Fantasy Sports – Real Business

Fantasy Sports Industry today is growing at an incredibly fast pace. In July 2008 it was a $800 Million Industry with over 29.9 Million players. It has a total market impact of $4.48 billion dollars. Consumers spend $800 million directly on fantasy sports products, but also use an additional $3 billion worth of media products related to the hobby.

For the uninitiated, Fantasy Sport is a game where the player/ user chooses his team of players from amongst the real life players in a sports event – he selects a team and based on the actual performance of his chosen ones on the field, he/she scores points. The Fantasy sport events are played in tune with the real life sports events.

The most popular Fantasy Sports today include Fantasy Cricket, Fantasy Football, Fantasy Tennis, Fantasy Golf, Fantasy Baseball and the like.

These games are not just popular for the kind of big prizes that they offer but also for the reason that these are very challenging and test one’s understanding of the game and the strategy skills pitted against the best from all over the world!

These are played online within communities and allow the user to socialize and network online. These surely add a new dimension to enjoying sports.

One of the major portals in India offering a wide range of Fantasy Sports is the Indian Fantasy League. It has for its users Indian Fantasy Cricket, Indian fantasy Football, Indian Fantasy Tennis and Indian Fantasy Golf. During the Olympics this portal ran a very successful Indian Fantasy Olympics as well.

The users find this very Indian and can relate to the Fantasy Sports offered. Anuj Uppal, a Fantasy sports player for over three years remarks – “Earlier I used to play the European and American Fantasy sports but I always found it tough to follow the matches and the schedules plus baseball and basket ball are not my strong interests but now with sites like Indian Fantasy League – I’ve become a total Fantasy Cricket addict! Every major match in and involving the Indian Team is on it! I’ve even tried out tennis and golf!”

So the Fantasy Sports Industry which is now getting a strong foot hold in the Indian Market has come as a boon to the Indian Fantasy Gamers. And visa versa the good response from users is surely an indication of good times ahead for the Gaming and Sports Industry.