With India winning the World Cup for the second time and Indian Premier League (IPL) attaining huge popularity among the cricket buffs, technology players are betting big on fantasy cricket gaming.
Though still in its nascent stage, fantasy cricket gaming industry may well establish as a sports entertainment mainly on the back of a rapidly growing number of Internet users in India, which is expected to touch 300-million mark over the next 2-3 years, industry experts said.
"Currently, there are almost a million players in India playing fantasy cricket. In India, where cricket is almost the only sport enjoyed by its population and with industry projections putting internet penetration at an encouraging 300-million users, fantasy cricket in the country has great potential," said Harsh Jain, chairman and managing director of Dream11 Gaming Pvt Ltd, a leading cricket fantasy game maker.
Fantasy cricket, a part of the fantasy sports genre, is an online game where one can create a virtual team of real cricket players and score points depending on how the chosen players perform in real life matches.
The fantasy sports market in India is still growing compared with the size of the market in countries like the US and Canada, which is nearly $4.48-billion, he said.
IBIBO, Zapak, Indian Fantasy League, ESPNcricinfo Fantasy Cricket, Hungama and Dream11 are a few players in the fantasy cricket gaming industry.
"With the amount of international and T20 cricket being played, India's cricket crazy population has an infinite supply of fantasy cricket, which is where it scores over any other form of gaming. Realising the potential of growth of fantasy sports as an emerging business model, many big companies have ventured into this industry," Jain said.
Manish Mallick, general manager--Gaming, Applications, New Media at Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, said that leading business groups are also tying up with fantasy games makers.
"Business groups have now started using these sites to reach out to millions of consumers who enjoy the game and generate exposure to a new growing audience of users," Mallick said.
The introduction of 3G and 4G will also have an impact on the gaming industry, he said.
"Introduction of 3G and 4G will bring about a revolution in the gaming industry. More and more users will be able to access Internet from their mobiles. This will fuel the demand for fantasy sports," Mallick said.
Comments