Bringing all these facts together, it is evident that fantasy American football is nothing less than a lucrative and promising business opportunity. Some sports claim their fame in their fan-bases spread across the globe. Unlike those global-fan-sports, some of them find their fame in the specific country or continent that they are confined to. If that specific area of focus opens an avenue might mean a lucrative business in another parallel field, it makes sense to focus on that area to maximize your profits.
American fantasy football could be stated as an apt example for the above scenario. There might not be many nations that might even recognize the sport, but the fan-craze in the US is more than enough to make a fortune out of fantasy leagues.
The NFL has 400 million fans around the world and it rakes in a whopping 13.68 billion dollars in revenue. There are 16 million fantasy football players in the United States and Canada alone. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) is estimated to have a market value of 7.22 billion dollars.
The revenue of the NFL is expected to reach 28 billion dollars by 2029. With more than 24 million followers on Twitter, 14 million followers on Instagram, and 17 million followers on Facebook, the NFL is among the top sports influencers on social media.
What is Fantasy football and Why Fantasy Football?
Fantasy football, or any other fantasy sport for that matter, is a virtual game that is played by users by using an online platform or mobile application. The users of the application can create their own fantasy team comprising of real players. The points accumulated are based on the actual performance of the fantasy team players in the real game.
The user whose team accumulates the highest amount of points is declared the winner. It is evident that winning and the gameplay in fantasy football are fuelled by actual football. The increasing number of fans, the global reach, and above everything, the desire of fans and users to win real cash prizes fuels the growth of fantasy football.
Fantasy football makes the user feel more connected to the game. Since every move translates into winnings for them, it increases the intensity of engagement for the fans. Fantasy sports provide an opportunity for the fans to win monetary rewards, and for the fantasy sports enthusiasts to delve deeper into the nuances of the game.
How it all works?
To start with, the user has to download the application. In most cases, the download is free. The users can sign up with their email address or mobile number or social media account.
The user also has the option to use a referral code during sign up. The referral code entitles the referrer some credits.
The user has to enter a league to start playing. There are different kinds of leagues - Private League, Public League, and Premier League. A private league is created by users to play with their social circles. The public leagues are free to enter and do not have any cash prizes. The Premier Leagues, on the other hand, have an entry fee and entitles the user to win cash prizes based on the entry fee.
Once a user enters a league, he/she has to create a team. The user is given a budget of hundred million dollars and each player has a price tag. The user has to build their team within the budget.
The user can make as many changes as he/she wants to the team until the lock-in period. Once the lock-in period is over, no changes can be done to the team unless there are special permissions and upgrades.
As soon as the match starts, the user can view the match and the scorecard. This will help them analyze the performance of the team and their fantasy players. The actual performance of the players determines the winning or losing of the fantasy team user.
Once the match is over, points are distributed between the players in line with their performance in the actual game. The user whose team players have accumulated the highest points is considered the winner.
The Business Opportunity
The astounding fan following of the sport in the USA and Canada and the growth of the sport worldwide opens business opportunities for you to create your own fantasy American football app.
Major fantasy football platforms in 2018 generated more than 750 million in revenue by just accounting the entry fees. Given the global reach and the craze of the fans that never seems to attenuate, fantasy football still has a lot of profits to unearth.
It is not only the entry fees but also the advertisements, the in-app purchases and the selling of merchandise that can bring in the revenue for your business.
For a fantasy sports application, the magnitude of revenue lies in the number of active users participating in the Premier League. Since the users do not have a problem in shelling out a negligible amount of money for the big bash prices that they might win, the fantasy American football app is surely poised to grow bigger and better. The bigger the growth, the greater the revenue!
Essential Features of the Fantasy American Football App
Any fantasy sports app like this website needs to have both the user interface and the administrator interface. The features that face a user are required to be more intuitive and interactive whereas the administrator features are supposed to be utilitarian.
Features of the User-Facing Application
- As soon as the user signs in, they should be taken to the home screen where all the essential information is displayed. The information includes necessary shortcuts, updates, and news. The home screen should be so intuitive that it should facilitate navigation to any part of the application from there.
- The user profile should contain all information about the fantasy-football career of the user. The total matches played, the joined and created leagues, the accumulated awards, and the social circles should be a part of the profile.
- Information about American football players should be made available on the application. This helps users to make calculated decisions when forming their fantasy team.
- The application should facilitate joining and creating leagues. Once a user joins the league, they should be able to create a fantasy team.
- Football news and updates should be made available. It not only helps users be updated about the players but also helps them stay hooked to the app for reasons other than fantasy football. Having a live scoreboard or match live streaming could add to the engagement quotient of the application.
- The eWallet should be integrated with mainstream banking systems to quickly realize the cash prizes that the users have won.
Features for an administrator:
- The administrator should have dedicated role-based dashboards that give them the essential information based on their administrative status.
- The administrator should be able to view the earnings of the application and the users. This helps administrators understand the intensity of participation and the spending patterns of the users.
- There might be instances when users exhibit anomalous or malicious behavior. In these circumstances, the administrator should have the power to disable or suspend users.
- The administrator should be able to control the private and public leagues. They should constantly check for potential policy violations.
- The administrator should manage the cash prizes and distribution.
- They should also have the powers or rather the responsibility to manage the content and customer relationship.
- Constantly tracking bank transactions and keeping a tab on the reward points will ensure that the app is clean and free from legal violations. The administrator should take responsibility for these aspects.
Conclusion
A fantasy American football application is a convergence of impeccable program management, flawless coding in the development of the application, a seamless user interface, and robust backend management.
To be a part of this fledgling industry, get in touch with a competent fantasy application developer who understands the marketplace and can equip you with the tools you need to succeed. By partnering yourself with such an enterprise, you can take the first step in creating a fantasy football application that leaves your customers wanting more.