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<ul><li><keyword id="7087972" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> will be the principal sponsor for both the Knight Riders Franchises in IPL &amp; CPL - <keyword id="6354467" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata-Knight-Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword> (KKR) and <keyword id="3240868" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trinbago-Knight-Riders">Trinbago Knight Riders</keyword> (TKR).</li><li>While CPL is scheduled to start on August 18, 2020 and conclude on September 10, 2020 in Trinidad, IPL will start on September 19, 2020 in UAE and conclude on Nov 10, 2020.</li></ul> The Knight Riders and Mobile Premier League (MPL) has announced that MPL will be the principal sponsor for both the Knight Riders Franchises in IPL &amp; CPL - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR). <keyword id="433176" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Venky-Mysore">Venky Mysore</keyword>, CEO &amp; MD, Knight Riders said, “We are very excited to partner with MPL, which is a vibrant Indian start-up company promoted and run by a group of young and innovative people, in Esports and Gaming, that is bound to grow significantly. Our partnership across KKR in IPL and TKR in CPL, will create new opportunities to socialise and activate our partnership. <keyword id="6176095" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Madhavan">Abhishek Madhavan</keyword>, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL, said, “We are excited to be the principal sponsors for Kolkata Knight Riders. The team has been a household name right from the start and have won the prestigious IPL championship twice. They have some stellar players and the team competes to win, which is what MPL is all about as well, so it is the perfect marriage that will help us take our brand to more users. With Trinbago Knight Riders, one of the strongest teams, having won the CPL Championship three times, as its sister franchise, this association will help us take MPL to the international sports arena.” CPL is scheduled to start on August 18, 2020 and conclude on September 10, 2020 in Trinidad, which will feature three-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and five other teams. IPL is scheduled to start on September 19, 2020 in UAE and conclude on Nov 10, 2020, which will feature two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and seven other teams.

