Over the last decade, connectivity has become the cornerstone of growth for the country. Whether it is a big business conglomerate or an end user, connectivity has played a major role in progress. With the advent of 5G services, India stands to benefit from next-generation connectivity parameters. The change from 4G services will herald a network that stands to provide internet speeds that will be a hundred times faster.
A 5G testbed project has already been inaugurated by the Prime Minister, where some cities are intended to be 5G ready by the end of the year. A ground-up project, it could have huge possibilities for the future in establishing a ‘Digital India’. The removal of technical disruptions will also mean a boom in the online skill gaming sector, including Fantasy Sports (FS).
Latency and connectivity have been issues that users in the Fantasy Sports sector have had to contend with. With 5G services in place, these issues can become a thing of the past. According to an IAMAI report, online gaming is the most popular activity in the entertainment sector. Another report by EY has also stated that online gaming is the leading emerging category in the entertainment segment—with its penetration already 55%. It is clear that online gaming is poised to drive the next big wave through the transition to 5G.
With a thriving market for smartphones in the country, 5G promises to be a transformational experience in the sector. Further, with the current number of mobile gamers in the country at 430 million, it is expected to grow to 650 million by 2025. While mobile gaming has been playing catch-up with mainstream gaming, 5G is likely to boost the segment with low latency and high speeds, which will also pave the path for cloud-based gaming. 5G will be the enabler for operators in managing a complex and concurrent data volume, unfathomably enhancing the overall multiplayer interactive sports experience.
The advantages of 5G in the Fantasy Sport space do not end at increased revenue for the sector, but contribute to a larger sporting ecosystem. Fantasy Sport promotes a healthy intake of live viewing of sports to allow sports fans to make informed decisions in forming their virtual teams. This increased engagement with the sport has a direct positive impact on the growth of Fantasy Sport sector. According to a Millward Brown report, the engagement on Fantasy Sport platforms also leads to an increase in sports viewership by 60%.
While helping the economy grow, superior connectivity is also driving digitisation, establishing Fantasy Sport as a significant online skill gaming avenue. As per a Deloitte report, where the Fantasy Sport user base started at a modest 20 lakh users in 2015, it has now surpassed 13 crore users, with approximately 200 operators in the sector. The present size of the industry is around INR 34,600 crore, while already infusing FDIs worth INR 10,000 crore to the economy. Within the next three financial years, it is poised to attract another INR 15,000 crore. The industry has also helped generate employment in the country. The projected potential of growth in creating jobs is expected to rise to more than 5,000 in direct employment and more than 7,000 by way of ancillary jobs by 2023.
While Fantasy Sport promises to be a driver of revenue for 5G, it will also serve to be a financial incubator for 5G. Enabling a multi-sport ecosystem leading to an increase in sports engagement as a whole is just the beginning. With 5G services around the corner, the next step will be the integration of AR and VR into sports, and cloud-gaming. India stands to see the next era of accessibility of Fantasy Sport across all platforms, eliminating issues of latency and low concurrency, allowing a larger user base to be part of a more cohesive gaming community.
September 5, 2022, 3:36 PM IST