Fantasy sports have gained a lot of popularity in a very short time. One of the reasons for this growth is technological advancements in this field.
From artificial intelligence to augmented reality, the fantasy sports industry has witnessed numerous cutting-edge developments that increased user engagement and ultimately resulted in overall growth.
In this blog, we will shed light on the latest tech trends in fantasy sports that you must be aware of. So, if you are a fantasy sports fan, user, or entrepreneur already invested or planning to invest in fantasy sports, this blog is a must-read.
So, before moving on to the latest tech trends, let’s understand fantasy sports and its market by exploring the current statistics.
What is Fantasy Sports?
Fantasy sports is a virtual sport where users create a team of real professional athletes of a particular sport.
These teams compete against each other based on the statistical performance of the chosen athletes in real-life games. Users use players, manage lineups, and make strategic decisions to earn points based on factors like as touchdowns, goals, or runs scored.
Fantasy sports leagues can be of various types, ranging from casual groups among friends to highly competitive leagues with complex scoring systems.
Fantasy Sports: Market Overview
The following are some current market statistics of the fantasy sports industry.
Source: Mordor Intelligence
- The North American fantasy sports market size is estimated at $13.21 billion in 2024 and is estimated to be $24.23 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 12.90% during the forecast period (2024-2029).
- According to reports, approximately 81 million North Americans now participate in legal sports betting and fantasy sports.
- Adults aged between 18 and 34 years participate in fantasy sports the most.
- A recent survey revealed that the most played fantasy sports in North America is fantasy football (NFL), followed by fantasy basketball (NBA).
These statistics show that fantasy sports are gaining popularity. More users are participating in fantasy sports, resulting in its growth in the coming years. Now, let’s proceed and learn about the tech trends in fantasy sports.
Latest Technological Trends in Fantasy Sports
Technological advancements in fantasy sports are increasing fans’ interest in fantasy sports. This is why the overall user base boosts up when a new advancement is introduced in fantasy sports.
Here, we have compiled the top technological trends in fantasy sports, that empower the fantasy sports apps and enhance user experience.
- Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Recommendations
This is the major technological trend that has been in action for the last few years and will continue to stay in the coming years. Artificial intelligence, or simply AI, is a technology used by fantasy sports mobile app developers to provide personalized recommendations to users.
There are numerous fantasy sports, however, users only like a couple of sports. Hence, AI and machine learning algorithms understand the user behavior from data, such as user engagement rate, and most interacted sports.
Based on this learning, AI provides personalized recommendations about fantasy sports tailored to the user. This enhances the engagement rate and results in fantasy sports’ growth in the long run.
- Machine Learning for Real-Time Information Updates
To play fantasy sports, users require the latest information, such as real-time scores and player statistics. Thus, a fantasy sports app must show real-time updated information; machine learning does this job.
Machine learning models are integrated into fantasy sports apps and platforms to adjust live scores in real-time, scorecards, player statistics, and other information based on data collected and analyzed from live sports events.
- Generative AI in Commentary and Chatbots
Generative AI, the most talked-about subset of AI, is another tech trend disrupting the fantasy sports industry. The top mobile app development companies leverage Generative AI in fantasy sports to offer sports commentary in the local language preferred by users.
Sports commentaries help users to understand live games and play fantasy sports efficiently. Moreover, commentary in the preferred language makes one play fantasy sports more efficiently.
Another use of generative AI is in providing 24/7 customer services to users. The emerging technology empowers chatbots to provide responses tailored to users’ queries, such as historical statistics of an athlete, or match scores.
- Augmented Reality for Overlays
Augmented Reality-powered overlays are another tech trend in fantasy sports.
Fantasy sports apps have started using augmented reality to provide overlay graphics of elements, such as scorecards, player statistics, team information, and more. This enhances user engagement with fantasy sports and drives its growth.
Source: Medium
- Blockchain for Secure Payments and Data Protection
Blockchain is known for its decentralization, transparency, and security. Realizing its potential, businesses now are investing heavily in integrating blockchain technology into fantasy sports.
Blockchain is primarily used in fantasy sports to build trust and fair play in matches and leagues. This is done by implementing smart contracts, that automate player trades, waivers, and payouts, without the need for intermediaries.
Moreover, all the information is recorded in a tamper-proof blockchain ledger providing transparency and trust of users. Also, blockchain provides another mode of payment, i.e. cryptocurrencies, in fantasy sports.
Furthermore, businesses and users can also create unique digital assets, or NFT (non-fungible assets) representing players and teams, and trade them on NFT marketplaces.
