Quick Summary:
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Fantasy sports app development is booming, with Dream 11 leading the space. Developers must focus on user engagement, real-time updates, and intuitive interfaces.
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A top-tier fantasy sports app must offer seamless team selection, real-time player stats, AI-driven insights, and a structured information hierarchy for easy navigation.
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Handling peak traffic requires auto-scaling servers, optimized load balancing, and real-time data synchronization to ensure a smooth gaming experience.
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Successful apps generate revenue through entry fees, commission on winnings, in-app ads, and premium features, making business viability a priority from the start.
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Developing a fantasy sports app like Dream 11 involves UI/UX design, backend infrastructure, testing, and regulatory compliance, with costs ranging from $15K to $100K.
Introduction
India’s love for cricket needs no introduction. In 2020, the highest search term on Google across the world was “Covid 19”, but in India, at that same time, it was cricket. Fantasy cricket app development rightly provided the passive and passionate spectators of our sports-obsessed nation a platform to channel their opinions on cricket strategies, create their own virtual teams, and win rewards for the same. Dream 11 has witnessed exponential growth in this space, with 220 million+ users as of March 2024, and till date there are approximately 100-1k monthly searches on Google for apps like Dream 11.
As India’s number one fantasy cricket app development company ↗, we have seen and catered to this exponential demand firsthand. Dream 11 has become synonymous with the activity of playing fantasy sports in India and has become the parameter against which any fantasy cricket app is evaluated. Not only is it India’s first fantasy gaming unicorn but also a widely loved fantasy cricket platform with 15.01 million concurrent users as of March 2024. What makes it so popular? Let’s decode its success and understand the essential components that go into the making of the best fantasy cricket app just in time for IPL 2025.
Decoding Dream 11 App Development
The success of fantasy sports app development ↗ depends on how well any platform can engage and retain users, and continue to give them a seamless gaming experience that matches their excitement for the real game. Discussed below are essential components of a fantasy cricket platform with the potential to captivate users like Dream 11:
User Interaction With The App
The best fantasy cricket app will facilitate seamless user interaction with each of its components and fulfill users’ purpose of engaging with it. Fantasy cricket lovers want to be able to create their virtual teams, select their players, optimize lineups, and lead their teams to victory seamlessly with all necessary data at their disposal.
An important aspect of users’ interaction with any fantasy gaming app is the amount of cognitive load it gives them while they apply their strategic decision-making capabilities to win the game. Given the short time they have to make critical decisions processing all data, there is no room for cluttering the home screen or points table with anything unnecessary than information they require at any given moment. Users should be simply led after the onboarding to the home screen, which shows all upcoming matches and contests users can participate in, from where they can easily proceed, following a well-structured information hierarchy.
Dream 11 enables users to easily select their teams with critical data such as, player performance, match conditions, clear rules for points calculation, well-defined rules for each match format and so on.
Data Calculation and Representation
Fantasy sports are games of skill as opposed to games of chance. Users’ victory in a game depends on how well they can leverage their strategic decision-making capabilities and available match data to get ahead of their fellow players. As such, the platform should facilitate this capability and not get users to worry about the accuracy of points being calculated and updated in real-time.
Dream 11 users can use the available match data to their strengths as the platform converts raw data into actionable insights users find most handy when selecting their teams, or predicting how weather conditions, injuries, or current match conditions favour their picked players for timely lineup optimization. Fantasy cricket app development with data calculation accuracy, clean presentation, right font sizes, and optimal colour choices in alignment with the app’s interface reduces users’ dependence on guesswork and empowers them as fantasy team managers leading their teams for victory.
This accuracy is pivotal to the business success of any fantasy sports app. It is the parameter against which the fantasy gaming experience is judged and with fantasy sports API solutions, it has become easier than ever to integrate diverse match data from credible sources into your fantasy cricket application.
UI/UX Design
Dream 11 app development is incomplete without a consideration of the stunning UI/UX design strategies followed by fantasy sports apps with massive user engagement. It is not just about having the most visually appealing or striking array of features put together, but really understanding how well the app can capture the essence of a real-life game and fuel users’ excitement as passionate fans transformed to active team managers.
An app like Dream 11 prioritizes visual consistency for users and enables them to achieve their goals (primarily joining contests and selecting a team) seamlessly in as less time as possible. Their focus is on enhancing this core gameplay, recognizing it as the major source of their revenue. Additionally, they incorporate design thinking from the outset and follow an agile double-diamond design process to make sure user needs are accurately translated to their functional product.
