As the fall season approaches and the NFL and NBA start up once again, millions of people from around the world are heading back to their fantasy apps for another year of fantasy football and basketball. Whether they’re using ESPN, Sleeper, Yahoo, or something else, most sports fans join in on the fun and participate regardless of what app they use. However, that presents the question: with so many different apps for fantasy, which one is the best? Which one shines amongst the rest and really separates itself as the “top dog” of fantasy sports apps? Now to the casual eye this decision may seem like a tough one, however the answer is much simpler than you think. The best fantasy sports app among the choices is without a doubt ESPN.

There are a couple of reasons why ESPN can crown itself as the top fantasy sports app. For one, its simplicity. ESPN’s fantasy layout is very easy to navigate with each different fantasy sport being located on a horizontal scroll bar at the top of the app. This allows users to easily locate and access the specific fantasy sport they want to participate in. Also, there is a vertical scroll bar just below it that contains weekly player rankings, player and league news, fantasy insights, and match ups for the specific fantasy sport that users choose to partake in. Both parts of the app’s layout blend in well together giving the app an aesthetic design as all of the information is located neatly on the same page whether the user scrolls left, right, up or down. It’s also not just myself that believes ESPN reigns supreme over the rest of the fantasy apps, other students at Indian hills also share my same opinion. When asked what the best fantasy sports app is, Indian Hills senior Matt Pra commented, “It’s ESPN because it’s more simple than any of the other fantasy sports apps.” Apart from ESPN, other fantasy sports apps are more complicated and bland when it comes to there layouts. Sleeper’s layout for one, is all over the place, with information scattered everywhere and a whole different section for users to choose their specific fantasy sport. Not to mention that when users reach that tab, they’re met with a sheer number of different options to choose from for each sport regarding fantasy. Now this may seem like a positive thing since the more the merrier, however having too many options to choose from can make it difficult to find the specific option that a user is looking for, potentially becoming confusing and overwhelming. Also, due to the fact that the information in the sections of the Sleeper app is so scrambled and mixed up, it makes the section look visually unappealing and doesn’t have that smooth and organized look that ESPN does for their layout. 

Another key factor into why ESPN ranks above the rest of the fantasy sports apps is its high and consistent user numbers over the years. ESPN over the years has consistently topped the charts with the number of users on its app as it’s able to bring in more users than any other fantasy sports app. In 2022 ESPN totaled about 11 million users, before upgrading to 12 million the following year, and 13 million the year after that. This year ESPN set a new record with 14 million users on its app, which is a 3 million user increase from 2022 (ESPN statistics). According to the math, that’s around a million user increase per year which is a pretty impressive accomplishment. On the other hand, other fantasy apps pale in comparison to the amount of users ESPN draws in. Sleeper, for example, reports on its website that it has just over 4 million users this past year, which is about 10 million users less than ESPN has.  Now yes, ESPN’s fantasy app was created 18 years before Sleeper’s fantasy app, but it’s still pretty impressive to see how much ahead of Sleeper ESPN is in terms of recorded users. Another fantasy app that doesn’t come close to ESPN’s user numbers is Yahoo, with there fantasy app totaling just about 7 million users in 2025 (Yahoo statistics). That number of recorded users is 2 times less than ESPN’s number of 14 million, while also being created one year before ESPN’s fantasy app was. Thus, the excuse of ESPN’s fantasy app being around longer isn’t able to be made for Yahoo and their fantasy app. Sleeper and Yahoo are the only two fantasy sports apps that come anywhere near close to the amount of users that ESPN has, giving ESPN another valid reason to be given the title of the best fantasy sports app.

So while yes, ESPN might have a simpler and better layout than any other fantasy sports app, and ESPN might draw in more users than any other fantasy sports app, in the end, it’s just an opinion. Everybody has a different opinion on what their favorite fantasy sports app is, and which one pertains to their fantasy sports desires and needs. Indian Hills junior Noah Becker commented that, “Sleeper is my favorite because I’ve been using it the longest, and I like the format the most.” There are definitely many people out there who will disagree and claim that Sleeper is the best fantasy sports app, or Yahoo, or NFL fantasy, or whatever fantasy sports app that they like the most. However opinions aside, if we’re going based off of what’s on paper, none of the other fantasy sports apps stand a chance against ESPN, who can happily crown themselves as the best fantasy sports app.