Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS)
Another option people go with is daily fantasy sports, or DFS, which is considered different from traditional sports betting. In a lot of U.S. states, it’s viewed as a skill game, so it ends up being legal even in places where online sports betting isn't.
You’ve probably seen or heard of some of the most popular DFS apps already: DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, Underdog, Sleeper, and so on.
With these, instead of betting on a team to win, you’re picking players and how you think they’ll perform in different stats (points scored in basketball, passing yards in football, things like that).
And if your picks are right, you win real money. Pretty straightforward. If you want to look into it more, we put together a guide to the best DFS sites. It walks through how each app works and what you can expect before getting started.
Sports Prediction Markets & Event Contracts
The last alternative to regulated sportsbooks that we'll talk about today? Sports prediction markets.
These platforms let you buy and sell event contracts tied to different sports outcomes, like which team will win a game or which player will win the MVP award. There are even markets for non-sports-related events like political elections.
Two of the more popular options in this group right now are Kalshi and Polymarket. Basically, they just give you another way to get action on a game, structured a little differently than a traditional bet.
If you want to see how these sites and apps work in practice, we put together a guide to sports prediction markets that walks through the basics and what to expect.