"Dream 11 Par Team Banalo"

 BY  PARTH GUPTA

As the stadiums fell silent amidst the pandemic and sporting events were cancelled or postponed, people became interested in fantasy leagues and tournaments. And as a result, fantasy sports made a transition from the background to the mainstream.

Fantasy sports are primarily online prediction games where one puts along a virtual team of real sports players, while  earning points based on the in-game performances of individual players.This system is often through the conversion of statistics into in-game points and rewards.

Dream11, MyTeam11, HalaplayMy11, Circle11Wickets and Mobile Premier League are the key players in fantasy sports in India that enable users to play fantasy sports based on cricket, kabaddi, basketball, and football.

“Dream 11 mein team bana lo”! Every Indian cricket fan must have heard this line multiple times during the recently terminated  IPL 2020.

This Fantasy Sports sphere is rapidly flourishing in India. In 2019, gaming startup MPL roped in Indian national team captain Virat Kohli as its ambassador, and have renewed their association for another year in early 2020. MPL is one of the pacesetters in the gaming arena and additionally operates alternative games besides fantasy sports games.

Fuelled by these huge endorsements to expand reach, India’s fantasy gaming market is anticipated to grow at a rate  of 28%, reaching $1.2 Billion by 2022. 

This makes India the next hot spot for fantasy sports enthusiasts andcorporations, backed by growing interest around international sporting events alongside with domestic leagues. However, there had been some negative spotlight on the arena as some political leaders and entities had called for an examination of the business models of these startups in an effort to grasp whether or not there's any element of gambling concerned with it.

The legitimacy of a Fantasy Sports app in India ultimately comes right down to whether the game can qualify as a ‘game of skill’ or ‘game of chance’. Games that need a major amount of mathematical ability (more than 50 percent) are considered a “game of skill” and are legal in India by state gambling rules. As games of chance fall under the category of ‘Gambling’, it is restricted by gambling laws subject to different states. Upon review  by court, Dream 11 was considered to harbor the configuration of ‘game of skill’ and so was deemed legitimate.

While fantasy sports gaming is similar to betting, the two are fundamentally different and are treated as such by the authorities.

Betting is defined as the game which is entirely dependent on the outcome of a particular event without the involvement of any participant whereas Fantasy Games are not dependent on the outcome of the actual event and are based solely on participant skills only including game knowledge, potential players, player forms, weather conditions, and other related factors. The result achieved by the participant in the Fantasy Sports Game does not rely upon the end result of the real-life game.

In the two famous court cases challenged before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and later before the Bombay High Court, established that Dream11,and therefore all fantasy sports services it provided, fall under the definition of a “game of skill.”

With the notable exception of Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland, Andra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana, Fantasy Sports is permitted all over India as per Indian Law. Recently, new laws were passed within the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which bans the residents of the state to indulge in any pay-to-play contests on any online gaming sites and apps. Sikkim and Orissa have outlawed all forms of gaming, and as for Nagaland and Sikkim, companies have to obtain licenses from the respective state governments.

It is also additionally conferred with the fact that Fantasy sports are not like any other form of online gaming as it is dependent on actualities, seasonality and availability of real-time sports matches, which makes it a non-addictive form of play. This sets it distinctly apart from other forms that are perceived to be within the nature of gambling or betting.

Fantasy sport has had a powerful impact on Indian sports preference and tastes, with interest trickling over to sports aside from cricket. There has been a similar positive growth in terms of revenue and income, with a major increase in tax returns.

In addition to this, the online fantasy sports industry has additionally aroused the expansion  of other complementary businesses like online sports scoring platforms, content aggregators, sports merchandising, e-commerce, online sports streaming, and digital payments to name a few.  As a result of all this success, many large and well-established brands are starting to see online fantasy sports as a way to successfully market their merchandise.

Also, the actual fact that last season’s IPL was sponsored by Dream 11 is a sign of intent showing the latent potential of fantasy sports, and this rise in user engagement will not only keep up this momentum , but will likely expand it in the coming years.