Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
From your own words, it seems that this game is unlawful (haram) as you pay for the winner which is considered gambling.
Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
This game (fantasy football), as I can understand from your description, is akin to gambling. You are paying money to enter the game and then you might win or lose.
That is gambling. If you do not pay and the winner is chosen based on performance only, then this game is allowed.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note:
This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.