The World Series begins Tuesday when the Houston Astros meet up with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the pinnacle of the Major League Baseball season but daily fantasy sports has never been relevant — until now.
For the first time in history, a daily fantasy sports site — DraftKings — is offering World Series contests. Daily fantasy sports had been understood not to be practical during the World Series given that there is only one game at a time being offered.
While some DFS participants are questioning the enjoyment of playing World Series DFS, other baseball fans are welcoming the opportunity to play daily fantasy sports for one last time until next spring.
DraftKings World Series Contests
So with a single game running each day how are these contests being offered?
Combined Games – No Draftkings is not suddenly doing single game DFS (that’s not legal). Instead, each contests that run during the World Series will be held over two games. So, the first contests will cover Game 1 and Game 2. When drafting a player you are only drafting a player for a single game and can not select that player for a second game. Make sure to pay attention to match-ups when you do your drafting.
While the first contests will be for Game 1 and 2, there will be some overlap for the next group of contests — which will be available for Games 2 and 3 and then for Games 3 and 4. Contests will presumably be added for Games 3 and 4 once a Game 5 is confirmed, Assuming the Series runs until the end, contests will be held through Game 6 and Game 7 as long as the games are played.
Smaller Rosters – Unlike a standard daily fantasy baseball contest, where you need to select a player for each position, these contests require a participant to pick one pitcher and three hitters for each game (for a total of 8 positions over the two games).
More Stat Categories – Despite the fact that there are fewer unique positions that need to be filled in these contests, DraftKings is adding additional stat categories to ensure your players keep earning points.
DraftKings World Series Scoring
Scoring is different than the DraftKings MLB scoring you may be used to. Here is how these baseball contests will score during the World Series:
| DraftKings MLB World Series Scoring (2017) | |
|---|---|
| Stat (Hitters) | Points |
| Single | 3 Points |
| Double | 5 Points |
| Triple | 8 Points |
| Home Run | 10 Points |
| RBI | 2 Points |
| Run | 2 Points |
| Walk | 2 Points |
| Hit by Pitch | 2 Points |
| Sacrifice Fly | 1.25 Points |
| Sacrifice Hit | 1.25 Points |
| Stolen Base | 5 Points |
| Stat (Pitchers) | Points |
| Innings Pitched (Starter) | 2.25 Points |
| Innings Pitched (Reliever) | 3.9 Points |
| Strikeout (Starter) | 2 Points |
| Strikeout (Reliever) | 3 Points |
| Win | 4 Points |
| Earned Run Allowed | -2 Points |
| Hit Against | -0.6 Points |
| Walk Against | -0.6 Points |
| Hit Batter | -0.6 Points |
| Hold | 2.5 Points |
| Save | 5 Points |
| Complete Game | 2.5 Points |
| Complete Game Shutout | 2.5 Points |
| No Hitter | 5 Points |
| 10+ Strikeouts | 2 Points |
| 7+ Innings Pitched | 1.25 Points |
What are the contests like?
DraftKings is offering a handful of guaranteed contests including a $50k Final Series Opener Event with a $5 buy-in. Leagues, head to head, 50/50s and multipliers are also available.
The drafting of players is easy enough to understand. From draft screen, each position (pitcher and hitter) is separated by game to minimize drafting the wrong player.
See below for a better understanding of the drafting interface for these contests.
