How fantasy cricket works – Introduction:
One of the most intriguing aspects of fantasy cricket is how fantasy cricket works. Questions arise about whether it is legal, is it the same as gambling, is it a profitable business, how to play fantasy cricket, and so on. These questions aren’t unwarranted if you plan on starting your fantasy cricket journey and here you will find the answers to some of those questions.
With how huge the sport of cricket is in India and how magnificently it is celebrated across the country, it is only logical that when fantasy cricket came into the sports market as a means of entertainment for cricket fans, it became a huge part of the sport and every cricket fan’s experience. While fantasy cricket has become a very important part of the cricket industry, there are often questions about its legality, how fantasy cricket apps earn money, etc.
In this article, we will be covering 3 major aspects of the fantasy cricket industry to understand how fantasy cricket works – the legal aspect, the business aspect and the entertainment aspect. These are the 3 most important factors that are responsible for the success and amazing growth rate of fantasy cricket apps across India. These factors will also help us best understand how fantasy cricket works. But before we look at the aspects that contribute to the growth of fantasy cricket apps, here is a brief introduction to what fantasy cricket is.
What is fantasy cricket ?
Fantasy cricket is a virtual world where you create your teams according to certain rules set by those that create the fantasy cricket apps. Once you have created your teams you can compete against fellow fans of cricket who have created their teams. The teams score points based on the performance of the players selected and the team that racks up the most points wins the contest.
Choosing the best fantasy cricket apps to play on is very important. You have to do your due diligence and see which of the numerous fantasy cricket apps suits you the best. Once you decide on a fantasy cricket app and understand how fantasy cricket works then your path to becoming a fantasy cricket expert will be shorter. Of course, that isn’t enough to be an expert but it will give you a head start.
Points are awarded based on runs scored, 4s hit, 6s hit, run-outs, wickets taken, etc. Points on various fantasy cricket apps are different and set by the app developers. Now that we have had a brief introduction to fantasy cricket and answered the question, ‘What is fantasy cricket?’ let us look at the 3 important aspects of how fantasy cricket works.
The legal aspect of fantasy cricket and fantasy sports in general :
A major question most cricket fans have when they contemplate whether to play fantasy cricket or not is whether it is legal. The question arises mainly due to the fact that fantasy cricket from the outside looking in, seems to be a form of gambling where you create teams and bet on them. To understand how fantasy cricket differs from gambling we will have to go a few decades back to 1996.
In 1996, there was a case – K.R. Lakshmanan v. State of Tamil Nadu which was a case based on horse racing and whether betting on horse racing was legal or not. Why is this important? This is because the verdict of this case is the legal aspect that fantasy cricket is based on. The supreme court recognised that sports like horse racing are games of skill that require an evaluation of the horse and the jockey before placing the bet. You would only win if your evaluation was accurate.
The court defined a game of skill as a game whose result is dependent on superior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of a player more than chance. The influence of luck/chance on a game cannot be eliminated entirely but as long as the game is majorly dependent on the skills of a player mentioned, then it is legal to bet on these games.
The same concept applies to fantasy cricket. It is your evaluation of players that you select that determines whether you win or not. Hence it is not illegal to put money into fantasy cricket and win a whole lot more. Gambling is putting money into a game of chance while the concept of fantasy cricket is based on the skill of the players in a game.
A lot of people have reservations about fantasy cricket because they feel it is illegal or they feel morally obliged to stay away from it because it is associated with gambling. Hopefully, it is clear now that the concepts of fantasy cricket and gambling, while seemingly similar are different. This is the legal aspect of how fantasy cricket works.
Business aspect of fantasy cricket and fantasy cricket apps :
To know how fantasy cricket works, an important aspect to understand is the business of fantasy cricket. While fantasy cricket has only become a staple form of entertainment in the past few years, it has grown into a mammoth within the sports industry. The fantasy sports industry has grown at an exponential rate and is projected to be worth 2.25 billion dollars by the end of 2022 [according to the Ficci-EY report]. The industry gained a lot of traction in 2015-2016 and has been growing non-stop.
The industry is on its way to being worth more than 3.7 billion dollars by 2024 and has a compound annual growth rate of 32%. Now every business needs to make money, and how fantasy cricket works as a business is by getting as many players to put their money into it. That is a simplified version of how these fantasy cricket apps make money but how fantasy cricket works is a bit more complicated.
