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<ul><li><keyword id="12648502" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2023" source="Orion">IPL 2023</keyword> is expected to boost the revenue of fantasy sports companies to ₹2,900-3,100 crore. </li><li>Growth in fantasy <keyword id="17051681" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sports-platforms" source="Orion">sports platforms</keyword> will be driven by increasing adoption in tier-2 cities.</li><li>Tier-2 and beyond cities account for over 80% of the user base.</li></ul> Fantasy sports companies like Dream11, My11Circle, MPL are set to receive a huge boost due to the ongoing Indian Premier League (<keyword id="6354312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl" source="Orion">IPL</keyword>) 2023. These companies are expected to earn a gross gaming revenue of ₹2,900-3,100 crore in 2023. According to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, the fantasy sports market has grown due to increased awareness of fantasy sports among people and increased marketing efforts by new companies. The gross gaming revenue of fantasy sports companies is expected to increase by 30 to 35%, taking it to ₹2,900-3,100 crore during 2023. The report predicts that the average revenue per user (ARPU) will increase from ₹410 during IPL 2022 to ₹440 per user during IPL 2023. In 2022, fantasy sports companies earned a gross gaming revenue of ₹2,260 crore, up from ₹1,460 crore in 2021, registering a growth of 55%. In 2022, IPL recorded a viewership of 400 million TV viewers. In 2022, 50% of the transacting users were from tier-2 cities and 31% from tier-3 and beyond cities. Metro cities and tier-1 cities contributed just 8% and 11%, respectively. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tier-2 cities to drive growth" comment="subhead" text="Tier-2 cities to drive growth">Tier-2 cities to drive growth</cmsannotation> According to Ujjwal Chaudhry, the growth in the fantasy sports segment will be driven by increased adoption in tier-2 cities across the country and the cross-migration of users from other games. Increasing internet penetration in tier-2 and beyond cities is also expected to provide a push to the industry. Over 80% of users reportedly come from tier-2 and beyond cities. “Steep growth in fantasy sports gaming will come from tier 2 cities driven by increasing adoption of fantasy platforms and cross-migration of users from other games. Increased internet accessibility will give a push to the IPL economy,” said Chaudhry, partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Government’s regulations to boost transacting users" comment="subhead" text="Government’s regulations to boost transacting users">Government’s regulations to boost transacting users</cmsannotation> The Indian government’s decision to formulate rules and regulations for Goods and Service Tax (GST) on real money gaming (RMG) platforms and Google allowing fantasy sports platforms on its Play Store will also help in increasing transactions during IPL 2023. “There has been an increase in efforts to make platforms more secure and reliable for the users. Measures like RNG certification, secure payment gateways, and fraud security, increase user trust in the platforms, and subsequently build confidence in the users to spend higher amounts on gaming,” said Saurav Kumar Chachan, director, Redseer Strategy Consultants. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Prizes like Audi cars and Mahindra Thar push users to spend more" comment="subhead" text="Prizes like Audi cars and Mahindra Thar push users to spend more">Prizes like Audi cars and Mahindra Thar push users to spend more</cmsannotation> In 2022, Dream11, a popular fantasy sports platform, offered its users rewards such as Audi cars during IPL 2022, and My11Circle, another fantasy sports platform, offered the Mahindra Thar as a reward during the 2022 World Cup. These rewards pushed users to deposit and spend more money to win these prizes. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ashneer-grovers-new-startup-crickpe-is-a-fantasy-sports-app-that-will-also-reward-cricketers/articleshow/98964195.cms">Ashneer Grover's new startup CrickPe is a fantasy sports app that will also reward cricketers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/how-to-check-tds-dividend-income-and-income-tax-refund-using-the-ais-for-taxpayers-app/articleshow/99025288.cms">How to check TDS, dividend income, and income tax refund using the AIS for Taxpayers app</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/three-out-of-four-premium-smartphones-sold-in-2022-were-an-iphone/articleshow/98855033.cms">Three out of four premium smartphones sold in 2022 were an iPhone</a>

IPL 2023 to drive fantasy sports companies to ₹2,900-3,100 crore revenue, fueled by Tier-2 cities and exciting prizes

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11972475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="espn" source="Orion">ESPN</keyword> launched its first-ever fantasy women's basketball game ahead of the 2022 <keyword id="11896033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wnba" source="Orion">WNBA</keyword> season.</li><li>Fantasy has the potential to help new fans "really dig in and start loving the WNBA," an expert said.</li></ul><keyword id="11896034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-sports" source="Orion">Women's sports</keyword> are <a href="https://www.insider.com/ncaa-womens-gymnastics-championship-outdrew-nhl-after-abc-bump-2022-4">on the rise</a> <a href="https://www.insider.com/record-champions-league-crowds-womens-soccer-investment-lindsey-horan-2022-4">around the globe</a>.In the United States, the WNBA is embarking on a 2022 season that could potentially be the league's biggest season yet for a number of reasons. Fantasy women's basketball isn't the least of them, players and experts told Insider."I think it's huge," New York Liberty star <keyword id="11985176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sabrina-ionescu" source="Orion">Sabrina Ionescu</keyword> told Insider. "It's an opportunity for us to continue to grow our fan base."<div type="image" title="Powers motions to the crowd." height="1667" width="2500" msid="91380285" hostid="261"></div>For the first time ever, ESPN launched a season-long <a href="https://www.espn.com/fantasy/womens-basketball/">fantasy WNBA game</a> on its platform. Now, WNBA enthusiasts can round up some friends, draft their favorite players, and act as general managers of their very own fantasy teams comprised of the top women's basketball players on the planet.And for those who have never followed the league or only watched WNBA games on occasion, fantasy could serve as an ideal entry point into full-fledged fandom."One thing we know about fans across <keyword id="11893855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports" source="Orion">sports</keyword> is that people who play <keyword id="13844868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fantasy-sports" source="Orion">fantasy sports</keyword> are more likely to watch games," <a href="https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2021/02/espn-senior-writer-fantasy-analyst-dr-andre-snellings-has-basketball-on-the-brain/">Dr. André Snellings</a>, an ESPN senior writer and <a href="https://www.espn.com/search/_/type/articles/q/andre%20snellings">authority on all things fantasy basketball</a>, told Insider. "They're going to watch more games, and not just their home teams, they're gonna watch all the games because every game has an impact on their fantasy teams. Even if the game's a blowout, somebody is gonna be putting up numbers that are gonna affect fantasy rosters."<div type="image" title="Minnesota Lynx superstar Sylvia Fowles." height="1591" width="2121" msid="91380286" hostid="261"></div>"I'm hoping that people who were already into the WNBA will enjoy it in a different way and the people that may not pay as much attention to WNBA but like fantasy sports use this as a vehicle to really dig in and start loving and enjoying all the stories," he added. "I guess time will tell how it works out, but I feel like it can't be anything but a positive."Some WNBA players told Insider they're already receiving some outsized attention from fantasy women's basketball. Even though she admitted to not knowing "too much about" how the game works, sixth-year Atlanta Dream forward <keyword id="13844866" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="monique-billings" source="Orion">Monique Billings</keyword> told Insider she's hearing from people who draft her in their leagues "all the time.""And people will tell my mom," she added with a laugh. "I'm like, 'Oh my gosh.' It's so random."<div type="image" title="Monique Billings." height="1770" width="2361" msid="91380287" hostid="261"></div>Regardless, Billings thinks "it's super cool" of ESPN to "get [the WNBA] involved" in the fantasy space because "any type of exposure for the W is good exposure."WNBA All-Star <keyword id="12258836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="courtney-williams" source="Orion">Courtney Williams</keyword>, who rejoined the Connecticut Sun this season after two years with the Dream, seems to agree with her former teammate. When Insider first asked for her thoughts on the addition of fantasy women's basketball during Connecticut media day, Williams dismissed the question because she didn't "know about nothing fantasy at all."But once she confirmed that fantasy managers "pick you on a team and it's how you perform or something," Williams was quick to jump on the fantasy bandwagon.<div type="image" title="Courtney Williams." height="1616" width="2154" msid="91380288" hostid="261"></div>"Well, they need to always choose me," she said confidently. "Because I'm gonna go crazy."With more games on broadcast television, more promotional spots, and more avenues like fantasy through which viewers can engage with the league than in years past, the WNBA may just be on the precipice of a breakthrough. Players recognize as much, as well as the important role that breakthrough could play in shaping the next generation."All these little things really add up to little girls or whoever it is being able to look up to us and want to be where we're at one day," Ionescu said. "That's really what's important and how we're able to inspire and tell stories while we're playing. So it's really exciting the moves the W's making to try and get us on those platforms and continue to watch it grow."

