IPL 2023 ad revenue crosses ₹10,000 crore, fantasy sports revenue increased to ₹2,800 crore

Indian fantasy sports platforms increased revenue by 24 per cent to Rs 2,800 crore during the two-month long Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 compared to Rs 2,250 crore the previous year, said a report on Tuesday.

The fantasy sports market has grown at a CAGR of 30 per cent since IPL 2019, said Redseer Strategy Consultants.

A fantasy sport is an internet game where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams that are proxies of real players of a professional sport. Virtual teams compete based on the statistical performance of players in actual games. Popular fantasy gaming platforms in India include two out of the three gaming unicorns (firms with a valuation of over $1 billion): Dream11 and MPL.

A total of 61 million users participated in fantasy gaming during the T20 cricket tournament. IPL 2023, from March 31 to May 30, had a strong user acquisition engine, with 35 per cent of new users playing for the first time on the platforms. The influx led to an 11 per cent increase in cash users during the season, with the average spend per match of Rs 127 per user.

“The top 3 platforms captured 96 per cent of the market share during the IPL 2023, and had an average revenue of Rs 458 per user for the season. The excitement of IPL also trickled into non-IPL sporting events during the season, contributing to 13 per cent of the revenue,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, partner at Redseer.

The average gross gaming revenue (GRR) during weekdays was 1.3x compared to weekends and peaked during the final match. Business Standard