Salary Cap · No draft
Salary cap fantasy, explained.
Updated October 2026
Salary cap fantasy has no draft. Everyone in the league gets the same budget, every team has a price, and you build the best roster you can afford. Your teams win, you score. Nobody has to be online at the same time.
How does salary cap fantasy work?
- 1
Join a Salary Cap league
Find a Salary Cap game on Explore and start a league, or open the link a friend sent. Everyone in the league gets the same budget.
- 2
Shop the field
Every team has a price, and favorites cost more. The budget is set so you cannot just take every favorite.
- 3
Build your roster
Choose your teams. The builder shows what you can still afford as you go. Save before the roster locks.
- 4
Let the season do the work
When your teams win, you score. Scores and standings update on their own, with no lineups, waivers or trades.
How many teams do I pick, and what is the budget?
Everyone in a league gets the same budget and sees the same prices. The league sets how many teams you pick, so every manager builds the same size roster.
For example, in the NFL and college football tour, you pick six teams under $100M, with at least one NFL team and one college program.
Roster size and budget can differ from league to league. Explore shows both on each Salary Cap game before you start.
Is salary cap fantasy the same as an auction draft?
They share one idea: you spend a fixed budget to build a roster. The difference is the bidding. In an auction draft, managers bid against each other in a live room, and whoever wins a team owns it alone.
Windom Sports has no live bidding. Every team has a posted price, the same for everyone, and anyone can own any team. If you searched for auction fantasy football because you like building a roster under a budget, this is that part, without the bidding room.
Salary cap vs snake draft: which should we play?
Salary Cap
- No draft and no turns. Build your roster any time before it locks.
- Everyone gets the same budget and sees the same prices.
- Anyone can own any team, so the win comes down to who you pick.
- No limit on how many can play.
Live Draft (snake)
- Managers take turns picking, live with your group.
- The order reverses each round, so nobody drafts last twice.
- Each team belongs to one manager, all season.
- Group size is limited by how many teams are in the pool.
If your group wants a draft night, run a Live Draft. If people are busy, spread out, or the group is bigger than a draft allows, Salary Cap fits. Read how a snake draft works, or see how to start a league with friends.
Try a salary cap league before you join one
Two short tours of how a Salary Cap league plays. No account needed.
Where can I play salary cap fantasy?
Salary Cap works for team sports like the NFL (32 teams) and college football (138 draftable programs). Together they make one combo league with 170 teams on a single standings table.
Some individual events offer it too, like golf tournaments and F1 race weekends, where you pick golfers or drivers instead of teams. See how fantasy golf, tennis and F1 work, or learn what a fantasy team is when you pick whole teams.
Salary Cap runs event by event, so what is open depends on the calendar. F1 offers one race weekend at a time during the season, and NFL and college football Salary Cap leagues open each summer before kickoff. Explore shows what is open right now.
Why Windom Sports
You draft what can win.
In team sports you pick whole teams, never a stat line. In golf, tennis and racing it is the golfer, the player or the driver. When they win, you win.
Root for the scoreboard.
No lineups to set and no stat sheets to study. You root for the same thing the team does.
A format for each sport.
Salary Cap and Live Draft fit how each sport is played, so each sport gets the one that suits it.
Free for everyone, including the host.
No prizes and nothing to pay, whether you run the league or just join it.
Built for 2026.
Pick once and just read the email. Or bring your own AI: ask ChatGPT or Claude to help you build a roster, or connect them to your league to check standings and make picks in select leagues.
Salary cap fantasy questions
What is salary cap fantasy?
It is a fantasy format with no draft. Everyone in the league gets the same budget, every team has a price, and you build a roster that fits under the cap. On Windom Sports you pick whole teams, and when they win, you score.
Is salary cap fantasy the same as an auction draft?
Close, but not the same. In an auction draft, managers bid against each other live, and the winning bidder owns that team or player alone. Windom Sports has no live bidding. Every team has a posted price, the prices are the same for everyone, and anyone can own any team. You get the budget idea without the bidding room.
Can I change my roster?
Yes, until it locks. Take a team out, add another that fits the budget, and save again. Your league shows when the roster locks. After that your roster is set: no waivers, no trades, no weekly lineups.
How many people can play?
As many as you like. Salary Cap leagues have no limit on group size, because anyone can own any team and nobody waits for a turn. A Live Draft is different: each team goes to one manager, so its group size is limited by the number of teams.
Is it free?
Yes. Salary Cap leagues are free to play and free to host, and there are no prizes.
Build your Salary Cap roster.
Find a Salary Cap game, send one link, and everyone builds a roster on their own time. Free to play, free to host. Starting with friends? See fantasy leagues with friends.
See what’s open now