Fantasy sports is a new cricket game that allows individuals to use their cricketing knowledge to gain financial rewards. Through fantasy cricket, an individual can use their sagacious understanding of the sport to craft a team of XI players, who can earn points for the individual teams based on their current performance. With the boom of digitalisation, fantasy sports has seen a drastic change in trends and patterns across all platforms. What started as a hobby for fellow cricket fans just to engage with the sport in another manner has recently become a new avenue for bookies and sporting experts to use live betting tips and diversify into another financial stream of sports-based betting. 

Latest Trends

Although fantasy sports has seen a tremendous development curve over the last few years, a few of the most exciting trends that have been witnessed recently (or could be seen in the next few decades) can be summarised in the following manner – 

  1. Increased involvement of private sector companies – The world of fantasy sports has seen a major boom in global demand. For example, Fantasy sports was introduced in North America in early 2003. What started with an average audience of over 15.22 million members has drastically grown to an audience of 41.54 million members in just over a decade. This two-fold increase in audience is not just a geographical trend but a trend that has also established itself in other parts of the world. Thus, numerous companies would want to tie up through mergers and acquisitions to leverage the potential of this growing industry.

  2. The idea of converting online fantasy sports bet into viable games. Also termed as gamification along some industries, a future extension to the concept of fantasy sports could be to introduce a gaming module within the mix of fantasy sports.

  3. Using the technology of virtual reality to bring a realistic element into fantasy sports: North American gaming companies have already started their research on a concept involving the use of virtual reality technology to help individuals visualise their team of fantasy players playing against each other in a realistic game mode.

  4. Offline feature – The increased use of fantasy sports and sports gambling has demanded an extensive use of such platforms for gaming purposes. In such a world, a good business module and a good betting tip would be to introduce an offline model of the same type. This would increase the accessibility of the game for people across the world and make betting a lot simpler, as people can bet at any point in time without having to worry about their wifi inability.

  5. Advertisements/promotion – Due to the increased participation of viewers in fantasy sports, many multinational companies would be looking to invest in this industry in order to make key financial gains. Therefore, the amount of advertisements and promotions being pulled by companies in this industry is bound to increase in the coming future.

  6. The element of betting/gambling in fantasy sports – The addition of the ability to place bets on certain groups of players by adding them to your team has certainly enticed a massive group of viewers, who were earlier not that involved. Moreover, by making these websites full of valuable knowledge, betters can also make meticulous decisions and devise various strategies. These websites often provide them with key statistics and live betting tips, aiding their decision to choose certain cricket players over others.

  7. The involvement of different sports – With the involvement of different sports and leagues (Worldwide), such as the national football league and the NBA, has led the fantasy sports industry to transcend to become a mammoth industry. The basketball sector of the larger fantasy sports industry alone is set to grow from $3.8 billion to $14.9 by 2025, whilst the overall industry is also set to grow by an annual growth rate of 33.4%.

  8. Increased demand for fantasy sports in the Middle Eastern countries – With such a boom in demand for fantasy sports visible in the last few decades, there is no doubt that in certain Middle Eastern countries, where such modules have not been introduced yet, popularly induced demand is likely to increase.

  9. Increase in integrations of firms – The increased use of fantasy sports and websites to provide live betting tips to their variegated audience members is likely to lead to mergers and acquisitions between various firms in the sports industry.

  10. Apps with a more friendly user – interface – Technology has changed the way humans view reality. The introduction of fantasy sports is likely to spur demand for applications, which would simplify the process of subscribing and making your team for the less tech-savvy demographic audience. 

Therefore, with the growth of the fantasy sports industry, a revelation in the sports industry is globally expected. Through a thorough analysis of the past trends in such industries, MNCs around the world can make future projections that can enable them to make the important decision of diversifying into this growing industry in an easier manner.