Month: July 2023

20 Interesting Facts About Fantasy Sports In India Before Start Playing

The unprecedented popularity of fantasy cricket gaming apps has made the competition cutthroat. Every fantasy sports app lined up more rewards to preserve or lure new users to their platforms. The momentum of daily fantasy cricket picked up because of the popularity of the recently concluded Premier League. It spread like wildfire across other sports events, such as,

  • Rummy card games on the Rummy24 app
  • Poker games on PokerLion app
  • Football leagues on the 11 Wickets app
  • Hockey
  • Kabaddi
  • Carom
  • Pool
  • Badminton
  • Basketball

Fantasy sports in India offer a captivating and immersive experience for their users. It has become a popular platform in Tier 2 and 3 cities, including rural India. Thanks to mobile network penetration, low data costs, and the high speed needed for online gaming. India is justly poised to have the highest fantasy sports user base globally. 

Fantasy Sports in India–Facts you must know

  1. Data suggests most users belong to the age bracket of 25 to 40.
  2. People prefer free games on the fantasy sports app for fun and entertainment. Some free games reward users with attractive prizes, including cash. Some free games are for practice to hone gaming skills before the user plunges into the cash game.
  3. Over 80% of users prefer playing free games on fantasy apps that give prizes, too.
  4. 20% of the users who prefer the pay-to-play format of fantasy sports have gained or lost money. The average loss is under Rs 10,000.
  5. People consider fantasy sports non-addictive. The fantasy games have similarities with the actual sports. The logic is that if the counterpart is non-addictive, so are the equivalent fantasy sports. We do not subscribe to this logic, though. 
  6. Fantasy sports companies get their earnings from their subscribers, who spend money on pay-to-play games. Venture capitalists have also invested in some fantasy game startups. 
  7. Some leading companies in the fantasy sports industry can earn profits. Many have shut down their operations because of a low user base and because they cannot achieve breakeven.
  8. 70% of the users playing on the pay-to-play format have an annual income of over Rs 300,000.
  9. The surge between 2017 and 2020 in fantasy sports has been dramatic. It redefined the gaming landscape and ecosystem with lucrative and innovative offerings. 
  10. The pandemic worldwide and in India has fueled the FS surge more, as it confined people to their homes.
  11. The fantasy sports industry expects the surge to hit the 500 million mark by 2025 or even more. Indian has 
  12. India has the highest number of fantasy game users globally, surpassing the fantasy sports users in the USA. 
  13. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2017–2020 has been phenomenal at 38%.
  14. During 2017–20, the USA and China clocked a 10 and 18 percent CAGR, respectively. 
  15. Prominent fantasy sports players in India partnered with the country’s leading sports bodies.
  16. These sponsorships and associations create trust in the users.
  17. The gaming platforms offer genuine and immersive gaming experiences.
  18. The Indian FS market is growing at a pace of 31% in FY22, reaching Rs 6800 crore.
  19. The projection is to reach Rs 25240 crore by FY27, with an expected CAGR of 33%.
  20. The FS industry expects the number of active users to rise from 420 million in 2022 to 500 million by 2025

KPMG survey on fantasy sports (2019) findings

Play Frequency of the users

  • About 75% of the respondents play fantasy sports between 1 and 3 times a week. Most of them play at least once a week.
  • About 20% reported playing fantasy sports five times a week.

The age bracket of the users

  • Most consistent players fall into the 18–24 and 25–36 age groups. 20% of these users have reported playing 1-3 times a week. 
  • The 37–50 age bracket reported having a relatively higher engagement, as 50% of the respondents from this age group reported playing FS over four times a week.

Read More:


1. How Technology and Innovation are Helping Fantasy Cricket in India
2. How Do You Choose a Captain For Your Daily Fantasy Cricket Team?
3. Things You Must Do While Playing Online Fantasy Cricket

How Technology and Innovation are Helping Fantasy Cricket in India

$20 billion is what the fantasy sports industry is aiming for by 2025, with half a billion users. Fantasy cricket in India is the juggernaut propelling online gaming at a scorching pace. Every young Indian is harping on how to play fantasy cricket because they can win actual cash from online fantasy leagues and tournaments.

Play fantasy cricket using technology

The outlook for the fantasy gaming industry in India looks positive with AI and ML technology and the ensuing innovation in the field. Let us see how technology fosters the fantasy sports experience and the role of new technologies.

Outreach with technology

The rise in smartphone penetration, usage, and low data costs have boosted fantasy sports outreach. A favorable demographic and tech-savvy, die-hard Indian sports lovers have fueled it further. The newly launched T20 cricket series has catapulted fantasy sports to the top of the popularity chart.

AR/VR Powered UI Boosts UX

Augmented and virtual reality fuel the big-ticket growth of the fantasy gaming industry in India. They have paved the path to achieving an out-of-the-world experience akin to artificial reality in the video gaming industry. Several virtual reality tools and software contributed to boosting the game-playing experience manifold. AR/VR has enabled the big screen extravaganza of cricket, which is nothing less than a live on-field stadium-like experience.

The imminent arrival of the impending 5G technology

Technology-powered mobile operators are harping on the launch of 5G technology and popularizing it with data benefits. The expected rise of 5G smartphone users from 400 million to one billion has growth potential. The high-speed data and low latency of 5G will help fantasy cricket platforms create a better multiplayer gaming experience in the future.

