The gross gaming revenue of fantasy sports platforms during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 edition is expected to grow by 30-35 percent to reach Rs 2,900 to 3,100 crore, states a report from Redseer Strategy Consultants.
While the live game in the stadiums is where the real action is, its offshoots spread deep into the virtual world in the form of fantasy leagues. For the uninitiated, fantasy cricket is an online game where fans can create virtual IPL teams of real cricketers playing in the season.
The fantasy game requires users to play strategically, knowing the records of each player, and making their own estimations. Points are earned based on the performance of their players in actual matches, with the platforms offering lucrative prize money to the users.
User spend shoots up
As user confidence gets a boost, the report highlighted that transacting users during this IPL season are expected to grow by 25-30 percent in 2023, with nearly 60-65 percent of users coming from Tier-2 cities and beyond. The craze for playing fantasy games can be attributed to increasing internet accessibility and penetration.
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.”
Google has also allowed Fantasy platforms to be available on Google Play Store under a pilot program. This will further increase the number of transacting users during IPL 2023.
Most platforms have increased their marketing efforts before the IPL season to acquire and convert more users on the platforms.
The report also stated that the average spends per user are expected to grow by 5-10 percent from Rs 410 per user in IPL 2022 to Rs 440 per user in IPL 2023.
Fantasy platforms also offer many different types of tournaments and table sizes to attract all types of users and promote them to spend more.
Platforms offer lucrative prizes
Users feel more confident and secure in spending higher amounts on gaming platforms once the trust is built by the platforms. Platforms have also started offering lucrative prize money and offers to the users. Users are given more incentives to deposit and spend higher amounts to be able to win more on the apps.
For example, Dream11 offered Audi Cars during IPL 2022, and My11Circle offered MahindraThar during T20 World Cup 2022.
Real Money Gaming users have received a positive push from the government after the setup of a specific ministry to overlook the sector. The government has also formalized rules and regulations regarding GST for RMG platforms.
There has been an increase in efforts to make platforms more secure and reliable for the users. Measures like RNG Certification, Secure payment gateways, Fraud Security, etc., increase the users’ trust in the platforms.
“There has been an increase in efforts to make platforms more secure and reliable for the users. Measures like RNG certification and secure payment gateways increase user trust in the platforms, and subsequently build confidence in the users to spend higher amounts on gaming,” adds Saurav Kumar Chachan, director, Redseer Strategy Consultants.