The football may be a fantasy, but the cash is 100 percent real.
Two big fantasy sports platforms — DraftKings and FanDuel — are in an all-out turf war ahead of the NFL season, quadrupling their ad spending this year in an attempt to sign up sports addicts willing to bet big bucks their sports know-how is greater than the fan’s next door.
Together, the companies are expected to have shelled out $110 million just on TV ads this year through Sept. 2.
In fact the two companies are spending so much cash, they’ve effectively created a new category of advertiser, one TV ad exec told The Post.
On the DraftKings website on Thursday, the company was touting its guarantee of paying out “more than $1 billion” in 2015.
FanDuel’s site promised to pay out “$2 billion in cash prizes this year.” Chris Prince of Detroit, who the site said won $724,938 in one day, was featured prominently.
The marketing millions appear to be paying off for the companies. DraftKings is signing up hundreds of thousands of customers a day, sources told The Post.
And while the marketing effort has been intense for weeks — as any viewer of TV sports or business news will attest — it will get even more saturated over the next week.
The companies are now preparing to turn up the marketing volume to 11.
New Yorkers should expect to see campaigns blanket everything from TV to satellite radio and billboards to garbage cans.
In addition to TV, outdoor and radio, some cash will be spent on digital ads.
The money is a much-needed shot in the arm for the TV ad market, which has been weak so far this year.
DraftKings has spent $86.2 million on TV ads since Jan. 1 , according to iSpot.tv. In 2014, the Boston-based company spent $20.9 million, according to Kantar Media.
FanDuel has spent $23.8 million through Sept. 2, iSpot.tv said.
“The place we’re going most heavy is ESPN, which is a strategic partner,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told The Post. “Fox Sports is another place and NFL Network.”
DraftKings also has a tie-up with MSG, where fantasy sports enthusiasts can enjoy a dedicated lounge.
Nigel Eccles, CEO of FanDuel, backed by both Comcast and NBCUniversal and Time Warner, told The Post his company has “increased [its] ad spend by three times” compared with last year.
The growing fantasy category, which also includes the likes of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, will likely lead to higher ratings for sports programming this year, Eccles said. He said players are watching four to seven times as much coverage to keep up with their picks.
Both services also offer free games.
Their growth has been buoyed by a new tech-driven business model that lets players switch picks on a daily basis rather than having to wait out the entire season to see results.
DraftKings backers include Fox Sports, Raine Group, Atlas Venture and GGV, and the Kraft family, which owns the New England Patriots. MLB, MLS and NHL are also investors.