Draftstars Australia Review [October 2024]

Draftstars
3.5
The Only DFS Provider in Australia
Best Daily Fantasy Sports in Australia & Decent Withdrawal Times
  • Betting Variety
    3.5
  • Banking Options
    3.5
  • Mobile experience
    3.5
  • Betting Experience
    3.5
  • Customer Support
    3.5
Total score
3.5

Top Features

  • User-Friendly Mobile App
  • Impressive Promotions
  • Sports Coverage
  • Lineup Cruncher
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
  • Casual Players Can Compete
  • User-Friendly Mobile App
  • Impressive Promotions
  • Quick Withdrawal Times
  • Mediocre Customer Support
  • Website Glitches / Issues
  • Not a Traditional Betting Site

Draftstars Review

3.5
By:Matt Abrahams

Draftstars was established in 2016 and this Draftstars review will provide a detailed overview of their important features that you should know about. The review will discuss important elements that you’ll be looking for in a new betting site. This includes mobile betting, sports betting features, banking options, customer support and more.

Keep reading to find out more about the features included at this Aussie betting site ⬇️ 

Draftstars Info Card

Website: www.draftstars.com.auOwner: PlayUp Interactive Pty Ltd
Year Founded: 2016Address/Headquarters: 48 Epsom Road, Zetland NSW 2017
License & Regulation: Northern Territory Racing Commission

Sponsorship Deals: None

Features: Fantasy Betting, Mobile App, Promotions, Lineup Cruncher, Blog/Tips Banking Options: Debit Card, Apple Pay, PayID, Cash in-store, BPAY, Bank Transfer
Apps Devices: Yes, available on iOS and Android devicesOdds Provider: DraftStars
Contact Information:
Phone Support (1800 623 266)
Email Support (suppport@draftstars.com.au)

Draftstars Strengths and Weaknesses

This is one of the most unique betting sites in Australia and there are a lot of key things that they do well. But like most betting websites, there’s room for improvement in the future. Let’s discuss some of the key pros and cons of using this website.

👍Draftstars Strengths

  • They Help Casual Players - There’s a lot of features that can help casual players at Draftstars. This includes the Fantasy Insider cruncher, casual contests that ban the best players and free contests. As a result, users can learn how to play at their own pace and compete with the experts.

  • Mobile App - DraftStars app is very handy because you can’t always be near a computer to play DFS. On the app, you can still enter contests and watch the live action.

  • Promotions - Compared to traditional bookmakers, there’s simply no Australian betting site that competes with Draftstars when it comes to promotions. They offer huge prize pools to their customers and sometimes, this can mean life-changing profits for some users. 

👎Draftstars Weaknesses 

  • Customer Support - Unfortunately, there’s a lot of problems when it comes to customer support. They can be slow to provide answers and don’t have 24/7 support. However, their live chat operators genuinely try to help in most situations.

  • Website Issues - The system can slow down to a crawl during primetime due to the sheer amount of users. Also, there are some sports that can suffer glitches / issues due to stat providers. So this can all provide an unpleasant experience for users. 

  • Not a Traditional Bookmaker - It’s important to remember that DFS and regular sports betting are very different. So if you’re looking for a bookmaker, Draftstars won’t be the answer. However, they are the best solution when it comes to playing DFS in Australia.

👨‍⚖️Conclusion

As the only provider of DFS in Australia at the moment, Draftstars is going to be your only choice. However, their website and mobile app is well above average, making them a great choice when it comes to playing Fantasy. Of course, they do have some shortcomings when it comes to such things as customer support and website issues. However, the overall experience is a positive one, in my opinion.

Draftstars Full Review

Draftstars Australia has been around since 2016 and has fended off a lot of competition to become the only DFS provider in the country. They’ve had challenges from MoneyBall and DraftKings, but both sites have since left the DFS market as Draftstars has proven themselves as the king of DFS in Australia.

They also deserve debit for continuing to innovate even though there’s no DFS competition in Australia anymore. They are always bringing in new features, providing new sports and their promotions are something that traditional betting sites just can’t compete with.

In terms of sports coverage, they have you covered with all the major sports that you would expect. AFL is widely considered the top Australian DFS sport and Draftstars has plenty of action to keep you entertained during the season. There’s also massive prize pools for the most popular DFS sports in the US, such as NBA and NFL. Along with the Fantasy Insider cruncher, creating multiple lineups for each sport is a very easy process for both beginners and seasoned veterans.

