While the first part of the IPL was being played, there was a second wave of Coronavirus took which was spreading even wilder than the cricket fever. The IPL wasn’t unaffected too and with a few players being down with COVID, we saw the IPL postponed. As the IPL was postponed, we saw the world come to a standstill for all the fans.
We saw the travesty during the second wave as people ran helter-skelter for getting oxygen cylinders and other basic amenities. However, it wasn’t just the damage that was visible. Many such industries were visible affected by COVID and how it caused a complete shutdown of all businesses. One such growing business in the country is the Fantasy Apps business. There has been a rise in the fantasy app culture in the country which is particularly obsessed with cricket.
Fantasy players have often tried to use their cricket knowledge in order to get the points on the board and be winners in the fantasy world. The leaderboard helps them get some money if they are in the top few points earners.
While the players often bet on many sports cricket is certainly the sport which most Indians identify with the most and particularly the IPL is one of the favorite times for any cricket lover. IPL is also the favorite time for the IPL players. It is also evident as one of the fantasy apps, Dream11 is the sponsor of the IPL. IPL also projects the Dream11 points earned by every player so it becomes a mutual effort to promote fantasy gaming in India as it has till now been almost oblivious to this form of gaming.
As it was gaining momentum towards being a historic season for the fantasy apps, the unforeseen events of the IPL being postponed definitely meant that this was going to be something that was definitely going to harm the progress of the fantasy apps.
Many fantasy apps were banking on the IPL to be their launchpad. We even saw a lot of cricketers doing the marketing for these apps but as it would turn out it would go waste as the season had to be stopped midway.
For the players too who had made their strategies on the basis of player form in the IPL, this is going to be a season where they will have to update their plans now as the players who were successful in India may not be successful come the UAE leg of the IPL.
While the losses may have incurred at that time, they are surely not irreparable. The craze for fantasy cricket is only increasing and there is no doubt that the IPL in the current phase will produce a record number of those who want to take up fantasy games. Most of the fantasy apps have already begun advertising about the IPL. Who can forget the iconic Dream 11 commercial which has put the app on the map and also made it meme material for a lot of the social media users?
So as the IPL heads closer, the fantasy app makers will do whatever they can to get their stock up and their brand up to speed with the cricket game. It is surely going to grow as there is no end to cricket loving people in the currently and the loss in April is expected to only be a speed breaker in what looks like it is going to be a long road ahead for these fantasy apps. Quite a lot to watch out for.