How To Develop An App Like DraftKings? Steps, Reasons & Monetization Strategies

The craze of fantasy sports apps has enhanced in the modern day-to-day parameters.

The zest of growing demand for fantasy sports apps has led to a boom in the industry. DraftKings is one of the most popular apps in the world of fantasy sports.

To develop an app like DraftKings, it’s essential to follow a specified pattern and the right number of steps.

Here, we will discuss it all starting from the concept, working process, features, steps, and much more.

Are you ready to explore?

About DraftKings App

Let’s begin by understanding about the DraftKing app.

DraftKings is a popular DFS platform that belongs to a company founded in 2012 and quickly rose to attract millions of users with its interactive user interface and an opportunity to select games.

Despite the controversies faced by DraftKings, it has become a popular fantasy sports platform in the United States. Its daily fantasy sports contest (DFS) is governed by state and federal laws. The app combines several sports such as football, basketball, baseball, NFL, NBA, MLB, and many other contests are also provided by the app.

Additionally, DraftKings offers different betting options from point spreads and correct scores to double betting options.

To develop an app like DraftKings, it’s essential to note the process of how it works.

Let’s discover this in the next section.

How Does DraftKings App Work?

The working procedure of the DraftKings app is vital to identify the steps to include for developing an app like it.

Here’s the working process of DraftKings App.

1] Create a Profile

DraftKings is an online platform, thus, the user needs to create a profile before they start playing. Here the user needs to deposit if they want to start gambling.

Within creating a profile option, the users must fill in all the required details including name, address, and all the other essential details that will be helpful for them to continue playing.

2] Select Sports and Leagues

Now, the user needs to select the sports such as whether they are interested in playing football, basketball, baseball, or any other sports.

Here, the user needs to go for the type of leagues they want to continue playing such as the league is NFL, MLB, or any other.

3] Create a Team and Select the Positions

The users need to create their own team with real-time players. Through the implementation of real-time statistics, the users can make their own decisions in selecting the players effectively.

Along with this, they will be required to select the type of positions they can continue such as a manager, or commissioner who manages other teams.

4] Start Playing

After confirming the players, leagues, and teams, the users should now be able to start playing the contest. Here, the users can change their strategies of playing while checking for real-time updates on players.

Here, with the help of the user’s strategy, they earn points and win or lose the match accordingly. Based on the league, the user plays the matches either they are weekly, monthly, or daily.

5] Earn Points and Rewards

While playing the match, the user earns points that assist them in deciding their winning score. Here the scores earned by the users depend on the real-life performance of the players.

Thus, the better-selected players perform in real life, the more points fantasy teams earn. These points determine the winnings of fantasy sports app users.

6] Dashboard Scores

Based on the performance of the users in the team, the scores based on the dashboard are defined.  These scores will help the users to maintain their leads within the game.

The Dashboard scores also help the users to be managers or commissioners within the game. This scoring system provides the user a lead to select the players and teams according to their past played history.

7] Review and Feedback

Various users put their feedback on the app. This feedback helps the newcomer or user to decide their period with the app.

These reviews and feedback assist the businesses in enhancing the overall performance of the app. This feedback brings engagement within the app.

Following these steps, a beginner to the DraftKings app can continue playing.

Are you still confused about developing an app like DraftKings?

Let’s switch to the following section.

Why Develop an App Like DraftKings in 2025?

Based on fantasy sports statistics, the revenue of the industry is rapidly increasing.

Let’s check out more reasons to develop an app like DraftKings in the following points.

► Growing Market Demand

Based on the statistics of May 2024, the market size of the fantasy sports industry within the United States is identified as 10.3 billion U.S. dollars.

Additionally, the number of businesses in the fantasy sports sector has increased since 2017. The number of businesses in this sector is further estimated to increase further.

As of January 2024, the preferred sportsbook among adults aged between 21 and 34 years old was bet365. With the growing number of users of DraftKings, it is an opportunity for the majority of businesses to make an app like DraftKings in this era.

► User Engagement

Another important reason to proceed with this is user engagement. These fantasy sports apps help the users and the fans to feel closer to the real sports players and clubs.

Here, they can play with the real players without physically interacting with them on the ground. They just need to assemble and manage their virtual teams.

They can collect information to manage teams from real-time updates or television based on their comfort and ability to continue playing. Thus, the apps with higher engagement get user retention that will be effective in growing the overall brand image.

► Community Building and Improved Visibility

Creating an app like DraftKings can be useful in enhancing the visibility of the app to the target users. If your app is visible to the users over their smartphones or iPhones, the chances of playing automatically increase.

By developing an app like DraftKings, you will be able to strengthen your presence online and engage the users to play more frequently.

It will be helpful to the users more transparent and helpful to the users for organizing strong communities of fans.

► Source of Income

If you are into the fantasy sports industry or an entrepreneur seeking to establish an identity by developing an app like DraftKings, it’s a great opportunity to have an income source.