Another great feature at Draftstars is the fact that beginners can compete against users that have played DFS for years. I find that they genuinely try to help casual users compete. This is highlighted by such features as the free lineup cruncher, free contests are available and they do offer casual contests. This does help casuals learn how to play with multiple lineups on a smaller scale so they eventually “graduate” to the contests with bigger prize pools.

Promotions are simply huge at this betting site and they’re headlined by ticket contests. These ticket contests usually come with massive prize money and sometimes this can be life-changing, such as winning $100,000 on an AFL live final. It’s something that you generally won’t find on a normal sports betting site and that’s what makes DFS such a unique and entertaining product.

They also have an excellent mobile app. It’s user-friendly, contains the same features as the desktop website and makes it easy to enter contests on the road. So if you’re not near a computer, the mobile app is an adequate replacement for playing DFS. 

In terms of customer support, this can be inconsistent at times and depends on what type of issue / problem that was encountered. But in my opinion, they do their best for DFS, which is an ever-changing landscape. This is headlined by the live chat feature and their email support provides an adequate response time.

Looking at the banking options, they have the basics but there’s nothing truly special about it. There’s a Dabit Card option for deposits. Meanwhile, you can process a withdrawal to your bank account and this is usually processed in 24-48 hours. In the future, it would be nice to see them offer more banking options, especially PayPal. But at the moment, these payment options should suit the majority.

Ultimately, draftstars.com.au is an excellent provider of DFS in Australia and they’re highly recommended if you’re looking for a unique way to bet.

Draftstars Score

Betting Variety: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
There’s a wide variety of sports to play Daily Fantasy contests every day of the year.

Banking Options: ⭐⭐⭐
The banking options are basic for deposits and withdrawals.

Mobile Experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Playing DFS is possible on a mobile device since they’ve designed a user-friendly app.

Payout Speed: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
They process withdrawals very quickly as the money usually hits your bank account in under 48 hours.

Security: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
No issues with security at this betting site. They have secure payment methods and expected security features.

Betting Experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
They have developed an excellent system that enhances the betting experience. This is highlighted by the fact that many DFS providers have struggled to compete (Moneyball, Draftkings etc).

Customer Support: ⭐⭐⭐
Support at this website can be inconsistent. However, they do offer a live chat feature to existing customers.

Bonuses with Draftstars Australia

Due to Australian Government laws surrounding betting sites, bonuses and promo codes cannot be advertised to entice new customers. As such, you won’t find any promo code, deposit bonuses or bonus bets at Draftstars Australia. 

Best Daily Fantasy Sports in Australia & Decent Withdrawal Times

Is Draftstars Legal in Australia?

Yes, Draftstars is legal in Australia. Like many licensed bookmakers, they are licensed and commissioned by the Northern Territory Racing Commission. This means that they have certain guidelines that they are required by law to adhere to, and you can feel confident that they are operating above board.

Important Features with Draftstars Australia

List of Features/Characteristics:

  • Blog & Tips
  • Combo Calculator
  • Create Custom Contests
  • Daily Fantasy Contests
  • Lineup Cruncher
  • Live Chat
  • Mobile App
  • Player Stats
  • Promotions
  • PayPal for Deposits & Withdrawals
  • Unique Betting Site
  • Secure Payment Methods
  • Sports Coverage
  • Racing Form Guide

Draftstars Best Sports Features

This section of the Draftstars review will explore some of the unique sports features that they currently offer and can help you become profitable.

Draftstars Rapidfire

Rapidfire is one of the most popular sports features at this DFS site. Rapidfire provides you with the chance to pick who will score more points based on individual matchups decided by the DS team. There are two types of Rapidfire contests - Rapidfire 3 and Rapidfire 5. In Rapidfire 3, you can win money by picking 3 out of 5 but the prize money won’t be as large. Whereas, Rapidfire 5 means you’ll need to pick all 5 and there’s a 20x return on your entry.

Draftstars Fantasy Insider

One of the unique parts about this DFS site is the Fantasy Insider cruncher. They offer this cruncher to all users and it offers free projections for a range of sports. The cruncher will provide the best lineups and it’s very useful for casual players. However, seasoned veterans also use the cruncher since it allows you to upload custom projections. 

