How to develop a fantastic fantasy sports app? - Prismetric

How to develop a fantastic fantasy sports app?

Cost to develop a Sports Fantasy App

Sports lovers all over the world have evolved with time according to the evolution of technology. From radio commentary to live television to live streaming sports on their mobile apps, the admirers of sports have a come a long way.
The next transition or we can say the obsession of the sports fans are fantasy sports app. During any big tournament, whether it is cricket, football, hockey, etc. you will find youngsters talking about the player they have chosen for that day’s match in their fantasy league. The fans are obsessed with stats and numbers which drives the game they are interested in, and harping on this are the mobile app development companies which are creating fantasy sports apps.

Sports Fantasy apps are the next big thing in mobile apps

Different Sports Fantasy Apps screens like for Cricket, Football, Kabaddi

What is a Fantasy sports app?

In a fantasy sports app, the user forms an imaginary sports team with players playing the sports professionally. The teams are arranged according to the tournaments and the players available for the game or the whole tournament. There are points distributed to the players according to their performance in the live game.

The mobile app gives a personalized experience of selecting and arranging players to the fans, which can prove to be a massive aspect in hooking them to the app. Moreover, there are cash prizes for the winners; thus, the users are more interested in participating in the game. Since the inception of such apps around 2012, the fantasy sports apps have only seen an upward surge and now are officially included with many international and domestic tournaments all around the world.

Cost of building a fantasy sports mobile application

There are many factors that decide the cost of a fantasy mobile app. Since financial transactions are involved in a fantasy sports app the app builders will need to equip it with state of the art security systems. More advanced security features will increase the cost and hence the app development company will need to walk a tight rope in this very important matter. If you choose to add latest technologies like AR and VR to add that oomph factor to the app, then the costs will also shoot up.
The more complex the app becomes, the more will be the cost of developing it.

The location of the app development company also plays a vital role in deciding the cost of developing a fantasy sports app. App development firms located in developing nations like Indonesia and India charge much less to develop an app than their US counterparts. This is because of the fact that there is a good availability of skilled laborers (read IT professionals) in these countries. Combine it with cheaper living conditions and you can easily get a bargain of around 300-400% by choosing an app development company based in these nations.

A basic fantasy sports app with features like payment integration, team building, push notifications, sign-in/sign up, keeping record of matches played and live score updates will easily cost you anything between $22,000-28,000.

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Why this is the right time to invest in the sports industry?

Fantasy Sports Global Market and Trends along with India.

There is no doubt that sports are a booming market, and with the inclusion of technology, it is accessible to even the remotest parts of the world.
• The user of fantasy sports apps will cross 100 million by the year in 2020.
• At the start of 2019, the fantasy sports app industry stood at $ 7 billion.
• In India, the fantasy game participants spent $1.73 billion.
• The Indian sports betting market is estimated to be $150 billion.
You can employ your app monetization strategies in this expanding market as it is just going to increase in the coming future.

The Monetization options for a Fantasy Sports App

 App Monetization for Sports Fantasy App
You can employ your app monetization strategies in this expanding market as it is just going to increase in the coming future.

The following are the monetization options for a sports fantasy app

Tie-ups with sporting leagues

Such partnerships will not-only provide an option to generate huge revenue but also improve the branding and your presence in the market. Less popular sports can sign up with the app to popularize it. The sports authority of such sports can pay an annual fee to the app for this purpose.

Advertisements

Fantasy Sports apps draw a lot of eyeballs. This can prove to be a wonderful revenue generating opportunity from the app by opting for displaying advertisements. The app can also charge some fees from those users who seek an ad-free experience.

Contest joining fees

A major source of revenue for fantasy sports apps is the contest joining fees. Whenever a user joins a contest, then the app charges some fees.

In-app purchases

Another potentially lucrative option to earn revenue is to sell add-ons. The app can allow some paid features like changing the team mid-way and also some other useful features like game insights, toolkits and premium stats which can help them win. Normally sports enthusiasts are ready to latch up such opportunities and will not mind paying extra to gain advantage in the game.

Sponsorship rights

The app can rope in sponsors who can sponsor a particular tournament and become the title sponsor. The sponsorship can also be extended to various other parts of the game and revenue can be generated.

Aspects that will make your Fantasy Sports App stand out from competition
Concentrating on the most important things first, we’ll have a look at important pointers that will make the difference while reaching out to a wider audience across various devices

An eye-catchy logo and name

It is highly advisable to keep the logo of your sports fantasy app in accordance with the game that you are catering. For example, Dream 11 has the logo of a trophy, and the name signifies that the app is related to cricket. In the same manner, whether your fantasy sports app includes one or more sports, design the logo accordingly. Don’t forget; a beautiful logo will be the face of your app which will help in user attraction.

User Registration

The registration process is a must-have for the fantasy sports app, and it should be smooth and user-friendly. Make the registration process hassle-free by including social media integration like log-in using Gmail or Facebook ID. This method will help in getting more users on-board. Moreover, give benefits such as referral code to the users to that they willingly share your mobile app among their group providing positive ‘word of mouth’ publicity to the app.

Landing screen

The screen that welcomes the user plays a vital role in containing the user. The first thing that the user sees after logging into a fantasy sports app is the landing page. You can include multiple filters on the landing page viz. Matches, tournaments, players included, etc. so that the fans would have a clear idea about whom to include in their team. You can also have a special section for player performance which would describe a particular player’s recent performance.