Fantasy women's basketball has the potential to draw in new fans to the WNBA, players and experts say

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11972475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="espn" source="Orion">ESPN</keyword> launched its first-ever fantasy <keyword id="11964518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-basketball" source="Orion">women's basketball</keyword> game ahead of the 2022 <keyword id="11896033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wnba" source="Orion">WNBA</keyword> season.</li><li>Insider consulted ESPN fantasy basketball expert <a href="https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2021/02/espn-senior-writer-fantasy-analyst-dr-andre-snellings-has-basketball-on-the-brain/">Dr. André Snellings</a> on everything you need to know.</li></ul>For the first time ever, fans can play in a <keyword id="13844869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wnba-fantasy" source="Orion">WNBA fantasy</keyword> league.ESPN launched the first season-long <a href="https://www.espn.com/fantasy/womens-basketball/">fantasy women's basketball game</a> on its platform ahead of the WNBA's 2022 campaign, which tips off on Friday. Now, WNBA enthusiasts can round up some friends, draft their favorite players, and act as general managers of their very own fantasy teams comprised of the top women's basketball players on the planet. But just because you have a command of the WNBA landscape doesn't mean you're ready to dive right into WNBA fantasy. Likewise, having a handle on other ESPN fantasy offerings offers no guarantee that you'll thrive in the women's basketball realm.<div type="image" title="Minnesota Lynx superstar Sylvia Fowles." height="1591" width="2121" msid="91377726" hostid="261"></div>So Insider <a href="https://www.espn.com/fantasy/womens-basketball/story/_/id/33678398/fantasy-wnba-how-play-fantasy-women-basketball">consulted an expert</a>. <a href="https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2021/02/espn-senior-writer-fantasy-analyst-dr-andre-snellings-has-basketball-on-the-brain/">Dr. André Snellings</a> is an ESPN senior writer and <a href="https://www.espn.com/search/_/type/articles/q/andre%20snellings">authority on all things fantasy basketball</a>. In our interview, he explains the differences between WNBA fantasy and other <keyword id="13844868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fantasy-sports" source="Orion">fantasy sports</keyword>, breaks down the best strategies for successfully drafting and managing a WNBA fantasy team, and discusses the role ESPN fantasy women's basketball can play in helping the WNBA attract new fans.This interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity.If I'm someone who is jumping right into a league without much background knowledge, what are the key things to know ahead of a WNBA Fantasy season?You need to <a href="https://www.espn.com/fantasy/womens-basketball/story/_/id/33766984/fantasy-women-basketball-stats-make-fantasy-stars">know the scoring</a>, especially if this is your first experience in the fantasy <keyword id="11893855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports" source="Orion">sports</keyword> space. You get a group of people and you each take turns picking real-life players to represent you on your fantasy basketball team. So if the average league size has six people in, you'll get five of your friends, and each of you will take turns going through and deciding who you want to be on your team. The numbers that the players on your team produce will be how your fantasy team gets their points and the scoring system for ESPN's WNBA fantasy game. For points, rebounds, and assists, you get one point per item. So if someone gets 20 points and 10 rebounds, that would be 30 fantasy points. For steals and blocks, you get two points for each one you contribute. And then for three pointers, it's technically one point per three pointer, but if a player hits a three pointer, they also get three regular points. So the players that hit threes get a bonus point for each shot they make.Heading into a draft, what type of player should fantasy managers look to take in the first few rounds?<div type="image" title="2021 WNBA leading scorer Tina Charles drives on Seattle Storm superstar Breanna Stewart." height="1666" width="2222" msid="91377729" hostid="261"></div>To start the draft, especially in this format, you definitely go with the best player available. In some fantasy formats, you have to pay a little bit more attention to position because there can be position scarcity sometimes, but to start the draft, my personal philosophy is always best player available, regardless of position. Position might just be a tie-breaker, but in the WNBA ESPN game, there are only three positions listed: center, forward, and guard. So there's a little bit less position scarcity than in a sport like fantasy baseball. To start the draft, you're looking for superstars. I'm a nerd, and how I approach fantasy sports analysis is through nerdism. One of the first things that I did was generate a spreadsheet, so I've got a spreadsheet with all of the WNBA players' stats from last season. And I can sort based on category, so I can sort based on points, sort based on rebounds, assists, steals, whatever. And I also have a column where I calculate how many fantasy points per game each player scored based on their stats from last season.If I'm looking at my spreadsheet, an obvious correlation jumps out. The top 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 fantasy scorers per game last season were almost all 20-point, 10-rebounds players. They didn't have those exact numbers, but Tina Charles was number 1 with 23 points, 9.6 rebounds, Jonquel Jones 19 and 11, [Breanna Stewart] was at 20 and almost 10. Brittney Griner had 21 and almost 10.That jumps out at me because, as you look through this list, there aren't any points-assist double-double people at the top. No steals and blocks necessarily at the top. It's almost all points-rebounds folks. And so what that tells me as I look through it is that the WNBA star players almost overwhelmingly, at least as far as production goes, are bigs: forwards and centers. They're dominating in the paint and they're putting up 20 and 10.<div type="image" title="a'ja wilson" height="1729" width="2306" msid="91377731" hostid="261"></div>What is your strategy when it comes to selecting a guard? Do you go with a prolific scorer or opt for assists or steals specialists?You definitely want to get a scorer because scoring and rebounds are all one-to-one points to fantasy points. The volume scorers have more opportunity to put up consistent points. But in the backcourt, you want to look for all-around producers, not just points and assists, but rebounds, too.The top guards [last season] were actually Courtney Williams and Skylar Diggins-Smith, because, for Courtney Williams, she was putting up almost seven boards a game in addition to her points. Skylar was over five assists with more than three boards as well. So for the back court, all-around game is a little bit more valuable than specialists. All of that said, this season in the backcourt, I'm really looking at Sabrina Ionescu. In her first few games in the WNBA a couple years ago, her numbers were crazy before she injured her ankle. And last season, I think she was still dealing with that for most of the season. She's one that has all-around numbers, but I could see her as one that could have high assist numbers, but also the excellent all-around game to maybe get her up closer to the, the big forwards as far as her fantasy production.<div type="image" title="Sabrina Ionescu." height="1405" width="1874" msid="91377734" hostid="261"></div>How much stock should you put into a player's statistics from last season if they find themselves in a different team situation this year? For example, Courtney Williams led the Atlanta Dream in every major statistical category last year but is now joining a very deep squad in the Connecticut Sun.It almost has to be on a case-by-case basis. One difference that I'm seeing in preparing for fantasy women's basketball versus fantasy men's basketball is that there's much more turnover among the elite players in fantasy women's basketball as far as going to new team situations. A lot of the best players are playing overseas, so as I was going through and doing team previews, I had to make note of this player is going to be late getting to camp because her season in France is continuing into the [WNBA] season.There are just a lot of variables. Even the number of games — last season it was 32 games, this season is 36. Mix that with the player turnover, it is a little more difficult to project individual player numbers in fantasy women's basketball than it traditionally has been in fantasy men's.How do you approach drafting players who may not be available for the duration of the season, whether they're playing overseas or dealing with injuries?<div type="image" title="Elena Delle Donne." height="1666" width="2222" msid="91377736" hostid="261"></div>That actually comes down to a specific manager's strategy. The question is risk versus reward. Do you swing for the fences? Maybe you start off with Elena Delle Donne and [Breanna Stewart], if you can get 'em. If they're healthy, then you probably just won your league. But if they're not healthy, then you're gonna be scrambling trying to catch up. And so that becomes how much of a risk-taker you are. Maybe it also matters where you're drafting.So if you've got the No. 1 overall pick, or a top two or three pick, maybe you can be a little more conservative. You can go with Jonquel Jones as your No. 1 overall, and feel good that you've got a stable foundation piece. But if you're picking six and of a six-team league and you've got those two consecutive picks [No. 6 and No. 7], maybe you take the chance and say, "Okay, if I take [Stewart] and Elena, I could arguably have a better producer than the team to pick No. 1 overall that doesn't pick again until 12." That becomes part of the strategy and the risk-reward. And if you take more chances early, then maybe you have to be a bit more conservative with your later picks and grab a bunch of players that you know will be available who can then limit your floor, so to speak. Whereas maybe the reverse is true. If you start off and your first two picks are rock solid, then you can swing for the fences in the third and fourth rounds, knowing that those can be clears that put you over the top but won't necessarily sink your season if they do have injuries. What's your philosophy on drafting rookies?<div type="image" title="The Atlanta Dream selected Rhyne Howard with the first overall pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft." height="1878" width="2500" msid="91377739" hostid="261"></div>You have to look at the type of player. Are they a player that's gonna produce box score stats or a player that's going to be valuable to a team without necessarily putting up heavy stats? And then you also have to look at what their opportunity level looks like. Are they gonna come in and be a heavy volume player right off the bat? Whereas a rookie coming in on [a deeper team] may have to be the seventh player off the bench. This season, as far as rookies, I'm looking at [Rhyne] Howard and Shakira Austin. What else should fantasy managers keep in mind?The draft is often one of the most fun events of the year, and it's also one of the bigger events, as far as importance to your team, but it doesn't end there. The teams that are most successful often are the teams whose managers pay the most attention. They keep up with who's playing well and who's not. They will go to the free agency wire and pick up the hot player before everyone else. With WNBA fantasy being such a new league, I think that those who are willing to just really dig in will be the people that win these first few leagues. But I think the most important thing is to have fun with it. Use this as a tool. I grew up watching NBA basketball, so it was always part of my life, but I also grew up watching women's basketball. The same way I remember watching Dr. J dunk when I was a kid, I remember Cheryl Miller giving folks the business at USC.<div type="image" title="Diana Taurasi high-fives fans after her Phoenix Mercury's victory in Game 2 of the 2021 WNBA Finals." height="1666" width="2222" msid="91377741" hostid="261"></div> I got into fantasy men's basketball around the turn of the century 20 years ago. And even though I'd always been an NBA fan, once I got into fantasy, I started looking at the game in a whole different way because I was spending so much time watching it and analyzing it, trying to get my fantasy team right. And so I am really excited to go through a similar process with the WNBA and fantasy women's basketball. The people that are able to just get into it that way are going to be the ones whose teams win and hopefully the ones that get the most out of this experience.Do you suspect that ESPN fantasy women's basketball has the potential to help draw new fans to the WNBA?I hope it's hugely important because one thing we know about fans across sports is that people who play fantasy sports are more likely to watch games. They're going to watch more games, and not just their home teams, they're gonna watch all the games because every game has an impact on their fantasy teams. Even if the game's a blowout, somebody is gonna be putting up numbers that are gonna affect fantasy rosters. I'm hoping that people who were already into the WNBA will enjoy it in a different way and the people that may not pay as much attention to WNBA but like fantasy sports use this as a vehicle to really dig in and start loving and enjoying all the stories. I guess time will tell how it works out, but I feel like it can't be anything but a positive.

