There is no doubt that cricket is the most popular sport in India, and it is treated as a religion in the country rather than just a sport. Whenever Team India is playing a match or there’s a big cricket contest taking place, everybody stops what they are doing and gets immersed in the game. There are a lot of reasons why Indians love and enjoy cricket so much. It’s simply something that unites the whole country like nothing else.
The immense popularity of cricket in India means that it could easily be translated into money. There are multiple ways for people to make money from the sport. They could be a cricketer themselves or play on various online platforms and select their dream teams virtually by choosing players from real teams playing in the real world.
According to a KPMG report, the Indian online gaming industry’s revenue is already at $65.3 billion and it is said to reach $118.8 billion by FY 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.1per cent. The number of online gamers has increased nearly 15 times over the last 10 years (from 20 million in 2010 to 280 million in 2020). Similar growth can be observed in the number of game developing companies over the same period. The affordability of smartphones and the availability of high-speed internet connections and cheap data packages are some of the main reasons for this rapid growth.
Fantasy sports, in particular, is taking rapid strides in terms of growth in the number of players as well as in revenue generation. The Indian fantasy sports industry is growing at a CAGR of 32 per cent and is expected to be worth $3.7 billion by 2024. The inflow of foreign investments into fantasy platforms has been around $20.5 million between 2018 and 2019. Platforms such as Howzat fall under the real money gaming (RMG) category of online gaming, and they leverage on the popularity of cricket and other sports in India to generate revenue.
So how do these fantasy sports platforms work? They provide sports fans with an opportunity to create virtual teams by selecting real-life players for upcoming matches across sports such as cricket, football, kabaddi, and basketball. These virtual teams, created by gamers, then score points based on the actual performance of the players in the real-world match, and winners are determined accordingly. Although the Supreme Court has declared fantasy sports a game of skill and ruled that it is legal to play for both cash as well as free, there are still some myths associating fantasy sports with sports betting.
In the last two to three years, fantasy platforms in India have witnessed tremendous growth. The number of fantasy sports users has grown by over 25 times, whereas the number of fantasy sports operators has increased by seven times in the same period.
The advent and broadcast of multiple sports leagues over the last few years has increased opportunities for users to engage in fantasy sports. While the IPL remains the biggest sporting event in India, both in terms of the number of viewers as well as from a fantasy sports perspective, the emergence of new leagues ensures that users remain engaged in multiple sports throughout the year.
Most of the popular sports like cricket, football, basketball, and kabaddi are available on the Howzat fantasy cricket app and some other fantasy sports platforms. Cricket remains by far the most popular sport on these platforms, constituting approximately 80per cent of the user base. However, this percentage has reduced over the last three years as other sports have also gained popularity with the emergence of new leagues.
The rise of online fantasy sports gaming in India has not only increased the interest of users in sports but also converted a lot of casual sports viewers into dedicated fans. A deeper connection between sports fans, real-world sports, and fantasy sports is being developed. By strengthening the connection between the real world sporting action and fantasy games, fantasy sports help increase user engagement, which in turn results in increased revenue.
The daily fantasy sports format offers sports fans a meaningful way to utilize their sports knowledge and enjoy their favorite sports better. Users can participate in practice contests, which are free to join, or in cash contests, which offer cash prizes. Most users play fantasy sports one to three times a week, with the majority playing at least once a week. Though the playing frequency is fairly consistent across the age groups of 18-24 and 25-36, people in the age group of 37-50 have a comparatively higher engagement, playing fantasy games more than four times a week.
Although users play on fantasy sports platforms for fun and excitement, to be able to own teams virtually, and to utilise their knowledge of sports, a lot of users also consider it an opportunity to win real money, leading to an increased engagement over time.
So it’s safe to say that fantasy sports, especially fantasy cricket, will continue to grow at a rapid rate in India by providing sports fans an opportunity to be part of the sports action and have productive entertainment. Fantasy sports are all set to be the major segment of the online sports gaming industry in India.