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Fantasy Sports Glossary of Terms

Fantasy Sports Glossary of Terms

The fantasy sports industry has become one of the most lucrative industries to invest in these days. And why not? After all, the industry is booming and reaching new heights every single year. Fantasy sports has established itself as one of the most prominent as well as the most promising industries across the world and the huge user base and growing popularity among players have made it an ideal industry to invest in. 

What is Fantasy Sports? 

Fantasy sports enable participants to create their virtual teams of professional players. The participants choose from the real players and compile their own teams to compete against each other. The results are based on the past performances of the players in the real fields. The performances are measured and are then transformed into points. Fantasy sports can be played in two ways — either by competing with friends or by competing against strangers by joining public leagues that are organized by several online fantasy sports platforms.  

The Scope of Fantasy Sports

The fantasy sports industry is reported to generate around $1.5 billion every year. Around 56.8 million people in the USA and Canada alone play fantasy sports and according to the statistics, it is certain that this number will increase. In the year 2019, the market size of fantasy sports worldwide was that of $18040 million, and by the end of 2016, the industry is expected to hit the figure of 43370 million. 

But even though fantasy sports are gaining popularity in diverse regions around the world, several people still stay clueless about the basic terminologies of fantasy sports. And let’s face it, the several terms in fantasy sports are confusing, which makes it quite intimidating for the new players as well as entrepreneurs looking to invest in the industry. 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We have compiled the complete fantasy sports glossary so that you can eliminate the dilemma and make the most out of your fantasy sports experience. 

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) Glossary

Daily fantasy sports glossary includes money terms, jargons as well as the general banter. Below is the list of all in the alphabetical order: 

50/50: Also known as cash games, 50/50 is an event in which the top 50% of the players divide the prize pool evenly and the rest of the 50% lose the entry fees. Players can play small as well as large 50/50 contests where large contests render bigger price pools. 

$/Point:  Dollar per point is the number of dollars the player is supposed to pay for each projected point cost. It is recommended to keep this number low. The lower it is, the better. Point/$ is exactly the opposite of $/Point. 

Action: The sum of money or the contests in play on any given site is known as Action. For example, I have a lot of action on Draftkings this month.

Average Draft Position: Also known as ADP, it refers to the spot where a player will be drafted.  

Auction Draft: Auction drafts give every manager the opportunity to build a team on his budget by bidding on the players. Needless to say, the highest bidder acquires the player. 

Bankroll: In daily fantasy sports Terms, bankroll refers to the sum of money participants are willing to invest in DFS.

Bench Players: Players that you’ve picked but won’t be present in the starting lineup for the week are known as bench players. 

Bearish: The negative views about a given situation or the player. If someone holds a bearish outlook about a player, he won’t pick him for his lineup. 

Blind Bidding: To keep the biddings fair, several online fantasy sports platforms permit the players to place bids without exposing the real numbers to the other bidders.

Breakout: The player who performs better than expected is known as a breakout in the terms used in daily fantasy sports. 

Bullish: This is the exact opposite of bearish in the glossary of important DFS terms. It means positive views about a given situation or a player. If someone holds a bullish outlook about a player, he’ll include him in the lineup. 

Bust: A player that is expected to play good but doesn’t do well in the field and underperforms is known as a bust.

Buy-in: In simple terms, the buy-in is also known as entry fees, that is, the sum of money that is required to enter any league or contest.   

Cash Games: 50/50, Head to Head, and double up are referred to as cash games that allow players to play safe. 

Cheat Sheet: In DFS glossary, cheat sheets are simply the ranking guides. 

Ceiling: Ceiling is the maximum number of points a team, a lineup, or a player can score. 

Commission: Also known as a rake, it is the fees that are charged by daily fantasy sports websites to play. It is usually around 10% of the buy-ins. 

Confirmation Bias: The inclination towards confirming pre-existing beliefs and to look and search for information that fits is called confirmation bias. 

Cut/drop/release: In the daily fantasy (DFS) glossary of terms, these three words mean the same and refer to the player you don’t want in your team anymore. 

Contrarian: It refers to someone who picks players that others would discard. The one who goes against the grain. 

DFS: DFS is short of Daily Fantasy Sports. 

Deep league: Leagues in DFS consisting of more than 12 leagues are known as deep leagues.

Donkey: A bad DFS player is referred to as Donkey. 

Double-up: When winners double the entry fees amount, it is known as double-up.

Draft: Draft refers to how participants build up their teams of players. 

Entry fee – Entry fee is the same as buy-in, which is, the amount of money required to enter a contest or a league. 

EV – EV is simply short for expected value. 

Exposure: Exposure is the sum of money that’s placed in a particular player. Also, it can be referred to as the percent of the bankroll that you have invested in a player. 

Fade: When you avoid a particular game or a player, its called fade. 

FD: In DFS glossary, FD stands for FanDuel. 