ESPN's fantasy basketball expert breaks down the best strategies for managing a WNBA fantasy team

<ul><li>This fantasy sports platform is launching its merchandise. </li><li>The first collection was launched just in time for the IPL season 14.</li></ul>Fantasy sports platform Dream11 has entered into a partnership with the global sports brand, PUMA to launch its first athleisure collection in India. The two sporting powerhouses have co-created an exclusive range under the label - <keyword id="11138956" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pumaxdream11">PUMAxDream11</keyword>. The merchandise assortment includes t-shirts, flip-flops and caps and will be available online on FanCode Shop, at exclusive PUMA stores and PUMA.com. With over 100 million users, Dream11 will now be able to connect with sports fans offline while tapping into the athleisure market in India which is growing at a rate of 20-25% annually. Taking fan engagement to the next level, the first collection was launched just in time for the IPL season 14. The collaboration also includes an Autumn-Winter range which will exclusively be available during the upcoming T20 World Cup hosted in India. The designs under the PUMAXDream11 collection are branded under the campaign theme ‘Dream It. Own It’. <div type="Youtube" id="mGSgHQGLvGo" title="Puma x Dream11 - Dream It. Own It." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mGSgHQGLvGo/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Talking about the collaboration with PUMA, Harsh Jain, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, Dream11 &amp; Dream Sports, said, “We are excited to launch our first athleisure collection along with PUMA, the largest sports brand in India. PUMA shares our belief in making sports better for all, and we are certain that this collaboration will strengthen Dream11’s offline brand affinity and loyalty. We are sure that this sporty collection will resonate with both our 100 million users and PUMA brand champions.” <keyword id="2522565" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Ganguly">Abhishek Ganguly</keyword>, Managing Director of <keyword id="567332" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Puma-India">PUMA India</keyword> and Southeast Asia, said, “Dream11 and PUMA share a common vision to grow the culture of sports in India. As pioneers of fantasy sports in the country, they understand the pulse of sports enthusiasts and have been powering this ecosystem by giving fans a platform to follow, track and actively engage with the game. We are happy to partner with Dream11 to launch their first athleisure collection. Creating an exclusive PUMAxDream11 range will give their 100 million users access to sport-inspired merchandise infused with PUMA DNA.”

This fantasy sports platform is launching an athleisure collection in partnership with Puma

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6354679" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gst" source="Orion">GST</keyword> Council has levied a 28% rate to casiones, <keyword id="149956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="horse-racing" source="Orion">horse racing</keyword>, etc on the amount the gaming company earns from its users. </li><li>The GST Council has recommended removing the critical distinction between game of skill and <keyword id="10751675" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="game-of-chance" source="Orion">game of chance</keyword>. </li><li>The decision is expected to hit the <keyword id="6422069" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-gaming" source="Orion">online gaming</keyword> industry hard and the shares of listed players has taken a nosedive. </li></ul>The online gaming industry woke up expecting a bad day on Dalal Street after the 50th GST Council announced its decision to levy a 28% GST on online gaming, along with horse racing and <keyword id="71409" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="casinos" source="Orion">casinos</keyword>. As expected, shares of listed players like Nazara Tech and Delta Corp took a major hit with the latter nosediving 20%. The online gaming industry stakeholders have termed the 28% GST on the full value of gaming as "irrational and egregious", saying that the move is a self goal that will kill the skilled online gaming sector in the country. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="But first, what is the dispute" comment="subhead" text="But first, what is the dispute">But first, what is the dispute</cmsannotation> The main debate has been about online gaming categorisation, whether it is a game of skill or a game of chance. “The Government is saying that if it is a game of chance, it will come under the category of betting, gambling, so there will be a GST of 28% on the gross value. The industry is saying that it is a game of skill and should be liable to18% GST, not on the gross value, but only on the commission component,” explains Pratik Jain, Partner, PwC India, a professional services firm. Roland Landers, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation, said that the decision ignores over 60 years of settled legal jurisprudence and lumps online skill gaming with gambling activities. "We believe this decision by the GST Council is unconstitutional, irrational, and egregious. This decision will wipe out the entire Indian gaming industry and lead to lakhs of job losses and the only people benefitting from this will be anti-national illegal offshore platforms," reads his statement. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The impact on the online gaming industry" comment="subhead" text="The impact on the online gaming industry">The impact on the online gaming industry</cmsannotation> Experts and gaming company owners agree that this is going to adversely impact the gaming industry in a major way. “It will be interesting to see the business impact for the online gaming sector considering that this sector has been touted to have significant growth potential,” says Shilpy Chaturvedi, Partner, Deloitte India, a professional services firm. Joy Bhattacharjya, Director-General, Federation of Indian <keyword id="34077" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fantasy" source="Orion">Fantasy</keyword> Sports (FIFS), says that as pointed out by FIFS and many of its members on numerous occasions, change in valuation to tax on the total consideration will cause irreversible damage to the industry, loss of revenue to the exchequer and loss of employment for lakhs of skilled engineers. “The decision will have a chilling effect on the $2.5 billion of FDI already invested by investors and jeopardise potentially any further FDI in the sector. Further, this decision will shift users to illegal betting platforms leading to user risk and loss of revenue for the government,” says Bhattacharjya. Experts say that the higher tax burden will also put a blocker on India’s expanding gaming industry, and deter the new player from entering the industry. Industry insider, Mitesh Gangar, the co- founder and director of PlayerzPot, a fantasy gaming company, says that the move will corner the gaming industry in a big way. “The overall operations will not be feasible. The high tax burden will completely restrict the cash flow, limiting a company’s ability to invest in research, innovation, expansion or survival,” he said. The government on its part has said that the move isn’t targeting any particular industry. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The decisions were intensive and were taken after consultation with all the members, including those representing states like Goa and Sikkim where casinos form a key part of the tourism sector."

Online gaming industry says 28% GST makes operations unfeasible

Homegrown vernacular social gaming platform <keyword id="7830073" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="winzo" source="Orion">WinZO</keyword> Games on Tuesday said it has challenged <keyword id="6355629" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="google" source="Orion">Google</keyword>'s recent policy in the Delhi High Court for the selective inclusion of only daily fantasy sports (DFS) and Rummy games on its <keyword id="1470391" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="play-store" source="Orion">Play Store</keyword> that leaves out several skill gaming platforms and local developers. WinZO has sought restraint from the court against Google from implementing the "arbitrary classification which will impact the reputation of its business." WinZO is among industry players, such as Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Zupee, who have called the policy arbitrary, unfair and restrictive. Saumya Singh Rathore, Co-founder, WinZO Games told IANS that there is no evaluation of the impact that is likely to result from such a clearly discriminatory and arbitrary classification by <keyword id="963171" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="google-play" source="Orion">Google Play</keyword>. "We fail to understand how Google is being permitted to select that within a set of legal/legitimate businesses, only DFS and Rummy will be onboarded and the other Skill Games, excluded," he stressed. Google was yet to reach on the WinZO lawsuit. Google is set to run a pilot test for the local developers to distribute their daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy games apps on Play Store in India, as e-sports become big in the country. Starting September 28, Play Store will begin a limited-time pilot allowing for the distribution of DFS and Rummy apps to users in India by developers incorporated in India. The pilot programme will run from September 28, 2022 until September 28, 2023. According to WinZO lawsuit, the Google policy will not only reduce the marketing cost for players in monopoly to one-fourth of their cost but also create a false perception of legitimation of DFS and Rummy over all other games such as Carrom, Chess, Quiz, etc. "Google's policy can lead to distortions in the competitive Indian gaming ecosystem by resulting in unparalleled access to the 2.5 billion monthly active users across 190 countries where the Google Play Store is available," said the lawsuit. Google Play Store is the largest app distribution platform owning 97 per cent market share in India. Sameer Barde, CEO of E-Gaming Federation had said that the Google move "helps legitimate skill gaming operators grow while eliminating unscrupulous fly-by-night operators," almost implying that companies excluded in the pilot are not legitimised. The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) Director General, Joy Bhattacharya, had said that Google Play Store is allowing games "recognised by the <keyword id="6354977" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="Orion">Supreme Court</keyword> of India as regular business activities". In the K.R. Lakshmanan vs State of <keyword id="20154" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="Orion">Tamil Nadu</keyword> (which most of the Rummy Companies cite for legality) case, the Supreme Court inferred Rummy as being a game of skill, and explicitly drew an analogy to other games of skill, like chess and golf. "The year-long pilot is detrimental to thousands of companies and can lead to irreversible market distortion of a fast-moving gaming tech industry, leading to the death of many players as the strong get stronger," Rathore told IANS. WinZO is seeking an injunction restraining Google from implementing its revised Playstore policy, along with a ruling that Google must change its policy to allow all apps offering games of skill on its Play Store and not just a select few. WinZO is available in 12 languages, with over 85 million registered users. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/moodys-withdraws-rating-of-kalyan-jewellers/articleshow/94322833.cms">Moody's withdraws rating of Kalyan Jewellers</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/essar-group-targets-key-role-in-building-market-for-hydrogen/articleshow/94325146.cms">Essar Group targets key role in building market for hydrogen</a>

