The Growing Market of Online Fantasy Sports in India

You must have come across various advertisements featuring several A Listers of Indian Cricket endorsing various fantasy sports mobile apps. Be it international cricket or IPL, these fantasy sports platforms are quite visible everywhere for the past couple of years. We can understand that building your team just before a game or a tournament is quite fun. Almost every sports enthusiast would love to do so. Fantasy sports is a platform which provides you with an opportunity to do it. What makes the new age of fantasy sports more interesting is the fact that you pool in some amount of money in the competition and then you either gain or lose depending on your team's performance on the given date. In this way you are not only a spectator in the match but a stakeholder as well, ultimately garnering more interest in any particular sporting event.

Well before going any further, it is important to know what Fantasy Sports exactly mean. Fantasy Sports is basically a platform wherein the participants can make their imaginary team using the real players scheduled to play in a particular tournament or match. They win or lose depending on the performances of the selected players in the real game. There is a point system for each game which is backed up by certain guidelines. Fantasy Sports has gained a lot of popularity in recent times and they are certainly one of the growing businesses in the world right now. It is becoming a multi-dollar business globally.

(Source: StuTalks)

We will talk about the rise of fantasy sports in India for the past few years. We will be looking at a few of the factors which have led to the rise of fantasy sports. 

1. Targeting large consumer base and strong promotional strategy

A number to start with, Dream11 one of the biggest fantasy sports gaming platforms in Indian subcontinent, had a huge increase in the number of users in the last two years. It is believed that number has increased from 60 lakh to more than 6 crore in the last two years. Cricketers and other sports personalities from all round the globe are endorsing some or other fantasy sports game platform. The advertisements are running all over the television and helping them to increase their market globally. This has helped the operators trap the large number of Indian cricket fans, Fans are getting excited by huge advertisements featuring the names such as Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly.

(Source: Cricgram)

2. Easy access to internet    

With the current revolution of cheap data, the internet has been made available to large masses. There is almost every house having an internet connection. While surfing the web has been easier, it acts as an advantage for the fantasy sports gaming platform as there are more subscribers getting involved in the same.

(Source: LetsNurture)

3. Increase in Number of Sporting Leagues

What helped the fantasy sports landscape to transform itself is the growing number of sporting leagues with the Indian Premier League and Pro Kabaddi leading the charts. These leagues have gained a lot of popularity and have a very large fan base. 

(Source: Business Insider)

4. Support from League Operators

One of the major reasons for the rise of this business is the support of different sporting leagues. Leagues like NBA, IPL and Pro Kabaddi have supported different fantasy platforms. They have invested in them and helped them to grow bigger. It not only has one sided benefit but even helps the participants to get more involved and engaged in the league. It tries to create a fan base for both the competitions. 

(Source: IPLT20.com)

The rise of these gaming platforms are definitely related to the fans' participation and reaction. The platform gives you an opportunity to use your knowledge about the game and compete with others all round the world. The game certainly requires a bit of skill and creativity to build your team. For instance, before building an XI in the game of cricket, you need to be aware of the pitch conditions or the players in form. You need to know both the teams thoroughly and have an idea about the players who can fetch you maximum points. The fans may find it as an excellent opportunity to distinguish themselves from the occasional emerging fans. 

(Source: IndiaToday)

Talking from the legal point of view. It is lawful to play fantasy sports for money. Fantasy Sports is seen as a game of skill and knowledge which requires aptitude and some real and actual statistics and performance of the players in the game. The game doesn't involve any gambling which is illegal in India. In our country, any activity that involves chance and is entirely dependent on luck plus doesn't require any skill is considered illegal under the Public Gambling Act of 1867. However various High courts have given the green card to Dream 11 as it will fall under the game of skill and not game of luck. This has encouraged more participant users to use the same as they are aware of the fact that they are not playing something which is illegal.

(Source: ColorBox)

Fantasy sports is a multi-billion Industry now, and its ambit is increasing by each passing day, more subscribers which means more involvement of money is clearly seen. Such growth is definitely raising eyebrows all around, it will be interesting to see how the phenomenon of online fantasy sports unfolds in next few years, one thing is for sure that the legal intricacies will be raised and a lot of debate is expected around this industry in the near future.

- Kshitij