Fantasy sports applications look at 2021 IPL for another boom

The growing Indian fantasy sector, which had massive success in 2020 - an influx of new user base as well as eye-catching investments - might have another surge during the 2021 Indian Premier League season. Upscaling of the product is at a high while the companies are ready to roll out new features and signing bonus to attract users.

One of the fastest growing companies in India, Mobile Premier League (MPL) claims to have over 70 million users in India and is looking to add another 30 million by the end of the upcoming edition of the league. The company, in a statement, has revealed that they saw a surge in daily app installations by 100% while fantasy gamers grew by 7 times on its platform.

“We are prepared to handle an even higher user influx this time. We are coming up with new tournament formats for all games on MPL and have exciting cash offers on referral," Abhishek Madhavan, senior vice president, growth and marketing, MPL, said, reported Mint.

Meanwhile, Baazi Games-owned fantasy cricket portal BalleBaazi.com introduced a new format, “Second Innings Fantasy" to allow players to create teams till the second innings starts. Saurabh Chopra, chief executive, BalleBaazi.com, revealed the new idea of how users can have two chances at winning the jackpot.

“Now users will get two chances to win in the same match. We have also added a chat section in the private league where users will now be able discuss the game with friends and family," Saurabh Chopra, chief executive, BalleBaazi.com, said.

Gaurav Assomull, founder at the Fantasy gaming platform Blitzpools (formerly Livepools Pvt. Ltd) announced their plans of increasing their price pools for players for the IPL season while announcing a daily fan zone YouTube channel, that will do in-depth analysis of the IPL.

"To ensure consistent fan engagement, we are starting a daily fan zone YouTube channel that will do in-depth analysis of the IPL...As part of our customer retention programme, we have a coin-based system which will gratify players loyal to the programme and they can redeem that for cash, vouchers, merchandize or virtual meet-and-greet," said Assomull said.