New Jersey Daily Fantasy Sports Sites: The Best DFS Sites for Legal Betting

New Jersey is one of the most famous gambling destinations in the world. With most gambling activities being legal here, it makes sense why daily fantasy sports (DFS) has been so quickly embraced by the state’s constituents. We believe that the mixture of the state’s two favorite hobbies – gambling and sports – is what makes DFS such a winner in New Jersey!

Todd Winkler, Editor at online-gambling.com

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Todd Winkler has been an editor at online-gambling.com for 6 years. His focus is on guides and articles about poker games, blackjack, and DFS. With relatives in New Zealand, he is also well aware of the gambling industry in the country.

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Daily Fantasy in New Jersey

In 2017, New Jersey became the 16th state in the USA to formally legalize daily fantasy sports betting. This did not come as a surprise, as NJ online casinos have been legal since 2013. In addition, the particularly friendly attitude towards gambling was expected to extend to DFS sooner or later, considering it’s a game of skill instead of luck.

Online Daily Fantasy Sports in New Jersey – Overview

While New Jersey was the 16th state to legalize and regulate DFS in the country, it was the first to extend DFS laws to allow betting on college football leagues too. This allowance is certainly in line with New Jersey’s gambling-friendly reputation. The current law states that DFS operators must apply for a permit through the Division of Consumer Affairs. They must also pay a 10.5% tax on gross in-state revenue and be required to host a server in gambling hub Atlantic City.

Currently, there are talks in government that some lawmakers want to introduce fees to operators based on their earnings, which some see as a potentially lethal blow to smaller operators. This, however, won’t stop major DFS operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. Since sports betting was legalized in the state in 2018, the total revenue from sports betting has been roughly $300 million per month.

For those more interested in betting on their fantasy lineups rather than real-life games, we’ve listed some of the favorite fantasy sports leagues in New Jersey and how they are played.

Online Daily Fantasy NFL – Do Your State Proud!

While there are no professional league NFL teams bearing the state title in their name, both the New York Giants and the New York Jets play their home games at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. This gives locals plenty of chances to cheer on their teams without having to travel, just as they can do when playing DFS. In the popular NFL Fantasy League, contestants are to draft a fantasy team and send them head-to-head against other contestants’ teams. Points are scored based on the real-life performance of players, for example, if your offense scores a Running Touchdown you can earn 6 points and if your Defense makes an Interception you can earn 2 points.

Online Daily Fantasy NBA –Too Good To Pass

Another favorite sport for New Jersey residents to watch is the NBA – and thanks to DFS legalization, they can play along, too. The NBA Fantasy League asks contestants to create a lineup of 8 players. Scoring is based on real-life gameplay statistics e.g. 1 point for every point scored, 2 points for a block. Contestants must stick to salary caps every week in building their team – and as players improve their performance, their cost rises. This means that contestants will need to create the most effective team on a budget.

Online Daily Fantasy MLB – A Victory for New Jersey

New Jersey residents love to watch baseball, and by the looks of things, they love to participate in the drafting process of it too! In MLB Fantasy, players draft a team of 10 players. Points can be earned in a number of different ways, with 5 points for stealing bases, 10 points given for a home run, etc.

Online Daily Fantasy NHL – A Team Full of Devils

The National Hockey League’s 3-time Stanley Cup-winning New Jersey Devils have been doing locals proud since they were founded in 1974. What better way could there be to celebrate their success then drafting current players into your NHL Fantasy League lineup? Here, you can draft teams of 9 players from at least 3 different teams, where you will be awarded points for your chosen players’ goals, assists, and blocked shots that they scored in real life.

College Fantasy Sport – The Tiger’s Roar

There are a number of university programs represented in the state of New Jersey, but the most well-known that is playing in the NCAA division hails from one of the best Ivy League schools in the country, Princeton University. The Princeton Tigers is the name given to the prestigious university’s collegiate athletic program, but most college sports fans will know the Tigers best for their 27-time Ivy League Championship winning basketball team.

While some states that have legalized daily fantasy sports have specifically outlawed betting on college football leagues, New Jersey allows college league drafting – meaning that New Jersey residents are free to choose any Tigers players they wish for their lineup.

Timeline of Daily Fantasy Sports Legislation

There aren’t many states in the union that are as gambling friendly as New Jersey, with the state’s premier gaming destination Atlantic City perhaps the best-known counterpart to Nevada’s Las Vegas. But the state hasn’t always been so friendly to gamblers. Below, we’ve put together a timeline of some of the most interesting and important events in the history of New Jersey online gambling.

Legal Daily Fantasy Betting Age in New Jersey

The gambling age laws in New Jersey determine that all players must be over 18 years old to bet on DFS, the state lottery, and bingo. This is different from other forms of gambling, such as the sites that offer online poker for real money in NJ, where the minimum legal age is 21. In some instances, if a player is caught gambling underage, it is considered a disorderly persons offense and is punishable with up to 6 months of prison and a maximum fine of $1,000.

• DFS Betting Age
  Players must be 18 years old to partake in DFS in New Jersey.
• Alcohol Age
  You must be 21 years old to drink alcohol in New Jersey.
• Weed Age
  Recreational smoking of cannabis is still illegal in New Jersey.

Is Daily Fantasy Betting Legal Outside of the State?

Despite lawmakers only beginning to introduce fantasy sport laws since 2016, DFS betting is now legal in most states across the USA. Due to the 2006 classification of them as a game of skill as opposed to a game of chance, it is just the states that have specifically outlined the illegality of DFS or gambling in general that will not tolerate it. There are nine states included in that group who are yet to legalize them, including Idaho, Hawaii and, surprisingly, Nevada. While some of these states remain anti-gambling to their core, states like Nevada – which is about as gambling-friendly as can be – have limited DFS operators due to their reluctance to pay the heavy licensing fees required under state law.

The Best Fantasy Sports App in New Jersey

If you’re not a fan of using desktop computers and laptops, then we’ve got you covered. Many Fantasy Sports operators have developed dedicated DFS apps to ensure that you can bet anywhere at any time. This makes drafting, betting and checking scores more convenient and faster. Based on our experience, we recommend the DraftKings app for DFS gameplay.

Taxes on Daily Fantasy Winnings: Legal Overview

Gambling winnings are fully taxable at a rate of 25% and this also applies if you win from DFS. In New Jersey, if you have won more than $600, you will have to pay federal taxes as well. For more info, please visit the website of the IRS or the Division of Taxation in New Jersey.

Upcoming Regulation Changes to Be Aware Of

Now that New Jersey has legalized both daily fantasy sports and paved the way for the whole nation to legalize sports betting, there is only so much more the state can do in terms of changing their gambling laws. In terms of DFS betting, there have been talks in the past about states wanting to ban all forms of college fantasy sports. While DraftKings and FanDuel have temporarily paused these, they later recommenced it in some states it seems as though they are going to continue for the foreseeable future.

With New Jersey bringing in so much tax revenue from the DFS and sports betting operations of both DraftKings and FanDuel, it is unlikely that they will try to curtail their earnings with any such proposals. For the time being, it remains to be seen whether DFS will continue to enjoy its popularity in the state now that online sports betting is legal, but something tells us that the fun and skill involved in drafting fantasy teams will not be forgotten about anytime soon by New Jersey’s passionate players.

Daily Fantasy Guides for Nearby States

• New York Daily Fantasy
• Maryland DFS
• Pennsylvania DFS
• Delaware DFS