The Indian Premier League (IPL) is growing bigger and bigger each season. While the real action is still confined to the stadiums, the league’s glamour has spread across several spheres. Fantasy sports (FS) platforms too have seen phenomenal growth over the past few years along with IPL.

The FS industry is likely to clock Rs 2900-3100 crore in the current season, 30-35% up compared to the previous season, says an analysis by Redseer Strategy Consultants. Their transacting users during IPL season is also expected to grow by 25-30% in 2023, reveals the report.

Ujjwal Chaudhry, Partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants, says “Steep growth in fantasy sports gaming will come from tier 2 cities driven by increasing adoption of fantasy platforms and cross-migration of users from other games. Increased internet accessibility will give a push to the IPL economy."

Redseer's estimates suggest that the average revenue per user is expected to grow from Rs 410 in IPL 2022 to Rs 440 per user in IPL 2023.

Over the years, FS has become an integral part of the sports ecosystem in India, largely driven by cricket. Some of the homegrown startups even acquired the status of unicorns within a few years of their existence.

Top fantasy sports platforms Dream11, which is the official Fantasy Partner of IPL and associated with a few teams and media partners, reported 56 % growth in revenues last season compared to 2021. Likewise, My11Circle, the title sponsor of Lucknow Super Giants, clocked a 30 percent growth in the same period. My11Circle, for example, has declared Rs 1 crore along with an Audi A4 car as the first prize for their fans. Even their second prize is worth Rs 1 crore.

The growth of fantasy sports platforms is not only limited to cricket but is also being seen across other sports like football, basketball, and volleyball, among others.

Market size

A 2022 report titled "Fantasy Sports: Creating a Virtuous Cycle of Sports Development" conducted jointly by Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) and Deloitte estimated that India is the fastest-growing FS market with close to 13 crore fantasy sports users by 2021. It also stated that the market will grow at a CAGR of 38% from Rs 34,600 crore in FY21 to Rs 1.65 lakh crores by FY25.

Tier 2 a huge market

Citing affordable data plans and cheaper smartphones as the prime factors leading to a surge in popularity of fantasy sports, Joy Bhattacharjya, Director-General, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), noted, “India has always been known for its love of cricket, but the rise in popularity of sports such as football and basketball contributed greatly to the growth of the fantasy gaming sector and vice versa.”

By offering a unique and engaging way for fans to participate in the IPL, fantasy sports platforms have created a new level of excitement and interest around the tournament, particularly in tier 2 cities. Fans who may have had a regular interest in the IPL before are now becoming invested in the tournament,” Bhattacharya added.

Jigar Rambhia, COO, Sporjo said that Tier 2 was always a large market for fantasy gaming companies. “With IPL being free on the Jio Cinema app, it has allowed more viewers to access the content and likely increase usage”, he points out.

Win-win

It's a win-win situation for IPL and fantasy sports firms both, experts say.

“Fans share their virtual teams and discuss the tournament on social media platforms, thus creating buzz and increasing the overall visibility of the IPL”, Bhattacharya opines.

There are strong and organic synergies between IPL and FS. Results of a FIFS study indicate that 60 percent of users follow or watch sports more when engaged in FS.

“Currently, there are 13 crore users who engage in Fantasy Sports, while there are 80 crore viewers of sports content suggesting more than 85 percent viewers are still potential users for the FS industry to seek future growth,” the study states.

Rambbia has a different point of view though. “I am not sure whether growth in IPL viewership will happen because of FS alone. With IPL going back to the home and away format, viewer interest is very high which can be seen in the 1st match performance,” Rambhia said.

Many teams and leagues have partnered with fantasy sports platforms to offer exclusive content, prizes, and experiences to fans, creating additional revenue streams for these entities.

The stage is set for further growth in Bharat, thanks to FS regional offerings. “We communicate with users in respective regional languages on the platform which helps us to reach the right audience and concentrate on user behavior in these cities in order to provide them with what they require,” says Sunil Yadav, CEO, PlayerzPot.

According to Sarfaraz Ansari, Senior VP – Integrated Media, Mudramax, DDB Mudra Group, most of the fantasy leagues pay cash prizes hence fans playing these games are highly invested in the sports they are betting on.

“This not only interests these fans in the sporting event, but also the individual players and their Stats. India being cricket crazy nation and the hype created around IPL, and with growing reach of the league via multiple means and platforms, in totality it is going to help expand the reach of the format,” added Ansari.

He also pointed out that according to a 2022 report from NITI Aayog, fantasy sport is estimated to attract Rs 10,000 crore foreign direct investment in India in the next few years.

Real money gaming a grey area

While the Deloitte and FIFS report insists that the FS industry has emerged as a key driver for economic growth, and technological growth, and is creating a multi-pronged impact on sports, the economy, and technology, real-money gaming is still a grey area in the country.

Though some states and platforms ban gambling apps, there is no nationwide mechanism to regulate online real-money games – including games considered skill-based such as some fantasy sports and poker.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) last week allowed multiple self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that will determine whether a real-money game is permitted to operate in India.