Draftstars Promotions

Draftstars Promotions are highly anticipated since they can offer live-changing money to the winner. These promotions include live ticket contests for the AFL, where the winner earned $100,000 in the 2022 event.

Draftstars Combo Calculation

This feature is purely for Racing and allows you to build lineups for an upcoming meeting. All you need to do is shortlist a list of runners per race and the system will do the hard work by generating suggested lineups. This adds to the customisation at this site and helps users confidently enter Racing contests.

Draftstars Blog / Tips

They do offer a blog with Draftstars tips and hints. During the AFL season, they’ll have AFL draftstars tips available that usually includes a summary of the best DFS resources in Australia.

Draftstars Sports Coverage

The sports coverage is another important element of this Draftstars review, especially considering they’re the only provider of Daily Fantasy Sports in the country. Let’s discuss which sports they offer and any unique features you need to know about.

Draftstars AFL

AFL Draftstars is the King of Daily Fantasy in Australia as you’ll get access to massive amounts of money. For example, last year’s Grand Final consisted of a $250,000 prize pool. There are AFL daily fantasy contests for every game of the season and finals. There’s also multi-slates for Saturday / Sunday afternoon footy. Lastly, they run live final ticket contests where the winner can take home a cool $100,000.

Draftstars NRL

During the NRL season, they’ll have daily fantasy contests for every game of the season and finals. State of Origin also has contests for the three game series and comes with massive prize pools.

Draftstars Cricket

Daily Fantasy for Cricket at the moment covers T20 leagues and International Cricket matches. They have contests for the BBL in Australia and IPL in India. There’s also contests for every game involving the Australian Cricket team in T20, ODI and Test Cricket. They do offer contests for other popular countries, such as England, New Zealand and India. Furthermore, they do offer contests for Men’s and Women’s World Cup tournaments. 

Draftstars NBA

The NBA is one of the best sports for daily fantasy as there’s games on almost every day of the season and the scoring is continually fluctuating. They have huge prize pools for NBA contests every day, including the regular season and playoffs. Draftstars NBA tips have been available during the season to new and existing users.

Draftstars NFL

NFL is another popular DFS sport in the US and it’s also widely played in Australia. At this DFS site, they offer multi-game contests for the massive Monday morning slate and playoffs. Meanwhile, primetime matchups are covered with a single game “flex” contest.

Draftstars Soccer

At this stage, Soccer daily fantasy contests only cover the EPL as they removed A-League a few years ago. However, they do offer World Cup contests every 4 years and they created contests for every game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Draftstars Golf

Golf is increasing in popularity at this DFS site. They cover the PGA Tour at the moment and the Masters usually comes with a huge prize pool. They’ve even introduced ticket contests in 2023.

Draftstars MLB

During the MLB regular season and playoffs, you’ll find daily fantasy contests available almost every day.

Draftstars Racing

It’s possible to play Horse Racing and Greyhound Racing at Draftstars. They have Horse Racing contests pretty much every day and the big meetings have decent sized prize pools. There’s also Greyhound contests every day as well.

Draftstars AFLW

They brought back AFLW contests in 2022 and they now cover every game of the AFLW season.

Draftstars WBBL

The Women’s Big Bash has daily fantasy contests for every game of the season and finals.

Draftstars Sponsorship Deals

They don’t have any sponsorship deals at the moment. However, they’re an approved betting partner of the AFL and NRL.

Draftstars App 📲 

The Draftstars Mobile App is a great feature and this section will explain why it’s excellent. Firstly, it’s important to note that the app can be easily downloaded onto Apple and Android devices.

Most of the time, DFS players will use a computer / laptop to play contests but the Draftstars app can definitely act as a replacement. It’s easy to enter contests from your mobile device and it’s also possible to use the Fantasy Insider cruncher. So if you’re not home and want to play some DFS, users can still get their fix by using the DraftStars app.

In terms of usability, the app has a similar layout to the desktop website and this helps with familiarity of where to find certain features. It’s also easy to follow live scores, view your teams and browse the lobby for upcoming contests. Another nice feature is the push notification when a popular contest is about to start and this acts as a friendly reminder. I also like how they’ve set up the login as it doesn’t log you out every day. So once you’re logged in, it will only ask for login details if you log out or change password.

