Bringing home fantasy sports and gaming

Fantasy sports platforms have been gaining popularity in the subcontinent since the advent of platforms like India's Dream 11 and Mobile Premier League (MPL.) Game Plan was born with the idea of feeding intelligent entertainment to Bangladeshi sports enthusiasts.

Bangladeshis, regardless of young and old generations, have a reputation of being sports crazy. Cricket has always been the more popular one though, European football too has a huge fan base here. In this era of social media, various groups and pages have sprung up where sports enthusiasts analyse and discuss their favourite games through their well-judged thoughts regularly. However, their excellent insights remain just as a purpose of entertainment. That is the issue that Game Plan wants to change, enabling people to earn money by utilising their sports analysis skills and insights.

The journey of Game Plan started during the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a Quiz App. As of now in 2020, it has given its users the full opportunity to play fantasy sports through its mobile application. Users can win a whole lot of exciting rewards by playing games. Game Plan has also been integrating with various other platforms and moving forward with new vision.

The Indian subcontinent is called the market of the future. Large sports loving population makes it huge for fantasy sports platforms. Proof can be seen in Dream11's success. Starting out as a small fantasy league platform just a few years ago, Dream 11 has acquired Indian Primer League's (IPL) sponsorship this year. From 10 platforms in 2017 to 140 currently operating in India today- says a lot about the increasing market size of fantasy sports which is expected to reach US$ 1.7 billion by FY2023 with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.1 per cent.

Since performance in fantasy sports games depends on skill not on luck, there is no possibility of any trouble with law enforcement. Following the example of India, Game Plan can widen its activities in Bangladesh. Bringing in foreign direct investment (FDI) and a source of income for the youth, it can enrich the government's revenue. Game Plan also provides a sports journal for its users. It has plans to organise sports events and get into sports merchandise in the future. One of the aims of the Game Plan is to keep youths away from other anti-social activities by keeping them in sports. Promoting local sports and sportspersons is another goal.

Fantasy League is not a chance game like card games, but rather it requires skills and insight to win big. There is no chance of taking refuge in fate. Skills like fast thinking, following strategy or doing fast mathematical calculations based on statistical analysis are assets here. Research has shown that playing fantasy leagues actually help participants in improving decision making. The whole notion of time management, planning, focusing on results are by products of playing fantasy leagues. It does make people better at their workplace by making them a lot more focused and understand the value of data. Mobile application for Game Plan's fantasy league is available on their official website playgameplan.com.

The writer is the CEO and founder of Game Plan