In case you missed our earlier announcement, Fantasy Football Scout have partnered with DraftKings for the duration of the Euro 2016 tournament.
DraftKings are a daily fantasy sports giant in the US, and are now bringing games to a UK audience.
We will be producing daily articles to help steer squad selection for DraftKings’ contests over the course of the tournament.
What’s more, the game has recently improved with some subtle tweaks to the rules ahead of Euro 2016, making it even more accessible to new players.
DraftKings now allows you to build a squad of eight players, made up of a goalkeeper, two defenders, two midfielders, two forwards and a single utility player, who can be any outfield position.
You have a budget of $50k to spend on your picks and there’s no limit to how many squads you can assemble and enter across the variety of DraftKings contests on offer.
The scoring is based on the Opta data we know and love and considers a variety of on-pitch actions, including tackles won, interceptions and crosses, in addition to the traditional scoring methods of goals, assists and clean sheets.
As well as tweaking the squad setup, DraftKings have also made some subtle but effective changes to their scoring for Euro 2016.
Crosses have now been reduced from a full point to 0.75 points per cross – a smart move given that crossing was previously a dominant mechanic in DraftKings selection and scoring.
Elsewhere, yellow cards now penalise your squad by -1.5 points, with -3 points should a player be awarded two yellow cards in a match.
Here’s a summary of the new DraftKings scoring matrix:
- Goal = +10 PTs
- Assist = +6 PTs
- Shot = +1 PTs
- Shot on Goal = +1 PTs
- Crosses = +0.75 PTs (via corner kick, open play, and set pieces)
- Fouls Drawn = +1 PTs
- Fouls Conceded = -0.5 PTs
- Tackle Won = +1 PTs
- Pass Intercepted (D,M,F) = +0.5 PTs
- Yellow Card = -1.5 PTs
- Red Card = -3 PTs
- Penalty Kick Miss = -5 PTs
- Saves (GK) = +2 PTs
- Goal Conceded (GK) = -2 PTs
- Clean Sheet (GK) = +5 PTs
- Clean Sheet (D) = +3 PTs
- Win (GK) = +5 PTs
- Penalty Kick Save (GK) = +3 PTs
Our forthcoming articles will help you decipher the scoring and provide tips on player selection – look out for those on every Euro 2016 Matchday. We will also be producing an in-depth strategy guide, profiling the types of players to consider, early next week.
In addition, we’re delighted to say that we’ve been able to secure Opta data from the Euro 2016 qualifiers, more than 12-months of international friendlies and for the tournament proper which wil help give Fantasy Football Scout members an extra edge in DraftKings contests. That’s work in progress so look out for an announcement on this later today.
In the meantime, the first DraftKings Euro 2016 contests are now live including the $10,000 kick-off, allowing you to pick your eight-man squads for the Matchday 2 fixtures on June 11, which includes the start of England’s campaign as the Three Lions prepare to take on Russia.
We will be bringing you our guide to selections for these matches 24 hours before the kick-off.
