WSID: Can I Play in a Fantasy Football League?

1. Details about the Situation

Ahmed is a longtime football fan and enjoys following the NFL with his friends and coworkers. Every year before the season begins, they organize a fantasy football league.

The rules are simple: each participant pays $50 to join the league. Everyone drafts real NFL players onto their fantasy team, and throughout the season they earn points based on how those players perform in actual games. At the end of the season, the participants with the highest scores receive the money collected from the league.

Ahmed knows that fantasy football involves strategy, research, and knowledge of the sport. He is not simply guessing which team will win a game. He wonders:

Is it permissible for me to participate in a fantasy football league, or would this be considered a form of gambling??

2. Background

Islam does not prohibit sports and recreational activities simply because they involve competition. According to Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, engaging in sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, and other similar sports is permissible, provided that doing so does not involve a prohibited act or cause a person to neglect an obligation such as prayer.

The issue might change when money or something of financial value is at stake.

Sayyid al-Sistani explains that betting between participants in competitions and games is prohibited. Importantly, this ruling is not limited to situations where two people explicitly place a bet against one another. It also applies when participants contribute money to a competition and that money is subsequently used as a prize for the winner.

This raises an important question for someone participating in a fantasy football league: Does paying an entry fee that contributes to the league’s prize pool constitute prohibited betting?

3. Ruling

According to Sayyid al-Sistani, participating in a fantasy football league in which participants contribute money and that money is used to provide a prize to the winner is not permissible.

Sayyid al-Sistani specifically addresses sporting competitions such as football in which participants contribute money and the collected money is then used to provide a prize to the winner. He states that such an arrangement takes the ruling of gambling and is not permissible.

Therefore:

• Paying $50 to enter a fantasy football league, with the collected money going to the winner: Not permissible.
• Participating in a fantasy football league without putting money or something of financial value at stake: Permissible in itself, provided there is no other prohibited element and it does not cause one to neglect religious obligations.
• A fantasy football league in which the prize is provided independently by the organizer or another party, without the participants’ entry fees forming the prize: This is a different arrangement and is not considered betting between the participants in the same manner.

The important distinction is therefore not whether fantasy football requires skill, strategy, or knowledge. Rather, the issue is whether participants are putting their own money at stake for the possibility of winning the money contributed by the other participants.

4. Action

Ahmed decides not to participate in the $50 fantasy football league. He explains to his friends that he is happy to participate in a fantasy football league, but cannot contribute money toward a prize that will be awarded to the winner.

His friends decide to create a free fantasy football league instead. They draft their teams, compete throughout the season, and keep track of their standings, all without putting money at stake.

Ahmed is able to enjoy the competition, follow the sport he loves, and share the experience with his friends while remaining within the limits of his religious obligations.