The online fantasy sports market of India has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years, becoming one of the fastest-growing industries of the country and giving rise to a plethora of new firms, all vying to grab a piece of this very lucrative sector.

In this fiercely competitive market, which has seen new players emerge quite often recently, My11Circle has been able to carve out its position in less than two years of existence, becoming one of the most popular fantasy gaming destinations of India.

However, the rise of My11Circle in such a short time did not happen by chance or coincidence. They may have entered the fantasy gaming space a little late but they brought with them over a decade’s experience of running a successful gaming business.

Online gaming company Games24x7, the parent company of My11Circle, has been in the gaming industry since 2006, gaining significant market expertise with games like RummyCircle, Ultimate Teen Patti and Ultimate Rummy in their portfolio.

“We would leverage our expertise and deep understanding of the customer behaviour developed over a decade to sharpen our differentiation and gain market share in fantasy sports,” explained Saroj Panigrahi, vice president of My11Circle, on being asked how they would compete against the older platforms.

Dada in, popularity up

For any new product, gaining the trust of new customers is the most vital step to success. And what better way to establish trust than making one of the most popular sporting icons of the country the face of your brand?

Within six months of launching the product, My11Circle signed former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly as their brand ambassador, leveraging his massive popularity among cricket fans.

Since then, the daily fantasy sports platform has also onboarded Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan and former Australian cricket star Shane Watson and launched an innovative campaign called ‘Play with Champions’ that lets users compete with the cricketers - called ‘Experts’.

“While Sourav Ganguly is integrated into the product proposition, we don't look at the cricketers simply as our brand ambassadors,” said Panigrahi. “We look at them as experts of the game who can carry our brand proposition of Play with Champions further.”

Inventive marketing strategies like this, coupled with compelling video advertisements have worked in the favour of My11Circle and made it a go-to destination for fantasy sports users.

Bigger market, bigger prize

My11Circle is one of the several dozen deep-pocketed firms, most of them backed by wealthy investors and venture capitalists, trying to get a share of the Indian fantasy gaming market.

However, Panigrahi believes the Indian market is big and diverse enough to accommodate numerous fantasy sports apps.

“India is a large and rapidly growing fantasy sports market,” reckoned Panigrahi. “It would have enough space for multiple operators due to the diverse nature of the customer base, variety of games, emerging sporting leagues and newer tournament formats.”

Reports suggest that there are more than 100 million fantasy sports users in India and with so many platforms offering varying propositions, every user can expect an enjoyable gaming experience.