Mobile Premier League is the principal sponsor for KKR and TKR for IPL and CPL

<ul><li><keyword id="7087972" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> had plans of spending 40% of its marketing budget on <keyword id="6354312" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> this year.</li><li>With the suspension of the league, we speak to <keyword id="6176095" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Madhavan">Abhishek Madhavan</keyword>, Senior Vice President, Growth and Marketing, MPL who tells us how the brand plans to communicate with its consumers now, and what its plans to grow the business further is.</li></ul>The <keyword id="6357332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaming">gaming</keyword> and esports sector in India has been witnessing good growth in India, thanks to improved accessibility in technology and cheaper internet. That investors and venture capitalists are putting in monies in the sector is further proof that there is a huge opportunity. A recent report by <keyword id="274082" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maple-Capital-Advisors">Maple Capital Advisors</keyword> stated that the Indian gaming sector saw investments of around $544 million between the August 2020 and January 2021 period, a number that is expected to double over the next 12-18 months on the back of higher user awareness and accelerated engagement. Over the past few years, we have seen a number of e-gaming players enter the market. Many of these have been spending substantial amounts on advertising too. One such player, Mobile Premier League (MPL), announced in February this year that it had raised $95 million in a Series D round of funding, bringing its value to $945 million after raising. With this fresh round of funding, MPL planned to expand its eSports portfolio and bolster its efforts to organize more eSports tournaments nationally and internationally at scale. It is also looking at accelerating its international expansion this year. Last month, MPL also acquired esports gaming platform <keyword id="6231572" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="GamingMonk">GamingMonk</keyword> that hosts esports tournaments across multiple platforms. MPL had invested on the Indian Premier League last year and reaped impressive results, it saw the number of gamers on its platform go up 7X post IPL so this year too, the platform had launched an aggressive campaign to grab maximum eyeballs during the league. However, with the suspension of the league, how does it impact its marketing plans for the rest of the year? We spoke to Abhishek Madhavan, Senior Vice President, Growth and Marketing, MPL who told us how the year has been so far for the platform and what more we can expect from it through the rest of the year. Excerpts: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) We had thought 2020 was a difficult year but 2021 has been an even difficult one so far. How has the year been so far for MPL from a business standpoint?" text="Q) We had thought 2020 was a difficult year but 2021 has been an even difficult one so far. How has the year been so far for MPL from a business standpoint?">Q) We had thought 2020 was a difficult year but 2021 has been an even difficult one so far. How has the year been so far for MPL from a business standpoint?</cmsannotation> It’s been quite a year in general. What the country is witnessing is unprecedented and right now, our focus is on trying to do our bit in helping out and ensuring that our employees and their families are safe. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) In terms of growth, the pandemic had led to a lot of people staying at home, exploring newer ways of keeping themselves entertained and fantasy gaming benefited from that. What kind of growth have you witnessed in the last one year?" text="Q) In terms of growth, the pandemic had led to a lot of people staying at home, exploring newer ways of keeping themselves entertained and fantasy gaming benefited from that. What kind of growth have you witnessed in the last one year?">Q) In terms of growth, the pandemic had led to a lot of people staying at home, exploring newer ways of keeping themselves entertained and fantasy gaming benefited from that. What kind of growth have you witnessed in the last one year?</cmsannotation> Last year’s lockdown due to the pandemic was a black swan event that nobody could have foreseen. Yet, it did help the gaming industry as people explored their skills by taking to gaming platforms from their homes. However, pure fantasy apps were affected due to the lack of live sporting action last year. That being said, we added over 3 crore users on MPL last year. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) You were supposed to spend 40% of our ad budget on IPL. As the league stands postponed indefinitely, how are you modifying your marketing plans for the rest of the year?" text="Q) You were supposed to spend 40% of our ad budget on IPL. As the league stands postponed indefinitely, how are you modifying your marketing plans for the rest of the year?">Q) You were supposed to spend 40% of our ad budget on IPL. As the league stands postponed indefinitely, how are you modifying your marketing plans for the rest of the year?</cmsannotation> We will be back on IPL media properties whenever the league returns. However, since our business is not IPL dependent, we are looking at other conventional media channels to run our brand campaigns on, at the moment. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) You had an aim of increasing your user base to 10 crore by the end of the league. How do you aim to achieve this target now?" text="Q) You had an aim of increasing your user base to 10 crore by the end of the league. How do you aim to achieve this target now?">Q) You had an aim of increasing your user base to 10 crore by the end of the league. How do you aim to achieve this target now?</cmsannotation> We are a gaming platform. And while the IPL definitely helps us, what we offer our users goes beyond just fantasy sports. There are over 50 games on MPL across categories like esports, casual, fantasy, etc, and once things get better for the country, you will hear from us on our campaigns. Right now, our focus is on helping the situation get better in whatever way we can. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) What kind of growth had you seen from associating with IPL last year?" text="Q) What kind of growth had you seen from associating with IPL last year?">Q) What kind of growth had you seen from associating with IPL last year?</cmsannotation> Last year’s IPL broke viewership records and we too benefited from our partnerships and associations with teams such as KKR and RCB. We engaged our gamers with activities such as player meet-and-greets, special contests, and giveaways. During IPL 2020, the number of fantasy gamers on MPL increased by 7 times compared to pre-IPL, and the number of daily installs of the MPL app increased by 100% compared to pre-IPL 2020. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) In the last few years, there has been a boom of fantasy gaming platforms in India. How are you differentiating yourself?" text="Q) In the last few years, there has been a boom of fantasy gaming platforms in India. How are you differentiating yourself?">Q) In the last few years, there has been a boom of fantasy gaming platforms in India. How are you differentiating yourself?</cmsannotation> We are a full-fledged gaming platform with a 365-day value proposition and we aren’t a fantasy app that is dependent on sport seasons or leagues. With our wide variety of games and features, we attract a wide range of users above the age of 18, going all the way to ages 60 and above. Gamers can find all kinds of games on our platform, along with social features to connect with the gaming community. We are also organising fortnightly esports tournaments in games such as Chess, World Cricket Championship, etc, and entry to these tournaments is absolutely free, with lakhs in prize money up for grabs. We are also live-streaming these tournaments to millions of viewers through our social media handles. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) Where do you think MPL's next phase of growth will come from?" text="Q) Where do you think MPL's next phase of growth will come from?">Q) Where do you think MPL's next phase of growth will come from?</cmsannotation> Esports is currently on the upswing in India and across the world. We think India has an abundance of talent in esports and mobile esports is the best way forward in recognising and honing this vast talent pool. Esports being recognised by traditional sports competitions like the Asian Games is a big boost for this sector. We aim to take esports to the masses via our mobile application and are geared for the growth coming in from this sector. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) Will you continue with your Hain Akal Khelo MPL campaign despite IPL's suspension considering it had been gaining traction?" text="Q) Will you continue with your Hain Akal Khelo MPL campaign despite IPL's suspension considering it had been gaining traction?">Q) Will you continue with your Hain Akal Khelo MPL campaign despite IPL's suspension considering it had been gaining traction?</cmsannotation> The core message behind the ‘Hain Akal Khelo MPL’ campaign is that fantasy sports require skill and knowledge of the game. While we launched it along with the IPL, the campaign continues to run as the core message applies to all fantasy sports. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q) What is your vision for MPL? Where do you want to see it in the next few years?" text="Q) What is your vision for MPL? Where do you want to see it in the next few years?">Q) What is your vision for MPL? Where do you want to see it in the next few years?</cmsannotation> We want to be the world’s biggest esports and skill gaming platform. That is the vision we have right from the start and we feel India is poised to become a global leader in esports. We have a great number of skilled game developers who can make games for the world and we have so many gamers who are waiting for an opportunity to excel in esports. By bringing them together on our platform, we can exhibit India’s prowess to the world. Our Indonesia business is doing really well and this has encouraged us to plan to expand to other geographies as we march towards realizing our vision.

