How Fantasy Gaming Platforms in India have benefited from the Men’s Cricket World Cup

Over the past few weeks, I have covered record-breaking statistics from the ICC Men’s World Cup. So far I have covered viewership statistics for OTT and linear platforms, I have covered ad spend and brand performance throughout the event and now as the final piece of the jigsaw, In my first update, I will cover how fantasy sports companies benefitted from the World Cup. For starters, fantasy sports companies experienced growth in active user bases by as much as 60 per cent during the World Cup with firms experiencing unprecedented traffic and record revenues on their platforms.

The three fantasy gaming platforms I will cover are SportsBaazi, Dream 11 and MyTeam11.

SportsBaazi witnessed a 60 per cent month-on-month increase in its playing users. In comparison, it maintained an active user base of over 400,000 players during the World Cup whereas their new sign-ups increased by 40 per cent. SportsBaazi experienced 2.15-fold growth in unique users playing and their revenue grew 2.5-fold compared to the previous tournament.

Dream11 – the largest Indian platform for fantasy gaming and Team India’s kit sponsor created a record by shattering the 200 million threshold of registered users on its platform.

Another example cited is MyTeam11- which experienced an increase in revenue of close to  40 per cent. MyTeam11 observed a notable increase in its active user base, with a 50 per cent surge in user acquisition, comparable to the levels seen during the Indian Premier League.

Currently, there are  300 fantasy sports platforms (FSPs) operators in India with an estimated 180 million users, India is the fastest-growing market in this sector globally. The Fantasy gaming sector is valued at a whopping Rs 75,000 crore.

According to a recent report by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) and Deloitte India, the revenue from the Indian fantasy sports industry grew 31 per cent to reach Rs 6,800 crore in FY22 and is expected to cross Rs 25,240 crore by FY27 at a 33 per cent compound annual growth rate.

My personal opinion is that these companies are flushed with cash and reward their users handsomely which is a reason why official league predictor games have declining participation International sports leagues should strongly consider creating partnerships with fantasy gaming platforms in India and take their fan engagement one step ahead by creating personalised experiences for their fans in India.  My research on the fantasy gaming sector in India is supported by Meta’s latest Gen Z report findings that 9 out of 10 Gen Z in India consider themselves part of a fandom and India has the highest percentage of sports superfans, as compared to Gen Z from other countries is a clear sign of international partnerships with fantasy-gaming companies in India is a no brainer.