The fantasy sports market is on a significant rise, as many companies and entrepreneurs are investing in this exciting gaming field. There are no signs that this growth will slow down. In fact, more and more operators are looking to start their own fantasy sports platform and establish a business in this area in the upcoming years. Are you one of these individuals? Do you also dream to have a successful fantasy sports business? If yes, this blog post will be of great help to you.
With our extensive experience in the iGaming and fantasy sports app development area, we have learned what components are essential to start and operate a business in this competitive industry. We have decided to share this know-how with keen entrepreneurs and business people like you. We have created a detailed guide to starting a fantasy sports business to make your journey easier and successful.
When starting any business, you must have a basic knowledge of the particular business niche. Therefore, let’s first check out some basic information related to the fantasy sports arena.
What is Fantasy Sport?
Fantasy sports is the type of online game in which participants assemble virtual or imaginary teams made up of proxies of actual players of a professional sport like Football or Cricket. The virtual teams then compete according to the statistical performances of the real players in the actual game. Due to the unmatched gaming experience and real-money gameplay, fantasy sport is gaining immense popularity across the world. This sport type has created a separate, huge fanbase.
The fantasy sports platforms come with verified and reliable payment gateways to secure all the financial transactions and boost users’ trust. Moreover, these platforms offer greater transparency by letting users check the teams formed by opponents and showing the amount of money at the beginning of the game. Users can also view the amount of money to be won by participants with different ranks, in a contest.
Due to the real-money gameplay factor, fantasy sport is often mistaken as illegal sports gambling, though fantasy sports fall into a skill-based game category. Fantasy sport is legal in many countries but has imposed certain regulations and laws. Platform operators must comply with such regulations and fulfill all the legalities to operate the fantasy sports business successfully.
Scope of the Fantasy Sports Market
The fantasy sports market is booming and will continue to be, therefore, your decision to start a business in this niche is intelligent and right. Still not sure? Have a look at the below statistics to get a precise idea of this thriving market.
- The current global fantasy sports market has more than 80 million players and the number is growing exponentially at a rate of 30-50% every year.
- The global market of fantasy sports is expected to reach USD 33199.64 million by 2025.
- The North America Fantasy Sports Industry alone is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 10.7% between the period 2021 to 2026.
- The US’s fantasy sports market size reached 8.48 billion dollars in 2019.
- In 2019, the Daily Fantasy Sports in the US generated a revenue of 2.91 billion U.S. dollars.
Now, you must be confirmed about the great scope of the fantasy sports industry. It is the right time to bring your fantasy sports business idea into reality. Let’s see how you can establish a fantasy sports business successfully and make the most out of it.
Steps to Consider for Starting a Fantasy Sports Business
A step-by-step approach is always ideal when starting a new venture. Here are the steps you must follow in order to start a fantasy sports company.
Define the Objectives
Do you want to launch a fantasy sports platform to generate a steady ROI?
Do you want to launch a fantasy sports platform for enhancing your brand presence?
What goals do you want to achieve with your fantasy sports business?
Where you won’t see your platform in the next few years?
These and there are many such questions you must answer to get clarity of your objectives. Yes, your first task is to understand and define your business objectives precisely. Once you know what you want, you can plan effective strategies. This will smoothen your journey and lead your business towards success.
Thorough Market Research
Research is key to a successful business plan. You need to study the fantasy sports market in-depth to identify essential information that can help you get a competitive advantage. In this market research, analyze and identity the below aspects:
- Competitors
Find out your competitors, which means existing fantasy sports platforms. Analyze these platforms to know what features they are offering and what strategies they are using to attract players.
- Targeted Demography
Users in different geographical locations have different interests in fantasy game content. Thus, it is essential to study your target demography and identify the expectations, demands, and interests of the potential audience. This will help you plan the features and functionality of your fantasy sports platform accordingly and prepare a robust business plan as well.
- Latest Fantasy Sports Trends
Trends help you stay ahead in the competition. Identify what are the emerging trends in the fantasy sports world so that you can implement the same in your business and outperform the competition. For instance, cryptocurrency payment is one of the top trends in the fantasy sports market that you can consider for better user engagement.
