The Premier League has long established itself as the most high-profile, competitive domestic league on the continent – even if that has come at the expense of some European success – and now, it’s becoming one of the biggest in the world. Helping this is the growing cohort of fans from the most valuable sports fan market in the world.
Over in the US, the Premier League is booming. On Peacock’s streaming platform, USA Network, and television channels under NBC, Premier League games averaged 546,000 viewers across the 2023/24 season. It created a new record for the league in the US, jumping up from a 457,000 average just five years prior.
Now, while UK fans are quite fond of betting on the football, one distinctly American form of betting not only thrived across the pond before states began permitting regular sports betting, but would seemingly appeal to UK audiences. So, is there any possibility of this novel form of betting coming this way given the league’s popularity over there?
How Does this Form of Betting Work?
Sitting in that space of not technically aligning with the recognised form of sports betting, daily fantasy sports became immensely popular across the US while traditional sports betting wasn’t allowed. In the games, people build their team of players from a set competition with a cap on spending – thus the “fantasy” part.
They’d do this by playing on DFS apps, scrolling through all of the players, checking out stats, and carefully building their lineups. Then, the contest begins and they can track the performances in real-time. The owner of the winning lineup then gets a cash prize. Drafting the right players is key to the process, as is picking the right lineup approach.
While NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL DFS contests are the most popular on these daily fantasy sports apps, the section for soccer DFS is growing in popularity. These contests predominantly feature the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, or the MLS, focusing on one game day or game week.
Can DFS Work in the UK?
In a kind of cultural exchange, with the US getting Premier League football, could the UK get daily fantasy sports? Based on recent evidence, the answer would be a firm “no.” Since 2016, the biggest US apps were trying to make waves in the UK with their DFS offerings. One even teamed up with Liverpool having acquired the free-to-play TransferKings to get going.
It didn’t pan out, with FanDuel only lasting a few months in 2016, Yahoo bowing out of DFS in 2018, and DraftKings finally calling it a day in October 2024, according to this iGB report. UK football leagues did feature, but the concept of drafting and secluded fantasy sports with betting elements is certainly a new concept in the country.
That said, there is an ever-growing audience for one of the biggest DFS league. The NFL has grown tremendously in the UK, with there being an estimated 13 million fans dotted around the country. Coverage of the league, especially Red Zone, gets a lot of viewers and could be the path to showcasing how DFS works and why fans should play.
For now, DFS isn’t really a thing in the home of the Premier League, but at least US fans can enjoy the novel form of sports betting on the top-tier football league while across the pond.
