The Indian fantasy sports market is primarily driven due to expansion of digital infrastructure, rise in mobile internet subscribers, favourable demographics and rising disposable income.
Over the years, fantasy sports has been gaining momentum and popularity in India. Fantasy sports are a type of skill-based online sport in which a sports fan constructs his or her team from real-life players from forthcoming games. These virtual teams earn points based on the players’ actual statistical performance during a real-life competition, and the winners are announced appropriately. Low-cost data plans and high penetration of mobile phones have made the gaming start-ups a lucrative bet for investors who have pumped USD 112 million into India’s sports fantasy platforms.
Long before fantasy sports became popular in India, sports consumption was limited to passive enjoyment in the comfort of one’s own home. Fantasy sports has revolutionized the way people engage with their favourite sports; they are no longer passive spectators, but active participants who are kept on the edge of their seats by this type of game. Fantasy sports has become a facilitator in bringing sports enthusiasts closer to real-time action in a country like India, where every sports fan has an opinion and believes himself an expert. While cricket has dominated fantasy sports in India (in terms of subscriptions and popularity), other sports including football, kabaddi, and basketball (NBA) have begun to acquire traction.
It is vital to establish a governing body to develop and regulate the fantasy sports market, which is rapidly attaining critical mass and different operators, are emerging with various business strategies and products. The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), formerly known as the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG), was established in 2017 to protect consumer interests and provide standard best practises for the country’s fantasy sports format.
The Indian fantasy sports market is primarily driven due to expansion of digital infrastructure, rise in mobile internet subscribers, favourable demographics and rising disposable income. Indian millennials are very tech-savvy and their love for sports is unmatched. These factors are growth drivers and attract investors’ attention as well.
Recently, with a case it has been established that fantasy sports is a game of skill and it cannot be taken as illegal activities like sports betting. Such legal reference works as a catalyzing force to create a robust ecosystem for fantasy sports to get momentum and provide reasons to be more engaging for sports enthusiast.
Currently, the fantasy sports industry is at a nascent stage, with numerous start-ups competing to attract the country’s 800 million sports viewers. The rise and rise is inevitable with as gaming companies are focusing on various sports events or leagues to get attention of advertisers, customers and investors. Over the past five years, investors have pumped USD 112 million into India’s sports fantasy platforms.
The legality (or lack of it) of online fantasy sports platforms, which sponsor various playing franchisees in the widely popular league, has been widely misunderstood, coupled with the moral and optical concerns around real-money gaming. With new edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) revival of regulatory attention would define further course of actions. Within a week of IPL 2021 being launched, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced a ban on UPI transactions below INR 50 on gaming platforms. The restriction or prohibition imposed is an effort to reduce low volue transactions. It has been witnessed that during IPL matches, low value transaction get spiked enormously indicating betting activities.
Presently, the legality issues pertaining to fantasy sports platforms is widely misunderstood, coupled with the moral and optical concerns around real-money gaming. Notwithstanding the challenges pertaining to legality and regulations, fantasy sports in India offers huge opportunities to all stakeholders especially startups and investors. The momentum, it has got in recent years, is expected to take fantasy sports to the next level of advancement soon.
Source: Business World