WinZO sues Google for Play Store policy allowing only fantasy sports, rummy games

<ul><li><keyword id="8484184" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baazi-Games">Baazi Games</keyword>, the company responsible for gaming platforms like <keyword id="3809787" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pokerbaazi">PokerBaazi</keyword>, <keyword id="11683311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="rummybaazi-and-ballebaazi">RummyBaazi and BalleBaazi</keyword> has been witnessing 70% growth over the last few years. This year, it aims to grow its current user base of 10 million by 100%.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="11683312" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="varun-ganjoo">Varun Ganjoo</keyword>, Co-Founder &amp; Marketing Director at Baazi Games who takes us behind the scenes and tells us all that has been happening at Baazi Games and how the platform is working towards achieving the growth it is aiming for.</li></ul>Fantasy gaming in India has been witnessing a surge in the last few years, thanks to better and cheaper internet connections and the increasing adoption of smartphones, even in smaller cities. While cricket still rules in terms of the number of users it attracts, there are other games and sports that are increasingly finding takers. For Baazi Games, that came into existence around 7 years back, it has been an interesting journey. The platform, started by poker lovers, was aimed at giving players a great experience, since poker hadn’t yet become very popular in India yet. From there, the platform has now diversified to other sports and come up with two more segments, RummyBaazi and BalleBaazi. That people are open to not just playing online games but also spending on gaming platforms is clear from the fact that Baazi Games has been witnessing a 70% growth in the last three years. The platform charges entry fees for leagues that it organizes on its platform and takes out around 3-4% of the entry fee pool as its commission. We recently spoke to Varun Ganjoo, Co-Founder &amp; Marketing Director at Baazi Games who took us behind the scenes and told us all that has been happening and how the platform is growing itself. Excerpts: Q) It’s been 7 years since the launch of Baazi Games. Can you walk us through your journey so far? The idea came to us back in 2013. The founding team comprised of people who loved poker and were really passionate about the game. Back then, there weren't any good platforms for online poker. It took us a year to finalize the structure, figure out the legalities and develop the software. We launched in October 2014 with PokerBaazi. As our experience grew, we thought of diversifying, and that's how we launched our fantasy vertical BalleBaazi in January 2018. In 2019, we launched our Rummy vertical, RummyBaazi. Over the years, apart from diversifying into these multiple, skill-based gaming platforms, we have also tried to change the perception of the audience around games like poker. People used to think poker or anything related to cards is gambling. However, the continuous efforts of the industry and a lot of initiatives we took over the years has helped in changing the perception at quite a fast pace. Also, we realized that since this is gaming where there is money involved, there could be an addiction factor. While there is no central regulation yet, we decided to self-regulate. Responsible gaming is very critical if we have to grow sustainably. So we were the first platform to have a proper, automated responsible gaming system in place which keeps a check on users and alarms them if they are showing signs of addiction. They can then restrict their gameplay or take a break from the platform entirely. But if we were to talk about important milestones, it would be the recently concluded National Poker Series, which is by far India's biggest poker online poker tournament in terms of volume. We saw participation of over 83,000 people across 15 days. Secondly, we are very proud of our new mobile application that we launched in May. We are a part of a product-heavy industry and since we work on own tech in-house entirely, we understand the importance tech plays and this new latest technology has really put us on a global map. Q) What impact has the pandemic had on the business? The last 1.5 years has been a roller coaster ride, there have been a lot of ups and downs. While there was a spike in terms of casual or card-based gaming segments, the fantasy industry which is closely related to live sporting events, was hit due to the shutting down of all sporting events across the world. For poker and rummy, we saw a 30% spike in user base in the initial periods of the lockdown. That was the time when people really got to experience the online version of gaming. We saw a huge jump in games like Ludo. It also came as a welcome distraction for people during these terrible times. And then, it was easier for them to just get onto their mobile phones and spend some time and have fun. Some research shows that the average playing time of users in India grew from about 2.5 hours to 4 hours post-Covid. So these are some of the changes that had a positive impact. But for fantasy sports, during the initial four months of the lockdown when no sport was happening, it was a zero revenue phase for BalleBaazi. But since we are a product-centric company, we utilized that time to make a lot of changes, implement product improvisations and introduce new formats in the game. We came up with a lot of interesting virtual gaming formats where there was no real money involved but it kept the users engaged. Overall, the industry has been growing. For us, the growth has been continuous over the past few years. We have grown at a CAGR of around 70% at a group level in the past three years and the lockdown was just an additional spike. Q) Out of the three verticals at Baazi Games, which has been growing the fastest? Are you also exploring other sports and verticals? BalleBaazi has games like football and kabaddi but cricket is still the biggest crowd pleaser and it makes for around 85-90% of the revenues. Out of our 10 million user base for our entire group, 7 million would be for BalleBaazi. But poker is the highest ticket ticket game. So, contribution wise, around 50% would be coming from PokerBaazi. However, poker is still at a very nascent stage in India. And we being at the top, it's our responsibility to grow the industry. So these numbers will also grow but right now we stand at around 2 million for PokerBaazi. Q) The last few years have seen a lot of fantasy gaming platforms come up, especially in the cricket segment. How are you driving differentiation? When we set up the platforms, our aim was to give our users a superior experience. But in the fantasy segment, there are some big brands that have been in the space for about 10-12 years now. So our focus was also on innovation. When we launched, we came up with some interesting formats that are still unique to us, like our batting and bowling fantasy format. That has helped us draw attention and attract users. Also, we were able to acquire some hardcore fantasy users pretty early on. We feel that our existing set of players will be able to fetch us more. So referral programs are at the centre of our expansion campaigns. We have one of the best referral programs in the market and we will keep improvising on that too. Q) Have you considered advertising on the platform to add to your revenue stream? That is always an opportunity but we have specifically chosen not to go on that route. And the reason for that is, the games we have on our platforms, while they are fun games, they aren’t exactly casual. So we want to give that wholesome experience to them and not disrupt that experience by adding ad streams, for now at least. Q) Since games like poker come with some stigma, how are you educating people? When we started, we were the first brand in the online, real money-gaming segment to get a celebrity on board. At that time, we had associated with Sunny Leone for a digital partnership because her digital presence was huge at that time. That helped us raise awareness about the game. And the content also focused on the skill aspect. Eventually, we hired a set of professionals who we called the PokerBaazi Team Pro, who did a lot of webinars that would talk about things like how probability is involved in the game or how it's a skill-based game. Apart from that, we also associated with a lot of top educational institutions. But this is a continuous effort. So in the next phase, you will see a lot of content creation happening around these games because this is also how we will raise awareness and get more people engaged. For poker, we have a live room in Goa where we have a tie up with a casino there to organize our big live tournaments. We have a proper streaming setup there where we generate a lot of live poker content which we advertise digitally. That also helps spread a lot of awareness. Q) Apart from these webinars and live events, how are you reaching out to your audience? What does your broader marketing plan looks like? While TV is an important medium, our strategy is not to jump onto it right now because for us, it makes sense to advertise where our audience is. Our audiences are digitally-savvy and there are a lot of channels like OTT, social media and influencer market that can help us engage with them. These channels will continue to play an important role in the future. Also, you get a lot of specific and in-depth targeting options on digital which helps us to specifically pick and choose campaigns that we wish to do and target the intended demographics. So going ahead, we would continue to focus on digital. Q) What targets have you set for yourself for this year? What kind of growth do you anticipate? We have been growing and we wish to continue growing at 70% CAGR. In terms of user base, if everything sets in well, we hope to see a 100% growth in the new user base at a group level in FY 2022. Q) What is your larger vision for Baazi Games? We want to be known as the biggest homegrown tech brand that specializes in gaming and also the one brand which is just a whistle away from its consumers. That is something that we have enjoyed so far in the industry, especially for poker, where people regard us as the best customer support and the customer experience organization. We understand the intricacies of minute things too. For a game like poker or rummy, where you would have to spend hours, even the color of the felt or the size of the number on the card matters. That is the kind of details we get into. It’s only possible to further improve that experience if we are closer to our audiences and that’s where we would want to be.