We will be back on IPL media properties whenever the league returns: Abhishek Madhavan, Mobile Premier League

<ul><li><keyword id="6422069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-gaming">Online gaming</keyword> is growing in India by leaps and bounds. The pandemic has given the industry a further boost.</li><li>During the past few months, many homegrown gaming platforms have seen unprecedented growth.</li><li>Founded in 2018, <keyword id="7087972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> has also witnessed a good growth, with many of its users coming from Tier II and Tier III cities.</li><li><keyword id="6176095" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Madhavan">Abhishek Madhavan</keyword>, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL tells us about the platform's journey so far and how its plans to grow its presence further.</li></ul> The online gaming industry in India is booming. Even before the pandemic hit, and people took to online games, the Indian gaming industry was growing at a healthy speed. <keyword id="906162" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-gaming">Mobile gaming</keyword> in India has been growing at a rapid rate due to development as well as smartphones becoming more affordable. According to Statista, the market value of mobile gaming in India was estimated to reach about $405 million by 2022. The number of mobile phone gamers was anticipated to be around 628 million by 2020 according to the forecast. Another report by investment bank Maple Capital Advisors titled Gaming – India Story stated that by 2024, the overall gaming industry in India is set to be valued at $3,750 million. The lockdown, while hitting most industries hard, has come as a boost for the Indian gaming industry. In the past few months, we have seen people not just take to offline games to spend time with family, a lot of them are enjoying their me-time playing different kinds of online games. Made-in-India games like Ludo King have witnessed an unprecedented growth, not just in India but even outside India. One such gaming platform that has witnessed an unprecedented growth during these last few months is Mobile Premier League (MPL). Not only is MPL sponsoring teams in leagues like IPL, it recently made news when it announced that it will be the presenting sponsor for <keyword id="8654765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bigg-boss-2020">Bigg Boss 2020</keyword>. The platform is also witnessing a huge demand from smaller cities. Currently, it has over 40 million registered users in India and around 3 million registered users in Indonesia. Having Sequoia, Go Ventures, Times Internet, RTP Global, BeeNext, Venture Highway as its investors, the startup has raised a total of $40.5 million till date. We recently caught up Abhishek Madhavan, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL to understand the factors that have led to his growth and their plans for the future. Excerpts: Q) The lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise for the gaming industry. What kind of growth has MPL witnessed in the last few months? We witnessed 3-4x overall growth over this period. Number of games played per day for some of our popular titles like WCC increased by 400%. We also saw that new users coming onto our platform played 3-4 different games on average. Q) There has been an overall increase in people taking up gaming from smaller cities. What kind of growth have you witnessed coming in from smaller cities and what are the factors that have accelerated this growth? MPL has always had a substantial presence in Tier II and Tier III cities across the country. A lot of the growth of gaming in smaller cities can be attributed to 4G data and smartphones easily available to more people. We also foresee more growth in this regard as internet and smartphone penetration increases across the country. One of our first digital sports scholars, VS Rathanvel is from Coimbatore and he won the first Chess Mahayudhorganised by MPL in July 2019. The runner-up in the same competition was Ankit Rajpara, who is from Mehsana in Gujarat. Q) What is your revenue model right now? What kind of increase have you seen in in-app purchases in recent months? Are you witnessing people from smaller cities also spend money on gaming? MPL is a gaming platform and we charge a platform fee for paid contests/tournaments. All our games are also available for free. We have seen an increase in our users participating in paid contests and tournaments. Q) How have you been marketing your platform? We just partnered with Kolkata Knight Riders and its sister franchise in the Caribbean- Trinbago Knight Riders - as their principal sponsor. Recently, we even sponsored the Irish Men’s Cricket team for the ODI series against England. These are some of our current marquee brand marketing activities. We also command a good presence in television and digital advertisements and we ensure that the messaging is simple, honest and that it resonates with our audience. Q) Where do you think the next phase of growth for MPL will come from? We are a platform, with a variety of games and content cutting across categories. We will look to add more games from various game developers. Our live-streaming feature for audio and video has also picked up so we are excited about that as well. Q) Where does India rank when it comes to growth in online gaming? Esports has taken off in the country and we have even won a Bronze medal in the Asian Games 2018, where they had esports for the first time. We have a lot of talent in gaming and esports and with the industry becoming mainstream, we can hope to do better on the world stage. Q) What is your vision for MPL? We aim to become a one-stop shop platform for gamers and game developers. We already have 50+ games on our app and have over 15 gaming studios as our developer partners. We want to work with more and more indigenous game developers and give them a platform to showcase their games to our user base. The more the number of quality games, the more our users will have a great experience on the platform.

