Jobaaj Stories
Ahead of IPL, CrickPe generated a lot of excitement among sports enthusiasts. Ashneer Grover, who exited BharatPe last year, started his reign again. In 2022, Ashneer stepped again into the Indian Startup Ecosystem with his Wife in a new venture, The Third Unicorn.
The Third Unicorn’s Fantasy Sports Startup
Established in Early July last year, The Third Unicorn raised curiosity in Indian Youth about what it will bring. CrickPe is one of many other initiatives The Third Unicorn is planning on.
Although Fantasy Sports has raised many questions about it being a betting ground. Some Indian States have even banned such applications. But, As per the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, the Fantasy Cricket market may grow from 34,600 crores in 2021 to 1,65,000 crores by 2025. It can be due to the thrill of making the teams, competing with friends and family, and having a platform to relate to sports more. Fantasy Cricket has become more popular with its competitive advantage and curiosity about what will happen next.
Last year, the Supreme Court upheld Dream 11’s format as a skill-based game. Fantasy sports fall under Article 19 and can be a business activity.
In the market, already having other established applications like Dream11, and Mobile Premier League, Ashneer’s startup emerged as a competitor.
Controversies around CrickPe
CrickPe is a mobile application for IOS and Android users. It is another fantasy cricket platform through which users can pay their favourite cricketers on a performance basis. CrickPe launched as IPL began and saw about 20 Lakh instals within 48 hours. Ashneer Grover, a known figure in the Indian Business, took to Instagram to promote the launch of his application, CrickPe. It seems like the CAC (Customer Acquisition cost) here is zero.
CrickPe got registered with the registrar of the companies on 28th January 2023.
The platform gained lots of excitement among fans and other experts associated with the sports as well. The platform allows users to create virtual teams and earn rewards like in any other application.
However, there is a controversial difference: the application allows users to reward the actual players. Application Users can pay cricketers a maximum up to 1 lakh per financial year. However, it will be up to the cricketers to accept the reward(in the case accepted), at a processing fee of 10% which will be implemented after June.
As per Your Story, experts believe only some entities should be allowed to pay the actual players.
As per the Hindu business line, this could even raise regulatory concerns with its new proposition. The source also states that rewards above Rs. 50,000/- can be brought to the notice of BCCI’s anti-corruption unit.
As per Jaya Chahar, Founder and CFO of TFG, Many cricketers have signed up with other fantasy gaming applications, and accepting money through some other application may not interest them.
Shivkumar, who co-founded Legaltech in conversation with Your Story, has placed the product in the grey area of the law. His views are that the application should play within Lakshman Rekha as cricketers getting extra money can place the business model as a breeding ground for betting.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Fantasy sports applications have witnessed a lot of fame since the applications started emerging in the market. People have grown fond of applications because of their best virtual experience and live scoring.
CrickPe has created a buzz in the market as a unique fantasy sports platform that allows users to pay actual cricketers for their performance. However, this feature has raised concerns about the potential for it to be used for betting and regulatory issues.
It remains to be seen whether the platform can differentiate itself from its competitors and navigate these challenges in the long run.
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