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Cricket, Technology, and the Power of Money
Dwelling on some recent happenings in the field of Indian cricket, this article argues that technological advancement creates new possibilities of money-mediated human interactions. This growing “power of money” might provide a more homogeneous basis to carry out human interactions (in the form of money), but it might also divest those interactions of their cherished diversities.
If one is watching cricket (or any other game) in India on an over-the-top (OTT) platform or on television, the most frequently encountered advertisements these days are those of the online fantasy sports platforms (OFSPs). The mention of these platforms is not limited only to the advertisements, but they find regular mention in the live commentary and post-match presentations as well. One such fantasy gaming platform was the official title sponsor of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). A few years back, these online platforms were almost unknown to sports spectators in India. However, now it is impossible to be watching any sports event without coming across names of these platforms. Their rapid growth during the last few years has been exceptional and spectacular.
According to a report published by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), a self-regulatory body of the OFSPs, the number of users on these platforms in India grew from 2 million in 2016 to a whopping 90 million in 2019. The report titled “Business of Fantasy Sports” has also revealed that the total number of OFSPs operating in India grew from less than 10 in 2016 to more than 140 by the end of 2019. Their gross revenue stood at around `2,500 crore in the financial year 2020, almost 10 times more than `262 crore in the financial year 2018 (FIFS and KPMG 2020).
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