New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS): IndiaTech.org, a non-profit organisation focused on building the world's largest internet commerce ecosystem, recently organised a session to discuss the impact of NITI Aayog guidelines on the Indian Fantasy Sports industry.
As a part of the session, leading stalwarts from the industry including Rameesh Kailasam, CEO, IndiaTech, Shwetasree Majumdar, Fidus Law Chambers and Bimal Julka, Chairman, FIFS recognised Online Fantasy Sports (OFS) as a great sports engagement platform distinguishing it from online gaming and also discussed how these guidelines are the right move towards achieving the Prime Minister's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' by boosting the digital ecosystem.
The panelists interpreted the draft guidelines and discussed the need to promote self-regulation in order to ensure transparency, accountability and help bring clarity to the Fantasy Sports industry.
They believe that as fantasy sports are predominantly skill-based sports engagement platforms, this move will help differentiate fantasy sports from games of questionable legality in the guise of fantasy sports and create a safe-harbour with defined parameters and mechanisms. The formalisation of these Guiding Principles will allow for the much-needed progressive reforms and ensure that the OFS industry is well placed to grow responsibly and safeguard the user experience.
NITI Aayog guidelines are a progressive step towards promoting and supporting sunshine digital sectors in India. The overall Fantasy Sports industry is engaging with Indian sports fans and thereby contributing to the growth of the sports ecosystem in India. With the advent of shorter format sports leagues and an increase in the pace of technology, the popularity of fantasy sports in India is only rising with sports fans.
These homegrown Indian platforms will help make India a global hub of Fantasy Sports, having already surpassed the US in terms of the user-base. The panellists at the session additionally stressed upon the contribution of Fantasy Sports towards the Indian economy highlighting how the industry is expected to contribute Rs 13,500 Crores in taxes to the Indian government in the next 5 years and create additional 12,000 jobs in the next few years.
Recognizing the immense potential that the OFS industry holds, Rameesh Kailasam said, "This endeavour by NITI Aayog is a welcome step in the direction of moving towards regulatory clarity for the Online Fantasy Sports sector. Such an effort would enable both the Centre and States to work in the direction of enabling this sunrise sector which is currently dependent on various court judgements for legitimacy to distinguish itself. With the absence of specific regulation, lack of policy clarity and discretionary interpretations by various State-wise regulatory regimes, the Online Fantasy Sports sector despite being acknowledged as a sunrise sector that engages with sports fans and enthusiasts suffer due to being misunderstood with many other forms of online games that are different. India also has a huge potential of creating more startups in this space that can take on the world."
Talking about the legal status of Fantasy Sports, Shwetasree Majumdar, Managing Partner, Fidus Law Chambers said, "It is encouraging to see NITI Aayog lay emphasis on how fantasy sports should emulate real-world sports. Providing a distinct identity to Fantasy Sports will go a long way in gaining the consumers trust and ensuring that all OFS platforms function responsibly and remain compliant with the prescribed format. I believe, it is time that we see a necessary shift away from viewing fantasy sports as an exception to betting and gambling, to eliminate the extant ambiguity that the operators encounter at the state level."
Talking about contribution of fantasy sports towards sports, Bimal Julka, Chairman, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, said, "The emergence of multiple sports and leagues coupled with rapid improvement in digital infrastructure is witnessing many sports tech innovations. Fantasy Sports has emerged as one such innovative tool of engagement that has grown exponentially in the past few years. Fantasy sports has the potential to grow sports in India both - depth and breadth. OFS operators are partnering with not only international tournaments but also at the domestic level. Currently, OFS operators are hosting fantasy sports tournaments for over 10 sports that not only include mainstream sports like Cricket and Football but also upcoming sports like Kabaddi, Volleyball, Handball, Baseball and so on. India has become the largest fantasy sports industry in the world, surpassing the U.S. These guidelines can help in achieving the Honourable PM's vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat."
IndiaTech in September 2020 had also authored and released a whitepaper on Indian Online Fantasy Sports industry. As per the paper, the format of fantasy sports is skill-intensive and non-addictive in nature and has constantly provided an opportunity for newer sports to become popular amongst Indian sports fans.
For more on details on the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=217MRw7zPWI&feature=youtu.be