- Sports
Identify which sports are popular in the fantasy sports market. You can choose to offer one of these sports on your fantasy sports platform to gain maximum users and ROI. Sports like Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey are widely popular in the fantasy sports market.
Choose Trusted Data Feed Provider
Offering accurate and instant sports updates to the players is crucial to get a maximum user retention rate. Therefore, it is essential to choose the date feed provider carefully. You must choose a trusted data feed provider in order to increase the credibility and value of your platform.
Choose Reliable Fantasy Sports Software Provider
Choosing the right fantasy sports software provider is one of the crucial factors affecting the success of your business. Thus, you must make this selection intelligently. Make sure the company has the right set of resources and expertise required to build a feature-rich, scalable platform. Also, make sure if the provider has a good support and maintenance policy.
Moreover, you must keep your specific requirements in mind when searching for a software provider. For example, if you want to get software with your brand identity, then a white label fantasy software development company can be a better option. And if you want to focus on the mobile audience only, you can search for a reliable fantasy sports app development company.
Features to Cover in Your Fantasy Sports Platform
Once you reach out to a fantasy app development company or software provider, you must decide the features and functionality of the software you want them to cover. Your platform must cover all the basic and latest features to retain maximum users. Here is a list of few crucial features you must consider:
User Panel Features
- Sign up or Registration
User registration is crucial to ensure better confidentiality and security. However, the sign-up process must be quick and easy. You can also facilitate users to sign-up with their social media account.
- Join the Contest
This is a must-have feature in fantasy sports platforms. It provides users with important details about the fantasy sports contests and users who want to join. Users can check contest size, contest type, winning amount, winner count, and other crucial information.
- Game Lobby
Once the users log in to the app, they land on the game lobby where they can access various features and start the gameplay. The game lobby can include filters of draft types, game types, game duration, and many other features.
- Leaderboards
A live leaderboard shows the names of leading players and their respective scores. This helps users stay updated with the latest scores and plan their game strategy accordingly.
- Secure and Convenient Payment
Your platform must offer secure and multiple payment options so that users can do seamless transactions. For improved security and swift transactions, you can also integrate a crypto payment option.
- Multiple Draft Types
You must offer multiple draft types such as offline drafts, auction drafts, quick drafts, and more on your platform to enable players to do seamless team drafting.
Admin Panel Features
- Admin Login
There must be an easy login system for Admin. This will ensure the security and confidentiality of important user data.
- Manage Reports
Admin can access and manage various important reports such as results reports, player scores reports, game analytics reports, transactions reports, and more.
- User Account Management
Admin can track and control user accounts seamlessly. Admin gets a right to edit, delete, or ban a user account.
- Notifications Management
Admin should be able to send push notifications to the users to inform them about the latest matches and game updates.
Additional Features
- Social Media Sharing
- Live Chat
- Profile Setting
- Achievement Badges
- Referral bonus
- Browse and select matches
- CMS and CRM Integration
- Multilingual Support
- Multiple Fantasy Game Types
Run Pre-launch Promotion Campaign
Before launching your fantasy sports platform, you must emphasize running pre-launch promotion campaigns to draw the attention of potential users.
Start Post-launch Marketing
Now you have launched a feature-rich, engaging fantasy sports platform in the market it’s time to kick-start the marketing campaign. You must implement effective digital marketing strategies like SEO, social media marketing, PPC, and more to reach the target audience and build an online presence. It is wise to reach out to a renowned digital marketing company that can help you achieve your objectives.
Developing a Fantasy Sports App
The number of Smartphone users is increasing exponentially and players nowadays prefer playing various games on their mobile devices. Therefore, in order to reach these mobile users and boost your business revenue, you must also consider fantasy sports app development. A fantasy sports mobile app offers a more comfortable, productive, and enhanced game experience to the users and entices them to keep coming back.
Ready to Kick-start Your Fantasy Sports Business?
Now you have enough know-how to kick-start your fantasy sports business. It is the right time to start working on your dream venture. Make sure you choose the right professionals to help you with every aspect of this business, including software development, marketing, and more. Betfoc is one of the best fantasy sports software companies that can provide you with end-to-end fantasy sports solutions. We have talented fantasy sports app developers, designers, and QA professionals who can dedicatedly work on your project to help you achieve your desired goals.