As a fantasy cricket app development company responsible for delivering some of the world’s leading applications like Boomer 11 ↗ with over 50,000 real users, we prioritize visual consistency in design, ensuring an accurate balance of colours and typography, and leverage stunning graphic elements to provide users a thrilling, yet seamless gameplay experience that makes them come back for more.
App Performance
Application performance is pivotal to the success of fantasy cricket software development. To create app like Dream 11, it is important to ensure that the application can provide consistency in the launch time, when millions of users join contests from different devices. Besides, the application should be able to offer a lag-free performance during peak match users, when millions of users engage with the app concurrently.
Cricket app development like Dream 11 provides for specific configurations of each device and operating system to minimize the launch time and provide users a seamless experience in the crucial final 30 minutes remaining for the match to begin. Dream 11 also avoids the possibility of slow app performance when millions of users engage with the platform concurrently with different devices and in different network conditions through auto-scaling and efficient load-balancing, ensuring the server can automatically scale up when user engagement spikes.
This guarantees consistent performance and top-notch user experiences, matching up to the excitement of sports fans all set to select their teams, apply their strategic capabilities, and lead their teams to victory.
Tech Stack
As India’s number one fantasy cricket app development company, we understand the importance of choosing the right tech stack for your fantasy cricket platform and have helped several leaders in the space identify the right tech stack for their respective purposes to avoid non-reversible damages. To build an app like Dream 11, identifying the right tech stack is important to ensure desired functionality, scalability to evolve with increasing user engagement, and top-notch performance to cater to different devices and platforms simultaneously. Mentioned below are the basics for a fantasy cricket tech stack
| Category | Technologies |
|---|---|
| Frontend | Android: Kotlin iOS: Swift, SwiftUI Both (Android & iOS): React Native, Flutter |
| Backend | Node.js, Java, PHP |
| Database | MongoDB, SQL, MySQL |
| Cloud Integration | AWS, Azure |
| Payment Gateway Integration | PayPal, Cashfree, PhonePe, Gigadat, Razorpay, CCAvenue |
| Push Notifications | Firebase |
| Web Technologies | HTML, CSS, Astro, React, Next.js |
(which will vary according to unique business requirements)
How The Sports Entertainment Industry Fuels Visibility For A Fantasy Cricket Platform
Fantasy cricket apps witness an upsurge in engagement during leagues like the IPL. The major factor fuelling enhanced visibility is the increasing popularity of sports and the growth of the sports entertainment industry, which seamlessly distributes these events among the masses.
The proliferation of leagues like the IPL, pro-kabaddi, hockey, and football, along with enhanced broadcast quality, increasing celebrity endorsements, enhanced internet penetration, smartphone ownership, and ease of OTT viewing has made these popular sporting events more accessible to everyone, enabling users with greater opportunities to engage with fantasy sports all throughout the year.
Apps like Dream 11 focus on multiple sports to offer users an immersive fantasy gaming experience, leveraging the enhanced visibility offered by the sports entertainment industry and multiply their revenue sources as more passionate sports communities form around these events, fuelled by a growth in social media. Additionally, strategic partnerships during major leagues enhance visibility and fuel user engagement with the right incentives for users.
Features To Include In An App Like Dream 11
Discussed below are features to include in your app for Dream 11-like engagement and retention.
| COMMON FEATURES | ADVANCED FEATURES | ADMIN PANEL FEATURES |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile and Social Login | Instant Withdrawal | User Authentication |
| Referral System | Wall Feed | Instant ID Verification |
| Automated KYC | User vs User Comparison | Bank Verification |
| Real-time Fantasy Games | Quizzes | Withdrawal Requests |
| Multiple Fantasy Game Contests | Multiple Sports | User Created Games |
| Payment Gateway Integration | Predictions | Swapping Teams |
| Player Analytics | E-Commerce | Default Fantasy Games |
| Live Scores | Engaging Push Notifications | Substitution System |
| In-app Chat Features | Gamification | Admin Dashboard |
| Join Multiple Fantasy Games | Rewards & Bonuses | Creating Multiple Teams |
Other features in popular demand include:
Multiple Sports
If you are looking to build a app like Dream 11, consider incorporating multiple sports in your platform along with cricket, like kabaddi, hockey, football ↗, kho-kho, and more. Not only will this give users an immersive gaming experience with a plethora of gaming options in one place, it will also provide opportunities for multiplying revenue given the proliferation of sports leagues for each of these games all throughout the year, giving users enough opportunities to participate in fantasy sports and win prizes.
