Updated October 2026 · Free to host
How to start a fantasy league with friends
Pick a sport, pick a game, name your league, and send your friends one link. Then draft together and let the scoreboard do the rest. It is free to play and free to host, even for whoever runs the league.
How do I start a fantasy league? Five steps
Pick a sport
Open Explore and choose what your group wants to follow: football, basketball, soccer, golf, tennis, racing and more, depending on the season. Everything that is open for new leagues is on that one page.
Football crew? See how scoring works on the NFL page or the college football page.
Pick a game
A game is how your group picks its teams. Each sport shows the games it offers when you pick it.
Live Draft
Everyone drafts together, live, and each team belongs to one person. How many people can play depends on the sport.
How a snake draft worksSalary Cap
Everyone gets the same budget and builds a roster on their own time. No draft night, and any group size.
Salary cap fantasy, explainedTiers
Start a private Tiers league for your group on the sports that offer it. No draft: everyone picks a set number from each tier on their own time, in any group size.
Name it and send one link
Give your league a name, then share the invite link in your group chat. Friends tap it and they're in. Every team starts with a default name. You can also invite people by email.
More on running a private group: fantasy leagues with friends.
Draft together
In a Live Draft, set a time once everyone is in, so the whole group shows up for the same start. You draft live, one pick at a time, with a pick timer. If someone misses a pick, the draft makes it for them. It uses their ranked list if they made one, and the best team left if they did not. In Salary Cap and Tiers there is no draft night: everyone picks on their own time before picks lock.
Let the scoreboard do the rest
Scores and standings update on their own as games go final, and recaps land by email. No spreadsheet to keep and no lineups to set. You can draft once and just read the email.
New to all of this? Read what fantasy football is first.
Running your league off a Google Doc?
Some of the best leagues run out of a spreadsheet, with the commissioner updating everything by hand. If that is you, tell us how your game works. We would like to hear about it.
Why Windom Sports
You draft what can win.
Whole teams in football, basketball, hockey and soccer. The golfer, the player or the driver in golf, tennis and racing. Never a stat line.
Root for the scoreboard.
No stat sheets and no hoping for third-and-long. When your teams win, you win.
A format built for each sport.
Not one lineup screen bolted onto everything.
Free for everyone, including the host.
Free to play and free to host, even for whoever runs the league.
Built for 2026, not 2000.
Draft once and just read the email. Or make your picks from ChatGPT or Claude in select leagues.
Starting a fantasy league: common questions
How do I start a fantasy football league?
NFL and college football leagues open each summer before kickoff. When they are open, pick football on Explore and choose a game. You draft whole NFL franchises (there are 32) or college programs (138 FBS programs are draftable), and they score when they win.
Is it free for the commissioner?
Yes. Windom Sports is free to play and free to host, so whoever runs the league pays nothing, and neither does anyone they invite.
How many people can join my league?
It depends on the game. A Live Draft is sized to the sport: 2 to 7 people in the NBA, 2 to 8 in the NFL and the NHL, and 2 to 12 in college football. Salary Cap and Tiers work for any group size.
Can friends join after the draft?
Not in a Live Draft. Friends need to join before the draft starts, so everyone has a spot in it. Salary Cap and Tiers have no draft, so friends can keep joining until picks lock.
What happens if someone misses a pick?
The draft makes the pick for them, so it keeps moving. It uses their ranked list if they made one, and takes the best team still available if they did not.
Do I need an app?
No. Your friends can join from the invite link in a browser, on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install. There is also an iPhone app if you want a ping when it is your pick.
Ready to start yours?
Pick a sport, pick a game, and send one link. Free to play, free to host.
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