- Virtual Reality for Immersive Experiences
The trend of virtual reality technology in fantasy sports is also gaining traction, resulting in more fantasy sports apps integrated with VR compatibility. Virtual reality offers immersive match-watching experiences attracting more fans to fantasy sports.
Moreover, users can customize their viewing experience by selecting different camera angles, interacting with AR overlays (mentioned previously in this blog), accessing real-time statistics, and more, thanks to virtual reality in fantasy sports.
- Adaptive AI for Dynamic Rule Systems
Fantasy sports are evolving every day. League owners introduce new rules, terms, and conditions to enhance the excitement of fantasy sports. However, this also brings a challenge of frequent changes to algorithms on which fantasy sports work.
Fantasy sports app development companies are turning to adaptive AI technology to tackle this challenge. Adaptive AI analyzes the data and adapts itself to the changing data. This allows algorithms to adapt to changing terms and conditions, without needing to make major changes in the algorithms.
- Predictive Analytics for Predicting Winners
Fantasy sports apps have a winner prediction feature that shows the chances of a team winning the game. It looks somewhat like this:
Source: Amazon
This feature is powered by predictive analytics algorithms that analyze the data derived from the ongoing live matches.
After analyzing, predictive analytics show the probability of winning, based on various factors, such as the performance of players, past team history, condition of the ground, time left to finish the game, and more.
- Live Streaming for More Viewership
The growing craze for live streaming of matches in fantasy sports apps is also driving mobile app development companies to integrate the feature into the app.
With live streaming, users can watch their favorite sports and create their fantasy sports teams simultaneously, offering a dual benefit to the users: watching their favorite sports, and playing fantasy sports.
- Gamification for User Engagement
Gamification is another fastest-growing tech trend in fantasy sports that businesses wanting to develop fantasy sports apps must focus on.
Gamification is a process of adding gaming elements to the fantasy sports app to engage users for a long time. The gaming elements can be of any form- quizzes, riddles, daily challenges, player avatars, and more.
Users participate in quizzes, riddles, or daily challenges, and on completing a certain level, they get rewarded in the form of in-app currencies, gift cards, virtual currencies, bonuses, and more.
The rewards motivate the users to use and engage with fantasy sports apps for longer.
- Social Media Integration to Promote Fantasy Sports
Another tech trend gaining traction in recent times is the social media integration in fantasy sports apps.
Mobile app developers integrate social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Twitter, into fantasy sports, so that users can share their experiences on social media.
They can share their stories, audio, pictures of fantasy sports achievements, and more, with their friends and family, thanks to this technological trend.
Social media integration in fantasy sports apps helps businesses increase user engagement and promote fantasy sports, as more people get to know about it through their friends and families.
- Voice-Activated Personal Assistant
Voice-activated personal assistant plays a crucial role in helping users while participating in fantasy sports. The voice-based personal assistant, similar to Siri for iPhone and Alexa (created by Amazon), works on voice commands and provides hands-free access to fantasy sports information and updates.
A user can ask about the live score, player statistics, match updates, and more, using voice commands. Moreover, users can also create and manage their fantasy teams using their voices.
Hence, these are the latest tech trends in fantasy sports. Fantasy businesses associated with fantasy sports must keep tight on the latest technological trends to enhance user experience.
The Importance of Embracing Technology Trends in Fantasy Sports
Embracing tech trends in fantasy sports is important for the growth of the fantasy sports industry and for enhancing user engagement and experience.
By leveraging the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, blockchain, virtual reality, and more, businesses and startups can develop high-end fantasy sports that users prefer to use and engage with for a long time.
Technology advancements in fantasy sports offer personalized experiences and convenience while taking part in fantasy sports, and help users make informed decisions for creating, managing, and competing with other users.
It also helps you gain a competitive advantage in the market where there are numerous existing fantasy sports apps.
Adding high-end features and functionalities in fantasy sports attract more users. More users engaging with fantasy sports apps generate more revenue, resulting in overall business growth.
Summing Up
So, these are the latest tech trends in fantasy sports. The fantasy sports market is booming right now, and by aligning with the above-mentioned technological trends, you can transform the way users interact and engage with fantasy sports.
From providing personalized recommendations to promoting fantasy sports and providing secured payment options, the latest technologies like AI, blockchain, AR/VR, and others, empower fantasy sports with enhanced functioning, resulting in more users participating in fantasy sports.
From the business perspective, more users will bring more revenue and accelerate the business growth.
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