Cricket is a religion in India and the fantasy version of the sport has gathered rapid pace. From being a mere pastime to garnering over 20 crore Indians, Fantasy Cricket has certainly come a long way.
One platform that has played catalyst to this exponential rise of fantasy sports in India has been FanFight. Its creativity, vision and simplicity has made it one of the most trusted fantasy sports platforms in the country.
In the midst of a busy corporate sector in Gurugram lies a workplace where ideas are created. One idea that sprung to life and is making immense. is the world of fantasy sports - FanFight. The seeds of this idea were sown and within no time this very idea has gone on to evolve into one of the finest fantasy cricket platforms in India.
Akhil Suhag, ISB alumni and the founder of FanFight, had envisaged the growth of the fantasy sports market in the country and to design a product that has now garnered more than 2 million users in a short duration is one success story every dreamer should take inspiration from.
"I've always enjoyed the idea of playing fantasy sports and my interest in cricket and football paved way for the inception of this idea. Cricket is massively popular in our country and when the IPL season is around all the cricket pundits spring to life. Everybody has an opinion and that's exactly what FanFight is. A platform where sports nerds manifest their knowledge," says the 33-year-old.
When asked about how it all started, Akhil said, "Sports was always discussed with a lot of interest in our family and all of us were active participants. Like every household in the country, Cricket was the most talked about sport. Cricket is a religion here. Millions watch the sport and the cricketing minds spring to life. The idea of virtual cricket sounded amusing and that established a firm base for the idea of FANFIGHT to turn into a reality. Ever since we've worked diligently to introduce the fantasy version of the sport throughout the country. The journey hasn't been the easiest but I've thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it".
FanFight has gathered a lot of attention in recent times and after successful Series-A funding, the organization is all set to advertise and market aggressively.
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"Since last year's IPL we have seen significant growth in terms of numbers and this year we expect the graph to only shoot upwards. We are looking at growth in all possible metrics, right from brand growth to customer acquisition to visibility," said Nishanth Amerneni, Marketing Head, FanFight.
The online gaming platform has already increased the popularity of the sport and with every passing year, the reach is broadening.
"The IPL and the 50-over cricket World Cup are around the corner and to reach the maximum set of sporting audience we've spent heavily on marketing our brand on digital media. Our advertising on Hotstar is certain to provide us with over 1 billion impressions and we've also acquired user's attention on electronic media. To capture the right group of sports enthusiasts has been a key part of our strategy and with 108 matches lined-up for the next 3 and a half months we're hoping to gather momentum at a rapid pace."
"Our user base has been on the rise since the last IPL and post the 2019 season we're looking at a figure over 5 million. We've allocated marketing spends for this year's IPL and we are extremely confident as far as the ROI is concerned. Our growth over the last 12 months gives you a clear picture that we as a brand have taken the right decisions. The registrations have gone up 10x times and the revenue generated has gone up an incredible 28x times," he added.
"The technology that powers FanFight is the most advanced in the industry compared to our competitors from what we could gather. That's one reason why we are able to send the fastest live point updates to our users along with their potential winnings, while making withdrawals as fast as ever. We have built a system that scales to millions of users and we are constantly bringing in new features to make the fantasy experience more engaging to users," said Krishna, CTO, FanFight.
"The cricket fever this year doesn't end with the IPL, but it also continues for another 48 days, courtesy, the World Cup. Also, the fantasy sports market is on the rise with major sports like Basketball, Hockey, Tennis, Kabaddi etc., gaining popularity. FanFight has its eyes fixed on designing the fantasy versions of these sports as well," Suhag noted.
FanFight has mined the channels of innovation to a nicety and the results it's been able to produce have been praiseworthy. In India, over 300 million people consume cricket online and FanFight has been one platform that has helped users channel their sporting knowledge in the right direction.
Fantasy Cricket isn't an untapped market and various other fantasy platforms have the modern apparatus to compete at the highest level. FanFight's ability to stay genuine, assure a firm sense of security and an admirable relationship with its users makes it pleasantly unique. The userbase has crossed over 2 million within no time and the number is bound to multiply swiftly.
Transactions on FanFight have been made extremely convenient with the introduction of payment gateway giants, like Paytm, Amazon Pay and MobiKwik. Withdrawals and deposits happen briskly and with utmost precision. Impressive features such as 'Cloning' - where up to 10 similar teams for a fixture can be created and the 'Download PDF' option which helps users deduce their fantasy teams have played key roles in the brands' success.
This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content