There are multiple options to earn income via building an app like DraftKings including entry fees, data monetization, subscription model, in-app purchases, freemium model, paid live contests along with affiliate marketing.

This income generation can be helpful for your business for further investing the amount in essential and fruitful activities.

Till now, we discussed about fantasy app DraftKings, its working process, and the reasons behind developing it appropriately.

Now, let’s switch to features that need to be included within it for its development.

Features of DraftKings App

What are the fantasy sports app features to include while developing an app like DraftKings?

Here is a series to consider.

♦ Login and Registration

This is the basic feature that creates an app like DraftKings. This is an important feature that successfully contributes to the success of a fantasy sports app.

Login and registration can be effective features for providing a seamless user experience as well as for enhancing user engagement.

♦ Real-Time Match Updates

With the implementation of AI in fantasy sports apps, you can provide real-time match updates to the target users. By providing live match scores and performance stats, the users can stay connected to the action at all times.

Here, the users can track the real-time performances of the players and then make decisions about playing accordingly.

♦ Social Media Integration

Through social media integration, users will be able to share their current match performance and lead with their friends and relatives using the platforms.

This medium promotes the app and helps in promoting the brand. It can be effective in building strong communities as well as boosting user engagement.

♦ Gamification

Gamification is an extraordinary technique for engaging users, as well as utilizing elements including leaderboards, rewards, and badges.

It is the recently updated technology that assists the users in achieving levels in the game and builds engagement.

♦ Push Notifications

Push notifications are a feature where the users will be able to get updates about real-time data in the match.

The implementation of notifications enhances message visibility, drives user retention, and enhances user engagement.

♦ Data Analysis

Implementation of data analytics technologies and fantasy sports apps like DraftKings can effectively make use of comprehensive data.

This data can help gain useful insights and make valuable as well as informed decisions. It assists businesses in optimizing their overall performance by implementing current evaluated data.

♦ Use of AR and VR

The implementation of artificial reality and virtual reality within fantasy sports apps can be effective in allowing users to immerse themselves in the game.

AR and VR trends assist in overlaying digital information within the physical world, through better visualizing player stats and game data. The use of this feature will enhance the overall performance of the app.

♦ Voice Enabled Interfaces

The implementation of voice-enabled interfaces is effective for users with disabilities as it assists them in enabling the use of voice for the search process and even playing the complete match.

This feature is effective for the user to successfully get to the league easily without making any hassle of typing.

These are some of the engaging features that you can implement while building an app like DraftKings.

Well, let’s switch to the steps to undertake for developing an app like DraftKings.

Steps to Develop an App Like DraftKings

How to develop an app like DraftKings?

Here is a series of steps to follow to identify the crucial steps to develop an app like DraftKings.

Step 1: Research and Analytics

Before you directly jump to the steps of coding and designing an app like DraftKings, it’s vital to go for market research.

Within market analytics, you should be able to evaluate the current fantasy sports app trends for successfully building the app.

Under this step, it’s vital to recognize the value proposition of your brand in the market and how it will be helpful for the target users.

Step 2: Creating MVP

A Minimum Valuable Product (MVP) can be effective in saving your costs by identifying the need to launch your brand to the market by launching a minimal version.

Within this step, you create an MVP for your fantasy sports app brand. It is a version with minimum features to assist the early bird who seeks new techniques to play or wants innovative measures in the game.

You should develop it by including the essential features and identifying the value of your brand in the market. This will be useful in taking a clear picture of what users think about your brand.

Step 3: Identifying the Features

If you start with an MVP, this step will be automatically covered. Well, if you have skipped developing it, identifying features is the next step for you.

Here, it’s essential to evaluate the core and advanced features of the app. After evaluating the core strengths and weaknesses of an app, you should adopt and implement crucial features.

Feature selection will depend on the type of app, its aim, and other attributes. Thus, you should go after this step after evaluating such factors. Features are the base of your app and its implementation should attract the users.

Step 4: Designing App

Now, the next step is to design a mobile app. Here you need to analyze the color, theme, and the way through which it will appear in front of the users.

Designing an app like DraftKings is all about identifying the right wireframe and prototype to engage the users in the long term.

To design a fantasy sports app, you should evaluate the objectives of your business along with current market parameters.

Step 5: Tech Stack Selection

After designing, tech stack selection is the next step, where you should be able to identify technologies suitable for creating an app like DraftKings. It is all about selecting the number of technologies utilized by the companies for building and running a website, application, or project.

Fantasy sports app tech stack will depend on the business’s objectives, the current data implementation, and an update of technologies.

Here you need to define the set of features and capabilities of the project before identifying the technology stack.

Step 6: Building an App

Well, it’s time to combine the complete process of the app. Here you will be able to design the features effectively, building design for the same and then selecting the right technology stack.

