A faithful reader asks if it's possible to make a five figure income playing fantasy sports. (I'm assuming he means $10k+ annually, and probably $20-30k as a more realistic target.)
The very short answer is: Yes, it's possible.
The abbreviated answer is: While it is possible, there are only a handful (read that as less than 10 I'm aware of) that could do it.
However, the verbose response is a bit more complicated.
First off, you should not be playing any season long fantasy games with entry fees. These are ripoffs that are not good use of your bankroll.
If you are in any season long fantasy leagues IRL with no rake, then go for it. If the league is soft enough this would be adequate use of your roll.
Let's assume you are up to speed on all of the daily fantasy sites currently accepting US players. You will need enough bankroll to cover all of the action on all of these sites. Some of the sites have very light traffic, others have more activity. You must adjust your deposits accordingly.
A very important note - Even if you're trying for the high roller dollars, don't ignore the low buy-in games. You need these for your volume of play and usually these games have the softest opponents. Usually the caps are the same so the time investment for the extra contest in almost nil.
The games vary in skill depending on the site. Are you going to risk $213 on a "pick 3" game? Or perhaps risk the same amount on a roster of 9 players. This will still give you a chance to win if one of your players gets injured.
Also, if you have any notion of making a living on fantasy sports you must learn all of the disciplines. There are months when baseball and NASCAR are all that's offered. So, if you're a football guru, brush up on other sports. (Basketball and hockey run daily, fill your weekdays with those.)
Even if you're a fantasy sharp and you win 60% of all of your contests, you must play enough volume to generate your desired income. That's a lot of contests.
A little self-disclosure:
I have been playing fantasy for 12 months and I haven't made 5 figures this past year. (I did take extended breaks, however.)
Right now I'm only playing on one site and I would need to play multiple sites to reach the five figure goal.
In those 12 months I have had 10 winning months and 2 losing months. I am an overall winner playing fantasy.
My biggest daily swings are +$330 and -$390.
My biggest weekly swings are +$600 and -$500.
(None of these figures include any kind of affiliate income or rewards/bonuses. Just straight play against the rake.)
To sum it up:
IMHO I think you can make a few hundred a month EASY playing fantasy, but to make a living at it you will need a decent bankroll PLUS some soft live leagues to mix in with the online contests.
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