PC Magazine: ESPN Fantasy Games

Roughly one-quarter of ESPN's traffic goes to its fantasy sports offerings—and for good reason. ESPN is the gold standard in sports coverage, and site personalities like Victor the Predictor offer up accurate big-game fortune-telling. The Fantasy Forum provides expert answers to participants' questions and plenty of information for making informed team choices.

ESPN.com also has loads of simple free games, including Stock Car Challenge and College Hoops Pick 'Em, many of which offer noncash prizes. (ESPN is deliberate about avoiding anything resembling gambling.) The more complex league games run $29.95 a team per season, although discounts are available for multiple teams.

The site's tools help owners sort through a plethora of player data by activity within a given time, draft availability, and many other criteria. Perhaps best of all for serious competitors, ESPN.com offers trade reviewers to help judge the fairness of league trades and make sure that owners aren't collaborating to ensure one team's success. Serious year-round players will want to enroll in Uber, ESPN's point-driven multisport competition.

For information and ease of use, ESPN.com is tough to beat. The site's league and team management options aren't as extensive as CBS SportsLine's, but game setup and navigation are a snap, leaving you time for the real work: playing.