eyes and easier to navigate.
FanDuel and DraftKings App Reviews
The mobile apps from DraftKings and FanDuel are extensions of their online products. But while FanDuel’s app is a smooth transition that brings out the best qualities of the site, just as with the full version of the site, the DraftKings app left something to be desired.
My main qualm with DraftKings, other than the familiar dark gray background, is the amount of scrolling necessary to find the sport you want. This is something of minor concern, but if I quickly want to bet a game, I’d rather not have to scroll through tiles that all look the same and don’t seem to be sorted in any way.
By contrast, FanDuel offers easy to navigate popular sports and has a quick “All Sports” tab which brings up another easily navigated menu.
What DraftKings does well is provide a handy A-Z Sports search tab at the bottom, where you can quickly type in a less popular league to bet on, such as Europa League or La Liga. The results quickly are filtered and bring you to the place you want to go to.
DraftKings also separates itself from Betting Pools. This is somewhat of a crossover between their daily fantasy product and their sportsbook. There are a variety of different pools you can enter, but the way it works is there is a set entry fee, for example, $5. The pool will have you make picks, they could be picks against the spread or player props, etc. Then whoever makes the most correct picks will get paid out of the prize pool.
- Players with the most correct picks split 50% of the pool.
- Those with the second most correct picks split 30% of the prize pool.
- 15% of the prize pool goes to the group with the third-highest amount of correct picks.
- The fourth best pickers get to split the remaining 5% of the pool.
Some pools have a set guaranteed prize amount, while others increase the prize pool for how many people enter the event. Prize pools set DraftKings apart as a product not offered elsewhere and may be reason enough alone for you to create an account.
How Do you Make a Deposit?
Withdrawal Options
FanDuel
- Check
- PayPal
- ACH/E-Check
- Cash at Counter
- FanDuel Prepaid Card
At FanDuel you can request up to two withdrawals per day. You are allowed to sync up to three bank accounts to FanDuel and processing time for a bank transfer is 12 hours. Withdrawals should appear in your bank account in 3-5 business days. Processing time for a check is 5-7 days.
Processing time for PayPal is 24-48 hours. The fastest payout method is to get cash at the counter of a FanDuel sportsbook. Withdrawal requests should be made online, and you will receive an email when pickup is ready. Funds should be available within one hour. Larger withdrawals (amount not specified by FanDuel) may be subjected to an additional review by management with could take up to two business days.
DraftKings
- Check
- PayPal
- ACH
- Cash at Counter
DraftKings withdrawals can take twice as long as FanDuel if you’re requesting a check at 14 business days. Bank transfer, however, is sometimes available within the same hour you request the withdrawal. Larger withdrawal amounts may take longer, with some users noting that they had no communication 11 days after submitting their request. PayPal withdrawal is available within 48 hours.
While DraftKings can sometimes take longer to process, their Twitter support handle @DK_Assist is usually happy to help you speed up your request.
Bottom Line on DraftKings vs. FanDuel Sportsbooks
If forced to play on one, FanDuel would receive my vote because I much prefer the user experience on their website and on the app. However, you always want as many options as possible, so creating accounts at both sportsbooks is a must for all serious sports bettors. Both products have valuable promotions, and both offer unique betting experiences.
At the end of the day, you always want to be shopping for the best lines. So, having accounts at both of these sportsbooks will be a crucial part of your sports betting experience moving forward. Enjoy the bonuses, make sure to read the terms when you sign up, and take advantage of having two extra outs everyday when shopping for line value. We will do our best to keep this DK vs. FD sportsbook review updated with features and locations available.