Much to the dismay of over five million fantasy football managers, the Sleeper app was on the fritz for a good portion of the 2025 NFL season kickoff. What should have been a night of instant fantasy points and trash talk instead turned into mass frustration as two of the most popular platforms failed to keep up.
The outage left fans scrambling for updates, venting their anger online, and questioning whether they can trust these apps when it matters most.
Can Sleeper and ESPN Handle the Pressure of Week 1 Fantasy Football?
Historically, fantasy football platforms have struggled on opening Sunday. But they typically don’t have issues on opening night with just one game.
From Jalen Hurts to Saquon Barkley and Javonte Williams, the Week 1 opener features a ton of fantasy juice with both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles possessing 9-10 fantasy-relevant players.
Fantasy managers were eager to check their matchups and see those fantasy points start to flow in, but couldn’t do so for most of the first half of the Thursday Night Football clash.
Sleeper’s social team continued posting on X as if nothing was happening with their tech.
Me watching Will Shipley getting touches: pic.twitter.com/Pas1yYsFl0
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) September 5, 2025
And fans were letting them have it in the comments.
Quit posting and fix your stupid ass app. Switched all my fantasy over to sleeper from ESPN and I’ve never had this issue over there.
— Dalton Bertrand (@Bertrand850) September 5, 2025
“Quit posting and fix your stupid a** app,” a Sleeper user commented. “Switched all my fantasy over to sleeper from ESPN and I’ve never had this issue over there.”
But even ESPN’s app was unavailable to fantasy managers who use that platform for a short time.
RELATED: Soppe’s Week 1 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Analysis for Every Player in Every Game
An hour after kick off, Sleeper addressed the outage, posting on X, “We are aware of the issues, our team is working on fixing it ASAP.”
Meanwhile, the popular fantasy sports platform was roasted.
“Jalen Hurts & Javonte Williams out there crashing #sleeper fantasy app,” one football manager joked.
Jalen Hurts & Javonte Williams out there crashing #Sleeper fantasy app
— RENEGADE (@MidnightRider__) September 5, 2025
“Not the Sleeper app glitching the first day of gameday. Where’s my fantasy league @SleeperHQ?” another dissatisfied customer commented.
Not the Sleeper app glitching the first day of gameday. Where’s my fantasy league @SleeperHQ? pic.twitter.com/JZpnTKEfJY
— Austin Albers (@austinjonalbers) September 4, 2025
“Sleeper is the worst goddamn fantasy football app to ever be created,” a clearly frustrated user wrote.
Sleeper is the worst goddamn fantasy football app to ever be created
— MATTHIAS – AUBURN CREED WRITER (@gusmalzhen) September 5, 2025
Eventually, access was restored, but not until well into the game.
Friday’s Chiefs vs. Chargers game in Brazil is the next test for ESPN and Sleeper, but Sunday’s 15-game slate will push fantasy apps to the limit.