Mobile Premier League wants to give a boost to indigenous game developers by showcasing their games to its wide set of audience

<ul><li><keyword id="7087972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> has reportedly signed the Indian cricket captain for ₹120 million. </li><li><keyword id="6354832" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ms-dhoni">MS Dhoni</keyword> had earlier come on board as a brand ambassador for fantasy gaming platform Dream11. </li><li>With the World Cup and IPL around the corner, these <keyword id="7391940" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-gaming">e-gaming</keyword> platforms are set to garner more users and reach. </li></ul>Indian e-sports startup Mobile Premier League has signed on <keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> as its brand ambassador for <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/gaming-startup-mpl-ropes-in-kohli-in-rs-12-crore-deal/articleshow/68262218.cms">₹120 million. </a> What makes the deal unique is that the Mobile Premier League being just 10 months into the business decided to bring on board Kohli, who is currently <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/gaming-startup-mpl-ropes-in-kohli-in-rs-12-crore-deal/articleshow/68262218.cms">India’s top</a> celebrity brand endorser. Meanwhile, former Indian men’s cricket team captain and Kohli’s friend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni endorses the fantasy gaming platform Dream11. Dhoni was signed by the startup as its brand ambassador in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. With the upcoming frenzy of not just IPL but also the World Cup, e-sports platforms are looking at raking in a lot of business, targeting more users. While users admittedly get the incentive to also make money through these platforms, that does not appear to be the important factor driving the growth of these startups. A recent study done by the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming and KPMG showed that across all age and income groups, ‘Fun and Excitement’ is the primary motivator for playing fantasy sports. “The ‘Opportunity to win money’ was seen as one of the motivators for around 30% of respondents, however, this was only the 5th most important factor for engagement,” stated the report. The Indian online gaming market has hit it off in a big way with the segment set to <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/indian-gaming-market-to-grow-to-11-bn-by-2021/article23712355.ece">grow</a> to $1.1 billion by 2021. With the cricketers battling it out in the game of endorsements, what remains to be seen is who can help the startups hit it out of the park. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-why-indian-brands-can-no-longer-ignore-the-countrys-women-during-ipl-matches/articleshow/68153213.cms">Brands can no longer ignore Indian women during the country's most popular sporting event</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-is-building-the-worlds-largest-cricket-stadium-bigger-than-the-one-in-melbourne/articleshow/67421201.cms">India is building the world’s largest cricket stadium–bigger than the one in Melbourne</a>

It’s Virat Kohli Vs MS Dhoni in the Indian e-gaming space

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6370199" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Federation-of-Sports-Gaming">Indian Federation of Sports Gaming</keyword> (IFSG) is the country’s only self-regulatory industry body.</li><li>It has appointed former <keyword id="137646" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court-judge">Supreme Court judge</keyword> <keyword id="798960" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="AK-Sikri">AK Sikri</keyword> as its Ethics Officer. </li><li>The Indian <keyword id="6370198" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fantasy-gaming">fantasy gaming</keyword> market is projected to touch $5 billion in the next two years with players like Dream11, Mobile Premier League leading the industry.</li></ul>As the fantasy gaming market grows in India, The Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG), which is the country’s only self-regulatory industry body, has appointed former Supreme Court judge AK Sikri as its Ethics Officer. Sikri, as the Ombudsman, will be responsible for investigating queries/complaints raised by users. “The sports gaming industry provides an untapped opportunity for sports lovers to showcase their sports knowledge and come closer to their favorite sport. As the industry prepares for the next wave of sports enthusiasts, as a self-regulatory industry body it is important to protect and educate operators and users about the industry and its best practices,” said Justice A K Sikri, Ombudsman, IFSG. IFSG currently has 32 members across fantasy sports operators and sports analytics firms. The Indian fantasy gaming market is projected to touch $5 billion in the next two years and has players like Dream11, Mobile Premier League leading the industry. Dream11, which has over 60 million users is associated with major cricketing events like the Indian Premier League and the ICC World Cup. MS Dhoni is its brand ambassador. Dream11 also became India’s first gaming unicorn in April 2019. Another player in the same field is Mobile Premier League which gained 20 million users within seven months of its launch. It also raised $35.5 million from Sequoia India. MPL has Indian skipper Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.

