CHENNAI: 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
1. 60% of fantasy sports users claim to watch/follow sports more than before because of fantasy sports.
2. 87% of those who play fantasy sports claim 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 look up 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 of 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 conducted research among users of OFS. When sports fans create their own virtual teams on OFS platforms before the match starts, they consume a lot of sports content online to do their research. After the match begins, OFS users watch 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."
Kantar is a leading evidence-based insights and consulting company.
Anand Parameswaran, Executive Vice President, Insights Division of Kantar, said, "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 and impact of fantasy sports in India."
The survey was conducted amongst fantasy sports users, predominantly male and a mix of masters students, salaried and self-employed professionals.