Clear Navigation

The app shouldn’t at any point make the user wonder where he or she is heading to in the app. For example, the UX/UI of a football fantasy app should clearly have an image of the football field where the user can pick and choose the players. The screen display should have an explicit mention of the name of the players with their initials and team or jersey color and logo. Make sure that the dimensions of your mobile app are such that it suits a wide range of mobile phones to have a larger user base.

Features for a Fantasy Sports App

 Must have Features for a Sports Fantasy App with 3 different app screen

Now let’s have a look at some basic and advanced level features that you will need to build a perfect fantasy sports app.

Basic Features

Here are some basic features that every sports fantasy app needs to have
• Signup/sign-in
• Create and manage multiple teams
• Live score updates
• Contest manager (here the Admin will be able to manage various contests)
• Join contest and create your own contests(user feature)
• View total earnings
• Dashboards based on the different user types and roles
• Browse and select matches
• Invite and earn feature
• Virtual Wallet for users
• Payment management based on user roles
• CMS integration for easy management
• Social media sharing

Some Advanced Features that can be a valuable addition to the Fantasy Sports App

Push Notifications

With the amalgamation of artificial intelligence, you can have a look at the game participation pattern of the user and send them push notifications according to the games and teams they prefer. For example, if there an important match between Manchester United and Liverpool, you can notify the user by sending a personalized push notification. The options with the push notifications are enormous; you need to see what suits your mobile app the best.

Live streaming of the game

Nowadays, many fantasy sports app partner with the official broadcasters of the sports tournament to take the rights of the live online streaming of the games. Live streaming option on the mobile app will allow the user to keep a track on the game, and live scores will always keep them on their toes and engaged to the app.

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty plays a very important role in fantasy sports apps. With more and more such apps emerging in the market, the competition to acquire more customers is getting frantic. Apps are luring customers towards them by offering lucrative promotional offers which includes providing easy money to play with. Saving your customers from going over to your competitor’s side should be your top priority.

The app developers can include a simple points based system which rewards the app users whenever they complete certain tasks like participating in a certain number of games, winning a certain number of games and so on. The points based system will help in keeping the users hooked to the app and induce loyalty.
The app can also introduce non-monetary system like achievement badges to increase the sense of loyalty amongst the users. The app should give badges according to pre-defined criteria and then also let the users flaunt those badges on social media.

Multiple Payment System

To involve more users in the app, there should be multiple payment options. Like net banking, UPI apps and debit as well as credit card. This is necessary because you would not want to loose any potential customers just because they could not find a suitable payment option in the app. The payment process should be fast and hassle free.

Real-time Analytics

By integrating real-time analytics in the app, the app developers can ensure a higher level of engagement. The data analytics can show which team has a higher probability of winning, which player can perform well today and so on. This will boost the engagement levels and in-turn aid in improving the revenues of the app.

Innovative features to spice-up your Fantasy Sports App

Innovative Features for a Fantasy Sports App with 2 different screens

Apart from the features mentioned above, you can also include a few innovative features in your Fantasy Sports app to improve its performance, engagement and reach.

Chatbot API Integration

Who doesn’t like cheerleaders? By integrating a chatbot, you can provide a cheerleader that will motivate the users to play more. It can even give secret tips to the users regarding how to play and which player to select in their team.

AI & ML based Algorithm

By integrating sophisticated AI and ML based algorithms, the app owners can also know which users are spending more and which ones are spending less. Which are the users who used to play more, but now have stopped playing. This way, they can boost the revenue levels of their application.

Merchandise sales

Sports fans love buying merchandise of their favorite sports teams. The app can benefit by tie-ups with various sports teams for merchandise sale. The revenue model could be either affiliate sales or of Drop-shipping where profit is shared between the app, the team and the delivery partner.

Technology Stack

The developers can use frameworks and programming languages like Java, React Native, PHP, Flutter, C, Swift, or Kotlin to code the app

To save costs consider using Google Cloud Analytics and Microsoft Azure.

The developers can use database solutions like Cassandra, MySQL, Postgres, and MongoDB to take care of your database management needs.

Utilize services like Apple Push Notifications and Twillo to instill the push notifications feature into your fantasy sports app.

Tools like Twillo Authy, Duosecurity and Retrace can help you can install 2-factor authentication into the app

Team required

app-development-team

An expert development team is the core of any app development project. The fantasy sports app can be a huge success if you can select the right mobile app development company. The resources a company has plays a crucial role in making the mobile app a huge win.

For developing a basic app, you will require
• 2-UI and UX designer
• 3– 4 developers
• 1-Quality Assurance Engineer

To develop an advanced app you will need a team of
• 5-6 Team Managers
• 8-10 UI/UX designers
• 4-6 Quality Analysts
• 15-18 developers
• 1-Project Manager

Conclusion
Making a sports fantasy app will help you cater all the untraded paths and give your business an edge over your competitors. The sports market is on the rise, and fantasy sports app is the best way to engage with your targeted customers in the long run. The new-age users prefer to be in touch with their beloved sports, and a fantasy sports app gives them their daily dose of sports in a personalized manner.

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