Fantasy Cricket In India: New Innings For The Cricket Fans

• Fantasy sports in India have come a long way since 2016-17, with the rise in fantasy sports operators from 10 in 2016 to 140+ in 2019. This has come on the back of rise in the number of fantasy users, estimated to reach 100 Mn by the end of 2020.

• According to a survey done by KPMG in January 2020, 77% of the respondents who have played fantasy sports in the last one year, engaged in cricket contests over the fantasy sports platforms, whereas Football (47%) and Kabaddi (9%) stood second and third in terms of popularity.

• With increased participation of international sportsmen, support from sponsors, celebrity endorsements, and increasing viewership of sports leagues have become a mainstay for fantasy sports platforms that use sporting events to ensure continued user engagement on their platforms throughout the year.

• With 2020 Indian Premier League breaking its viewership records with a 28% increase in viewership as compared to IPL 2019, according to BARC Nielsen, it is a clear indication that in the pandemic, live events are able to engage audiences in novel ways.

• Similar fan activity and engagement was witnessed on the fantasy sports platforms during IPL 2020.

With the tournament being sponsored by Dream11, the attention was squarely on the fantasy sports market.

• Single sports stickiness is high among Football and Basketball fans while Cricket fans are quite adaptive to trying out new sports. Thus, Fantasy Cricket is expected to ride the growth wave in India, with the evolution of other fantasy sports.