NY daily fantasy sports: which DFS apps are legal, and what the pick'em ban changed

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) is legal in New York, regulated by the NY State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) and open to players 18 and over. That’s three years younger than sports betting.

What you can play is narrower than in most states. New York bans contests that mimic prop bets, so the over/under “pick’em” apps that boomed elsewhere either left or came back in a peer-to-peer form. Salary-cap contests on DraftKings and FanDuel are unaffected, and they top our ranking. PrizePicks is third on the strength of its February 2026 return. Underdog is fourth because New Yorkers only get its draft contests.

Tournaments, best ball or pick’em? DFS apps for every player

• Best for big tournaments: DraftKings Fantasy: Millionaire Maker GPPs and Showdown single-game contests, with a 4.9-star iOS rating from about 560,000 reviews.
• Best for NFL Sundays: FanDuel Fantasy: the Sunday Million, plus single-game contests and Best Ball.
• Best for player-stat contests: PrizePicks: peer-to-peer Player Picks, the only legal way to pick player stats in New York.
• Best for best ball drafts: Underdog NY Fantasy: Best Ball tournaments and daily snake drafts.
• Biggest deposit match: DraftKings Fantasy: 20% first deposit match up to $1,000 in DK Dollars, with No Promo Code needed.
• Best for new players: FanDuel Fantasy: 100% first deposit bonus up to $100, with No Promo Code needed.
• Best welcome offer for small stakes: PrizePicks: Play $5, get $150 in Bonus Lineups if you win, with Promo Code PlayToday.

The top 4 fantasy sports apps for NY players, in detail

DraftKings Fantasy NY: the biggest tournaments in the state

DraftKings is on the NYSGC’s permitted operator list and runs the full salary-cap menu in New York: classic contests, Showdown, head-to-heads, 50/50s, tournaments and leagues. Its Millionaire Maker GPPs are the biggest prize pools you can legally enter from New York. The app holds 4.9 stars from about 560,000 iOS ratings, the highest-rated DFS app by a distance.

The welcome offer is a 20% first deposit match up to $1,000 in DK Dollars, with No Promo Code needed and a $5 minimum deposit. Read the release rate: the bonus pays out at $1 for every $25 in entry fees, so the full $1,000 takes $25,000 in entries. DraftKings’ Pick6 product isn’t offered in New York, and the DraftKings Sportsbook is a separate, 21+ product with its own review among NY sportsbooks.

FanDuel’s New York DFS app: the Sunday Million and simple contests

FanDuel holds an NYSGC permit and offers salary-cap tournaments, 50/50s, head-to-heads, leagues, Best Ball and daily snake drafts. The NFL Sunday Million is its signature contest, and Friends Mode lets you run private contests for your group. The app has 4.8 stars from 226,000 iOS ratings.

The welcome offer is a 100% first deposit bonus up to $100, with No Promo Code needed and a $5 minimum deposit. Bonus funds can’t be withdrawn, winnings can, and unused bonus expires after 14 days. That’s a smaller headline than DraftKings, but it’s easier to use in full: a $100 deposit gets you $100 to play with. For newcomers who want one app for NFL Sundays, FanDuel is the simplest place to start.

PrizePicks in New York: back, but only player-vs-player

PrizePicks paid the NYSGC $15 million in February 2024 to settle findings that it operated without a wagering license from June 2019 to December 2023, then left the state. It won a New York fantasy license in October 2025 and relaunched in February 2026 with PrizePicks Arena, a peer-to-peer format where you compete against other players instead of the house.

Only Player Picks are available in New York; Team Picks and Culture Picks are not. The welcome offer is Play $5, get $150 in Bonus Lineups if you win, with Promo Code PlayToday. Your first real-money Player Picks lineup of $5 or more must win, Bonus Lineups have no cash value and must be used within 7 days, and the offer ends Dec. 31, 2026. The minimum deposit is $10. The app has 4.7 stars from 506,000 iOS ratings.

Underdog Fantasy for New Yorkers: drafts only

Underdog holds its permit through Synkt Games, Inc., which it bought in December 2022. On March 14, 2025, it settled with the NYSGC for $17.5 million over contests offered outside that permit’s terms and paused New York operations. It came back around May 15, 2025, with draft-style contests only.

In New York that means Best Ball tournaments and daily snake drafts. Underdog’s pick’em games, house or peer-to-peer, aren’t available here. When Underdog shut drafts in seven other states in September 2026, New York wasn’t on the list. There’s no sign-up offer in New York right now. The app holds 4.8 stars from 327,000 iOS ratings. Our full Underdog review covers the draft formats in detail.

Is daily fantasy legal in New York? The 2016 law

Yes. New York legalized interactive fantasy sports in August 2016, after the state attorney general sued DraftKings and FanDuel in 2015. The law survived a constitutional challenge when the Court of Appeals, the state’s top court, upheld it 4–3 on March 22, 2022.

The key rules:

• Minimum age 18. The law defines a minor as anyone under 18.
• Skill-based outcomes. Under Section 1404 of the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law, no winning outcome can be based solely on any single performance of an individual athlete.
• Registration and tax. Operators register with the NYSGC and pay 15% of New York fantasy gross revenue, plus an extra 0.5% capped at $50,000 a year.

For how fantasy fits alongside sports betting, racing and the lottery, see our New York gambling laws guide.

What the October 2023 pick’em ban changed

On Oct. 3, 2023, the NYSGC adopted rules stating that contests “shall not be based on proposition betting or contests that have the effect of mimicking proposition betting.” In plain terms: picking whether a player goes over or under a stat line is out.

That rule reshaped the market. PrizePicks paid $15 million and left. Underdog paid $17.5 million and paused. Both returned only with formats the commission accepts: peer-to-peer contests for PrizePicks and drafts for Underdog.

Licensed DFS operators: the NYSGC’s 13-name list

If a fantasy app isn’t on the NYSGC’s permitted operator list, it isn’t legal for paid contests in New York. As of October 2026, the list has 13 names:

• Boom Fantasy
• DataForce
• DraftKings
• FanDuel
• For Players By Players
• Gully Cricket
• MastersFantasyLeagues.com
• PrizePicks
• RealTime Fantasy Sports
• SharpLink Gaming
• Splash Sports
• Synkt Games d/b/a Underdog
• Yahoo

Yahoo and Splash Sports are the best-known names beyond our top 4.

Not available in New York: Sleeper, ParlayPlay, Dabble and Betr

These apps advertise heavily on national TV and social media, but none is on the NYSGC permitted list, so none offers paid fantasy contests in New York:

Prediction-market apps that sell contracts on player stats aren’t a workaround either. New York’s position is that sports event contracts are illegal unlicensed gambling, and the state is suing several operators. Our prediction markets guide tracks the cases.

DFS vs. sports betting: how winnings are taxed in NY

What operators pay: DFS operators pay 15% of gross revenue. Mobile sportsbooks pay 51%, one of the highest rates in the country.

What you pay: winnings from both are taxable income, federally and in New York State, and New York City residents owe city tax as well. The paperwork differs:

Both thresholds rose for 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Losses are trickier for DFS: an IRS Chief Counsel memo treated DFS entry fees as wagering, which would put DFS losses under the new 90% cap on gambling-loss deductions. Ask a tax professional how it applies to you. Our NY gambling tax guide has worked examples.

NY daily fantasy FAQ