The Capital Group, media communications company with expertise in out-of-home, events, sports and digital businesses in India and the UAE, has ventured into the gaming & entertainment business with Gig Work Private Limited.
The joint venture will soon launch gaming platforms – KheloFantasy.Live and esportz.in.
KheloFantasy.Live will a fantasy sports platform focused on cricket, football and kabaddi with a two-tier structure – one which engages fans to build their own team based on their imagination and expertise free of cost and earn bonus rewards, while the other will be monetized to truly test knowledge and skill basis of selected players and their on-field performances and earn real cash rewards.
Khelo Fantasy will offer multiple prize pools at various stages of the sporting seasons.
Alongside the fantasy platform, the group will shortly launch esportz.in – a fan engagement and gaming experience platform dedicated to esports – competitive online games and many other casual games.
Along with providing the latest news, strategies, gaming, leagues & tournament updates, esportz.in will also organize esporting championships and tournaments.
In India, esports and fantasy gaming have gained tremendous momentum and revenue has more than doubled between FY’14 to FY’19. Further, a staggering 89% of all revenue generated was through mobile gaming – proving that it is accessible to the Indian heartland.
“Esports and Fantasy sports is now a multi-billion dollar business worldwide,” says Santosh Smith, Director at Capital Group, “As the head of a start-up in this industry, it’s an exciting place to be – at the interface of creativity and novel marketing opportunity. Our business model is to serve an interwoven network of primary stakeholders that influence the ecosystem of esports and fantasy sports.
“We will work in tandem with marketers who wish to target audiences associated with this high-value millennial fan base. We are in a mobile-first entertainment era and with more than 500 million smartphone users and growing connectivity with the world’s cheapest internet, India is getting into serious gaming and that is what Gig Work will practice to achieve.’’
This new online industry is on the verge of crossing over from niche curiosity to mainstream acceptance. As the Roman emperor said in the arena, “Let the games begin!”