We want to be known as the biggest home-grown tech brand that specializes in gaming: Varun Ganjoo, Baazi Games

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fantasy sports, betting, and sweepstakes games have become widespread on college campuses.</li><li>Some college students say it can keep friendships together, no matter the age or state barriers.</li></ul>Marcus didn't always care about tennis. The 19-year-old mainly followed soccer and the NFL before he started putting money down on sports.Since he's too young to bet on apps like FanDuel and DraftKings, which require you to be 21 in most states, Marcus uses Fliff.The app looks a lot like a sportsbook but isn't technically considered sports betting because it's modeled after sweepstakes. People can play for free or by purchasing virtual currency, and the prizes can be cashed in for real dollars. It's legal for anybody ages 18 years or older in most US states, including Virginia, where Marcus goes to school.Marcus racked up about $6,000 in debt by purchasing virtual currency on Fliff. But this summer, a betting strategy on doubles tennis matches hit nearly every time and pulled him out of the negative. Marcus has now made more than $32,000 on the platform after pouring in $11,000 of his own money, according to records viewed by Business Insider.He brought his buddies in on it, too — Marcus said they'd all wake up at 4 or 5 a.m. to catch the tennis matches and had planned to use their earnings for a trip to Cancún, Mexico. He said sports gaming's ability to create and deepen friendships is one of the main reasons he does it."Sports betting, oddly enough, has kept my friendships alive," Marcus said.Marcus isn't alone in that feeling.Noah, a 19-year-old who goes to college in Illinois, uses sports betting to keep up with his friends from high school."With some of my home friends, it's a great way to be communicating throughout the week," Noah said. "I'll just be like, 'Oh, what are your thoughts on this Falcons bet?'"The expansion of legal sports betting in the US has fueled a widespread culture of gambling on college campuses, as savvy students find betting alternatives and workarounds for age limits and state restrictions. Research has shown that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Consumer-Research-One-Pager.pdf">online sports bettors skew young and male</a>. A May <a target="_blank" href="https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/sports-betting-demographics">Morning Consult survey</a> found that 70% of people who had placed a bet in the previous month were men and that, while only 10% were Gen Z adults, the next youngest demographic, millennials, were the most common bettors.Many sports-loving college students like Marcus and Noah casually use fantasy gaming, sweepstakes, and betting to make and maintain friendships. Sports gaming's role as the glue of many college male friendships has made these young men more susceptible to developing harmful gambling habits, some students and experts told BI."These people are having their first chances at a little bit of financial independence," said 22-year-old Andrew, who goes to school in Virginia and bets on sports through apps including DraftKings and ESPN Bet. "It's definitely a little bit dangerous, and I hope everyone that's using it is educating themselves."BI spoke with seven college students and three researchers to learn more about what sports betting looks like on campuses. The students' names have been replaced with pseudonyms to protect their identities given the sensitivities around gambling.Some experts have seen college students develop such severe gambling habits that they've had to seek treatment with professionals like UCLA's Dr. Timothy Fong, a clinical professor of psychiatry who runs the university's gambling studies program."Prior to 2018, we were not seeing a lot of young people at all coming to treatment," Dr. Fong said, referring to the year the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban against sports betting, paving the way for more states to regulate it. "Now, five years of experience of sports betting becoming mainstream and this is not what we're seeing."<h2>A culture of sports betting sustains friendships</h2>Since the expansion of legalization, sports betting and gaming have exploded on college campuses largely through word of mouth. In the same way that students share new music and study guides, they pass around sports picks and advice in group chats. It's something to talk about with new friends and a way to keep old ones.Some of the students BI spoke with said they placed bets by themselves when they were bored, but many said wagering went hand-in-hand with talking to their friends about it."Honestly, I'd feel kind of like a degenerate if I just did it by myself," said 21-year-old Miles, who goes to college in Illinois.He started sports betting when he was underage through an illegal bookie, an older fraternity brother who placed bets for Miles online and who he paid through Venmo. He said sports betting has "definitely affected" his mental health in the past."It becomes a normal embedded part of the culture and that has huge implications," Dr. Fong said. "We've allowed it, but have we then kept up with educating that generation about what this activity really is?"Noah, the 19-year-old attending college in Illinois, kept hearing about gambling on his favorite sports podcasts and from a close friend. About two years ago, he made a DraftKings account under his mom's name, which he still uses today. Even before that, he and his high school friends started a spreadsheet to predict the outcomes of games, and he uses their system of picks to stay in touch while they attend different colleges, he said."It's a really easy pathway into a conversation with my home friends who I miss," Noah said.Chris, 22, hasn't put money on a game since Super Bowl Sunday. He used to play daily fantasy with his friends on Underdog and FanDuel — sports betting isn't legal in Minnesota, where he goes to college. But he quit cold turkey after realizing he wasn't usually winning back the $10 or $15 he'd put on each game."I was like, 'Oh, that's just the cost of hanging with friends,'" Chris said. "But then it kind of clicked on me."<h2>How college students bypass age and state restrictions on sports betting</h2>While regulators and others in the industry have set up restrictions to protect young people from gambling, many are finding ways around them. Bookies, VPNs, and offshore apps like Bovada are common, the students and researchers told BI, and daily fantasy and sweepstakes are legal alternatives for young people to put money down on sports.While most states say you have to be 21 years old or older to place a bet, daily fantasy and sweepstakes are allowed in most markets for anyone 18 or up.Fliff, the app Marcus uses, offers free-to-play sweepstakes games, permitting it to operate in places where sports betting isn't legal. But the app also allows users to make predictions on games and earn real money for it, appearing to users like other sportsbooks with options to pick the moneyline, spread, and player props, or build parlays.Marcus said, to him, the app feels like sports betting.Fliff said in a statement to BI that it "imposes daily, weekly, and monthly purchase limitations," including restricting users who are 18 from making purchases and limiting purchases by users ages 19 and older based on their age brackets, though it did not say what the limits were.Another sports betting alternative, daily fantasy, allows users to set and compete for money on their own team lineups. Students who go to school in Minnesota and California, where sports betting isn't legal, told BI they and their friends had used apps including PrizePicks, Underdog, and FanDuel to put money down on daily fantasy games, which offer real cash prizes.Lawmakers are still going back and forth about whether the latest wave of daily fantasy offerings, pick'em style games popularized by companies including Underdog and PrizePicks, should be considered sports betting. These games are similar to building parlays in that users need to accurately predict numerous player outcomes in order to win, and have drawn scrutiny from regulators in states including New York, Florida, Maine, and Michigan.Recently, Maryland lawmakers shut down in December DraftKings' pick'em version, saying it can't be considered daily fantasy, which would be available to people 18 and up."Because fantasy contests require multiple customers competing against each other, a gambling arrangement that involves customers betting on athletes' performance metrics against an operator's established baseline, and not other contest participants, constitutes sports betting," as defined by state law, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares wrote in December.Some college students in states where gambling isn't legal said friends also head to local Native American tribal casinos, which states like California and Florida permit to offer sports betting, or they drive across state lines to place bets.Many of these students said they didn't see these strategies as workarounds, or see betting as a bad thing. Putting money on a game is so common in their friend groups and the wider sports community that they want to be a part of the culture in whichever way they can.Still, the prevalence and addictive nature of sports betting, coupled with tech-savvy college kids, has created a desire to find both legal and illegal loopholes, researchers say."The technological world that this generation is so comfortable with," Dr. Fong said, "they use it to their advantage to access gambling opportunities, both legal and unregulated."<h2>Young sports lovers are at risk of developing gambling habits, and many don't understand how to bet responsibly</h2>Researchers and students alike are aware of how the prevalence of sports betting as a social connector on college campuses is developing gambling habits in more young people — and that no one is teaching them how to avoid potential risks.Many of these companies also push low-risk promotions that can get users hooked.When <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/espn-bet-exec-mike-morrison-penn-entertainment-sportsbook-2023-11">ESPN Bet</a> launched in November, users earned a free $100 after placing their first bet or were matched on a $1,000 deposit. To continue promotion in early 2022 after launching in New York, the Caesars Sportsbook offered a $300 sign-up bonus and a deposit match up to $3,000.Marcus used Fliff's in-app promotions to help pull himself out of debt. Fliff gives users with under $5 of Fliff Cash in their account a free dollar every day, and $0.10 every two hours. The promotion can incentivize both casual and unsuccessful bettors to keep using the app."I thought if I'm not putting in any money of my own, there's not really any risk," Marcus said.It's not just the social aspect and low-risk promotions that can spark gambling habits, it's also the continual opportunity to make in-game bets, according to Jeffrey Derevensky, the director of McGill University's center focused on youth gambling research. He said live-betting and prop bets entice impulsive young men who believe they know everything about sports but haven't been taught about the risks associated with gambling. Plus, this demographic is less likely to call a helpline because they don't believe they have a problem, he said."It's the 18- to 25-year-olds that are at the greatest risk for gambling problems," Derevensky said. "We talk about teaching young people about unprotected sex. We talk about drugs, we talk about smoking, but very few places actually have gambling-prevention programs where we're trying to encourage people, if they're going to gamble, to gamble responsibly."In extreme cases, Derevensky and Dr. Fong said they had seen young people who had taken out predatory loans, stolen from their families, ran up their parents' credit cards, dropped out of school, and even shoplifted and resold expensive liquor to get cash to bet on sports.While operators have pulled back on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/caesars-sports-betting-universities-colleges.html">partnering with universities</a> to market to young people after regulatory pushback, some students said they still feel their generation is being targeted by sports betting operators, especially through social-media advertising and sponsored influencers. That sentiment was shared by the researchers.The students said they were concerned about how commonplace the topic has become on big outlets like ESPN."I am very, very, very anxious about how much the sports broadcasting and sports publications are covering sports gambling," said Chris, the student who stopped sports betting last year.With so much money flying around the sports industry, gambling is still very much in "the primitive stage, not as regulated as it should be, and a lot of people are susceptible to that message," he said.Students and researchers were also concerned about student-athletes who place bets. Several Iowa and Iowa State student-athletes faced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/iowa-state-starting-rb-jirehl-brock-among-latest-college-football-players-charged-in-gambling-probe/">charges</a> in the summer that alleged the students hid their identities to place bets, including on their own games. Athlete betting jeopardizes the integrity of competition, but college athletes are also students prone to make mistakes, said Andrew, attending school in Virginia."While there is responsible use of it, I think there are a lot of concerns and a lot of policies that still need to be carved out," Andrew said.