Indian regulatory body for fantasy gaming appoints former Supreme Court judge AK Sikri as its Ethics Officer

<ul><li>Newly launched startup <keyword id="7750611" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="apne11">Apne11</keyword> has roped in <keyword id="1229" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kapil-Dev">Kapil Dev</keyword> to be its brand advisor. </li><li>The Indian fantasy gaming market is a hot one right now with the ICC Cricket World Cup going on.</li><li>Startups like <keyword id="6214644" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dream11">Dream11</keyword> and Mobile Premier League have already become established names in the sector.</li></ul>As the fantasy gaming industry in India grows along with the World Cup fever, more and more startups are entering the industry. A newly launched startup Apne11 has roped in former Indian skipper Kapil Dev to be its ‘brand advisor’. “I am thrilled to be associated with Apne11 as it will present an open opportunity for millions to compete against one another and have the chance to connect with sports on an even deeper level than before,” said Dev. Apne11 follows the same mantra as most fantasy gaming startups – users get to choose their own team on the platform from amongst the players on the actual field and be awarded points in accordance with the performance of the selected team combination. Growing market The Indian fantasy gaming market is projected to touch $5 billion in the next two years, according to Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation. However, this sector already has the presence of the likes of Dream11, which has over 60 million users and is also associated with major cricketing events like the Indian Premier League and the ICC World Cup along with having <keyword id="6354832" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ms-dhoni">MS Dhoni</keyword> as its brand ambassador. Dream11 also became India’s first gaming unicorn in April 2019. Another player in the same field is Mobile Premier League which got 20 million users within seven months of its launch along with a funding of $35.5 million from Sequoia India. MPL has current Indian skipper <keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> as its brand ambassador. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/icc-cricket-world-cup-2019-star-network-and-hotstar-viewership/articleshow/69719956.cms">ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 viewership so far on Hotstar is far from the IPL peak</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/icc-cricket-world-cup-2019-dream11s-userbase-can-hit-90-million/articleshow/69580087.cms">As England vs South Africa game kicks off, the World Cup is fuelling Dream11's dream run in 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mobile-premier-league-raises-series-a-funding-of-35-5-million-from-sequoia-india-times-internet-and-goventures/articleshow/69017909.cms">This 7-month old startup has $35.5 million funding from Sequoia and Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador</a>

This 1983 cricket World Cup star just turned brand advisor for India’s latest fantasy gaming startup

<ul><li>In an interview with Business Insider, co-founder of <keyword id="7087972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> Sai Srinivas Kiran G. talks about how they raked up 20 million users in just 7 months. </li><li>The platform has raised a series A funding from <keyword id="563136" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia-India">Sequoia India</keyword>, Times Internet, and GoVentures, along with participation from existing investors. </li><li><keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> is the brand ambassador of the platform.</li></ul>Mobile Premier League, the <keyword id="3351303" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaming-startup">gaming startup</keyword>, has raised a series A funding of $35.5 million led by Sequoia India, Times Internet, and GoVentures. And what’s more, the just 7-month old startup also has Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. In August 2017, Sai Srinivas Kiran G. and Shubham Malhotra started the gaming platform when they realised three things they call the “holy trinity of the internet” – the price of data today is almost zero, the price of a device is extremely cheap and the third but the biggest factor, people now have an accessible and very convenient method for payments. “That’s when we thought why can’t we build a platform where people come together, pick a game of their choice and compete in tournaments across the country and hopefully one day, across the world. That’s how the Mobile Premier League came about,” Sai told Business Insider. MPL is a horizontal mobile eSports platform where every day about 25-30 online gaming tournaments are held. Every day for some of their tournaments, 150,000 to 300,000 are competing to win, said Sai. While MPL doesn’t develop the games themselves, it works with third-party developers and then publishes the game on the platform. “The platform today is not mature enough to be open for all developers, but the eventual goal is to make it a platform where any developer can create and then publish a game for all users,” said Sai. However, it also has a large competitor in the fantasy gaming space – Dream11, the gaming unicorn which already has MS Dhoni as its ambassador. Dream11 has over 50 million users and aims to have 100 million by the end of the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/dream11-is-eyeing-the-unicorn-tag-riding-on-ipl-and-cricket-world-cup-in-2019/articleshow/68458528.cms"> year.</a> And Sai, too, rightfully credits Dream11 to have built the fantasy gaming industry in India. But, the horizontal Indian online gaming industry today has over 200 million users and the numbers are expected to grow to 50 million by 2022. MPL too hopes to have a piece of that cake. “In just 7 months, we have had great traction as we already have about 25 million users,” he said. Helping them in their quest for growth, is Virat Kohli. Kohli’s appointment as a brand ambassador was strategic – to help introduce the brand to the millions of people who know and follow the cricketer. While Kohli too saw potential in the product to sign it up, Sai said “there was a little bit of luck mixed into the whole thing.” When it comes to funding, Sai and Malhotra are actually one of Sequoia’s favourites. Their previous startup was Creo, which built the streaming media dongles called Teewee, was also funded by Sequoia. Creo was acquired by Hike last year. Their current funding will help them grow faster by hiring the right talent to build out their product infrastructure and build not just an India centric product but a global one. They are currently making revenue from paid tournaments, sponsored tournaments, and advertising. However, Sai says that being so new in the gamef, their focus remains on user growth. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mobile-premier-league-signs-virat-kohli-as-brand-ambassador/articleshow/68266803.cms">It’s Virat Kohli Vs MS Dhoni in the Indian e-gaming space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/dream11-enters-the-unicorn-club-brings-on-board-steadview-capital/articleshow/68788418.cms">Dream11 becomes India’s first gaming unicorn</a>

