Why is NFL Fantasy app not working? Fantasy football owners upset with inability to log in during Ravens-Chiefs

Daniel Mader

Why is NFL Fantasy app not working? Fantasy football owners upset with inability to log in during Ravens-Chiefs image

Fantasy football managers ran into some issues on Thursday. 

The NFL Fantasy app, one of the largest platforms available for fantasy football, was down during the season opener between the Ravens and Chiefs. 

It disappointed managers who have been looking forward to fantasy football in Week 1 of the NFL season and couldn't keep up with their freshly drafted teams.

Here are the latest updates on the NFL Fantasy app being down and how managers reacted to the issues on Thursday.

WEEK 1 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers

Why is the NFL Fantasy app not working?

Around the beginning of Ravens vs. Chiefs, fans noticed their NFL Fantasy app wasn't working properly. 

The official X account for NFL Fantasy Football tweeted about the problem, saying it was "aware of the issues" and working to fix them. It has not updated its statement since, with no signs of improvement.

On Downdetector.com, which provides live data on apps that aren't working, outages for the NFL Fantasy app started spiking around 9 p.m. ET, right when the season opener was getting started. 

Around halftime, there still seemed to be issues that players were finding with the app, as it wasn't yet back to normal. 

What does 'API limit exceeded' mean?

When opening the app, some managers received a message on an all-black screen that said the "API rate limit" had been exceeded. 

Here's a look at what the screen looked like:

API stands for application programming interface. APIs have limits, and when a user exceeds a certain number of requests, they may get a "rate limit exceeded" message.

The message on the NFL Fantasy app seems to be from too many requests on the app in a very short period of time, which would make sense considering the season opener was kicking off. 

Reactions to NFL Fantasy app being down

Around the beginning of the Thursday night matchup, most users noticed their apps not working. Naturally, many took to social media to confirm others faced the same issue. 

Soon after, many were quick to assert that this is an annual issue for the NFL Fantasy Football app in Week 1. 

There haven't been any positive updates on whether the app's issues have been fixed before or during the second half of Chiefs vs. Ravens, but it surely isn't an individual problem — nearly everybody seems to have an issue with the NFL Fantasy app on Thursday night. 

With the significant popularity of the app, it left millions confused and angry as to why they couldn't view their fantasy teams for game No. 1 of the season. 

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader Photo

Daniel Mader joined Sporting News as an editorial intern in 2024 following his graduation from Penn State University. Previously, he covered Penn State, high school and local sports beats for NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. He grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.