Introduction
New to Fantasy Sports? You’ve probably come across terms like DFS, stacking, or PPR and wondered what they mean. The Fantasy Sports community has its own language — a mix of sports lingo, data analysis, and strategy talk.
This glossary will help you learn the most common words and phrases you’ll see in Fantasy Sports games, articles, and community discussions — so you can play smarter and join the conversation with confidence.
A–C
ADP (Average Draft Position) – The average spot where a player is selected in drafts, showing their perceived value among the community.
Bench – The players on your roster who aren’t active for that round or game. You can swap them in future contests.
Buy-in – The entry fee required to join a paid contest.
Cash Game – A type of Daily Fantasy contest where roughly half of participants win (e.g., 50/50s, head-to-heads). Focus is on consistency, not risk.
Ceiling – A player’s maximum potential fantasy score in a best-case scenario.
Chalk – A player who is expected to be highly owned by many participants in a contest.
Contest – Any fantasy competition you join, whether free or paid, daily or season-long.
D–F
DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) – A short-term version of Fantasy Sports where contests last only one day or one game.
Draft – The process of selecting players for your team, usually at the start of a season or contest.
Drop – To remove or release a player from your roster.
Fade – Intentionally avoiding a popular player (chalk) in hopes that their performance will underwhelm.
Floor – The lowest likely score a player can produce — used to evaluate risk.
Free Roll – A contest that doesn’t require an entry fee but still offers prizes.
G–L
GPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool) – A tournament with a fixed prize pool regardless of the number of entrants. Often high-risk, high-reward.
Handcuff – A backup player (often in fantasy football) drafted as insurance for your main player in case of injury.
Lineup – The group of players you select for a given contest.
Live Scoring – Real-time tracking of fantasy points as actual games unfold.
Lock Time – The moment when lineups close and no further changes are allowed.
M–P
Ownership Percentage – The percentage of participants in a contest who selected a specific player. Useful for identifying popular or contrarian picks.
PPR (Points Per Reception) – A fantasy scoring format where players earn extra points for each catch made.
Projection – A statistical estimate of how many points a player is expected to score in upcoming games.
Public League – A league open to anyone, as opposed to private leagues among friends.
Q–S
Qualifiers – Contests where winners earn entry into a larger or higher-stakes event.
Roster – Your entire team of selected players, including active and bench slots.
Salary Cap – The maximum total “cost” allowed for building your team in DFS contests.
Sleeper – A player expected to outperform their average draft position or public expectations.
Stacking – Choosing multiple players from the same team to maximize scoring correlation (e.g., QB and WR in football, or PG and C in basketball).
T–Z
Tilt – An emotional reaction to bad luck or poor performance that causes irrational decisions in future games.
Trade – Exchanging players between teams in season-long formats.
Value – A player’s cost-to-performance ratio; a “value pick” is someone who performs well relative to their price.
Waiver Wire – The system for adding unclaimed players to your team after the draft.
Win Rate – The percentage of contests a player or lineup wins — often used for strategy analysis.
Conclusion
Mastering Fantasy Sports isn’t just about knowing the players — it’s about understanding the language.
By learning these key terms, you’ll be able to follow expert discussions, analyze contests like a pro, and make smarter lineup decisions every week.
Fantasy Sports is a world of strategy, stats, and fun — and now, you speak the language.
