Fanatics Sportsbook’s New ‘Squad Bet’ Feature Lets You Parlay With Friends — Here’s How It Works

Sportsbooks are always looking for new ways to make betting more social and fun, and Fanatics Sportsbook just launched something genuinely interesting: a feature called Squad Bet. It’s designed for groups of friends who want to build a parlay together and share in the results. Here’s how it works and whether it’s worth your time.

What Is Squad Bet?

Squad Bet is a collaborative parlay feature that lets a group of users combine their picks into a single shared bet. Instead of everyone placing their own separate wagers, friends can build one parlay together — each person contributing a leg — and if the combined bet wins, everyone shares in the payout.

Fanatics launched the feature in late March 2026, positioning it as a new way to make watching sports more communal. Think of a group chat where everyone argues about their picks — Squad Bet turns that conversation into an actual shared bet.

The feature is available through the Fanatics Sportsbook app, which operates in most legal sports betting states across the U.S.

How Squad Bet Actually Works

Here’s the basic flow:

1. Create or join a squad. One person starts the Squad Bet and invites friends through the app. Think of it like creating a group in a messaging app.
2. Each member adds a leg. Every participant in the squad can contribute one or more picks to the shared parlay. Maybe you add a team moneyline, your friend adds a player prop, and someone else adds a game total.
3. The group agrees on the bet. Before the bet is placed, squad members review the combined parlay and agree to participate.
4. Each person puts in their stake. You can bet different amounts — you don’t all have to put in the same dollar amount.
5. If it hits, everyone wins. Payouts are distributed based on how much each person wagered relative to the total bet.

The odds work the same as any standard parlay — each leg’s odds multiply together to create the combined payout. A four-leg Squad Bet parlay works exactly like any other four-leg parlay mathematically; the Squad feature just makes the social coordination easier.

Why Would I Use This Instead of Just Texting My Friends?

That’s a fair question. You can always just text your friends your picks and everyone bets separately. So what does Squad Bet actually add?

A few things:

Shared stakes create shared investment. When everyone has money in the same pot, the experience of watching the games together becomes more intense. You’re all rooting for the same outcomes, which is genuinely more fun than each person watching their own separate bet.

It removes the logistics. Coordinating a group bet through a text thread — figuring out who owes who, keeping track of the picks — is messier than it sounds. Squad Bet handles all of that automatically through the platform.

Fanatics might layer in rewards. Fanatics is known for its FanCash loyalty system, where your betting activity earns points redeemable for merchandise, sports tickets, and more. Squad Bet could potentially tie into that rewards structure in interesting ways.

Parlay Basics for New Bettors

Before you jump into Squad Bet with your friends, let’s make sure you understand how parlays work — because the social excitement can sometimes make people forget the math.

A parlay is a bet that links two or more picks together. All of your picks must win for the parlay to pay out. Miss even one leg, and the entire bet loses.

Here’s a simple example:

• You pick Team A to win (moneyline -110)
• Your friend picks Player B to score over 25 points (prop at -115)
• Another friend picks the game total to go Over 220.5 (-110)

A three-leg parlay combining those would pay roughly +570 odds — meaning a $10 bet would return about $67. That’s exciting. But all three picks have to be right. If even one loses, you get nothing.

The key point: parlays are harder to win than single bets. The more legs you add, the better the potential payout — and the lower the probability of winning. They’re fun for casual betting, but they’re not a reliable way to make money over time.

The Fanatics Sportsbook New User Offer

If Squad Bet sounds like something you want to try with your crew, now is a good time to sign up for Fanatics Sportsbook if you haven’t already. New users currently get $200 in FanCash instantly when you place your first bet of $5 or more. Use promo code CBSFAN during registration.

20% Off SitewideNew Customers Only

View Offer

FanCash works slightly differently than a standard bonus bet — it’s tied to the Fanatics rewards system and can be used on future wagers. Make sure you understand how FanCash can and can’t be used before you claim the offer (it’s not directly withdrawable like cash).

Should You Try Squad Bet?

If you have a friend group that bets and watches sports together, Squad Bet seems like a genuinely fun feature. It makes a social activity even more social, removes coordination friction, and gives everyone more skin in the game without requiring anyone to bet more than they’re comfortable with.

Just remember the golden rule of parlay betting: keep your stakes reasonable relative to your entertainment budget. A $5 or $10 Squad Bet between friends is a blast. A $100 six-leg parlay where people are putting in serious money is a recipe for someone having a bad time.

Keep it fun, keep the stakes manageable, and Squad Bet could be the best thing to happen to your sports watch parties this season.