If you are an Indian, there is a high probability that you are familiar with the game of cricket and the significance it has. It isn’t merely just a game of bat and ball. Cricket has crossed the boundaries of sports and has become an unofficial religion in India.
Thousands of Indians rush to the stadium whenever Team India is playing a cricket match and millions are glued to their television screens. The entire nation celebrates when the team wins and millions of hearts are broken when the team loses. Cricket is embedded so deeply into our hearts and minds that we Indians can devise mind-blowing cricket tactics and strategies even while sleeping! This is evident from the intense, in-depth discussions and debates that take place both in the real world as well as on social media whenever a match is going on.
A decade ago, we had no avenues to settle our arguments about whose tactics or strategies are better. However, today Indians have a keen interest in fantasy sports and play fantasy cricket almost every day.
Fantasy sports are online real money games where players can create their dream teams by selecting real-life players from two real teams that are going to play a match in the real world. Their teams then compete in fantasy contests based on the real-world match and the winner is decided based on the actual statistical performance of the real-life players playing in the real-world match.
A report by FIFS states that two-thirds of the Indian population is familiar with the concept of fantasy sports. The report also says that 96% of the FIFS survey participants who claimed to have played fantasy sports competed in fantasy leagues last year. To assume that fantasy sports are a metropolitan phenomenon would be wrong. Just like the way cricket has seeped into every nook and corner of India, fantasy sports have also become popular across the country.
According to the same FIFS report, fantasy sports in India generated revenue of ~INR 2400 crores in FY20. The major chunk of this revenue is generated when highly popular cricket events like the IPL (Indian Premier League) and the World Cup are going on. For example, the latest edition of the IPL saw over 405 million viewers, a 23% growth over last year’s season. During the IPL season, fantasy sports operators report close to a 5X jump in revenue and a multifold increase in the number of daily active users.
The growing user interest in fantasy sports and promising financial numbers have resulted in a large number of investors investing in this market. The last decade has seen a 2500% spike in the number of fantasy sports operators (as reported by the FIFS). One of the big winners that emerged during the last IPL season was the fantasy cricket app Howzat.
Howzat, owned and operated by popular skill gaming company Junglee Games, provides a safe and trustworthy platform to its users to enjoy fantasy sports. Endorsed by cricket legends like Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Kieron Pollard, Howzat offers its users an easy sign-up option, a simple user interface, a lot of exciting fantasy sports contests and lucrative bonuses, cashback, and other offers.
Howzat users have the unique opportunity to play fantasy cricket matches with cricket legends like Yuvraj and Irfan in the Beat the Legend fantasy format. Apart from this, there are a lot of other contests and a variety of sports available on the app to keep the users entertained and engaged.
First-time users who are not confident of their game can join practice contests to improve their gaming skills. Users also have the option to read up on fantasy match predictions of upcoming fixtures on the Howzat blog to make an informed team selection.
The fantasy sports industry has witnessed stupendous growth in India over the last decade. Ten years ago, hardly anyone knew what fantasy sports were all about but today almost everyone has some fantasy sports app installed on their smartphone.
With hundreds of contests hosted daily on fantasy sports apps, Indians have found a gainful avenue to utilize their cricket knowledge. Fantasy sports platforms like Howzat are helping Indians enjoy their favorite sport, cricket, much more than ever before.
