Online fantasy sports gaming in top gear

Not just mobile or PC gaming, the e-sports and particularly fantasy gaming has gained much popularity in India in the recent years and the fantasy sports user base in the country is expected to reach 100 million by next year.

The fantasy sports landscape in India has witnessed a significant transformation since its launch nearly two decades ago. In the last two-three years, online fantasy sports gaming (OFSG) in India has witnessed stupendous growth.

The number of fantasy sports operators has increased by seven times over 2016-2018, whereas the number of users has grown by over 25 times from June 2016 to February 2019.

The online gaming industry in India is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 11,900 crore by the financial year 2023, growing at 22 per cent CAGR, according to a recent report by consulting major KPMG and the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG).

In terms of total registered user base on a fantasy sports platform, Dream11, which has investors like Kalaari Capital and Tencent, is the market leader with 50 million registered users. Its user base has grown at a CAGR of over 230 per cent over a period of three years.

Some of the prominent players in this segment such as Dream11, MyTeam11, Halaplay, 11Wickets, Starpick and Fantain have also partnered with official sports leagues as their fantasy sports game partner.

Dream11, the leader in this segment with 90 per cent of the total market share, is the Official Fantasy Game Partner of the International Council of Cricket (ICC), VIVO Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Hero Indian Super League (ISL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Big Bash League (BBL)12.

MyTeam11 has partnered with Pro Volleyball League (PVL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Apart from these operators, prominent leagues like Indian Premier League (IPL) run their own official fantasy leagues.

According to KPMG-IFSG report, the ruling by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and subsequent affirmation by the Supreme Court on Dream11's format of fantasy sports as a game of skill rather than chance has helped spread awareness about the legality of fantasy sports and encouraged the participation of more users.

"At the same time, fantasy sports operators have also started promoting their product intensively and making conscious efforts to maintain the credibility of their website/app by partnering with official sports leagues," says the report.

The three key segments of online gaming are -- real money games (RMG), mobile-centric/casual games and e-sports. Within the RMG genre, the further sub classifications include rummy, poker, daily fantasy sports and quizzing.

Some of the key reasons for this rapid adoption of fantasy sports include emergence of sports leagues, growth in digital infrastructure, increased investor interest, reaffirmation around the legality of fantasy sports and key partnerships of fantasy sports platforms with sports leagues, among others.