Sports betting is taking over college campuses. Young bettors say it holds friendships together but can create dangerous habits.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A New York millennial bet nearly $1 million through <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-flutter-fanduel-same-game-parlay-changed-us-sports-betting-2023-11">FanDuel </a>with his cousin.</li><li>He shared seven pieces of advice for what new gamblers should do — and avoid.</li></ul>When states across the US started legalizing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-industry-predictions-top-execs-2023-12">sports gambling</a> in 2018, Jimmy, a New York-based sports bettor in his 30s, was ready.Jimmy and his cousin already made money betting on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/skilled-players-win-daily-fantasy-sports-2015-10">daily fantasy-sports leagues</a>, relying in part on an algorithm they developed that helped them turn mountains of data into predictions, he said. They decided to jump in with a whole new world of sports betting at their fingertips.Since January 2022, Jimmy and his cousin have bet nearly $1 million through <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-flutter-fanduel-same-game-parlay-changed-us-sports-betting-2023-11">FanDuel</a> and netted roughly $35,000 in winnings, according to a document viewed by Business Insider. Jimmy said FanDuel is one of several betting platforms he and his cousin use and that they each make over six figures a year as sports bettors.While Jimmy hasn't spent most of his winnings, he said they've significantly impacted his finances."The cushion it gives you, the sense of security, and the potential for where this money can put my family and my cousin's family in 10 years — it's great for your mental health," Jimmy, whose identity is known to BI but spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of professional repercussions, said.In recent years, the widespread <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/online-sports-betting-legalization-number-of-states-gold-rush-frictionless-2022-3">legalization of sports betting</a> has led many people to get in on the action: 20% of surveyed Americans wagered on sports over the past 12 months, according to an American Gaming Association <a target="_blank" href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/american-attitudes-2023/">survey</a> of over 2,000 US adults conducted last August. Sports betting is now legal in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">38</a> states, up from only <a target="_blank" href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/ayearofsportsbetting/">eight</a> in 2019.Young people, in particular, have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-sports-betting-fantasy-games-taking-over-college-campuses-2024-1">taken to sports gambling</a>. An NCAA <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/5/24/media-center-ncaa-releases-sports-wagering-survey-data.aspx">survey</a> of over 3,500 US-based 18-to-22-year-olds conducted last April found that 58% of survey respondents had participated in at least one sports-betting activity.For many individuals, sports betting provides harmless entertainment. But, for some, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-addiction-warns-bettors-lose-money-march-madness-2023-3">gambling can develop into an addiction</a> that can result in the loss of substantial sums of money.Of the respondents in the NCAA survey, 16% of those who'd bet on sports said they'd engaged in at least one "risky" gambling behavior, which the survey <a target="_blank" href="https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/wagering/Apr2023NCAA_WageringKeyFindings.pdf">defined</a> as betting a few times a week or daily, betting $50 or more on a typical wager, or losing over $500 in a single day.Jimmy shared his top advice for new sports bettors, including what traps to avoid, with BI.<h2>1. Don't bet more than you're willing to lose.</h2>Jimmy said establishing a bankroll and unit size are important steps for new bettors.The <a target="_blank" href="https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/first-time-gambling-tips/b8274mv">bankroll</a> is how much money someone plans to bet over a specified period, whether it be a day, a week, or a month. The unit size is the percent of the bankroll — Jimmy said ideally it's 1% — that gamblers dedicate to the typical bet.It's crucial to make sure one's bankroll isn't too high, Jimmy said."Whatever your bankroll is, it should be in your mind that you may lose it," Jimmy said. "You shouldn't bet what you can't afford. So if you're betting with your house or your car payment or your kids' college fund, you already lost."<h2>2. Don't just bet on the most popular sports and games.</h2>While betting on big games such as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-companies-record-number-betting-on-super-bowl-2023-2">Super Bowl</a> might be fun, Jimmy said these games are often less profitable.That's because as a game receives more wagers, the sportsbooks have more data to make the odds as accurate as possible."The more people that bet in a sportsbook, they're taking that information and turning it into their algorithm and that's how they create the market price," Jimmy said.And given high-profile games tend to have the most money on the line for sportsbooks, Jimmy said they tend to dedicate more of their resources to getting their betting odds right.This is why Jimmy recommends new bettors focus more on sports and bets that receive less attention. He said that rather than betting on the NBA, look at the <a target="_blank" href="https://africa.businessinsider.com/sports/wnba-salaries-max-out-nearly-dollar865k-less-than-the-nbas-lowest-contracts-players/b4xcnqf">WNBA</a>. And rather than simply betting on who will win a game, he said it's better to dig into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-prop-bets-celebrity-picks-first-touchdown-rihanna-song-2023-2">prop bets</a> — which allow bettors to wager on a wide range of outcomes — such as whether a player will get more or less than 10.5 rebounds."The more of a rare market that you go in, the more potential profit you can find," he said. "Because fewer people are betting, and that's where these sportsbooks get their information from."Jimmy said strategies such as these have helped him and his cousin hit roughly 60% of their bets — he said the average professional bettor has a win percentage of about 55%.<h2>3. Avoid parlays.</h2>Jimmy said he sees a lot of new gamblers wager on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/christian-mccaffrey-touchdown-wins-bettor-500k-14-leg-parlay-2023-12">parlays</a> — combinations of individual bets that only pay out if each individual bet is successful. Given the long odds, these bets can be very profitable when they hit, but Jimmy said they tend to be a bad investment."They're trying to bet five-, six-leg parlays to win $50,000 because that's what you see on TikTok and Instagram," he said of new gamblers. "The better way to make money is actually the opposite, where you do strictly individual bets."<h2>4. Don't mistake early success for expertise.</h2>Some bettors get off to hot starts when they begin gambling, but Jimmy said these people shouldn't get too confident.That's because some bettors just get lucky. If they start increasing their bet amounts before they have a proven strategy, this could come back to bite them."For somebody who does five bets a day, it may take them a month to really have enough data of bets to see how they really did," he said. "Don't judge something based on one day."Jimmy said he makes as many as 700 bets a week, which provides him a solid sample size by the end of the month — but he doesn't recommend new bettors gamble this frequently.<h2>5. Don't chase your losses.</h2>When a hot streak turns cold, Jimmy said it's important for bettors not to increase the size and frequency of their bets to make up for the money they lost."You have to have the self-control to not chase your losses," he said. "When you're losing, that's the time you should actually lower your bankroll."<h2>6. Don't value winning over your mental health.</h2>Jimmy has seen some people struggle with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-addiction-warns-bettors-lose-money-march-madness-2023-3">sports-betting addiction</a>, something he said can "ruin families and lives.""Here's a product that we know is addictive," Timothy Fong, a codirector of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-addiction-warns-bettors-lose-money-march-madness-2023-3">previously told BI</a> regarding sports betting. "Here's an American appetite for that product. And then you combine the forces of a very powerful and effective industry combined with technology. This is where potentially it could go really bad."Online sportsbooks such as FanDuel and DraftKings make responsible-gaming <a target="_blank" href="https://www.draftkings.com/about/responsible-gaming/?wpsrc=Organic%20Search&amp;wpaffn=Google&amp;wpkw=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fabout%2Fresponsible-gaming%2F&amp;wpcn=about&amp;wpscn=responsible-gaming%2F">resources and tools</a>, including information on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fanduel.com/responsible-play/about">where they could seek help</a> in their state, available. Many platforms allow bettors to <a target="_blank" href="https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/help/responsible-gaming?wpsrc=Organic%20Search&amp;wpaffn=Google&amp;wpkw=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fhelp%2Fresponsible-gaming&amp;wpcn=help&amp;wpscn=responsible-gaming">place restrictions</a> on their deposits, wages, and time spent on the platform.Jimmy said one way he manages the mental toll of gambling is by not looking at the outcomes of his bets until the following day."I'll go to sleep, I'll wake up, I'll have my coffee, then I won't look at them until 9 a.m.," he said. "If I look at it before I go to bed, I can't sleep."<h2>7. Don't quit your day job.</h2>While new bettors can make money, Jimmy said most people lack the necessary expertise and discipline to turn it into a living.Jimmy said he and his cousin both have part-time jobs despite his success with sports betting. While they do this largely for medical benefits, Jimmy said he's also aware there's no guarantee his gambling success will last forever."Until we have enough money in the bank that we can maybe get some property and have some kind of retirement plan, we'll probably keep our day jobs," he said.If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, call the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/national-helpline-1-800-522-4700/">National Council on Problem Gambling Helpline</a> (<a target="_blank">1-800-522-4700</a>), which provides resources and referrals for all 50 states, Canada, and the US Virgin Islands. Help is available 24/7 and is 100% confidential.Are you a sports bettor willing to share your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jzinkula@insider.com">jzinkula@insider.com</a>.

