A fantasy sport is a game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players in actual games. Popular fantasy gaming platforms in India include two out the three gaming unicorns (firms with a valuation of over $1 billion) — Dream11 and MPL.
“Our analysis suggests that fantasy sports hold tremendous potential to help build a resilient sports ecosystem in India and significantly contribute to the nation’s digital economy,” said Prashanth Rao, partner, consulting, Deloitte India. “The increased allocation for sports in the 2023 Union Budget, new innovations, investor confidence and growing consumer demand will help generate fresh prospects for entrepreneurs and stimulate advancement of this sector in India.”
The central government recently notified new rules for online gaming with a provision of creating multiple self-regulatory bodies (SRBs) to certify “permissible” real-money online games. These rules, industry watchers say, will provide much needed regulatory certainty to the sector and, in turn, further accelerate growth. Some lingering concerns, however, remain.
Despite central regulations, many states have expressed apprehension towards online gaming. A case in point is Tamil Nadu’s recent blanket ban on e-gambling websites, which threw a spanner in the works for many gaming firms with operations in the state.
Joy Bhattacharjya, director-general, FIFS, said: “The varied responses from states were simply because they lacked clarity on the definition and regulations around games of chance and skills. Now that MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) has provided a clear regulatory framework, we expect a uniform approach across states.”
“Our main aim would be to support the SRBs in terms of industry insights, and/or any technological help needed from our side. We would also hope that SRBs give opportunities to representatives of industry bodies.”
(With inputs from Raghav Aggarwal)
Fantasy sports: The story in numbers
· The sector brought in Rs 15,000 cr in FDI in FY22, is estimated to have mopped up Rs 25,000 cr in FY23
· Contributed Rs 4,500 crore in taxes until FY22, likely to reach Rs 26,000 crore by FY27
· Fantasy sports firms invested Rs 3,100 crore in sponsorships and partnerships with various sports leagues in FY22. This is projected to hit Rs 6,500 crore in FY27
Indian FS Market Snapshot:
 "Online gaming ready to hit the big league")