Ultimately, the fact that you can play DFS from your mobile device is a key strength at this betting site as they’ve designed an excellent mobile app.

💳 Draftstars Banking Options

DepositingDebit Card, Apple Pay, PayID, Cash in-store, BPAY, Bank Transfer
WithdrawingBank Transfer [between 1-3 business days]

When selecting the ideal bookmaker, I have always believed that the banking options they provide play a crucial role! A wide array of deposit and withdrawal methods can greatly enhance punter satisfaction regarding their financial transactions with a bookie.

And with this in mind, I have found that DraftStars seems to have a pretty solid offering in this area, however, I would be remiss if I did not mention I believe there's potential for expansion, particularly in withdrawal methods! As you can see in the table above, DraftStars supports various deposit methods including Debit Card, Apple Pay, PayID, Cash-in-store, BPAY, and Bank Transfers. And when it comes to cashing out, DraftStars processes withdrawals typically within 48-72 hours via bank transfer, its sole method on offer here.

So, to sum up this section of my DraftStars review, I would say that perhaps adding some widely-used options like PayPal could greatly enhance the overall customer experience, but, despite these areas for potential improvement, I really do think that DraftStars' current banking framework offers a solid foundation that meets the essential needs of most punters!

Draftstars Betting Markets

Draftstars betting markets are unique because it’s very different to traditional bookmaker betting or season long Fantasy leagues. Daily Fantasy basically involves creating lineups for upcoming sports and playing for a prize pool against other users. Here’s a look at the different types of markets you can find at Draftstars Australia.

Draftstars Betting Markets:

  • Daily Fantasy Contests - Enter lineups into a wide range of DFS contests to win a share of the prize pool.
  • Rapidfire - Pick the best scoring individual matchups and win money
  • Head to Head - Play a private one-on-one contest with another user

Draftstars How To

🔎How can I sign up?

  • Navigate to the Draftstars Australia website.
  • Click on “Sign Up” 
  • Enter your personal details in the signup form
  • If successful, you’re Draftstars login will be created automatically

🔎How can I deposit funds into my account?

  • Navigate to the Draftstars website / mobile app and login to your account
  • Click on the deposit button in the top right corner and this will open a popup window
  • Choose a deposit option and enter your stake 
  • Click deposit funds to complete the process

🔎How can I place a bet?

  • Find a Draftstars betting contest from the lobby and filter by sport by clicking on the tabs at the top of the page.
  • Once you’ve found a contest, click the Enter button
  • Create a lineup by selecting players for each position available
  • Then, click Submit Lineup

Draftstars Customer Support

This Draftstars review will conclude with a quick overview of how the customer support works and what options they provide.

Firstly, there is a live chat feature and this is the most active part of the website in terms of interacting with others. The chat allows users to post messages to each other and is monitored by a chat operator. If there are any issues raised in the chat, the operator will attempt to fix the issue or provide a solution. 

So in terms of the competition, this interactive live chat is a very unique feature and not something that a normal bookmaker would offer. As a result, it does help get things solved quickly or if they can’t fix the problem, they’ll recommend using email. 

Speaking of email, in my experience, they’ve been quick to respond and have genuinely shown care in their response. However, when it comes to urgent support, the email response time can vary, especially on the weekends. They also don’t provide a Draftstars contact number so chatting online is the only way to get in contact.

They do have a Twitter account that is active and they do respond to messages. But in my experience, they usually prefer that you use email or their website live chat instead. Otherwise, there’s a FAQ & Rules page available that could help solve the issue if it’s a common problem.

Frequently Asked Questions About Draftstars

Who owns Draftstars?

So who owns Draftstars? They are currently owned by Wizer Pty Ltd, which is a subsidiary of PlayUp Limited.

What does DFS stand for?

“DFS” stands for Daily Fantasy Sports.

Does Draftstars offer a deposit bonus?

There is no Draftstars deposit bonus available at this stage.

Does Draftstars have a deposit bonus code?

Deposit bonus codes cannot be advertised by Australian betting sites at the moment due to strict gambling laws. Therefore, you won’t be able to use a Draftstars bonus code.

Does Draftstars have a free promo code?

Draftstars Australia does not offer a free promo code.

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