NFT trading games and other fantasy football alternatives
Are you growing tired of traditional fantasy football platforms and looking for a different way to compete for top prizes?
The rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has brought trading cards online, meaning the digital sphere finally has an answer to the physical Panini stickers and Adrenalyn cards many of us grew up with.
Whether that’s your thing, or you simply want to try out an alternative to the standard fantasy format, we’ve got your back. Below, we’ve pulled together a variety of options for football fans on the lookout for that something different.
Fantastec Swap
Got, Got, need has gone digital! Gather and swap officially licensed digital collectables from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. Swap with other players or buy packs from the virtual SWAP Store, building your collection to be in with a chance of winning signed shirts, match tickets and other exclusive prizes. Granted, it’s not quite fantasy football, but users are rewarded for completing their collections, then challenged to find rarer cards for bigger and better rewards on the ever-growing platform. The collectables are NFTs, so they are unique and there will only ever be a limited number (like owning your own piece of digital artwork!). They also come accompanied with exclusive content for collectors to enjoy, like videos and digital player autographs.
Sorare
If collecting for collecting’s sake doesn’t do it for you, Sorare takes it up a notch. Think Panini sticker book meets fantasy football. Buy packs, trade cards or win auctions to land your desired digital collectables, then enter different tournaments within the app to pit your collection against others’. So what’s ‘so rare’ about them? The collectables are NFTs and are protected by blockchain technology, meaning there is a limited supply of each card to maintain its scarcity and value. Every season, there are three types of card created for each player on the game: Rare (100 available), Super Rare (10), and Unique (1). In tournaments, your cards will pick up points based on Opta data from their real-life performances. Win cards and ETH (cryptocurrency) if your players succeed. 18+.
FanTeam
Fantasy football just got serious. You’ve dipped your toe in FPL, but now you fancy playing for serious cash prizes. Many of FanTeam’s basic functions are similar to the Premier League’s official FPL game, but as well as a season-long format there are also smaller tournaments that zero in on specific matches and single gameweeks. This season, they’ve launched Fantasy Matchups, where you are given a choice of two players from a single match and must select which will win more points in that contest. Correctly select the winner of several Fantasy Matchups on the same ticket (like an accumulator) for bigger cash prizes. FanTeam also has a fantasy platform for the Champions League, and a £1,000,000 Euro 2020 tournament is planned for this summer. 18+.
DraftKings
DraftKings is fantasy football for those who can’t be doing with the hassle over a whole season. Enter daily or weekly fantasy tournaments for cash prizes. The platform caters for all the leading American sports, plus golf, motorsport and Premier League football (or ‘soccer’, as the app will have you call it). There are two ‘game styles’ for those using DraftKings for Premier League contests: Classic and Showdown. The Classic contest gives you a budget of $50,000 to select eight players from a single gameweek, but the pricing system will obviously prevent you from cramming your team full of superstars. The trick? Picking the cheaper players capable of big scores, or ‘differentials’ to use fantasy football parlance. Showdown is similar, but it challenges you to pick all your players from a single match. 18+.
FanDuel
Another without the season-long commitment, FanDuel allows you to build a new team for every matchday. Players are ranked on their real-life performances and awarded points based on categories like goals, passing, interceptions, tackles, and shots. With that in mind, it’s best to identify players who consistently deliver on specific metrics (eg. CMs who love a pass). Once you’ve joined the app, there are Beginner Only Contests for players who are getting to know the game. There’s a fee to enter, but these typically pay out to a larger proportion of participants. Once you’ve earned your FanDuel stripes at beginner level, try ramping up the jeopardy and entering one of the ‘Tournaments’. There you can play for serious money, but the top prizes are reserved for the very best performers. 18+.
