Fantasy Gaming Platforms Garnered INR 2,800 Cr In Gross Revenue During IPL 2023

The fantasy sports market in India has received a big boost during the Indian Premier League’s latest season. Piggybacking on a 24% year-on-year (YoY) increase and growing at a CAGR of 30%, gross revenues of fantasy sports platforms in India touched INR 2,800 Cr during IPL 2023 compared to INR 2,250 Cr in IPL 2022, according to a RedSeer report.

Fantasy sports is a virtual game where individuals participate by creating their teams based on real-life players and virtual currency.

The revenue growth has been attributed to a rise in transacting users and average revenue per user (ARPU). As many as 61 Mn users participated on Fantasy Gaming Platforms in IPL 2023, an 11% increase from the previous year. In addition, the platforms had an ARPU of nearly INR 458 during IPL 2023.

As per the report, the top three platforms captured around 96%of the market share during the marquee tournament. However, the report did not disclose the names.

Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at Redseer, said that the gross gaming revenue (GGR) during weekdays was 1.3X compared to weekends and peaked during the final match. The ‘Mega Tables’, which is the sum of all the highest prize pool tables in every match across the platforms, dropped 30% during weekends due to multiple matches on the same day. However, the ‘Mega Tables’ had a higher rake rate of 24%, contributing 60% to the revenue during the season.

In terms of overall IPL 2023 ad revenue, Redseer estimates that a total of INR 10,000 Cr was spent on advertisements, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), franchises, and broadcasters earning 65% of the total spend as direct revenue.

Many fantasy gaming startups, including Dream11, My11Circle and MyFab11, entered the tournament as sponsors. Dream11 backed six teams this IPL season.

Ex-BharatPe MD Ashneer Grover also launched his fantasy cricket platform CrickPe. He told Inc42 that the CrickPe parent, Third Unicorn, raised $5 Mn (INR 40 Cr) at a valuation of close to $36 Mn (INR 290 Cr). Grover claimed that CrickPe was aiming to become profitable by the end of this IPL season.

With a user base of over 13 Cr as on March 2022, India is the world’s biggest fantasy sports market, according to a report by Deloitte.

India’s fantasy sports market is projected to grow from INR 34,600 Cr in FY21 to an estimated INR 1,65,000 Cr by FY25. Cricket continues to remain the highest revenue contributor for the fantasy sports industry.