Fantasy sports to help reduce betting in the long run: Report

Q12. This is an aphorism on the subject of Video Game design. How do we better know this? “All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. They should reward the first quarter and the hundredth” (Image: Reuters)

The Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG), India’s first and only self-regulatory industry body for the sports gaming sector, and KPMG India Private Limited (KPMG) released a report on the ‘The Evolving Landscape of Sports Gaming in India’ at its second flagship event, GamePlan 2019, on March 4.

The report, which provides an overview of the online gaming industry with a focus on fantasy sports and e-sports, observed that as many as 69 percent respondents said there are no overlaps between fantasy sports and sports betting and among these, 81 percent said playing fantasy sports requires profound skill and knowledge.

According to the report, underground sports betting is a huge market in India. However, users are clearly able to differentiate between fantasy sports and sports betting.

It further said fantasy sports is vastly different from sports betting and can potentially help reduce illegal betting in the long run. Fairness, legality and safe and secure nature of transactions are some aspects that draw users to play on fantasy sports platforms.

The findings in the report also highlighted that for 72 percent respondents, the primary motivation for playing fantasy sports is fun and excitement.

Other key highlights in the report include:

> 74 percent users play fantasy sports 1-3 times a week, with the majority playing once a week. There's a growing traction of the fantasy sports genre in India and the proof of this is that 20 percent respondents reported playing more than five times a week.

> Fun and excitement came out as primary motivators for playing fantasy sports across all age and income groups. For around 50 percent respondents, the 'ability to manage teams virtually’, ‘remain connected with the sport’ and ‘utilisation of sports knowledge’ were other important motivators for engagement.

> The ‘opportunity to win money’ was seen as one of the motivators for around 30 percent of respondents. However, this was only the fifth most important factor for engagement.

> The report pointed out that 54 percent users play fantasy sports for free. 46 percent have played paid contests at least once in the last 12 months.

> Another important aspect the study brought to notice is that only 25-30 percent of the spends on fantasy sports platforms come from the users’ pocket. Around 70-75 percent of the spends are re-investments coming from previous winnings, cash bonus or periodical promotional offers given by these platforms to their users.

> Most users from top 7-8 cities of the country were found to be playing less frequently than some smaller cities in the country. Nearly 85 percent of the respondents from major cities play fantasy sports 1-3 times a week as compared to nearly 70 percent of respondents from smaller cities who play more than four times a week on such platforms.

> Among the most preferred sports in online gaming, cricket won the contest with 71 percent, followed by 54 percent playing football. The non-cricket sports leagues in India are also witnessing increasing traction, the report added.