Fanduel

Flutter Entertainment, the world’s largest online gambling company, owns a 95% stake in FanDuel. Boyd Gaming owns the other 5%. Flutter bought FanDuel after the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA, the federal sports betting ban, in 2018. FanDuel was a very popular DFS site by that point, and Flutter – which was known as Paddy Power Betfair at the time – spotted an opportunity to turn it into a sports betting powerhouse.

It proved to be an inspired decision, as FanDuel has left its rivals behind in many states. Flutter also controls the FOX Bet brand following its multibillion-dollar takeover of The Stars Group, but it channels most of its efforts into FanDuel. Along with the sportsbook and the DFS site, it also runs an online casino in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, plus a racebook in certain states.

FanDuel Bonuses

The main FanDuel bonus is a risk-free bet worth up to $1,000. It is not a genuinely risk-free bet, as your refund takes the form of site credit as opposed to cash, but it is still an appealing sign-up offer.

You can claim this bonus by signing up for an account, making a deposit and placing a bet on a sporting event of your choice. If the bet wins, you simply keep the money. If your bet loses, FanDuel will issue you with a 100% refund, up to a maximum of $1,000.

This refund is paid in site credit, with a 1x rollover requirement. After you have played it through once, any winnings you earn will be paid in cash. However, the bet amount is not returned along with the winnings. That means you need to place a successful bet at odds of +100 to recoup your initial deposit.

This offer runs throughout the year, but FanDuel also provides lots of short-term sign-up bonuses to compete with DraftKings. For example, at the time of this review, new customers could bet $5 at boosted odds of +3000 on any NBA or NFL team to win a game. It was billed as a “Bet $5, Win $150” offer. You could simply sign up, wager $5 on any team to win on the moneyline, and get $150 in free bet credit if that team won the game. That is a very attractive sign-up bonus, and FanDuel is likely to continue offering similar bonuses, along with pre-registration bonuses in new states.

States Available

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia

FanDuel Promotions

FanDuel offers a very long list of promotions for its customers. Many of them are “Bet and Get” promos, which require you to wager some of your own money to unlock a free bet. You can generally receive a $10 free bet for wagering $20 on a particular sport.

One promo called “Parlay Plus” provides customers with a profit boost of up to 40% on successful parlays. It also offers daily odds boosts. They are generally related to same game parlays. For example, you might find Alvin Kamara to have 50-plus rushing yards and Jaylen Waddle to have 50-plus receiving yards boosted from +120 to +200 in an NFL game.

FanDuel offers lots of contests and prize draws too. For example, it teamed up with Charles Barkley for a Christmas promotion called “Santa Barkley”, whereby it gave out up to $7 million in gifts during a seven-day period. There is a free sportsbook contest called Hi Lo, which offers the chance to win $1 million, and there are $5,000 in weekly prizes up for grabs in a basketball contest called Over / Under.

The FanDuel loyalty program does not cover the sportsbook – it is only available for DFS contests – but the list of ongoing sportsbook and casino promos make up for that.

Deposit Options at FanDuel 

You will be presented with lots of deposit options when you visit the cashier section of the FanDuel website or the mobile app. If you would like to use a credit card or debit card, Visa and MasterCard are accepted, but it does not accept American Express or Discover.

PayPal and Venmo are the only e-wallets available at FanDuel. You can alternatively pay in cash at a retail sportsbook or partner property, such as the Meadowlands in New Jersey, or at a local store via PayNearMe. There is a branded FanDuel Play+ card available too, and you can send an ACH/echeck to your account. Deposits at FanDuel start at $10 and they are free.

Withdrawals at FanDuel 

FanDuel is quicker to process payout requests than rivals DraftKings and BetMGM, which may help explain why it is more popular than them in several states. If you opt for PayPal, Venmo, or Play+, your funds should be with you in under 48 hours. You can also visit a casino or retail sportsbook for a quick cash payout.

FanDuel also offers withdrawals via an online bank transfer, which can take three to five business days. It can also send a check in the mail, which should arrive within seven to 10 business days. Withdrawals start at $10, and there are no fees. Contact customer service if you have any further questions about the payout process, and the representatives will be happy to help.

FanDuel Sportsbook

The FanDuel online sportsbook runs on the OpenSports engine. The team at Flutter has a great deal of experience running popular online sports betting sites such as Paddy Power, SkyBet and Betfair, and it has produced a very impressive sports wagering platform for FanDuel.

