NITI Aayog’s guiding principles for Fantasy Sports will help promote Sports in India, say Users through ‘Jan Ki Baat’ Survey
75% strongly agree that there is a direct correlation of Online Fantasy Sports regulation with the generation of income, investments and advancement of Indian Sports Industry
New Delhi, January 15, 2021: JAN KI BAAT report “Online Fantasy Sports: Enhancing Sports Equity”, which is based on a survey among Online Fantasy Sports (OFS) Users. As per the survey findings, 87% of the respondents believe that Online Fantasy Sports has a beneficial impact on driving popularity for sports, such as kabaddi, hockey, volleyball etc. thereby encouraging local sports talent as well. Also, 75% strongly agreed that there is a direct correlation of OFS regulation to generation of income and investments in advancing India’s overall sports industry and boosting sports equity.
In order to capture the perception and sentiments of the OFS user base, 3,276 users participated in the survey across India. The objective of the survey was to present an accurate picture of the OFS industry and its consequent regulation in terms of potential to encourage investments, industrial growth, employment, and talent generation in India’s sports ecosystem. It is noteworthy that with a wide user base of 90 million as of 2019, and FDI projections worth INR 10,000 crores for India, the Online Fantasy Sports industry offers a plethora of opportunities that can be explored.
Some of the key findings from the survey include:
87% of the respondents believe that Online Fantasy Sports has a beneficial impact on driving popularity for sports, such as kabaddi, hockey, volleyball etc. and thus in encouraging local talent as well.
87% believe that NITI Aayog’s Guiding Principles for OFS would promote newly emerging sectors such as sports content aggregation, sports tourism, merchandising and online sports coaching
75% strongly agreed that there is a direct correlation of OFS regulation to generation of income, investments and advancement of India’s overall sports industry and boosting sports equity
Over 67% of the respondents strongly agreed that influence of regulation on OFS will generate employment. Additionally, 20% of the respondents acknowledged the possibility of regulation in enhancing employment potential
64.61% of the respondents strongly believe that NITI Aayog Guidelines have been successful in clearly distinguishing Online Fantasy Sports from online games
In this context, commenting on the holistic picture obtained from the report’s findings, Pradeep Bhandari, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Jan Ki Baat said, “The NITI Aayog Guidelines on Online Fantasy Sports pave the way for the unparalleled growth of this new industry. The guidelines put forth are a crucial and positive step in the right direction towards capturing the potential of OFS and promote sports equity in India. Therefore, it is essential to keep the momentum intact on regulation and uniform National-level formalization of the industry.”
The report acknowledges the prospects of regulation for the “sunshine industry” in enhancing investment opportunities, employment prospects and the potential for various sports-related digital platforms to grow. The mushrooming of novel and unconventional career options in the emerging sectors have also highlighted how effective regulation can be in promoting ancillary industries in the larger digital sports engagement ecosystem propelling an unparalleled future story of the Online Fantasy Sports industry.
One of the key recommendations in the report is to incorporate the guidelines into a Central level framework that would lead to the creation of a level-playing field coupled with ruling out discrepancies in perception among state governments about the OFS industry. Moreover, based on the survey findings and recommendations, a foundation is also laid for the adoption of self-regulatory frameworks that guide the new industry in a flexible manner towards its growth trajectory.
Pic courtesy- imagine sports
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