“Cricket is not a sport, it’s a religion.” You might have heard this saying before, and it might very well be true in a country like India. With over a billion fervent followers in the country religiously watching the sport, it’s hard to argue otherwise. 

According to Business Standard, cricket draws 93% of all sports viewers in the country. Industry expert Romil Ramgarhia had this to say, “cricket continues to be the most-watched sport in India. The broad fan base of cricket is evident from the fact that women constitute 48 percent of viewers”. 

He further added that “growth in cricket viewership is increasingly coming from regional language broadcasts. It’s visible from non-English consumption rising from 77 percent in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 to 81 percent in IPL 2019, and now it’s being telecast in 7 languages. The wide range of formats and tournaments, increasing viewer interest in women’s cricket, international T20 leagues and domestic competitions are driving cricket viewership to new highs.” 

The raw numbers speak for themselves. Despite how popular the sport already is, it is getting even bigger with increased viewership and broadcast content.

Part of this increase in popularity is due to the avenues through which you can enjoy the sport. Apart from all the excitement that one can get from watching and playing cricket, one can also delve themselves into the experience by being part of the fantasy cricket app experience. 

What Exactly Is A Fantasy Sports App?

A fantasy sport is a sort of match, often played on the Internet, where participants bring together imaginary or virtual teams of true professional sports players. Based on the statistical results of those players in real matches, these teams compete and earn points.

How Does Fantasy Cricket Work?

In a fantasy cricket application, each user typically picks out a team of 11 players from a pool of players from both of the competing teams. Points are then rewarded according to that player’s performance in the match.

For example, points are rewarded for runs scored, wickets taken, catches pouched and any other meaningful contribution that can be tracked.

At the end of the match, the total cumulative points of the team and all its players are calculated. The team with more points ends up being the winner.

Teams are grouped together in a group or a “league.” Depending on the fantasy app and the type of match, the number of teams in a league might differ. Head-to-head leagues have only two competing participants while the bigger leagues can accommodate hundreds of teams.

Right Time To Invest In A Fantasy Cricket App?

With the huge success of fantasy sports all across the globe, there are many services popping up within the country trying to capitalize on this craze. One such company that has seen huge success in recent years is Dream11.

Dream11 has come a long way from its humble start in 2012, seven years ago. Every year since then, they have grown considerably. From a respectable 10 lakh users in 2016, they have ballooned to an astonishing 4 crore users in 2018. Now that’s impressive!

As you might have seen, the fantasy cricket app industry has grown so much so that they were a major advertiser throughout the recent world cup. Any qualms or uncertainty about the industry seems to have dissipated.

Now let’s look at why you too should be a part of this budding industry,

• 53% of players participating in fantasy sports do so with the use of a mobile phone.
• More than 55% of users are below the age of 34.

With such a young user base, the potential to draw users in for the long haul is a huge possibility. All the data indicates that there has never been a better time to invest in a mobile fantasy cricket app. Now that we’ve seen the reasons behind why you should invest in a fantasy cricket application let’s look at the how.

Finding A Partner For Your Fantasy Cricket App Development

Not many of us have the ability to program and develop a mobile app for ourselves. Luckily for us, there are many mobile app development companies out there that can do the job.

Finding one that meets your exact needs and requirements can be tough. There are many factors you need to consider before zoning in on your business partner. Some of these factors are:

• Requisites – What exactly do you need from your fantasy cricket app? How extensive do you want it to be? What features can you do without?
• Smart Business Plan – This ties in with the previous point. The more features that you want in your app, the more you have to shell out for it. No one knows your financial means as you do, so do the proper research and make the right decision. Some of the factors that you need to include in your budgeting plan are an initial investment i.e., how much can you comfortably invest? What’s the trajectory of growth you’re expecting? What’s the ideal scenario in terms of growth? What does your expected revenue stream look like?
• Services Offered – Different app development companies specialize in different types of services. Do you want your fantasy cricket app built from scratch? Or are you looking for a turnkey solution? Doing the necessary market research to find out the various types of services and picking one that meets your company’s approach is vital in being successful.
• Experience factor –  Though the industry is still relatively new, there are software providers out there with a lot more experience than others. Finding one that has the necessary work experience to back up their resume is crucial. 

Essential Features Of Fantasy Cricket Application

Let’s look at some of the must-have features that a competent fantasy cricket app must possess. 

Admin Panel

• Admin Login – Login features for the admin of the app
• Results Management – The results and points of each user is consolidated
• Seamless Payment Handling – Allows you to handle payments to users per the game results
• Fantasy Points Management – Organized management of the points distributed
• Instant Notifications And Messages – Allows the admin to manage the messages and notifications sent to users.
• User List Management – The admin has the capability to manage the complete list of users.

These are just the minimum requirements that are expected from the admin panel side of a fantasy cricket sports app.

User Panel

• Registration – Handles the registration and login/out processes for the user side of the application.
• Player Stats – Shows the statistics of individual players.
• Profile Page – Shows the basic information regarding the user.
• My Teams/ Leagues – A comprehensive list of all the teams and leagues that the user is part of
• Winnings/ Rewards – Shows the cumulative winnings and any type of reward the user has accumulated.

Apart from admin and user panel features, there are additional features to look out for in a fantasy cricket app such as text/video chat functions, social media sharing, live match details, analytics, etc. that can take your app to the next level.

Cost Of A Fantasy Cricket App

With all these offered features, you might be wondering how much it costs to make such an app? Well, there are various factors that affect the cost price of a fantasy cricket app, such as the list of features that you choose to avail, compatibility with different platforms, technical support that is expected post-development, etc.

The average price of such an app is estimated to around $20,000-$25,000 (Rs. 14,20,700 to RS. 17,75,875). Further customization will increase the costs further. 

But there are many app development companies in the market that offer their services at a cost-effective price, so do the necessary research to find one that is in your price range.

Related: 6 Simple Tips To Create Your Fantasy Sports Business

In Conclusion

These are some of the major factors that you need to consider before committing to a fantasy app provider. Finding one that fits you the best amongst the various choices is sure to be tedious work, but luckily there are many capable development companies out there that can turn your fantasy to reality. 

But don’t wait till it’s too late, as the opportune time to invest in a fantasy cricket app is right now.