This 7-month old startup has $35.5 million funding from Sequoia and Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. <a href="https://www.insider-inc.com/commerce-on-insider-inc/">Learn more.</a><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Premier League, England's top-tier soccer league, is set to resume its season with two matches on June 17. </li><li><keyword id="5601" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="NBC">NBC</keyword> is the exclusive broadcaster of the English Premier League in the United States, and it will broadcast games on its NBC <keyword id="6356028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sports">Sports</keyword> and NBC channels, as well as through the <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/premier-league" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">NBC Sports Gold</a> <keyword id="572624" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Streaming">streaming</keyword> service. </li></ul>The English Premier League's restart commences on Wednesday, June 17, with two soccer matches fans have been anticipating: Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United, and Manchester City vs. Arsenal. Both games have been on hold since March 13 when the Premier League decided to postpone its season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Following these first two games, a new "Matchday" will begin on June 19. Over the course of these initial 12 matches, all 24 Premier League teams will play. In all, there are 92 matches left in this Premier League season. With its restart on June 17, the English Premier League is the third of Europe's "big five" soccer leagues to resume play. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-bundesliga-german-soccer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">German Bundesliga</a> began playing games almost a month earlier on May 16. La Liga, which houses Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, restarted its season on June 11. The Premier League will be followed by the Italian Serie A, which has decided to resume its season on June 20. Meanwhile, French Ligue 1 made the decision to cancel its season on April 28 and will not resume this year. Getting to the point where the Premier League season could resume did not come without a number of hurdles. The league and its participating teams needed to work out several issues, including game venues, promotion and relegation, revised broadcasting agreements, responsible team training, gameday protocol and, most importantly, getting coronavirus infections and monitoring under control. The league began testing players and club staff for the virus on May 17. In all, the league <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/news/1670563" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted eight preliminary rounds of testing</a> in which 8,687 tests were administered. Sixteen of these tests came back positive. The low number of coronavirus cases throughout testing was reassuring enough for the Premier League to continue with its restart plans. Players and staff will continue to be tested twice weekly throughout the remainder of the season.<h2>When does the Premier League start?</h2>Following a three-month suspension, the 2019-20 Premier League season will resume on June 17 at 1 p.m. ET. The season was previously halted on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the league has now been given approval to continue with its remaining matches. The 2019-20 Premier League season originally began on August 9, 2019, and the season is now expected to conclude on July 26, 2020. <h2>Major storylines</h2><div type="image" title="Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, right, celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game with team mate Matteo Guendouzi, during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Arsenal, at St James' Park, in Newcastle, England, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)" height="2310" width="3080" msid="76395739" hostid="261"></div>During his introductory press conference in 2015, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp spoke about winning the Premier League within four years of taking over the club. Well, maybe the only thing more impressive than the nuanced tactics he's implemented with Liverpool, is this near-perfect prediction. Racing ahead to one of the best seasons in Premier League history, the Reds of Liverpool are on the verge of winning their first ever Premier League crown. Klopp was just a year off, as this is his fifth year as Liverpool's head coach. With a 25 point lead on second-placed Manchester City, Liverpool has all but won the Premier League title. However, there are still battles to be fought elsewhere in the league table. The top four teams in the Premier League all qualify for the Champions League group stage. The Champions League is the top Europe-wide competition, and with qualification comes significant financial benefits. <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/tables" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The current top of the table</a> sees Liverpool in first place with Manchester City, Leicester City, and Chelsea rounding out the top four in that order. However, that arrangement is far from set in stone. Resurgent Manchester United are just three points behind Chelsea, with Wolverhamption Wanderers and Sheffield United only five points out. In an unusual turn of events, perennial top four contenders Tottenham and Arsenal currently occupy the eighth and ninth positions in the standings. <h2>How to watch the Premier League</h2><div type="image" title="Premier League Ball" height="900" width="1200" msid="76395741" hostid="261"></div>NBC recently released its schedule for the <a href="https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2020/06/11/nbc-sports-premier-league-schedule-released/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first four "Matchdays" of the Premier League season</a>. The Premier League attempted to stagger the start times of its games so that viewers could watch every minute of every game. While the league was partially able to do this, the condensed nature of the schedule makes giving each game its own time slot impossible. Of the 32 games that have been announced, 26 sit in unique time slots. This means that only six of the opening 32 games will be played at the same time as other games.The games are spread across the NBC and NBC Sports channels, as well as the NBC Sports Gold streaming service. Per NBC's initial schedule, 25 of the games are on either NBC or NBC Sports. For those interested in having access to every minute of Premier League play, or whose favorite team has a game not scheduled on TV, an<a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/premier-league"> NBC Sports Gold</a> subscription is the best streaming option. If you have a supported cable or satellite package, you can watch NBC and NBC Sports' selection of games on TV or via the NBCSports app. In addition to cable and satellite providers, there are a number of streaming services that carry the NBCSports package. These include <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/6415797/type/dlg/sid/1591816100012a48wsqzby%7Cxid:fr1591816103548gfh/https://www.att.com/tv/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">AT&amp;T TV</a>, <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/welcome?irad=343747&amp;irmp=196318&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fubo.tv%2FwelcomeFwelcome" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">FuboTV</a>, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Flive-tv&amp;xcust=1591816100012auonp84x2%7Cxid:fr1591816103548aja03548aja" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Hulu+ Live TV</a>, and <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/6415797/type/dlg/sid/1591816100012amm0whxze%7Cxid:fr1591816103548iaf/https://www.sling.com/service/sling-blue" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Sling Blue</a>. You can access these services on most mobile devices, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-streaming-box-stick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media players</a>, and connected TVs, including Amazon Fire, Apple, Android, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox One, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, and more. At $30 per month, <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/6415797/type/dlg/sid/1591816100012a35082mrz%7Cxid:fr1591816103548ddi/https://www.sling.com/service/sling-blue" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Sling Blue</a> is the cheapest live TV streaming service with access to NBC and NBCSports. New customers can now receive a free three-day trial. NBC's broadcast of the English Premier League begins on Wednesday, June 17, at 1 p.m. ET with Aston Villa versus Sheffield United.

