Dream11 having a dream run with cricket frenzy at its peak

The craze for cricket is at its peak this year thanks to the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and it is going to reach another level once the World Cup starts. The love for cricket is translating well for television, online video platforms and also fantasy sports platforms. And it looks like the biggest benefactor is Dream11, the eSports company that recently became India's first gaming unicorn.

In conversation with Moneycontrol, Harsh Jain, CEO and co-founder, Dream11, said: "Cricket has always been a very important sport since it is the most passionately followed sport in India."

Talking about IPL, he said: "In the last few IPL seasons, Dream11 has seen tremendous growth both in terms of user engagement and acquisition. Prior to IPL 2018, we had about 2 crore users and by the end of the season, we had hit almost 4 crore users. This year as well we expect to see our biggest growth spurt during IPL, especially after becoming the official partner of Vivo IPL, which will help us in achieving our target of growth."

The fantasy sports platform is betting big on the ICC World Cup and is the exclusive official fantasy game partner of ICC. "By the end of 2019, we are targeting 10 crore users at the back of various national and international team sporting events like ICC World Cup, Pro Kabaddi, ISL (Indian Super League), EPL (English Premier League), FIH Pro Leagues (international men's hockey competition)," said Jain.

While cricket is one of the most lucrative sport for Dream11, it is also focusing on other sporting leagues and is the official fantasy gaming partner of ICC, PKL, ISL, NBA, BBL, CPL and FIH.

"Indian sports fans are still cricket crazy, however, an increasing number have started to enjoy diversity in sports. Currently, around 85 percent of users on Dream11 play fantasy cricket as compared to 95 percent three years ago. By 2020, this ratio is expected to reduce further to 65 percent," said Jain.

Jain said that the ruling regarding Dream11's format of fantasy sports being a ‘Game of Skill’ in 2017, clarifying Dream11 as not gambling (or betting/wagering) and as a legitimate business activity protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India was another factor that fuelled growth.

"Dream11 has grown exponentially in the last two years. As per the IFSG-KPMG report, in terms of total user base on a fantasy sports platform, Dream11 is the market leader with over 50 million users (now almost 65 million)," said Jain.

In the past two years, Dream11 appointed MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador and entered into an official partnership with sports leagues and sports associations. It further signed up with seven IPL teams and IPL cricketers.

The platform that offers a freemium model of daily fantasy sports lets users choose the option of either free-to-play or pay-to-play format. In pay-to-play contests, users pay an entry fee, wherein Dream11 charges a platform fee. The average ticket size is Rs 35.

“About 90 percent of our users play on free contests and we don’t monetize them via ads. We are ad-free because we want to focus on providing the best user experience,” said Jain.

Although Dream11 is seeing a strong momentum in India Jain still feels that fantasy sports still is a nascent industry. And this is probably why more players entering the eSports space is not worrying him. According to a Forbes report, the number of game-developing companies have gone up to 250 in 2018 from 25 in 2010.