Fantasy Cricket Apps were one of the best-kept dirty secrets in cricket. Not much was discussed or written about, as the stakeholders were from the cricket fraternity, which included current and former players. For a long period, it flew under the radar, making it into a 3.7-billion-dollar industry. But with time, luck ran out, and the dark side of Fantasy Cricket apps prompted the government to ban the entire industry in its current form.
This article explores the dark side of the app, how it was harming the youth and game users, which made the government take the hard call.
Introduction
Originally developed as a fun gaming app, Fantasy Cricket apps gradually became a sensation among young cricket enthusiasts. The endorsement and involvement of famous cricketers gave these platforms social legitimacy, positioning them as games that reward sports knowledge.
In a short time, the digital market was flooded by hundreds of Fantasy sports apps which included cricket, which was the most popular sport played. In a cricket-obsessed nation like India, where nearly everyone sees themselves as an expert, the concept quickly gained widespread appeal.
How did the Fantasy cricket app work?
A simple game application platform that allowed users to pick their virtual teams of real players, play a virtual game based on the actual outcome of a live game.
- To add drama, users are given data for each player which includes player statistics, player form, conditions etc.
- This needed the user to pay a fee at entry to play the game.
- The game could be won based on the performances of the selected players.
- Fantasy Cricket Apps games can be played in private and public groups. Limitless people can join the app game, and the apps publish leaderboards, social sharing, rankings, sometimes bonus mechanics, etc.
How Fantasy Cricket Gaming Apps Became Harmful
When real money is involved, the risk of losing it makes the game dangerous for the end user. The presence of monetary stakes makes it a real threat.
While the harm of a financial loss is real, the fantasy game app also possesses other dangers which are psychological and of a social nature.
Financial Loss
While a few win, a lot more lose. Outcomes are always skewed. Like in Gambling, the saying is ‘The House always Wins’. It is the same in the gaming app platform too, as the Fantasy app retains a certain amount from every user. Only a small proportion of users win significantly; many lose money over repeated plays.
Example of a single winner play:
- If 10 players put Rs 10 each, the pool created is Rs 100, but the single winner gets Rs 80 while the app retains Rs 20 as Entry fees, commissions, hidden charges, etc. The app makes an income of Rs 10 in this transaction, whatever the result – ‘The House always Wins’
Members who play Fantasy Cricket League can be from 2 to unlimited member groups, which lures the user to play for big rewards (1 Crore to 10 Crores+).
Alarming Facts
- Financial Impact
- The app game is a very addictive one. The amount to join is as low as Re 1, but the lure of earning big and fast creates greed in the mind. This pushes them to bet bigger amounts. Young Men and Women, including students, fall into this trap and start borrowing money or using credit cards to play, hoping to recover the cost and make money. The chances of winning are low, and this leads to mounting debt, leading to financial distress.
- To recover losses or to chase a false hope, the games are played more frequently with higher stakes. This is a classic Gambling
- It was estimated that 45 crore people lost an estimated Rs 20,000 crores per year on online real‑money gaming.
- Psychological Effects & Addiction
- The Best Fantasy Cricket App games were designed to get hooked and make the user play more and more. High-stakes contests showing aspirational luxury cars/bikes as winnings to top the leaderboard in the game lure youngsters to stay engaged and spend more. Urge to continue to play, fear of missing out (FOMO), and chasing wins can lead to compulsive behaviour.
- Stress, anxiety, and depression of losing causes psychological stress, which could lead to severe mental health issues and can also lead to serious physical harm, including suicide in some cases.
- The game targets youth, and users are typically in their teens or early adult age, which is alarming as they get easily swayed by celebrity endorsements, glamour and easy money. They spend more than they can afford to lose.
- Misleading Practices
- Questionable distribution of wins, entry fees, hidden costs, commissions etc and a difficult withdrawal/ exit from the game make the whole process look compromised.
- Use of bots
- Bots may have been used (as per allegations in some cases) to mislead competition and unfairly used to tilt results. The fairness of the game app becomes questionable.
- The gaming App is gambling.
- Though marketed as a social and fun game, the gaming app is nothing but gambling. It brings in all the evils of gambling into play.
- Regulatory oversight
- It was shocking that such gaming apps went under the radar of regulators which could have resulted in money laundering, tax evasion, fraud etc. Platforms risk being misused for illicit purposes. Fantasy sports apps relied on being declared “skill‑based” to avoid coming under the ambit of gambling laws.
Governments decision to Ban Gaming Apps – A Late but right call in the end
Regulators were taken by surprise at the sudden growth explosion of the gaming app business. 140 million of the gamers were “paying users” in 2023/24.
There were no laws for online gaming which was smartly camouflaged as skill-based gaming and this loophole was exploited by the industry.
After seeing the damage it was causing, the gaming app needed serious corrections and the Indian Government introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. Till the bill was passed, regulatory gaps allowed harmful practices to persist.
The government realised that a simple regulation on the gaming industry would be insufficient, considering the danger the app carried. So, a complete ban on real‑money used in the app was introduced. Banks, payment gateways, etc., are now barred from processing transactions related to these real-money gaming platforms.
The new law however allowed social games, casual gaming, eSports, educational/skill‑based games where there is no cash involved or the monetary reward is treated differently.
The Impact due to the Ban and the new regulations
Before the new regulations the industry had projected to grow to roughly USD 9.1 billion by 2029 and there were about 1,800 to 1,900 gaming companies in India, employing approximately 200,000 people (skilled/semiskilled professionals) in the ecosystem.
The combined enterprise valuation of the real‑money gaming sector is estimated to be over ₹2 lakh crore (US$25‑30+ billion depending on exchange), and that is now threatened by the new regulations. Money control has estimated the ban to cost the government ₹10,000–₹12,000 crore per year in lost revenue. More than 200,000 jobs are now at risk with more than 400 companies to go out of business who focussed on the real‑money gaming segment.
- Best Fantasy Cricket Apps like Dream11, MPL, My11Circle suspended all real‑money contests.
- Massive layoffs or scaling down of staff at these companies.
- Due to the revenue drop. Dream11 withdrew their sponsorships with cricket board.
- There was a sudden drop in the usage of the app as the gaming without real cash did not appeal to the users anymore.
The Evil too dangerous to be Ignored
There was sharp criticism from a section of society against this move by the government due to the economic impact, government collections from GST, fees and the loss of Jobs, etc. But the Government saw that the evil was far bigger than the loss. Moreover, the government could not govern the industry as a whole due to the rapid growth in the gaming industry.
The law, which was a Uniform central law, removed all ambiguity, closed regulatory gaps. It also prevented jurisdictions from being used as safe havens.
Conclusion
Sometimes, the greater harm from the gaming apps on the younger generation outweighs all the other factors.
Culturally, Best Fantasy Cricket Apps were not seen as gambling and was smartly positioned as skill-based gaming where knowledge, analysis, competition among peers, and emotional involvement matter. The gaming app industry exploited loopholes to not being called ‘Gambling’. But we at Supersports believe that the app had all the characteristics of being called one.
Financial losses, mental health issues, suicides, and social stress were just a few of the issues the App brought with it.
The government not only brought in the necessary regulations in the relatively untouched world of Gaming apps, but it also brought in a complete ban on real-money gambling.
Till such time, there are better innovative ways to bring the social gaming apps back into prominence, the Ban and the new regulations will be in force for the greater good.
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