Virtual leagues shape the new trends in Indian online sports

A recently published analysis by sportsbook comparison site Bet India delves into the current sports betting trends in India, marking a growing preference for online and offshore betting channels at the expense of older and risky underground books. The article reveals a massive dominance of live bets with a share of 79 percent, as research data shows that Indians follow and actively bet during matches of major sport tournaments like the IPL and the T20 World Cup, but also the European football leagues, Copa America, Wimbledon and others.

A breakdown of primary user and traffic statistics data supplied by online casino and sportsbook platform Pure Win showс a clear preference for cricket competitions in the Top 10 Most Popular Tournaments. The T20 World Cup is the unchallenged leader amassing 17 percent of registered betting traffic, followed by the Indian Premier League at 7 percent.

An unexpected third place goes to the Australian Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) which garners 6 percent of the total bet count and in effect challenges the IPL. Football, represented by the Spanish Primera Division, takes the fourth place at 5 percent, showing a trend of diversification of desi sports fan and bettor preferences beyond almighty cricket.

The domain of electronic sports, or eSports, shows up on the fifth spot, naturally with a cricket title in the face of the e-Cricket World Cup, which attracts 3 percent of all registered bets analyzed by the Bet India study.

A more in-depth analysis of Indian sports betting trends provided by Esse N Videri takes a close look into traffic and turnover volumes broken down by state of origin and month of occurrence within the first ten months of 2021. Andhra Pradesh stands out accounting for 6 out of the 7 highest monthly turnover figures and the overall highest number of registered unique bettors.

The state of Telangana takes a close second place in terms of bettor count, followed by Delhi. Maharashtra and Haryana display lower numbers of unique bettor registrations, but relatively large total revenues as bettors from these states have been bringing in higher value.

In respect of the percentage of total supplied players, Maharashtra takes the lead with 12.57 percent, closely followed by Delhi with 11.45 percent. Third place is reserved by Uttar Pradesh taking a share of 9.66 percent. The states of Tamil Nadu (7.42 percent), Telangana (6.90 percent), Rajasthan (6.52 percent), and Kerala (6.15 percent) take up the remaining Top 7 positions.

The list of India’s Top 10 Most Popular Tournaments is completed by two Simulated Reality Leagues (SRLs) - The Indian Premier League SRL and the international cricket simulated league called the Super Sixes, backing up the overall trend towards the advance of modern-day hybrid real money gaming and betting genres like fantasy sports and eSports.

According to the explanation provided by Esse N Videri writers, “SRLs offer a virtual simulation of match results without the full-scale video-rendering of eSports. The experience of reality in following a textual live score on a website with results is sufficiently supported by ball-by-ball statistics and tracking methods.”

SRL virtual simulations are created with the use of sophisticated algorithms that take into account a vast and comprehensive array of factors that would play part in determining the outcome of any match in the real world, starting with game rules and actual team and athlete sports statistics, known physical and mental state of players, and going to real-time weather conditions.

Thus, SRL algorithms allow bettors to make use of their sports and world knowledge and strategic planning skills to their advantage. This strongly backs up a claim that betting on simulated matches is skill-based and therefore should be getting the same legal recognition as online fantasy sports.

Simulated Reality Leagues were initially conceived through some of the high-ranking European football leagues, including the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and La Liga of Spain. The almost total cancellation of real world sporting events for several months in 2020 caused by the pandemic brought a surge in SRLs as they provided a much sought after alternative to fervent sports bettors.

Published on: Monday, March 28, 2022, 01:51 PM IST