Are You Ready for Some (Fantasy) Football?

The air is feeling NFL drafty at the Ocean Casino Resort in New Jersey. (Photo: Wangkun Jia / Alamy)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The NFL season kicks off Sept. 4, which means we’re deep in Fantasy Football draft season. You could do it in someone’s garage with lukewarm beer and a Whiteboard of Shame … or you could turn the whole thing into a trip to an Atlantic City sportsbook. 

Ocean Casino Resort on the boardwalk is trying to lure leagues out of their group chats and into real life with a Fantasy Football Draft Party Package. The deal runs through Sept. 3 inside Ocean’s TopGolf Swing Suite, Bar & Kitchen.

For $600, the “All-Pro Package” gets you:

• Four hours in a private bay at TopGolf Swing Suite
• A VIP draft space with Wi-Fi
• App sampler platters + two buckets of domestic beer
• A complimentary draft board with player labels
• And, because bragging rights aren’t enough, an actual Ocean Championship Trophy

That covers up to 10 people (which, yes, leaves two buddies in a standard 12-team league wondering what they did wrong). Extra heads are $50 each.

So … TopGolf?

This isn’t full-size TopGolf with giant outdoor targets, but a tech-heavy indoor version. Think climate-controlled bays, digital scoring, and games that track your shot with Toptracer. (If you’re a terrible golfer, the machines will still tell you just how terrible you are.) 

But there’s a catch. Ocean’s TopGolf doesn’t run 24/7. They’re dark on Mondays and Tuesdays, close at 10 p.m. most weeknights, and stretch to 11 p.m. on weekends. 

That means your draft party probably won’t end with sunrise pancakes -- unless you bail early for the boardwalk. Still, wrangling an entire league to actually meet up IRL is heroic enough. Doing it in Atlantic City? Legendary.

Ocean’s Rosy 2025

Ocean isn’t exactly a sports-betting juggernaut. They don’t have their own app and mostly exist as a skin for Prime Sportsbook -- the smallest legal book in New Jersey. Prime has made less than half a million in revenue this year, a rounding error compared to FanDuel’s quarter-billion haul.

The casino floor is a different story. Ocean’s overall revenue is up 11.1% year-over-year ($261.8 million through July), making it the third-best performer in town, behind Borgata and Hard Rock. In a market growing just 2.2% statewide, that’s a flex.

Draft Day Alternatives

Will this fantasy package vault Ocean past its rivals? Probably not. Las Vegas still owns the heavyweight experience. At Circa in downtown Las Vegas, you can book a cabana at Stadium Swim, draft with a 143-foot screen looming over you, and feel like Roger Goodell is about to announce your pick in person.

Meanwhile, Dave & Buster’s (not a casino, but kinda-sorta wanting to be one) offers 20% off food and (non-alcoholic) drinks for draft parties. Just know your group selections might get interrupted by a 7-year-old’s birthday party.