The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), India’s first and only self-regulatory industry body for the fantasy sports industry released a study on ‘Understanding the sports consumption behaviour among fantasy sports users’. The research is based on a survey among 1434 respondents who engage with online fantasy sports (OFS).

  Key findings of the report:

1. 60% of fantasy sports users claim to now watch/follow sports more than before because of fantasy sports
2. 87% of those who play fantasy sports claim that they now research/ browse more information to be able to make a better strategy when playing fantasy sports
3. 59% have started watching new types of sports because of their interest in fantasy sports
4. After starting to play fantasy sports, 48% of users now watch every game irrespective of team or country
5. 38% of users lookup social media updates as sources of information for sports content
6. TV remains the primary source for watching/ following various sports with 51% claiming to consume sports content for more than 5 hours a week after playing fantasy sports

Commenting on the sports consumption pattern among fantasy sports users in India, John Loffhagen, Chairman, FIFS said,“Fantasy sports is a powerful fan engagement tool to increase sports consumption. It is intuitive to think that users of fantasy sports would naturally consume more sports. FIFS wanted to validate this hypothesis and thus conducted research among users of online fantasy sports. When sports fans create their own virtual teams on OFS platforms before the match start time, they consume a lot of sports content online to do their research. After the match begins, OFS users watch the sports match closely to check on the performance of the players they have selected and their own ranking on the leaderboard. Fantasy sports is thereby supporting the increase in consumption of overall sports including longtail and non-mainstream.”

 As per Anand Parameswaran, Executive Vice President, Insights Division, Kantar, “As fantasy sports is emerging as a strong fan engagement platform in India, it was interesting to find out how people across demographics are consuming the new phenomena of fantasy sports and consequently its impact on sports consumption in India. Viewership has moved beyond home leagues and to a new type of sports.

The insights on the changed behavioural patterns of fantasy sports users such as higher involvement in sports, using multiple mediums to stay updated on the sports news along with an increased interest in sports beyond cricket offers a new perspective on the evolution & impact of fantasy sports in India. It is in complete coherence with the hypothesis we set out to prove, and has additionally shed some light on how we have moved beyond the cricket-only nation.”

The survey was conducted amongst fantasy sports users, predominantly male and a mix of masters students, salaried and self-employed professionals.