When something grows in popularity, it diversifies. When that growth occurs in sport, new leagues, new superstars, and new betting markets usually arise. Take eSports, for example. The current landscape and structure of competitive video gaming couldn’t be any more alien to fans of traditional sports. Daily fantasy seems to have avoided this inevitable mutation, though, even as its popularity surges around the world.
While analysts expect cricket to become the next big fantasy market, PR newswire claims that, worldwide, 70% of players’ focus is on American football competitions like the NFL. What’s perhaps even more surprising is that the popularity of real-life football has directly benefitted from daily fantasy’s surging appeal. The NFL has become notorious in recent years for its declining TV numbers.
International Appeal
Daily fantasy’s popularity has risen in tandem with that of sports betting. Barstool Sports, which popularised commentary on fantasy sports as well as professional sports leagues, is a good example. The blog recently added its name to a sportsbook and casino that operates in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Michigan. Comparison site BonusFinder UK indicates that the Barstool sportsbook features many of the same personalities as the blog.
In 2020, Vox described sports betting and fantasy sports as having created an “economy of its own”. The industry has become so sophisticated that the RotoGrinders blog employs its own meteorologist to determine the influence of wind on passing yards. It’s a pastime partly driven by a love of sports, partly by an appreciation of statistics. But it’s grown well beyond a table game played with friends.
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Photo by Yogendra Singh from Pexels.
Search giant Yahoo! reports that the global daily fantasy market will add 14% to its current value between 2020 and 2026 as its influence spreads around the world. As mentioned, football continues to dominate the proceedings but, with soccer in second place and cricket in seventh, there’s a possibility that sports with a more international appeal will take over from the NFL in the future.
Indian Premier League
One of the biggest markets for fantasy sports worldwide might be considered a surprising one. India, a cricket-loving country, has expanded its daily sports economy several times over in recent years. There are at least five different providers of the hobby now operating on the Subcontinent. One of them, an app called Dream 11, helped to further legitimize fantasy sports in India by sponsoring the Indian Premier League cricket competition.
India faces many of the same issues with regulation as the United States does. Proving that fantasy sports are a game of skill over chance will be essential if the pastime is going to gain any more traction in South Asia, as luck-based games are banned in the country. Oddly enough, though, India does already have a regulatory body for daily fantasy, in the shape of The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports.
There’s no stopping the growth of daily fantasy but it remains to be seen just what form its evolution will take over the next decade or so.