FanDuel has recently gone live in the United Kingdom, finally offering English players the chance to get involved with Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) from the comfort of their home. FanDuel will become the second large fantasy sports betting company to launch in the U.K. in 2016 after DraftKings debuted in February.
FanDuel starts with limited selection
FanDuel has quite an extensive range of sports for players in the United States. If you live there, you can run a fantasy league in American Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey. However, the range of sports has been significantly toned down for our market. Players in the U.K. will only be able to run a fantasy league for their soccer team at the moment, but this may be increased to offer other sports in the future. It comes as no surprise that while FanDuel may offer American Football in the United States, it does not provide Football in that market.
The decision to only offer football at the beginning has been made to focus efforts and tie in with the start of the English Premier League, which will have begun by the time you read this. FanDuel has worked hard to make sure that its software is compatible with numerous devices at launch and can be utilised by PC users, as well as mobile users with an Android or Apple device.
FanDuel’s Launch Bonuses
To kick off its presence in the U.K. in style, FanDuel will be running a special Welcome Bonus for new players. All you need to do is open a new account and deposit £10 or more. You’ll get a 100% deposit match bonus up to £400. Be advised, though, this bonus will be applied to your first deposit only.
FanDuel decided not to port its American software directly over and use it for English players, which is what DraftKings decided to try. Things have worked out better this way for FanDuel as its launch has proceeded on schedule, while DraftKings did suffer a delay. The software naturally is very similar to what you’ll find in America, with contests that will run over the course of a day, or even a whole weekend. The goal is for players to build a team with 11 players in it while remaining under the salary restriction.