Fish: A poor or inexperienced DFS player is known as fish.  

Flyer (Flier): A player who is added to the team as a free agent because there is a probability that he might perform well and exceed expectations.  

Floor: The minimum number of points a lineup, a team or a player can score is called the floor. It’s exactly the opposite of the ceiling. 

Freeroll: A daily fantasy league that has a cash prize but is free to enter is known as a freeroll.

Free Agent: In fantasy sports glossary of terms, a player who is not owned by any team in the league is known as free agent. 

GOAT: GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time. It is the opposite of WOAT. 

GPP: GPP is short for Guaranteed Pool Prize. 

Game Versions: Game versions refer to the type of contests that are offered by daily fantasy sports websites. Multipliers, qualifiers, H3H, GPP, 50/50 are some of the examples.  

Grinders: In daily fantasy sports(DFS) glossary, grinders are players that play to boost profits and usually participate in cash games. 

Half PPR: Half PPR or .5 PPR refers to the daily fantasy scoring system that grants .5 points per reception. 

Hedge: In the glossary of important DFS terms, hedge refers to the measures taken to avoid the loss of a large percentage of bankrolls. 

High-low: When high salaried players are picked along with low-priced players to achieve the balance is called high-low. It is also known as stars and scrubs. 

High-stakes: Contests that involve high entry fees. 

Injury Report: Report that lists all the players that were injured. This report is published by the NFL. 

Keeper: The player from the previous season that’s kept by the same owner is known as the keeper. 

Late-swap: Editing the lineup of players after the start of the contest is known as late-swap in the key terminology of daily fantasy sports.

Lean: Favoring a particular game, team, a situation, or a player is known as lean in the daily fantasy sports (DFS) glossary. 

LU: LU is short for Lineup. The lineup is also known as a roster.  

Manager: The person who takes all the decisions regarding trades, free agents, drafts, etc of a team is known as the manager. 

Minimum Salary: Minimum salary is the lowest salary at a position for a player. 

Mock Draft: Mock draft is the practice draft that enables you to create and practice strategies. 

Multiplier: Multiplier leagues allow you to multiply the sum of money that you paid as your entry fee. 

Multiple Entry: Some contests allow you to enter multiple lineups in the same contest. This is known as multiple entry in daily fantasy sports Terms

Narrative: The explanation for a situation that’s accepted by everyone is called narrative. 

Overlay: When a DFS site loses money and pays more than the total entry fees collected in a GPP content, it’s known as overlay. 

Paying up:  Spending money on the most expensive player is known as paying up in the glossary of important DFS terms. 

Pickup: A player that is picked up from the free-agent pool is known as pickup. 

Player Pool: Pool of players that are available for drafting is known as the player pool. 

Prize Pool: Prize pool refers to the total payout amount in a particular contest. 

Projections: Projections are predictions for a player’s performance for the season or week. 

Punt: In order to save money elsewhere, contest participants often take low priced calculated risks which are known as Punt key terminology of daily fantasy sports.  

Qualifier: Qualifiers are GPP contests in which players receive entry tickets in the award for bigger contests. 

Reach: Reach is referred to as the player that is predicted for bare minimum production. 

ROI: ROI stands for Return on Investment. 

Roster: Roster is also known as Lineup. 

Salary Cap: The total sum of money that’s spent in drafting a lineup is known as salary cap in daily fantasy (DFS) glossary of terms. 

Shark: An experienced or professional DFS player is known as Shark.

Sleeper: A sleeper is a cheap player that could have loads of potential. 

Snake Draft: Snake draft is a drafting pattern in which a team that drafts first in round one is the team that drafts last in round 2. 

Stacking: Stacking is the process where multiple players are picked from the same game or the same team.

Trade: The exchange of players between the two teams is known as trade.  

Tier: Grouping players with similar ranks on the basis of position is known as tier. 

Tilting: Making bad decisions due to building up of stress that results from the game outcomes is known as tilting in the key terminology of daily fantasy sports. 

Train: When you enter the same lineup in one league multiple times, it’s called train in daily fantasy sports terms.

Transaction: Line up actions such as dropping, picking,  or trading a player is known as a transaction. 

Triple up: Contests where winners triple the amount of their entry fees. 

Undroppables: The elite players that cannot be dropped from a lineup are known as undroppables. 

Value pay: A low-priced player who exceeds expectations is known as value pay in the DFS dictionary.

Waivers: A player is considered to be on waivers when he is dropped from a team. 

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Sources

https://www.espn.in/fantasy/football/story/_/id/19541777/glossary-how-play

https://www.fantasylabs.com/articles/a-daily-fantasy-sports-glossary/

https://rotogrinders.com/articles/daily-fantasy-sports-glossary-898

https://www.gamerisms.com/fantasy-sports-glossary.html

https://www.4for4.com/fantasy-football/daily-fantasy-dfs-glossary-terms