Fantasy sports have become a massive buzzword in today’s time. Anyone who is a huge fan of cricket knows that they can enhance their interest in the game by taking part in fantasy sports. Fantasy sports is a relatively newer concept in India. One of the biggest fantasy sports platforms in India is Dream 11 – it is truly a dream for all the cricket fans out there. Before understanding how and why fantasy sports have grown so popular in today’s times, let us first understand the meaning of these sports.
What Are Fantasy Sports?
In simple terms, fantasy sports are games that are based on online prediction. A few years back, we could never imagine that we could create a virtual team of our favorite players who originally belong to different teams competing against each other. But as they say – anything can happen in your fantasies, this fantasy has been brought into reality by the idea of ‘fantasy sports’. All you have got to do is create a virtual team based on your knowledge and judgment about the players and win rewards and prizes based on real-life statistics. The ‘players’ who play or participate in fantasy sports are often termed as ‘managers’. The virtual teams indulge in a competition that is based on the statistical performance of the players in their real games. These real-life statistics are converted into fantasy points that are calculated for each ‘manager’. A lot of people say that fantasy sports help us take a peek into the actual professional life of the sports or games managers.
Some popular fantasy sports platforms
As discussed above, Dream 11 is a great platform for fantasy sports. You can create your own fantasy cricket team on the platform and win amazing rewards and prizes. It is one of the leaders in the field of fantasy sports. Apart from Dream 11, other useful and amazing platforms are –
- Mobile premier league (MPL)
- Cricplay
- Ballebaazi
- Rummy Circle
- Halaplay
Now, these are just a few examples of some great fantasy sports platforms. Apart from these, you will find more amazing platforms that will take your breath away once you start playing fantasy sports. The best part about fantasy sports is that thanks to them, the sports industry has shifted from a passive to a more active approach where people have become more and more interested in the real-time actions of the players.
The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) – A self-regulatory body of fantasy sports, FIFS was set up in 2017 to protect consumer interest and form some standard best practices for these sports to be played in India.
Fantasy Sports – A game of skills
As soon as fantasy sports emerged, there was a huge question mark around the legality of it. The primary hurdle in terms of the legal issues was to figure out whether fantasy sports are a game of skills or a game of chance. However, after a lot of discussions and debates, the majority of people now confirm that it is a game of skills and wit. Without an excellent presence of mind, no manager will be able to form a team of players who will make them win prizes for a consistent period of time. Fantasy sports require skills because, without good judgment and analysis, you will not be able to select players properly. However, even after this conclusion, many people raise debates and questions around the legality and significance of fantasy sports and they are still terming it as a game of gambling.
What is the future of fantasy sports?
Since there are some apprehensions in terms of fantasy sports, there might be some stricter rules to play these games in order to eliminate the risk of addiction and misuse. However, these risks are possible in every activity we indulge in so moderation is always the key to do anything. in today’s scenario, there are many upcoming startups for fantasy sports that are expected to grow and develop in near future. As more and more people are understanding how it works and what are the benefits of indulging in fantasy sports, they are getting even more popular. This is especially true in terms of cricket. There are so many people in India who are huge fans of the game. Thus, their interest, which was earlier passive, has not taken a more active approach by taking part in various fantasy sports or contests related to cricket. These games are slowly catch up in India because people are now understanding that they are a game of skills and not luck or chance. In this era of technology, as everything is getting virtual day by day, fantasy sports are another online source of entertainment and even earning money and rewards. Once you get into the practice of managing your own team, you will realize how great it feels to play fantasy sports.
Other games that are on a rise in India
Apart from fantasy sports, there are a lot of other online games that are gaining huge popularity in this country. One of the most popular games is online poker. If you know how to play poker, you will realize how it helps to enhance and gain various life skills. It is a game of skills that can even teach you how to live your life the right way. Gone are the days when games were just played for entertainment or to pass your time. Nowadays, online games are played in order to enhance your mental and cognitive capabilities and become more competent. Apart from poker, even rummy is becoming really popular on various online gaming platforms. The best part about online card games is that you do not need a physical set of cards or the physical presence of players in order to play the game making online gaming more convenient and easy to use. Moreover, even the old board games, such as Ludo, snake and ladder, etc. have again come in trend as more and more people have started playing them online. Thus, as a lot of online games are becoming popular, the gaming industry, in general, is evolving for good.
Summing up
A few years back, we could not have imagined playing the game of our fantasies but here we are – forming our dream team and managing them to win and perform the best. Converting the real-life statistics into our fantasy points sounds too good! Now you can win prizes and great rewards just by trusting and acting on your judgment and decision-making ability. Fantasy sport has been gaining a lot of popularity in India lately and in the future also, it is expected to become more popular and common for all gaming and sports enthusiasts.