A millennial sports bettor who's wagered nearly $1 million on FanDuel shares the 7 things new gamblers should do &mdash; and avoid 

<ul><li>The online fantasy sports segment in India is growing by leaps and bounds.</li><li>One such player that has been witnessing good growth is BalleBaazi. With a current base of 40 lakh users, the platform has seen a 500% increase in CAGR in FY 19-20.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="5742232" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saurabh-Chopra">Saurabh Chopra</keyword>, CEO, <keyword id="8484186" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BalleBaazi-com">BalleBaazi.com</keyword> who told us about the growth it the platform has seen in the last 12 months, the factors that contributed to its growth and the platform’s strategy to further expand its presence in the market.</li></ul>Online gaming in India has witnessed unprecedented growth in the last few years. While till a few years back there were a handful of players in the country, there were over 140 operators by the end of 2019. A recent report by <keyword id="9545140" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-federation-of-indian-fantasy-sports">the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports</keyword> (FIFS) and KPMG titled ‘Business of Fantasy Sports’ stated that Online Fantasy Sports (OFS) operators’ gross revenues stood at Rs 2,400+ crore for the FY20 as compared to Rs 920+ crore in FY19 which was an increase of almost 3X over a period of 12 months. Even during the ongoing <keyword id="6354831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-premier-league">Indian Premier League</keyword>, many online gaming platforms have been battling each other to grab maximum eyeballs. One such player that has been witnessing good growth is BalleBaazi. With a current userbase of 40 Lakh users, the platform seen a 500% increase in CAGR in FY 19-20. We recently caught up with Saurabh Chopra, CEO, BalleBaazi.com who spoke to us about the growth it has seen in the last 12 months, the factors that contributed to its growth and the platform’s strategy to further expand its presence in the market. Excerpts: Q) The fantasy sports segment has seen a boom this year. How has BalleBaazi's year been so far? The Online Fantasy Sports (OFS) industry has witnessed an upsurge in the past few years, especially in 2019 when the market saw a spiraling ascent, sparking the onset of many new players in the industry. While the industry currently has 140+ operators, BalleBaazi.com has been one of the first and the highest grossing platforms. We can boast of an extremely loyal userbase of core fantasy gaming enthusiasts and we see BalleBaazi.com posting a D-30 retention of 40% for its newly acquired users, which is significantly higher than the industry standard. Even when live sporting events had come to a halt, we kept our fans engaged via Virtual Fantasy Leagues and quizzes which enhanced their knowledge and eventually their skill of their respective sports. We have seen a constant rise in our business as we posted an increase of 500% CAGR in FY 19-20. The next 24 months will also be an exciting time for us as we get set to witness the cricketing fiesta, which has 3 IPLs and 2 World Cups. We are well-equipped and have charted out a detailed plan to grow our business significantly in this period. We have utilized this sports break to further enhance our tech stack which is now capable of handling upwards of 1 million concurrent users on the app. Q)What kind of impact did the pandemic have on your platform? Did you witness a huge spike in terms of consumers coming on board, like a lot of other games have? While Baazi Games’ other platforms – PokerBaazi.com and <keyword id="10080501" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="rummybaazi-com">RummyBaazi.com</keyword> – saw a huge rise in participation, BalleBaazi.com, which is solely dependent on live sporting events witnessed a temporary dip in the traffic during this period. However, we kept our fans engaged by conducting Virtual Fantasy Leagues, Quizzes, and adding international sports like Baseball and Basketball. We kept our users enticed through our other gaming arms, resulting in a rise on our Rummy-based and Poker-based platforms. These applications aim at providing a favorable user experience and aim to expand their userbase in 2021 whilst adapting to the market rapidly. Q) What kind of potential does India present for the fantasy sports segment? What kind of growth has it been witnessing and what does the future hold? How are you contributing to that growth? India has a huge potential for Fantasy Sports as internet access has expanded according to a report published by the governing body of Fantasy Sports in India –The Federation of India Fantasy Sports (FIFS) – 2019 saw an overall turnover of Rs 920+ crore and due to work from home being adapted during the pandemic, it has even predicted the revenues to grow 3x as it may touch Rs 2,400+ crore in 2020. It also showed a rapid increase in the user base of Online Fantasy Platforms as the participants increased from 2 million in 2016 to 9 Million in 2019. The industry has also seen more players emerging as it increased from 10 operators in 2016 to 140+ operators by the end of 2019. With increasing number of users, the Contest Entry Amount (CEA) also shot up as it registered a total of Rs 16,500 crore in FY20 in comparison to Rs 6,000 crore in FY19. For a country which worships cricket and its players, BalleBaazi.com offers a safe and authentic platform for users to apply their understanding of a sport which they follow religiously and use their expertise to create a team, make suitable combinations and analyse each and every player’s performance basis their understanding, which makes for a well-informed decision eventually. These stats highlight the Indian market’s appetite for OFS platforms and the rise for BalleBaazi.com as well. While we have new OFS platforms emerging, it boils down to the platform which provides a credible experience and we have been appreciated for the same by our consumers. Q) How do players benefit from being on BalleBaazi? BalleBaazi.com offers users a chance to use their skill and knowledge of the game to win real cash and rewards. When you are victorious in a match, you get real cash. On the other hand, when you lose, you don’t really lose; you get BB Coins, which can be redeemed for vouchers and merchandise at our BB rewards store. This aforementioned module of ours is called the Reward Programme, which is a one-of-a-kind offering in the industry. Our gadget leagues and free-rolls are quite popular among fantasy fans, across the country. Other than that, we have partnered with many brands on a cross-value proposition to maximize our audience outreach and provide our users with many various offerings from this aspect. BalleBaazi.com has been providing state-of-the-art gaming experience through its mobile and web products, backed by formidable operations and a 24/7 customer support. Q) What is your USP? How are you different from other gaming apps? We started our operations in the market in 2018 with a singular mission of providing ‘The Best Fantasy Sports Experience’ in the field of Cricket. We designed our app and website keeping in mind the love and passion our nation shares for the game. Along with ensuring that no one leaves empty-handed when they make their teams on BalleBaazi with our Reward Programme, we also offer options of Batting and Bowling Fantasy, separately. Long story short, our versatility is our USP. After a successful start to the platform with Fantasy Cricket, we ventured into other sports as well, such as Football, Kabaddi, and even Basketball and Baseball, along with Quiz formats for our users to learn and enhance the skill of their respective sports. With #Playerfirst as our guiding principle, we make sure our users have the smoothest, fun &amp; safe gaming experience. There are various SSL protocols that enable BalleBaazi.com to become one the most secure sports platform as users' money is safely transacted through deposits and withdrawals. We are constantly on the lookout for new concepts in Fantasy Gaming and believe in contributing our best to the arena of skill &amp; knowledge gaming. Q)How do you plan to expand your presence? What is your growth strategy going to be, going ahead? How are you going about getting investments to fuel your growth? Baazi Games is on track to achieve the proposed expansion in userbase from 5 million to 50 million in the next 24-36 months. Additionally, we have expanded our product portfolio to cater to various customers. Besides this BalleBaazi.com caters to various sports apart, which will enhance the consumer’s outlook and widen their perspective in terms of sports and will help us achieve that target. Also, taking our community feedback into consideration, we are continuously working towards re-vamping the Machine Learning based AI for real-time matches, enhancing the UI UX to be gamified with a minimalistic design philosophy. Year after year, we’ve shown results to our investors. Even during the pandemic, we had managed to entertain our users by introducing new features on our platform. We wish to keep at it when it comes to innovation and proving our worth. Now would be the time to jump onto the bandwagon and reap huge profits by investing in the growing sector of fantasy sports and BalleBaazi.com that’s destined to become India’s go-to fantasy sports platform. Q) What is your vision for BalleBaazi? Do you have a target in place, in terms of revenue, user base? We have planned to add another 2 Million to our Baazigar community in the upcoming Indian Premier League as it’s one of the biggest revenue-generators and growth-drivers for fantasy gaming apps. We are all set to go all guns blazing for this season. Moreover, we are among the top 4 fantasy gaming apps in the country in terms of traffic and would want build on that. Q) A lot of Indian games are doing well globally too. Do you have any plans of testing international waters? Currently, our aim is to become the best in the gaming industry of our country. While we understand a lot of the industry-leaders are venturing into International waters, we feel it is important to ascertain our foothold in the Indian market first, before we expand to different markets. However, we can’t rule that out as BalleBaazi.com is a universal platform which has the potential to engage every sporting enthusiast.

