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All You Need to Know About Sleeper and Where It’s Available in the USA

August 11, 2024

All You Need to Know About Sleeper and Where It’s Available in the USA

Sleeper has rapidly become one of the most popular fantasy sports platforms in the US, captivating fans with its modern and innovative approach. While many other DFS platforms in the country focus mainly on the fantasy side, Sleeper is a unique blend of fantasy football and engaging social features. So not only are you creating and managing your world-class team, but you’re also competing against friends and building a strong online community to enjoy the banter with.

In order to foster a thriving online community, it’s important that a platform like Sleeper boasts widespread availability, and that’s why you can find it available in as many as 29 locations across the US (Washington DC included), as well as Canada. The regional limitations are much stricter for other game modes like Picks and PicksVS, but we’ll learn everything we need to know about availability in this guide.

We’ll explore some of Sleeper’s most exciting features and show you how to get started on the platform.

Brief Overview of Sleeper

Sleeper might be getting its well-deserved recognition now, but the platform is not a newcomer to the fantasy sports scene. The brand has been around since 2014; however, for the first three years, it simply was an NFL news-based app and a place for football fantasy fans to chat about their various drafts.

In 2017, Sleeper decided to launch its own fantasy football league while keeping all of its core social elements. So, players could make their drafts, create leagues, and banter about it all on the same platform. The app also allows users to send direct messages and offers several game modes like ReDraft, Keeper, and Dynasty for a more immersive fantasy experience.

The Sleeper platform expanded in 2020 to include Basketball fantasy leagues. In a bid to attract users from outside the US, it added esports to the mix the same year. Today, it boasts over 2 million active daily users, a testament to its organic growth. In fact, its co-founder Nan Wang has stated that the platform achieved 1 million users with virtually no ad spend, highlighting Sleeper’s strong word-of-mouth appeal and focus on user experience.

What Are the Main Features Available on Sleeper?

Sleeper has three main features — Fantasy Football Leagues, Sleeper Picks, and Sleeper PicksVS. Here’s what each one offers.

Fantasy Football Leagues

Fantasy Football Leagues are Sleeper’s core offering. You can create or join leagues with friends or other fans. You draft a team of players from your preferred league and then compete against other managers based on their performance. Sleeper also has different game modes for this feature.

With the Redraft game mode, all team owners start the season with an empty roster and full draft picks. This is the simplest and most popular game option. You also have the Keeper mode, where managers get to select a set number of players they can keep for the new season but at an added cost that varies based on the league. The last is the Dynasty mode, a long-term format where managers carry their entire team roster into the next season and build a dynasty through careful drafting and trades.

Sleeper Picks

Sleeper Picks offers you a chance to earn rewards from your fantasy picks. This is similar to standard pick ’em-style daily fantasy modes, where you draft a team based on player performance. You make predictions based on how they will play; for example, you could predict a player will score more or less than a certain number of points.

Each pick on Sleeper has its own unique multiplier, which determines your payout. The more picks you add, the more you may get. You need at least two picks to submit an entry, and up to eight picks are allowed. The maximum possible payout, should all eight of your picks come through, is 100x your entry fee.

Sleeper PicksVS

This feature works like SleeperPicks but with an added social element. You draft between 2 and 8 players and predict whether they’ll perform over or under their projected stats. The twist? You’re competing against friends and other Sleeper players, which makes it both fun and competitive.

Your draft is placed into a pool with 5,000 others, and you accumulate points based on the difficulty of your predictions. There’s a leaderboard, and if you manage to top it with the highest VS Score, you can win up to 100x your entry fee.

States Where Sleeper Legally Operates in the US

The United States has a very diverse landscape when it comes to online gaming legality, so it’s hardly any surprise that Sleeper isn’t available everywhere. As we mentioned earlier, Sleeper has different playing modes, and they all require different licenses to operate in certain jurisdictions. If you’re only interested in drafting fantasy teams and competing for fun against friends, you can access the Sleeper platform from as many as 28 states, including:

Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
California
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

The Sleeper Fantasy Football League and Daily Draft is also available to players in Washington DC and Canada, excluding Ontario.

Now, if you are one of those players looking for a bit more fun and a chance to win real rewards, Sleeper Picks is just for you. Since Sleeper Picks requires entry fees, the legality is a bit different. However, this feature is legally available to players in 21 states and Washington DC. Gamers located anywhere in Canada except Ontario can also participate and win from the Picks feature. Here are the US states where it’s legal.

Alaska
Arkansas
California
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Wisconsin

Unfortunately, Sleeper’s PicksVS peer-to-peer daily fantasy game is available in only seven states — Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Some states are totally excluded from any of Sleeper’s contents; they include;

Arizona
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Washington

Sleeper has stated that they are working tirelessly to make the platform available for everyone, so stay tuned. We’ll be sure to update you when they expand to a new location.

Why You Should Play Fantasy Leagues at Sleeper

Fantasy sports leagues, especially football, are quite a big deal in the US, and several top platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel dominate the scene. While these platforms offer reliability and exciting daily contests, Sleeper provides a unique experience for those seeking a more community-focused and in-depth platform. Here are some of the other benefits of playing at Sleeper.

Promotions: It’s not uncommon for a fantasy football platform to offer bonuses to attract new players. At Sleeper, new sign-ups can claim a 100% match bonus worth up to $100. But as they say, a bonus is only as good as its T&C, and after a thorough review, we found Sleeper’s welcome bonus terms to be very generous. It comes with a 1x wagering requirement and a 30-day validity period, which is way better than you’d get at other platforms.

Multi-Platform Accessibility: Most modern gaming platforms prioritize their mobile users, and this was also Sleeper for the first few years. However, there’s now a web version of the platform that you can access using your PC or any modern web browser. This guarantees a seamless user experience across all devices. It’s worth noting that you can only enjoy paid contests like Picks and PicksVS via the mobile applications.

Elite User Experience: Sleeper was designed with the ultimate sports fan in mind. There are lots of cool features to keep you entertained, ranging from a well-designed UI to fun chat rooms with thousands of players you can send chats and voice messages to. Sleeper also offers advanced personalization settings. You can create leagues, team names, and logos — you can even assign nicknames to your players. There’s also an exciting new feature that lets you play against AI and test your strategies.

Multiple Fantasy Sports Options: With Sleeper, you can experience fantasy sports in various entertaining ways. Whether it’s football, basketball, or esports, you get to create fun leagues with different modes and rules.

FAQ

Where can I play Sleeper in the US?

You can legally play Sleeper fantasy sports leagues in 28 US states + Washington DC. More states are being added to the list every now and then, and you can trust us to keep you updated.

Which fantasy sports are available at Sleeper?

On Sleeper, you can draft fantasy teams for football, basketball, and League of Legends.

How old do I need to be to play at Sleeper in the US?

You must be at least 18 to play at Sleeper in most US states. Players in Alabama and Nebraska have to be 19 or above to play.