The technology selection will help identify the database, programming language, and front-end and back-end tools along with APIs.

Here, you will combine the process of design, tech stack, and integration (If any) for successfully creating an app like DraftKings.

Step 7: App Testing and Deployment

Does your app contain errors or bugs? Well, then it needs to be tested regularly until it becomes prompt to use by the target audience.

You should perform diversified testing such as security testing, usability testing, functional, performance, compatibility localization, interruption testing, automation testing, and more.

Along with this, you need to evaluate the platform to launch your app. It can be Android, iOS, or Hybrid depending on the type of app and target audience.

Step 8: Launch and Maintenance

You should launch the app after determining the right platform and evaluating its need in the current market.

Well, your responsibility will not end here. Maintenance is the post-launch initiative to be undertaken to sustain the app in a competitive market.

It’s essential to connect with app maintenance services or you can ask the developer’s team who has contributed to creating your app to update it regularly.

These were certain key steps to consider for successfully building an app like DraftKings.

After you have evaluated the app development process, let’s identify the key technologies in detail. Why not?

Well, identifying the useful technologies and backend will assist you in knowing the technicalities in brief.

Key Technologies for Developing an App Like DraftKings

Let’s study the key technologies to create a fantasy sports app like DraftKings in brief.

Here’s a list or table to consider.

Following this table, you can build your own technology stack successfully while building an app like DraftKings.

Well, when you initiate to develop an app like DraftKings, it’s essential to identify the type of resources to invest, in terms of amount and time.

Bothered about the cost of creating an app like DraftKings?

The next section is here for you.

Cost to Develop an App Like DraftKings

The cost to build a fantasy sports app can vary from $20,000 to $150,000. The cost will be impacted by various terms including app platform, technology stack, type of sports apps, complexity of features, location of developers, and many other factors.

The mobile app development cost estimate should be evaluated through different perspectives such as the aim of the app, features, developers, and others.

Along with cost, time is an important resource to consider. We will analyze it in the following section.

How Much Time Does it Take to Develop an App like DraftKings?

How much time does it take to develop a mobile app?

Here’s the table defining all.

Well, as of now, you have examined the resources to put for building an app like DraftKings. Now, it’s essential to evaluate the process of earning money by building an app like DraftKings.

How Apps Like DraftKings Earn Money?

We have already discussed that building an app like DraftKings can be a source of earning money for your business.

But, what are the effective fantasy sports app monetization strategies to undertake for the same?

Here’s a section in detail.

• Subscription Plans

The basic model of earning money from apps like DraftKings is subscription plans. Here, this business model assists the apps to earn recurring revenue by charging the users a regular fee which can be monthly, yearly, or even weekly.

This can be a permanent strategy to earn money, where you can create different plans based on the user’s interest.

• In-App Purchases

In-app purchases define a hybrid approach toward monetization. Here you keep certain features for the users who prefer to purchase them as per their requirements in the game.

Within this monetization strategy, extra content can be purchased by the users as per their requirements. It is an effective monetization tool made by businesses that too engages the users.

• In-App Advertising

In-app advertising is all about the display of paid ads within a mobile app. Here the businesses provide a space for the other brands to promote their products and services.

Under this strategy, you may earn the amount by providing a space and earning a commission in exchange.

• Data Monetization

Another strategy to consider is data monetization where you need to take permission from the users to collect the data and to use it for earning money.

Here, it’s vital to obtain consent before using the data for monetization. This is a strategy to generate additional revenue streams through selling data.

• Crowd Sourcing

This strategy can be effective if your business is at its initial stage. Here you will collect the amount from a diversified public and will provide them with profits in return.

It is a powerful sales and marketing tool that can be helpful to enhance customer engagement by saving time in dealing with businesses.

These were all the app monetization strategies to be considered for creating an app like DraftKings.

Connecting to an experienced company can be helpful here.

Why Choose Nimble AppGenie to Develop an App Like DraftKings?

Searching for a company that will help develop your dream app?

Well, no need to wander. Nimble AppGenie is here to help.

We are the best Fantasy App Development specializing in delivering quality and integrity to assist you in reaching your app goal.

Our team has already done it before.

The Executioner League– The app helps the users to allow them for creating and join leagues. This has developed a unique proposition in the market.

Conclusion

To create an app like DraftKings, you need to follow an effective series of steps starting from market research, identifying features, creating design, and selecting a technology stack that ends with testing and launching the app. To sustain the app in the competitive market, it’s important to adopt a maintenance process.

There are multiple features to implement while creating it including login and registration, social media integration, real-time match updates, push notifications, and many others.

Apart from these features, there are multiple monetization strategies to consider that will be useful for earning permanent revenue such as in-app purchases, in-app advertising, data monetization, crowdsourcing, etc. These are certain strategies to consider. If you are still puzzled, connecting with an experienced company can be helpful.

FAQs

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.