How to watch the Premier League when its soccer season resumes on June 17

The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is the most-attended cricket league on Earth. It ranks sixth among <keyword id="6356028" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sports">sports</keyword> leagues, and became the first sporting event in history to be broadcast live on YouTube back in 2010. 
 Brand IPL is a beast. It was pegged at a whopping $3.2 billion in 2014, and <keyword id="6354756" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="BCCI">BCCI</keyword> claims the 2015 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a> season contributed over $182 million to the Indian economy. 
 
In 2016, the title sponsor of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">IPL</a> is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vivo+Electronics&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vivo Electronics</a>. That means the league is now officially known as the <keyword id="215177" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Vivo">Vivo</keyword> <keyword id="6354831" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Indian-Premier-League">Indian Premier League</keyword>. Just like the IPL, the history of IPL’s title sponsorship is also muddled in a bit of controversy, confusion and drama. 
 
Back in 2008, DLF, Indian's biggest real estate company, paid a hefty sum of Rs. 200 Crores (around $36.25 million), to own the title rights for the first five years of the tournament. However, after the given period, DLF decided not to renew its contract. This forced <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=BCCI&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">BCCI</a> to issue a new tender, with a base price of Rs. 300 Crores. 
 
This was also the time when the match fixing scandal struck hard, and there was widespread skepticism about the future of the tournament. 
 
In the 2013 season of the IPL, Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and S Sreesanth were arrested over charges of spot- fixing. 
 
There were allegations that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Chennai+Super+Kings+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Chennai Super Kings </a>team principle Gurunath Meiyappan and <keyword id="13802" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rajasthan-Royals">Rajasthan Royals</keyword> co-owner Raj Kundra were involved in betting. 
 
The BCCI banned the three cricketers for life, CSK and Rajasthan Royals were banned from the tournament for two years and Meiyappan and Kundra, were banned for life. 
 
