NFL Fantasy Football Leagues 2024

Are you ready to demolish your friends, families, and co-workers?

By Taylor Kujawa and Chantel Buchi

Sep 5, 2024 1:45 PM ET | Share

If you’re a true fantasy football manager, you’ve already been taking notes on who you’ll be drafting in August.

But whether you’re beginning your fantasy league journey for the first time or are already a seasoned veteran, our guide will help you make the most of this year’s NFL season.

We list out the different types of leagues you can join and the best resources to help you win your fantasy league this year.

Find the best TV providers for watching football

Take your fantasy football experience to the next level with the best TV for watching the NFL this season. Enter your zip code below to see the top-ranked TV providers available for your home.

Jump to:

Best NFL fantasy football sites
Types of fantasy football leagues
Best online resources for fantasy football

Best NFL fantasy football apps

The first step in fantasy football is selecting the right platform. In the table below, we’ve highlighted the most popular fantasy sports websites that offer the best fantasy football games.

As a 5-year fantasy football manager, our group always chooses ESPN Fantasy Sports because of its simplicity. I personally do not like Yahoo Fantasy Sports because it’s not as straightforward and it’s overwhelming. This year, we’ll be giving Sleeper a try. And with only using it for two weeks, I have to say I’m already a megafan.

Site	Free-to-play leagues	Pay-to-play leagues	Key features	Details
CBS Sports Fantasy	✔	✔	In-depth customization settings and simple app interface	Get started
DraftKings Fantasy Sports	✔	✔	Wide variety of game types, daily contests, and sports betting capabilities*	Get started
FanDuel Fantasy Sports	✔	✔	Player experience indicators, quick payouts, and sports betting capabilities*	Get started
ESPN Fantasy Sports Our pick	✔	—	Personalized trade recommendations and player insights powered by IBM Watson Advanced leagues and resources for ESPN+ subscribers	Get started
NFL Fantasy Football	✔	✔	In-app game-viewing options, official league footage, and detailed player profiles	Get started
Sleeper: Fantasy Leagues	✔	✔	Slick draftboard layout, modern messaging tools, and instant waiver processing	Get started
Yahoo Fantasy Sports	✔	✔	Detailed historical data, video chat when drafting, and easy league renewal Additional tools for Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscribers	Get started

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

*Available in states where sports betting is legal.

Our recommendation: ESPN Fantasy Sports offers the best experience for fantasy football players. Both the website and the app are easy to navigate, and you can play for free to become more familiar with how things work before jumping into the deep end.

You can also play for free during the regular season, commissioners. (If you’re new, the commissioner is the person who created and is in charge of your league.)

Like most of the other options in the table above, ESPN also offers fantasy leagues for other sports, including MLB, NCAA basketball, NHL, and NBA.

Types of fantasy football leagues

Once you choose a platform, you’ll need to select the specific type of league you want to play. While not every league type is available on every platform, you’ll have one or more of the following options:

Standard Draft League
Auction League
Dynasty League
Keeper League
Redraft League
Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) League

Fantasy league newcomers will want to choose a standard draft league. This mode lets you draft players at the start of the season and make roster adjustments ahead of each NFL game week.

Even as fantasy football veterans, we tend to stick to the standard draft league because we find it the most fun—especially with a salary draft.

There are generally two competition types within a standard draft league: head-to-head and total points. A head-to-head competition puts different teams against each other each week, with a win awarded to the team with the most points that week. On the other hand, total points competitions focus on accumulated points, and the winner is decided based on who holds the most points by the season’s end.

Fantasy football scoring types

As you can tell, there are many different ways fantasy leagues can operate. One setting you’ll want to keep an eye on is the scoring type.

Standard scoring awards various points for different situations (like touchdowns, rushing and receiving yards, etc.). Points-per-reception (PPR) scoring operates the same but grants players an extra point for every catch. You may also see touchdown-only scoring that awards you points exclusively when players reach the end zone.

If you’re looking for a more difficult league type, a dynasty league might be the best option. Most aspects of a dynasty league operate like a standard draft league. But you stay with your same roster for subsequent seasons and can only draft rookies in season two and onward.

Sleeper‘s fantasy league platform is our favorite for dynasty leagues because of its smooth drafting features, color-coding, and the way it lists which players are trending up (a feature I’ve never seen in other fantasy apps).

Want more TV sports coverage?

Subscribe to CableTV.com’s email newsletter for the latest sports viewing guides, entertaining takes, and money-saving promotions.

Best online resources for fantasy football domination

After getting an understanding of your league’s rules, you’ll want to back yourself up with fantasy news and analysis resources. A combination of the right tools and football knowledge will take your league domination from the NFL Draft all the way to the Super Bowl.

Most fantasy league platforms offer tools and resources, but we’ve listed some great third-party options in the table below.

Resource	Description
Beer Sheets	A single-sheet draft guide catered to your league rules to help build a draft strategy.
FantasyPros	A fantasy sports hub focused on aggregated expert advice, rankings, and projections.
Pro Football Focus	A news and analysis site dedicated to fantasy and betting leagues, with premium features available for advanced NFL stats and projections.
Reddit (r/fantasyfootball)	A one-stop shop for quick player and team news, including a lot of hot takes and confirmation bias.
Sports Injury Central	An in-depth source for injury news and analysis from sports medicine experts.

Some resources might be daunting for newcomers due to the abundant usage of fantasy league terminology and acronyms. But ESPN has a helpful fantasy football glossary you can refer to when necessary.

Optimize your TV plan for fantasy football

Of course, having access to the most live football coverage will only help your fantasy league experience.

Check out our How To Watch NFL Games page to find the best TV providers and viewing options, so you don’t fall behind this season. Spoiler alert: NFL+ (formerly NFL Game Pass) is a great service for fantasy fans who want access to full game replays and All-22 Coaches Film.

We also have additional gridiron content worth checking out—highlighting specific football topics and TV packages.

NFL fantasy football leagues FAQ

How much does fantasy football cost?

Fantasy football sites usually offer free contests. But if you’re in it for the big prizes, most public competitions require entry deposits or monthly fees. Private fantasy leagues cost differently based on the platform used and the predetermined buy-in—some in-person leagues play for tacos.

What is a fantasy football commissioner fee?

The person in charge of a paid fantasy league—usually referred to as the commissioner or league manager—may have to pay a fee to run their league on specific platforms each season. In most cases, league members split the cost and pay the commissioner.

What is a PPR league?

In a PPR (points-per-reception) league, you will receive points for every reception completed by a player in your starting lineup.

Why you should trust us

Our sports experts spent over 20 hours researching and testing different fantasy football league platforms. We based our recommendations on ease of use by examining each platform’s user interface, free-to-play options, and in-app resources.

Check out our How We Rank page to learn more about our methods.