There is a “Popular” tab at the top left of the site, which has links to the most prominent leagues. It changes according to which leagues are in season, but you will generally find links to NFL, NBA, NCAAF, NCAAB, MLB, NHL, soccer, and – where applicable – racing, along with links to promotions and free contests, such as Million Dollar Picks, Gridiron Pick’em, NFL Season Predictor, and Ringer Win Totals Pick’em.

The sports featured at FanDuel are then listed in alphabetical order, including Aussie Rules, boxing, cricket, cycling, darts, golf, handball, MMA, rugby league, rugby union, table tennis, and tennis. Some rivals cover more niche sports, such as lacrosse and floorball, but Flutter has opted for a leaner approach.

It offers standard juice lines on football and basketball. The moneyline odds are average, and so are the futures and prop betting odds. You will find a very broad selection of wagering markets on big football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and hockey games. They include same game parlays, alternate spreads, alternate totals, correct scores, player props, game props, and betting on halves and quarters. You can compile parlays, teasers and other multiples, and there are always lots of futures betting markets available.

Live Betting at FanDuel 

There is a thorough live betting section at FanDuel Sportsbook. It features in-play wagering on football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, cricket, darts, tennis, golf, and table tennis.

There are lots of live wagering options at FanDuel, and they are laid out in a neat and tidy manner, so this is a strength of the site.

You can also click on the “Watch Live” tab to enjoy live streaming of hockey, soccer, darts, and table tennis. This allows you to watch games as they take place, while betting on the action. 

Sports Wagering Experience

The FanDuel sports betting experience is very clean and effective. It has clear text on a light background, so it is an attractive site, and it is also very simple to navigate. One downside is that it lacks a search option, so you need to locate games manually, but it is a quick process.

The bet slip is also easy to use, as is the same game parlay builder. There are lots of modern features, including live streaming and cash out, which allows you to exit open wagers before the game has finished to lock in a profit. It is a comprehensive sportsbook, with lots of betting options on a variety of sports, but pages still load quickly and it is uncluttered, so the design team deserves credit.

There is no maximum bet amount, but the maximum you can win is $1 million on NFL, NCAAF, NBA, NCAAB, MLB, NHL and soccer. The limits are lower on other sports, such as tennis, golf, boxing and MMA. It offers higher win limits than DraftKings on many different sports, so it may be a better option for high rollers.

Mobile App Review

FanDuel has the most popular mobile sports betting app in lots of different states. App Store users have given it an average rating of 4.8 out of 5, and Google Play users rate it as 4.6 out of 5 on average. That is better than most rivals’ scores.

The app is similar to the website – clean, user-friendly, light, reliable, and full of great features. It does not have any Geolocator issues, and it always loads quickly, so it is perfect for live betting.

Other Betting Options

FanDuel has a narrow selection of casino games. They are high-quality games from elite software studios like NetEnt, but the range is a lot smaller than rival sites like BetMGM and DraftKings. It may need to bolster this portfolio if it is to compete. There are some interesting table games and live dealer games, but once again, the variety on offer is not great.

Parent company Flutter Entertainment owns the TVG brand, and it is a major player in the horse racing industry, so it has equipped FanDuel with an excellent racebook in some states. There are specific promos for racebook uses too.

FanDuel continues to run very popular DFS contests on NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, soccer, college football, golf, tennis, NASCAR, WNBA, and college basketball. It is a very comprehensive gambling site.

Customer Service

FanDuel Sportsbook does not offer phone support. You can use live chat on a 24/7 basis, or you can fill out a web form and wait for someone in the customer service team to email you back if your request is not urgent.

We tested out the live chat service and found that the waiting times were reasonably brief. The agents were able to answer our questions without any major delays, but it would be great to see phone support added at some point. FanDuel has a large Zendesk FAQ center, but it is disorderly and lacks a lot of basic information.

Security

FanDuel is a safe, secure operator. It is licensed to offer sports betting in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

FanDuel has been running an online sportsbook and casino for several years, and a DFS site for a lot longer, and it has not suffered any security problems. It uses the latest software to protect and encrypt the site and the mobile app.

Conclusion

FanDuel deserves its exalted status. It offers an excellent mobile app and website, lots of great bonuses and promotions, large betting limits, and quick, reliable payouts.

It is not perfect. Customer service is not available via phone, there is no loyalty program for sports betting customers, the casino has a narrow selection of games, and it covers fewer sports than some of its main rivals. The odds could be more attractive too.

However, despite a few shortcomings, it is a very impressive sportsbook, and it has the potential to maintain its market leadership long into the future.

BetOnlineAmerica Rating: 9/10