The Full Playbook
How a fantasy stock league works
PlayFSL is fantasy sports played with the stock market. Instead of drafting quarterbacks, you draft real companies — then prove you read the market better than your friends. Free to play, no real money: no bets, no buy-ins, no payouts.
How It Works
Four steps. One season.
One champion.
Create or Join
Start a private league or jump into a public one.
Draft Your Team
Snake-draft 7 stocks from 100 real ones.
Set Your Lineup
Start your best 5 each week. Bench 2.
Score & Win
Rank starters by conviction — #1 counts 5×. Top total after 4 or 8 weeks takes the crown.
The draft: build a team of 7 stocks
Every league starts with a snake draft, just like fantasy football. Managers take turns picking from a curated pool of about 100 of the largest U.S. companies — names you already know, like Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia. Once a stock is taken, it's off the board for your league, so draft position and strategy matter. When the draft ends, every team holds 7 stocks.
Public leagues draft on Sundays at 3 PM ET. Private leagues kick off whenever your group is ready. New to stocks? An AI coach can suggest your next pick on draft day.
Weekly lineups: start 5, rank them by conviction
Each week you start 5 of your 7 stocks and bench the other 2. Then comes the part that makes PlayFSL different: you rank your five starters by conviction. Your #1 pick counts 5×, your #2 counts 4×, down to 1× for your #5. The same five stocks in a different order is a different score — how sure you are matters as much as what you pick.
Lineups lock every Sunday at 11 PM ET, and every week starts a fresh ranking — last week's hero can ride the 5× slot again or drop to the bench.
Scoring: Conviction Points
How your five starters move during the market week — each counted at its weight — becomes that week's Conviction Points (CP). CP is a points unit rather than a percentage: a week where everything you hold rises 1% is worth about +3 CP. Scores come from live market data, so the scoreboard moves while the market does.
Every week adds to your Overall CP, the running total for the season — and the highest Overall CP when the season ends takes the title.
Public or private: pick your arena
Public leagues are always 4-week sprints: join free, draft the next Sunday at 3 PM ET, and race an open field. Private leagues are yours to shape — set the size at 2, 4, 6, or 8 players, choose a 4 or 8-week season, and run it as commissioner, with group chat and trash talk built in.
League Types
Choose your arena
Public Leagues
Open Competition
- Jump in now — no invite needed
- Drafts every Sunday, 3 PM ET
- 4-week sprint seasons
Private Leagues
Your Crew, Your Rules
- Everyone gets a personal invite link
- You set the rules as commissioner
- Group chat, DMs, and trash talk built in
FAQ
Questions? Answered.
Is it really free?
Yes — completely. No purchase, no subscription, no credit card. All it takes is an email to create your account.
Wait — is this gambling?
No. There are no bets, no buy-ins, and no payouts. You draft real stocks and compete on performance, but you never spend or win a single cent. It is all for bragging rights.
Do I need to know anything about stocks?
Not at all. You draft companies you already know — Apple, Amazon, Nvidia — an AI coach suggests your draft picks, and one-tap roster analysis flags weekly lineup upgrades.
How do I actually win?
Each week you rank 5 stocks by conviction. Your #1 pick counts 5×, your #5 counts 1×, so ranking matters as much as picking. How those 5 move — each counted by its weight — becomes that week's Conviction Points (CP), and every week adds to your Overall CP, the cumulative standing that runs all season. CP is a points unit rather than a percentage: a week where everything you hold rises 1% is worth about +3 CP. The highest Overall CP when the season ends takes the title.
When can I play?
Anytime. Start a private league with friends whenever you like, or join a public one (they draft Sundays at 3 PM ET). Seasons run 4 or 8 weeks, and each week’s lineup locks Sunday at 11 PM ET.
Which stocks can I draft?
From a curated pool of about 100 of the largest U.S. companies, with live market data powered by Finnhub.
Is there an app?
PlayFSL installs straight from your browser — Add to Home Screen on your phone and it runs as an app, with push notifications for drafts, matchups, and league news. Nothing to download from an app store.
Ready to draft?
Grab a team, rank your five, and find out who actually has the best instincts in your group.
Free to play · No credit card needed
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