The IPL match is about to begin and the tension is palpable among the friends gathered in front of their devices, logged on to the StarPick app. As soon as the captains play the toss and announce the team lineups, the frenzy of building their fantasy teams picks up, while simultaneously connecting with one another on WhatsApp, trading analyses and stats. When the match starts, and one starts accumulating points based on the performance of the teams in the IPL match, is when the actual bragging rights are acquired. Your assembled fantasy team wins the maximum points and along with your favourite IPL team, you win too. The exuberance and disappointments dominate WhatsApp conversations.
This is one of the thousands of scenarios that play out across India, and the way sports are now being consumed. IPL and other sports seasons are under way, and for millions of sports fans that means it's time to start the Game of Skills every day. Analysing players, referring to stats or putting together your fantasy team – welcome to the world of fantasy sports.
Platforms like StarPick Fantasy Sports offer enthusiasts an opportunity to experience ownership of their own virtual teams, by selecting real athletes from major sports tournaments while competing with other virtual team owners (participants) online. They are mobile and web-based games where users put together their own teams and challenge other participants. Points are scored, and the winner is determined based on how the participant's virtual player selections perform in real-life games. StarPick was founded with the objective of becoming the leading and most comprehensive fantasy sports platform in the country. The StarPick app gives a chance to its participants to stay connected, whether they are in the same city or on opposite sides of the world.
Fantasy sports in India is a game changer as it provides a forum for people playing to stay in contact, to have something to talk about, and celebrate wins just like in stadiums. For a StarPick user like Prasanth from Chennai, a platform like StarPick enables him to stay connected and engaged with a sport that he is passionate about. The experience with players appears real when one transacts to create teams like a team owner.
In this scenario one would wonder about the concept of fantasy sports that is enthusing sports fans to play high-tech games of make-believe, which are games that often keep them obsessively checking scores and tweaking lineups. It's about the love of the game, camaraderie and the associated adrenaline rush! Fantasy sports might seem like a simple sport of thrill in the grand scheme of things, but can be tons of fun and offers an enjoyable source of bragging rights amongst friends.
The fantasy sports industry has witnessed a quick growth in India and has derived deep engagement with sports fans with a game of sporting knowledge and skills. With the sports frenzy in India on a fast growth track and consumer behaviour shifting towards intelligent engagement, fantasy sports is poised to change the way fans interact with one another, just the way it did in other countries especially in the US and Europe. With the number of users growing exponentially in India, this industry will witness more users waiting to use their share of bragging rights.