We have seen a constant rise in our business as we posted an increase of 500% CAGR in FY 19-20: Saurabh Chopra, CEO, BalleBaazi.com

<ul><li><keyword id="3306712" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-fantasy-sports">Online Fantasy Sports</keyword> (OFS) operators’ gross revenues stood at INR 2400+ crore in FY20 as compared to INR 920+ crore in FY19, an increase of 3X over a period of 12 months</li><li>OFS operators contributed taxes to the tune of ~INR 750 Cr in FY20, a significant jump of 4X from INR 200 Cr in the FY19</li><li>~35-40% online transactions on OFS platforms are through RuPay or Unified Payment Interface (UPI)</li><li>~50% of transactions on OFS platforms were initiated from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India substantiating deep connection of OFS within the country</li><li>~INR 14,000 Cr was paid out in the form of winnings and cash bonuses/promotional credits in FY20</li><li>A survey by KPMG with 750+ respondents found that users consume more sports when they engage with OFS platforms</li></ul><keyword id="9545140" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-federation-of-indian-fantasy-sports">The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports</keyword> (FIFS), India’s first &amp; only self-regulatory industry body for Fantasy Sports (FS), today unveiled the findings of a report titled ‘Business of Fantasy Sports’ in collaboration with KPMG, at its flagship event FIFS GamePlan 2020. According to the FIFS-KPMG report, OFS operators’ gross revenues stood at INR 2,400+ crore for the FY20 as compared to INR 920+ crore in FY19 an increase of almost 3X over a period of 12 months. Indian OFS platforms have shown a rapid increase in their user-base YoY, growing from 2 million in 2016 to 90 million in 2019. Similarly, the number of OFS platforms in India has increased from less than 10 operators in 2016 to 140+ operators by the end of 2019. The OFS market recorded a CEA (Contest Entry Amount) of over INR 6,000 crore in FY19 and more than doubled to INR ~16,500 crores in FY20, at a growth rate of 167 per cent over FY20. The growth in FY20 is despite COVID-19’s impact on loss of CEA and revenues for the last 15 days of March 2020. Every rupee of revenue earned by the Indian OFS platforms translates into revenue for its supporting industries; thereby resulting in indirect topline growth for these service providers. Indian OFS platforms are also contributing to the overall growth of the Indian economy by paying GST, TDS on winnings, through sponsorships, in attracting FDI, in executing advertising campaigns, building IT infrastructure and incremental earnings for OFS winners, among others. Furthermore, close to 50% of transactions on OFS platforms in 2019 were initiated from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, thereby promoting digital payments literacy and adoption. The report further deep dives into the symbiotic relationship between real-life sports and fantasy sports. A dipstick survey with 750+ respondents found that for 55% of the respondents, the engagement with fantasy sports increases the consumption of real-life sports. Further, over 65% of the respondents indicated that there is a direct increase in the time spent in analyzing, watching and reading about Sports once they start participating in online fantasy sports. Besides increasing sports consumption among sports fans, fantasy sports also supports the sports ecosystem by sponsoring live-sporting events, across Cricket, Football, Basketball, Volleyball etc., by partnering with sporting personalities and giving back to sports via philanthropic initiatives. Due to the rapid growth of OFS, a new segment of the fantasy research ecosystem is also fast emerging across different digital platforms. Talking about the growth of the fantasy sports industry in India in his speech at GamePlan 2020, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said, “I have very keenly followed the growth of Indian fantasy sports industry as a supporter of technology and good governance. I am a long term believer that India must become a global champion of the fantasy sports industry. Sports across all facets, including fantasy sports, could well be a game-changer for employment and career opportunities. Given our Government’s initiatives like ‘Digital India’ and ‘Startup India’, I believe that we can harness the power of fantasy sports and create a robust sports ecosystem to boost its growth in the next few years. Post pandemic I am confident that the industry will not just rebound but will lead the way for sustainable technology-enabled growth secured by good governance.” Commenting on the report findings, John Loffhagen, Chairman, FIFS, said, “The COVID-19 impacted the Indian OFS industry in FY21 with sports matches across the globe cancelled to ensure player &amp; staff safety. Specific to India, with IPL getting postponed, ~30-40% of the revenues for most of the OFS operators were impacted for the quarter. As real-life sports is making a promising return, Indian sports fans are in for a non-stop sporting action for 8-9 months. As most of these matches will be held without an in-stadia audience, we are sure that fantasy sports being a highly immersive fan engagement platform will experience a strong surge in demand by the Indian sports fans.” Girish Menon, Head of Media and Entertainment and Partner, <keyword id="146882" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KPMG-India">KPMG India</keyword>, further added, “Online fantasy sports in India has seen rapid growth, reaching a revenue size of INR 2,470 crore in FY20. This growth has also contributed immensely to the overall ecosystem around fantasy sports including online payment platforms, tech vendors, data analytics, etc. and has had a positive impact on the consumption and growth of the overall sports landscape in India. While COVID-19 may result in a temporary blip in the upward trajectory of the fantasy sports segment, the medium to long term growth prospects of the segment remain robust, with the gradual return of international sport. Further, in a post COVID world, with social distancing measures in place, fantasy sports is likely to play an increasingly important role in connecting fans to their favourite sports and increasing fan engagement.” Key findings from the KPMG survey conducted among 750 respondents: <ul><li>For 55% of the respondents, their engagement with sports increased once they started engaging with fantasy sports</li><li>32% of all fantasy sports users, engaged with more than one sport on the platform</li><li>Over 65% of these respondents indicated that there is a direct increase in the time spent in analysing, watching and reading about the sport once they start participating on fantasy sports online</li><li>Fantasy Sports users who engaged with OFS platforms more than 4 times a week spent an average ~215 minutes/week watching sports in comparison to users who engaged less than 4 times a week and spent ~160-180 minutes/week watching sports</li><li>16% of the OFS users categorically mentioned that the key motive of watching the sports leagues is to track the performance of their OFS teams</li><li>77% of fantasy sports users are engaged in cricket contests followed by Football at 47% &amp; Kabaddi at 9%</li><li>~15-20% of the active users on OFS platforms are paid-users, which is significant given the relatively younger vintage of the industry as compared to other digital businesses</li></ul>

Indian Fantasy Sports contributes Rs 750 crore in FY20: Report

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="28008" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tom-Brady">Tom Brady</keyword>'s <keyword id="4668945" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="nft">NFT</keyword> platform, <keyword id="17851" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Autograph">Autograph</keyword>, is partnering with <keyword id="3073342" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="draftkings">DraftKings</keyword> and <keyword id="193261" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lionsgate">Lionsgate</keyword> to offer thematic digital collectibles. </li><li>The platform will launch this summer.</li><li>Autograph is launching exclusive deals with Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and <keyword id="2549627" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Naomi-Osaka">Naomi Osaka</keyword>, among others.</li></ul>Autograph, the NFT platform co-founded by NFL quarterback Tom Brady, announced Tuesday that it is partnering with fantasy sports website <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/dkng-stock?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">DraftKings</a> and entertainment firm <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lgf-a-stock">Lionsgate</a> to offer sports and entertainment-themed digital collectibles.The platform will officially launch its NFTs this summer.Sports-related content will be sold exclusively on DraftKings Marketplace, which will be available to users with existing DraftKings account. Once launched, millions will be able to seamlessly buy, sell, and trade digital collectibles.Entertainment-related content, meanwhile, will be available in Lionsgate, Autograph's entertainment vertical. The first wave of content will focus on franchises including the Hunger Games, Rambo IV &amp; V, Dirty Dancing, Blair Witch, Mad Men, John Wick, The Divergent Series, The Expendables, and The Twilight Saga.Los Angeles-based Autograph is also launching exclusive deals with Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka, and Tony Hawk who will all be joining the company's advisory board.NFTs are digital representations of any form of artwork tied to a blockchain, typically on ethereum. Each NFT has a signature that can be verified in the public ledger and cannot be duplicated or edited.When people buy NFTs, they gain the rights to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-people-buying-nfts-investing-in-nft-crypto-art-2021-3?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestedium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unique token</a> on the blockchain, not the artworks themselves. But the fact that the information on a blockchain is next to impossible to alter makes NFTs appealing."We are honored to partner with these powerful icons and marquee businesses, DraftKings and Lionsgate," said Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder and co-chairman of Autograph. "As the nascent NFT market continues to develop, we are fortunate to enlist these leading partners with additional luminaries to be announced in the near future."Apart from Brady, other celebrities such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-celebrities-grimes-mark-cuban-lindsay-lohan-gronk-shawn-mendes-2021-3">Lindsay Lohan</a> and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/katy-perry-is-selling-her-own-nfts-on-a-video-streaming-platform-2021-7">Katy Perry</a> have launched their own tokens, as well as prominent figures including Twitter's Jack Dorsey. NFTs have soared in popularity this year. Sales volume of tokens<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/nft-value-sales-h1-dappradar-nonfungible-tokens-crypto-hype-2021-7?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reached $2.5 billion</a> in the first half of 2021, according to analytics firm DappRadar.

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