FanFight’s Extensive Growth in the World of Fantasy Cricket
30 March 2019, India
Cricket is a religion in India and the fantasy version of the sport has gathered rapid pace. From being a mere pastime to garnering over 20 crore Indians, Fantasy Cricket has certainly come a long way. One platform that has played catalyst to this exponential rise of fantasy sports in India has been FanFight. Its creativity, vision & simplicity has made it one of the most trusted fantasy sports platforms in the country.
FanFight’s Journey
In the midst of a busy corporate sector in Gurugram lies a workplace where ideas are created. One idea that sprung to life & is making immense. is the world of fantasy sports – FanFight. The seeds of this idea were sown & within no time this very idea has gone on to evolve into one of the finest fantasy cricket platforms in India.
Akhil Suhag, ISB alumni & the founder of FanFight, had envisaged the growth of the fantasy sports market in the country & to design a product that has now garnered more than 2 million users in a short duration is one success story every dreamer should take inspiration from.
“I’ve always enjoyed the idea of playing fantasy sports & my interest in cricket & football paved way for the inception of this idea. Cricket is massively popular in our country & when the IPL season is around all the cricket pundits spring to life. Everybody has an opinion & that’s exactly what FanFight is. A platform where sports nerds manifest their knowledge,” says the 33-year-old.
How it all started?
When asked about how it all started, Akhil told, “Sports was always discussed with a lot of interest in our family & all of us were active participants. Like every household in the country, Cricket was the most talked about sport. Cricket is a religion here. Millions watch the sport & the cricketing minds spring to life. The idea of virtual cricket sounded amusing & that established a firm base for the idea of FANFIGHT to turn into a reality. Ever since we’ve worked diligently to introduce the fantasy version of the sport throughout the country. The journey hasn’t been the easiest but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it”.
The Big Leap
FanFight has gathered a lot of attention in recent times & after successful Series-A funding, the organization is all set to advertise & market aggressively.
“Since last year’s IPL we have seen significant growth in terms of numbers & this year we expect the graph to only shoot upwards. We are looking at growth in all possible metrics, right from brand growth to customer acquisition to visibility,” Nishanth Amerneni, Marketing Head, FanFight had commented. The online gaming platform has already increased the popularity of the sport & with every passing year, the reach is broadening.
Speaking about the Indian Premier League & the World Cup happening in quick succession, he added, “The IPL & the 50-over cricket World Cup are around the corner & to reach the maximum set of sporting audience we’ve spent heavily on marketing our brand on digital media.”
“Our advertising on Hotstar is certain to provide us with over 1 billion impressions & we’ve also acquired user’s attention on electronic media. To capture the right group of sports enthusiasts has been a key part of our strategy & with 108 matches lined-up for the next 3 & a half months we’re hoping to gather momentum at a rapid pace. Our user base has been on the rise since the last IPL & post the 2019 season we’re looking at a figure over 5 million. We’ve allocated marketing spends for this year’s IPL & we are extremely confident as far as the ROI is concerned. Our growth over the last 12 months gives you a clear picture that we as a brand have taken the right decisions. The registrations have gone up 10x times and the revenue generated has gone up an incredible 28x times,” Nishanth explained.
Technical Prowess
“The technology that powers FanFight is the most advanced in the industry compared to our competitors from what we could gather. That’s one reason why we are able to send the fastest live point updates to our users along with their potential winnings, while making withdrawals as fast as ever. We have built a system that scales to millions of users and we are constantly bringing in new features to make the fantasy experience more engaging to users,” quoted Krishna, CTO, FanFight.
FanFight’s Extended Reach
“The Cricket Fever this year doesn’t end with the IPL, but it also continues for another 48 days, courtesy, the World Cup. Also, the fantasy sports market is on the rise with major sports like Basketball, Hockey, Tennis, Kabaddi etc., gaining popularity. FanFight has its eyes fixed on designing the fantasy versions of these sports as well,” quoted Suhag.
Features That Make FanFight Unique
FanFight has mined the channels of innovation to a nicety and the results it’s been able to produce have been praiseworthy. In India, over 300 million people consume cricket online & FanFight has been one platform that has helped users channel their sporting knowledge in the right direction.
Fantasy Cricket isn’t an untapped market and various other fantasy platforms have the modern apparatus to compete at the highest level. FanFight’s ability to stay genuine, assure a firm sense of security & an admirable relationship with its users makes it pleasantly unique. The userbase has crossed over 2 million within no time and the number is bound to multiply swiftly.
Transactions on FanFight have been made extremely convenient with the introduction of payment gateway giants, like Paytm, Amazon Pay & MobiKwik. Withdrawals & deposits happen briskly & with utmost precision. Impressive features such as ‘Cloning’ – where up to 10 similar teams for a fixture can be created & the ‘Download PDF’ option which helps users deduce their fantasy teams have played key roles in the brands’ success.