Innovation in Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology will promote transparency in data privacy and secure money transactions online. Blockchain will help with time stamps, team combinations, statistics, and sports data availability. All these will help prevent fraud and make the complete fantasy sports experience fairer and more transparent. Blockchain information upholds the accuracy of data consumed by fantasy sports users and is verifiable at any point by anyone. The decentralized system and architecture ensure no single authority controls the gaming experience. Thus, it helps overcome the regulatory roadblocks.

Technology supporting Regulation

The absence of regulation is a challenge for fantasy sports operators in India. Technology can help better adherence to the legislation to regulate the practices. Niti Ayog has published a draft to put down the guiding principles and regulatory compliance for the fantasy sports industry. It suggested regulating the fantasy sports industry. It further advised forming a self-regulatory agency to help the fantasy sports business across India adhere to the regulations. With technology, regulatory adherence will be easier for the industry.

New games innovation to boost UX

Technology empowers the operators to innovate and launch new games and gaming experiences in line with the users, demands. The influx of sophisticated gaming apps promotes the multi-sport culture in India. Fantasy sports apps are reinventing the online sports experience. It combines communication, social features, and entertainment experience into one bundle. AI helps fantasy sports with instant withdrawals, KYC approval, unique team combinations, and contests. Live user interaction and algorithmically generated NFT trophies are the features in the apps of most operators, like 11 Wickets in India.

Besides, technology breakthroughs and metaverse means are soon becoming a part of the gaming experience. The technology innovations help develop an unconventional, streamlined, and seamless playing experience. Technology will help the looping of user feedback and insights. It will make the fantasy platforms increasingly innovative.

Technology enabled user engagement

Blockchain helps users share data without giving away control and ownership of it. Technology-driven skill-based fantasy games allow users to take the help of technology to research sports data. Access to past performance, pitch, weather reports, and expert opinions helps make informed decisions. Users can access sources like friends and experts from fantasy sports platforms and apps to gather insights.

Read More:


1. How Do You Choose a Captain For Your Daily Fantasy Cricket Team?
2. Things You Must Do While Playing Online Fantasy Cricket
3. Become An Expert In Playing Fantasy Cricket On Fantasy Cricket Apps

How Do You Choose a Captain For Your Daily Fantasy Cricket Team?

To play daily fantasy cricket, you embarked upon making a killer fantasy cricket team. Your team composition is the best, you think. Scouting the performances of contemporary players, you have made the best fantasy team ever made in the history of online fantasy games. Now you need a captain who can win you “2X points.”

You are contemplating an all-rounder for the position who can score points for you with both the bat and the bowl. Added fielding agility, a skill most all-rounders possess, would make a dream captain of fantasy cricket. It all looks perfect on paper, but there is more to it.

Let us learn a few tips about selecting a captain for your formidable squad. Choosing the captain and vice-captain can make all the difference between winning and losing.

Contribution of a captain and a vice-captain

These two positions together can get you the maximum points, precisely 3.5X. Typically, a captain gives you 2X, and a vice-captain gives you 1.5X fantasy points. If both the captain and the vice-captain score 20 points on a match day. You get 40 points from the captain and 30 points from the vice-captain. They maximize your chances of winning the cash rewards.

However, you must always select a player as captain and vice-captain who you think will perform well on the matchday. Once you have chosen the captain and vice-captain and submitted your team, you cannot change them for the matchday.

Captain and vice-captain statistics

Do some data crunching to decipher the statistical analysis. You can find the data on ESPN or any reputed sports website. You can select players based on their form, consistency, and track record in the recent past. All these are true for the selection of your captain and vice-captain. These are the basic premises for selecting the players for any position on your team.

Fitness and playability

Captains and vice-captains in a real cricket team are automatic selections. They performed for the team when they were not in the designated position. That is why they are where they are. They are not the result of natural selection for a fantasy cricket team. 

You need not go through the same criteria for them. The actual team captain may not be your captain. Hence, the playability and fitness of the player you select as the captain and the vice-captain are crucial. 

Check for the update on injury and suspension before designating a player as captain or the vice-captain of your team.

Past performance

Players you select as the captain must have an impressive batting or bowling average. The player is in excellent touch. He is performing in 2 out of every three matches. Captain scoring over 50 runs or picking 2-3 wickets is the bare minimum tb eligible for the position of captain. All-rounders must be among the runs and picking wickets in every match.

Team balance

You will often find a team skewed toward batting or bowling. If you look at the Australian or England teams, they are great batting lineups. If you look at Pakistan, they form a formidable bowler-heavy squad with relatively weaker batting. Balance your skewed team by selecting a captain who can significantly contribute to the downside of your team. If you are a strong batting lineup, try to choose a bowler captain or a vice-captain, and vice versa.

Opposition composition and playing condition

Again, it gets down to statistics. Some players have a good performance track record against certain opponents. Like in history, VVS Laxman always had a penchant for playing against Australia. He was a must-select player for India’s tour to Australia. 

Analyze the strength of the opposition. Is the team batting heavy or bowling heavy? According to you, select a batter captain or a bowler captain. If the batting lineup is weak or not deep, you may choose a bowler captain who can take wickets deep down in the lineup. If the team has a weak bowling attack, you may select a batter captain who can take advantage and score runs by exploiting the bowling conditions.

Pitch analysis is essential. A pitch could be batter-friendly or bowler friendly. Weather can be cold, humid, or overcast. It will affect the payment conditions of both teams. Select the captain and the vice-captain after factoring these.

Read More:


1. Things You Must Do While Playing Online Fantasy Cricket
2. Become An Expert In Playing Fantasy Cricket On Fantasy Cricket Apps
3. Selecting Players For Fantasy Cricket Leagues On An Online Fantasy Game App