First, we have to understand the fantasy cricket business model. Most fantasy cricket apps charge a fee from users to join contests against other users. Now different apps offer different kinds of contests and types of contests but the most popular ones are setting up your fantasy team and joining the head to head contests or mega contests which have lakhs of people playing. Now the fee differs for each type of contest and just like betting, the more money you put in, the more you can win.
Now, how do fantasy cricket apps make money off of users joining contests? The app takes a small part of the total money put into the contest. For example: If I join a head to head (total of 2 players) 25 rupee contest with the reward being 40 rupees, the app gets 10 rupees because the total amount from both players was 50 but the reward given to the winning player was only 40. This is how fantasy cricket apps make money.
The best part of a fantasy cricket business is that it does not need a huge investment in infrastructure. The investment that is most required in fantasy cricket is an investment in hiring skilled software developers and people from other technological backgrounds. Of course, they also have to invest in the technology required to create a successful fantasy cricket/sports platform. This is the business aspect of how fantasy cricket works.
How fantasy cricket works – Entertainment aspect :
Most people question why fantasy cricket has become so big in India and all around the world. The answer is the entertainment that it provides. Of course, a part of that entertainment is the notion that you could use less money to win a lot more than you have invested. That is where fantasy cricket/sports and gambling share similarities. Of course, the other part is the competition and also testing your understanding of the sport.
Most people are excited at the notion that they could win a lot of money by creating the perfect team. But in order to do that, users have to make sure they do their research on the players and teams on who they are going to put their money. In order to win you need to predict which player will score the most runs, which player will take the most wickets and which players will play in the match.
Once you do all that, there is still a small part of chance involved where the previous game’s statistics prove to be completely false in this match. You could have selected an in-form Rohit Sharma who scored 100 runs in the previous game but in this game, he could have been bowled out for a duck. Luck has a part to play as well, but when you win once then the thrill that fantasy cricket provides is intoxicating. That is why it is important not to throw money away and spend money judicially on fantasy cricket. You should also make sure that it remains purely entertainment and doesn’t cause you to be addicted.
What fantasy cricket has capitalised on is the fact that everyone wants to win easy money and sports fans are intrinsically competitive. They have used fantasy cricket to allow fans to compete against each other through cricket matches and make them feel even more connected to the sport and its players. That is the entertainment aspect of how fantasy cricket works. The industry has ingratiated itself with sports fans and become a part of their sports experience.
How fantasy cricket works – Conclusion :
Ultimately these are three major aspects that explain how fantasy cricket works. Legally unless fantasy cricket was proven to be a game of skill and not a game of chance, it would not be able to even be a part of the sports industry today. Hence it is important to understand the legal aspect involved with fantasy cricket.
From a business standpoint, it is important to know how these fantasy cricket apps make money and how your money is used in fantasy cricket. It is important to keep fantasy cricket a source of entertainment and not an addiction. Always keep a budget on how much you will spend on it and do not cross the limit.
Understanding how fantasy cricket works from an entertainment standpoint is important because that is what explains why fantasy cricket has become such a huge part of the sports industry. The reason why fantasy cricket has become so successful and popular in a short period of time is the entertainment value it holds to sports fans not only in India but across the world.
Other than these 3 key aspects you also need to know about fantasy cricket apps, what is fantasy cricket and fantasy sports as a whole. Ultimately when you plan on investing your money in anything it is best to do your research and be as thorough as possible. Understanding more about fantasy cricket and fantasy sports, in general, will be extremely beneficial when you indulge in fantasy cricket. Knowing how fantasy cricket works and which fantasy cricket apps are the best will be a huge advantage when compared to other players.
But the ultimate advantage is to get tips about fantasy cricket from a fantasy cricket expert who has been playing fantasy cricket for a long time. While these are some important aspects with regards to how fantasy cricket works, in order to start your fantasy cricket journey and be extremely successful at it you need the guidance of a fantasy cricket expert. It is even possible that you become a fantasy cricket expert yourself once you receive the right guidance from the right people.
But where can you find such an expert? At Mad About Sports, we have our very own fantasy cricket expert, Mr Nikhil Popat guiding aspiring fantasy cricket experts to be successful fantasy cricket players. Mr Nikhil Popat is a veteran in the fantasy cricket space and has won more than 60 lakh rupees! To know more on how to learn from Mr Nikhil visit the link below :
Author : Aniruddh Sunil Kumar
Your given aspects very important about fantasy cricket.