Fantasy Sports a golden goose for Atmanirbhar Bharat: FIFS chief

FS is a game of chance if you think the stock market is a game of chance. Just like Stock markets, it's about making informed guesses based on incomplete datasets

In a Q&A, the Director General of the Fantasy Sports body, breaking down the growth of FS across tier-2 and 3 cities, and the sector’s rising importance to India’s developmental goals

The 2023 season of the Indian Premier League not only registered some spectacular viewership figures but also provided a boost for Fantasy Sports (FS) in India. Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports Director General Joy Bhattacharjya spoke to Debarghya Sanyal, breaking down the growth of FS across tier-2 and tier-3 cities, revenue models, and the sector’s rising importance to India’s developmental goals. Edited excerpts:

How has the latest edition of the Indian Premier League played out for Fantasy Sports in India?

While we don’t have the exact figures for the latest edition and are still putting the numbers together, I can confirm — especially in terms of the bigger games with larger format — that we have seen a huge increase. There has been a 30-40 per cent surge in user volume and subscriptions across platforms.

Can there be a comparison between FIFA World Cup 2022 and the IPL 2023 in terms of the sheer pull for Fantasy Sports?

While the Football World Cup is a very healthy project, it is still a specialist’s game. Only a tiny section of FS consumers in India knows enough players in the football world cup to help them strategize their team selection for the matches. For IPL however, most FS players will now be at least 60 per cent of the players in each team. There’s more mass-connect. Therefore, if you look in terms of sheer size, the IPL is a mammoth, and the biggest event in the Indian fantasy sport, by far.

Speaking about the mass connect, do you see a diversification of the player profile when it comes to FS in India, and what are the major factors behind it?  

An industry grows when, firstly, the awareness about the product increases, and secondly, entry-level barriers are reduced. The first such barrier is the cost itself. Today the initial investment in a paid game is as low as Rs 25 to Rs 35 rupees. The second entry-level barrier reduced is technological access. Most FS platforms are now available on smartphones. You don’t need a sophisticated computer or gaming console or visit a café for playing FS.

More importantly, the expansion of FS to tier-2 and tier-3 cities have also been driven by the ease of access in registering your own team for the fantasy games. In fact, the growth of FS around IPL has primarily been driven by the awareness that FS players in these cities have about the sports and the players. They connect better with cricketers coming out of small towns and are more aware of the narratives that these players bring to the field. If you can spend Rs 25 to Rs 35 and be a part of this narrative it changes the experience of the game for you as a fan.

So, entry-level barriers to information, cost, and technology have been reduced. And this has boosted the diversification of player profiles down to the bottom level of the game.

You spoke of awareness and strategy. Betting has remained a lingering fear in the cultural understanding of Indian cricket for a while. And FS platforms have often been linked to it. ow are fantasy sports platforms planning to disassociate themselves from this notion?

FS is a game of chance if only you think the stock market is a game of chance. Just like Stock markets, it's about making informed guesses based on incomplete datasets. But we trade in stocks we are not "betting." The same is true for FS.

A person with more knowledge of stocks will make better investments over time. The same is true for FS.

Moreover, the FIFS has mandated certain basic rules which deny players the chance at addictive betting on particular games. Games across FS platforms should pertain to formats, with set guidelines and the user plays a live game. If you want to play a fantasy sport in the IPL, let’s say you have registered your team between 7 and 730 pm. In the formats that are allowed by the FIFS, once you put in your team, you cannot make a change before the next day. The way fantasy sports sanctioned by the FIFS are structured, they cannot be addictive. The Fantasy games are not supposed to be immediate. The fantasy player is more of a strategist for the game. Once the players get on to the pitch, their job is done, and they can only wait for the result.

Several FS platforms have adopted a high-burn model in terms of their advertisements, with major stars being roped in to promote these games. How is this high-burn model sustainable, and what is the kind of revenue models that platforms are adopting to help boost their operations?

It has become easier now in India to mount FS games. Therefore, the prime cost involved is towards differentiating oneself from the competitors. There are several strategies for this One strategy is to burn money on marketing by using stars. The second is by playing big ticket games or with massive prices like SUVs or jewelry worth 10 lakh rupees etc.

Another way that platforms are trying to differentiate is to find a good niche for building audiences. For instance, there are platforms that target audiences in a specific state, because they know how the untapped core, rural markets in these areas work. A Dream11 or a My Cricket11 is too large to cater to such niche audiences.

In fact with women’s IPL, Khokho, Kabbaddi, and volleyball gaining a fair amount of traction, platforms, and operators also are actively looking to expand into these sports and their niche audiences.

And how is the FIFS reacting to the current GST debate?

I will only leave it at one thing: we shouldn’t kill the golden goose. Right now, FS is a golden goose and a strong part of the vision for a $5 trillion economy and Atmanirbhar Bharat. If you over-tax the players, it will reduce their enthusiasm and participation.  It will be counterproductive. We have been engaging continuously with the government on this issue, and we hope for clarity on GST as well as a uniform national-level regulatory framework across states clarifying the labeling of FS as games of skills.

Flight of Fantasy

* 60% of transactions are from tier-two, tier-three towns

* 80% participate for free

* 40% of users play fantasy sports at least once a week

* 35% users participate in 2 or more fantasy sports

* Average Contest Entry Amount is Rs 50

* Age Distribution:

- 18-24 years: 35%

- 25-34: 40%

- 35+: 25%

Source: "Fantasy Sports: A catalyst for the sports economy" by Deloitte and FIFS, April 2023