- Growth attributed to increasing youth population, digital infrastructure and smartphone availability
- Increased athlete popularity, internet infrastructure and choice of apps also cited
- Asia Pacific set to be fastest growing region in the forecast period
The global fantasy sports market is expected to grow from US$20.36 billion in 2020 to US$22.31 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 per cent, according to Research & Markets.
The market research and data service’s report added that the fantasy sports market is set to reach US$38.6 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 14.7 per cent.
Research & Markets said the rise is mainly due to the increasing youth population, growth in digital infrastructure, availability of affordable smartphones, increasing popularity of players in various sports, growing investment in internet infrastructure, and the launch of fantasy sports applications.
While the study noted that North America was the largest region in the fantasy sports market in 2020, Asia Pacific is on course to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period.
Football, baseball, basketball, hockey and cricket were all listed as the main types of fantasy sports.
Research & Markets also cited artificial intelligence (AI) as a key trend gaining popularity in the fantasy sports market due to it being able to help a player focus on key decisions, such as who to start with and which players to trade.
Notable inroads in this space have included US broadcaster ESPN and technology giant IBM introducing a fantasy football app in September 2020, which used AI to generate fair transactions and keep players informed.