The Indian Premier League (IPL) attracted an audience of 546 million last year across 67 matches. It is the second richest league in the world after the USA’s National Football League (NFL). But unlike the NFL, IPL doesn’t run for 5-6 months. It often wraps up within two months, much sooner than other global favourites like the English Premier League, which goes on for over 9 months.
So, how does IPL stay relevant for the rest of the year? In a country that is passionate about rummy rules and other card games, a lot of gamers are keen on playing Teen Patti, poker, or rummy online. However, thanks to fantasy sports, IPL has carved a niche in the Indian digital games industry. This has helped it to market the brand better and engage with fans throughout the year.
A Marketing Behemoth
IPL has created a sub-genre in gaming in and around the fantasy sports segment. But before we delve into the gaming and gamification strategies built around IPL, we must look at the larger marketing picture.
IPL is not, and never was, a mere cricket tournament. World Cups and Olympics come and go away for four years, but IPL manages to stay relevant throughout the year. Since its inaugural season in 2008, IPL’s brand value has increased by 433%. IPL and its teams chose innovative marketing strategies to gain popularity. If Chennai Super Kings celebrated Tamil pride, Mumbai Indians opened an immersive metaverse experience of their home ground, Wankhede Stadium, on matchdays.
Rajasthan Royals came a step closer to digital games. They teamed up with iB Cricket to organise a virtual cricket tournament where fans can play virtual cricket with their favourite Royals superstars. Apart from the teams, dozens of brands associate themselves with IPL every year. This elevates and sustains the brand recall of IPL in the public psyche for periods beyond the two months of action. Prominent and influential among them are the digital gaming brands.
Pitch Side Story
IPL has emerged as one of the most influential drivers of fantasy sports in India. Fantasy sports itself is a major force in real-money games, garnering ₹8,800 crores in 2024. Poker games earned ₹2,100 crores during the year, while rummy online is the market leader in real-money games with ₹16,000 crores in revenue during 2024.
The influence of IPL on the growth of fantasy sports in India is evident during every IPL season. During IPL 2023, fantasy game apps recorded a gross gaming revenue of ₹2,800 crores. Since IPL 2019, fantasy apps have seen a 30% CAGR, which typically peaks during the IPL season.
An analysis has shown that 35% of the users start playing fantasy sports for the first time during the IPL season. For cricket-crazy Indians, watching the IPL alone is not enough. Apart from watching the match live on TV, apps and in the stadium, cricket fans put their strategy skills to good effect in fantasy sports. In these virtual games, they get a chance to create their fantasy teams based on real-life players. Millions of Indians participate in the race towards the leaderboard and the armchair expert titles. The use of virtual currency has made playing fantasy sports easy and enjoyable, as cash users increased by 11% during the IPL season. The daily active cash users in the fantasy sports segment increased by 2.8X during IPL when compared to the Business-As-Usual standards!
First Look at the Second Screen
Cricket fans are engaging more in the digital space to carry forward their interest in the game. This interest is triggered by the high of the IPL season and sustained by the cricket action that happens around the world.
The second screen behaviour among cricket fans means they are always hungry for more cricket content on their mobile phones. This includes live statistics, scores and match reports – tools that can enhance their skills for the next IPL season. One such data platform, Glance, observed a 44% increase in the time spent by users on cricket content. This phenomenon is also seen in card game platforms -like the players who read and discuss rummy rules and tricks on platforms like RummyCulture.
With the live match as the first screen, second screen engagement is increasing fan activity and interest in cricket content further. Besides, the presence of several fantasy sports platforms in India means fans have quite a few options to play as the IPL plays itself out.
A recent study has observed that cricket-centric digital gaming is now spreading out at a pan-India level. Fantasy sports popularity is becoming noticeable in cities in Tier II and beyond. These geographies now contribute more than 65% of the segment’s revenue.
The Domino Effect
With the popularity of cricket in India as the backdrop, the gamification of its annual spectacle has hit fan engagement levels out of the park. Fans are not just busy watching and supporting the matches but also virtually vying for IPL supremacy. IPL is expected to continue providing a 25-30% growth to the fantasy sports segment in India in the coming years.
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