Anyway, Pepsi struck a new title sponsorship deal in 2012. The amount was almost double the original title sponsorship deal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=DLF&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">DLF</a> signed back in 2008, and everybody was happy. Officials were positive that despite all the negative colours IPL had been painted in, the league will endure. 
 
The deal was clinched for a solid Rs 396.8 Crores (around $71.77 million) for the next five years (2013-17). <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Airtel</a>, India’s largest telecom company also bid Rs. 316 Crores (around $57.27 million), but was obviously outbid. 
 
However, in 2015, the beverage giant pulled out from a five-year deal that was to end in 2017. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PepsiCo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PepsiCo</a>'s decision to end its deal with IPL was reportedly caused by the spot-fixing scandal which shook the game in 2013. 
 
In 2016, mobile company Vivo replaced <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PepsiCo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PepsiCo</a> as the title sponsor of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Premier+League&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Indian Premier League </a>(IPL), and the game continues. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

IPL Sponsorships – How it changed
hands and the drama associated with it

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Sky is increasing the price of its TV subscriptions. The network is going to raise average customer fees by more than £2.50 a month, <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/54473a9c-cda2-11e4-8760-00144feab7de.html#axzz3UowvSRb4">the Financial Times reports</a>. The move comes just weeks after it paid £4.2 billion for rights to air Premier League football matches. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2948422/10m-match-TV-football-deal-hit-viewers-pocket-Fears-broadcasters-pass-costs-customers-70-increase-paid.html">It is likely that BT, which also has a portion of the Premier League match rights, will follow suit down the line.</a>The pay-for TV service offers a "Sport bundle," which is going up by £1 a month to £47 (a 2% increase). The Family bundle, meanwhile, will cost an extra £3 per month to £36 (a 9% increase). There is no football in the family package, so it appears that even Sky subscribers who are not interested in football will be paying the Premier League's bill. The FT says that the price rises will come into effect on June 1. The price change is out of season for Sky. Usually, it increases its prices around September. The FT says explicitly that the company is trying to claw back some of the billions it paid to get some of English football's top matches. Sky managed to succeed in obtaining the maximum number of match rights. It fought off <a href="http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=5B3742C3-7ECF-482E-B309-DD5237069DD8">an increasingly aggressive BT,</a> which is slowly eating away at Sky's share of the spoils. BT paid £960 million for two of the seven TV packages available. Sky got the other five. The total £5.136 billion paid by the companies was a record sum - 71% more than the last auction in 2012. Sky paid 83% above what it did three years ago; BT 18% more, but garnered four additional fixtures to its roster, taking last year's 38 to 42 for the coming season, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31379128">the BBC reports.</a> Sky has 126 games.But Sky had to pay around £300 million more to secure its Premier League matches. It is clearly now reacting to the inflated costs. The FT notes that the company is also making cuts internally, such as changing call centres to online help desks. <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/54473a9c-cda2-11e4-8760-00144feab7de.html#axzz3UowvSRb4">Analysts actually believe Sky loses money on its sports deals</a> but makes money back through its other entertainment packages.According to the FT, Virgin Media, a rival in the media industry, competing in TV, internet service, and a mobile network, will complain to communications regulator Ofcom that the public is paying too much to watch Premier League football.Right now BT is not raising prices. It also offers its high-speed broadband customers free viewing online to its sports channels, including BT Sport. In addition, next season BT has managed to get the exclusive rights to the Champions League.BT's "free" football is likely to be temporary. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/bt-ceo-john-petter-just-calls-for-break-up-of-sky-monopoly-on-cable-tv-2015-3">BT chief John Petter was asked at a recent conference</a> in London whether his viewers would be charged more for football and he refused to be drawn - leaving everyone in the room to conclude that BT probably would charge more, at least for the Champions League, down the road. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sports-illustrated-model-molly-sims-husband-2015-1">Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Molly Sims Describes Her Perfect Man</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lzd2N1cjpEdhPKCaYPitw6PFVDXCJdWn" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "mobile premier league" and got 10 results

Mobile Premier League is the principal sponsor for KKR and TKR for IPL and CPL

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Mobile Premier League wants to give a boost to indigenous game developers by showcasing their games to its wide set of audience

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It’s Virat Kohli Vs MS Dhoni in the Indian e-gaming space

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Indian regulatory body for fantasy gaming appoints former Supreme Court judge AK Sikri as its Ethics Officer

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This 1983 cricket World Cup star just turned brand advisor for India’s latest fantasy gaming startup

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This 7-month old startup has $35.5 million funding from Sequoia and Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador

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How to watch the Premier League when its soccer season resumes on June 17

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IPL Sponsorships – How it changed hands and the drama associated with it

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Sky customers will see their bills go up for Premier League matches

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