Is FPL Draft Down?
If draft.premierleague.com shows "Game Updating" or won't load, you are almost certainly hitting one of two things: the annual pre-season rebuild, or deadline-hour load. Here is what each means and what to do.
The pre-season "Game Updating" outage
Every summer, the official FPL Draft game goes offline for several weeks between seasons. The site serves a "Game Updating" holding page while last season's data is archived and the new season is prepared. This is normal, annual, and affects everyone — leagues, history and accounts all return when the new season opens.
The game typically reopens in late July or early August, after Classic FPL launches. The exact date is not pre-announced; the holding page simply switches over. Once it does, league admins can schedule drafts any time before Gameweek 1.
Draft FC tracks the official game's status through pre-season — when the app is waiting on the official game, a site-wide notice here says exactly that, and our pre-season coverage continues regardless so your draft prep never stops.
In-season problems & quick fixes
- Site slow or erroring near the deadline: peak load. Submit waivers and lineup changes ahead of the final hour rather than in it — the waiver deadline is a full 24 hours before the gameweek deadline anyway.
- Repeatedly logged out: clear cookies for premierleague.com, avoid private-browsing windows, and allow the site's own cookies through blockers. Simultaneous logouts on every device are platform-side — wait it out.
- League or scores look wrong: live bonus and Defensive Contribution settle after matches finish — apparent scoring "errors" during matches usually resolve at the final whistle. See how scoring settles.
- Draft room issues on draft night: refresh rather than rejoin, and keep your ranked watchlist set beforehand — if your timer expires the system auto-picks from it, so a wobbly connection costs you nothing.
Help FAQs
Why is FPL Draft not working?
The most common cause is the annual pre-season rebuild: every summer the official game at draft.premierleague.com goes offline for several weeks and shows a "Game Updating" page while the new season is prepared. During the season, brief outages cluster around gameweek deadlines when traffic peaks. If the official site is up but your league looks wrong, logging out and back in resolves most display issues.
When will FPL Draft be available for the new season?
The official FPL Draft game typically opens in late July or early August, shortly after Classic FPL launches and before the first Premier League fixture. The exact date varies by season and is not announced far in advance — the "Game Updating" page at draft.premierleague.com simply switches over when the new season is live.
Why does FPL Draft keep logging me out?
Session issues on the official site are usually cookie-related: clearing cookies for premierleague.com, disabling aggressive tracker-blocking for that site, or using a normal (non-private) browser window resolves most cases. Repeated logouts across devices at the same time usually indicate a platform-side issue that resolves itself.
Is there an official FPL Draft app?
FPL Draft is primarily played through the official website at draft.premierleague.com. Official app support for Draft mode has historically been limited compared to Classic FPL, so most managers run drafts and manage teams in a mobile browser. Draft FC provides companion analytics — predicted lineups, projections and league insights — alongside the official game.