The cricketing fever is underway and it proves to be a boon for the Indian fantasy sports platforms. As the Indian Premier League (IPL) began on Friday, March 31, many financial agencies have shared their views regarding the estimated increase in revenues for fantasy sports platforms in the next couple of months. Expecting this rise, leading fantasy sports platforms have launched brand campaigns which are in full-swing now.
Leading platforms such as Dream11, MPL, and My11Circle have made heavy investments on their marketing front, partnering with multiple Bollywood actors and personalities from the cricketing fraternity in order to get the highest share of user traction. Some of them are even running campaigns, wherein users are being lured with prizes such as SUVs, smartphones, special cash prizes, to name a few.
As reported by Moneycontrol, the IPL contributes a big chunk of the total revenues that the fantasy sports platforms earn in a year. Additionally, there have been reports that the revenue during the ongoing cricketing season will breach the mark of $378 million, which is roughly in the range of Rs 2900–3100 crore.
“We expect the gross gaming revenue of fantasy sports during the ongoing IPL season to reach Rs 2,900-Rs 3,100 crore. This includes all the fantasy cricket platforms in India. This is around 30-35 per cent higher compared to the IPL season last year,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants.
Chaudhry added that there has been an annual growth of up to 20 percent in the number of users over the past four to five years, but this year it is estimated to grow between 20 and 30 percent.
Foreseeing the ever-increasing user base in the fantasy sports industry, popular personalities like serial entrepreneur Ashneer Grover and Indian cricketer Deepak Chahar have also entered the segment recently. The return of the home-away format of the league after four years and the scintillating display of the quality of cricket being played have led to increased interest in the IPL this season and the same are expected to heap rewards for the platforms.
Not only the revenues are rising due to an increased number of users, but there has also been a significant rise in the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Chaudhry concluded by saying, “Our estimates suggest that the average revenue per user is expected to grow from Rs 410 in IPL 2022 to Rs 440 per user in IPL 2023.”