Predictor Module
Top Dream 11 alternatives like Boomer 11 come with a predictor module that helps users predict the outcomes of a contest they enter to enhance their strategic decision-making capabilities. As fantasy sports become more popular among a rapidly evolving and mature user base, the presence of these modules will be the true differentiator for any fantasy sports business that wants to stand out from the plethora of other market alternatives.
Bitcoin-based Payment Integration
Fantasy cricket software development should evolve with the times to keep up with user demand and offer them payment integrations as per their needs. Bitcoin-based payments are the next future-proof feature every fantasy sports business will look to incorporate as these technologies revolutionize transactions across industries.
How To Make Money From A Fantasy Sports App Like Dream 11?
Discussed below are ways in which Dream 11 makes money and other monetization strategies you can explore to increase your revenue from fantasy cricket app development.
The primary sources of Dream 11’s revenue are:
Entry Fees
Dream 11 earns revenue from the entry fees each user pays to participate in paid contests on their platform. Popular tournaments like the IPL, the ICC World Cup, T20 and ODI formats see an upsurge in user registrations on fantasy sports platforms and as of 2023, Dream 11 reported an average spend of approximately INR 127 per user. The key to earning substantial revenue from entry fees is prioritizing viability for the user and business, and implementing an amount that also minimizes the impact of regulations like the 28% GST in India ↗
Commission On User Wins
Dream 11 earns revenue by charging a commission on users’ prize pools or amounts each user wins based on how well their virtual teams perform. As of the end of 2023, the platform reportedly earned a 15%-20% commission on user earnings, leveraging its targeted engagement strategies and incentives for users to drive greater participation.
Enhanced Platform Accessibility
For anyone looking to build a Dream 11 clone app, it is important to consider how Dream 11 has strategies in place to extend their platform accessibility to a wider user base by offering three gaming options, including freemium, private, and premium to meet users’ diverse preferences to spend on fantasy sports platforms.
Other monetization strategies for fantasy sports apps include-
In-App Advertising
AI-powered user insights can learn from users’ engagement habits and offer tailored strategies for more effective and relevant in-app advertising for each user, maximizing the chances of conversion and generating greater revenue for the platform.
Affiliate Marketing
A fantasy cricket app has the potential to attract billions of cricket lovers on its platform with the right user engagement strategies. With billions of cricket lovers constantly participating in daily and season-long games, there are endless opportunities for partnering with sports retailers to sell game merchandise and equipment on your platform in exchange for a commission for each purchase.
Premium Features
A report by Deloitte India and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) mentions that fantasy sports is a technology-driven sector and technology is the core differentiation strategy with users having a plethora of gaming options at their disposal. The nature of user demand today leaves ample scope for designing premium features which users will willingly pay for in exchange for enhanced strategic decision-making capabilities that improve their chances of winning.
How To Build An App Like Dream 11 In 7 Steps
Discussed below is the end-to-end development process for building a Dream 11 clone app or a fantasy cricket platform tailored to the needs of your business.
Step 1: Initial Conceptualization
In order to develop the best fantasy cricket app, we conduct in-depth market and competitor research to understand your target users, identify gaps in current offerings, and create a development roadmap in alignment with your vision.
Step 2: UI/UX Design and Backend Development
Our fantasy sports app portfolio constitutes the best Dream 11 alternatives with proven UI/UX design strategies in place to maximize user engagement and retention and eliminate hassles from a smooth user experience. We understand your design, component, and colour preferences, along with any model apps you may prefer, to deliver UX designs that translate your user and business needs into fully functional products. Backend development begins parallely to build a robust system foundation that supports you at growth and scale.
Step 3: Development
Our custom cricket app development delivers apps in alignment with clients’ specific technical preferences, including databases of their choice, custom coupon and module implementation, and complete source code delivery, ensuring complete relevance, alignment with business needs, and end-to-end accuracy.
Step 4: Admin Panel and Application Development
As part of our fantasy cricket platform, we develop an Admin Panel that empowers clients to effectively manage their fantasy sports business with consolidated data in a secure repository, including data points like KYC, user activity tracking, state restriction options, referral calculation, and more. Application development at this stage progresses in alignment with client preferences indicated above.
Step 5: Sprint Demos
As part of our fantasy cricket software development process, we present the demo of each model and fantasy sports API ↗ every two weeks. This is when we deliver the complete source code to you, and also manage application hosting for clients who want to host the application on their servers.
Step 6: Testing and Quality Analysis
To create an app like Dream 11, it is important to ensure that your platform can handle concurrent user demand and function efficiently in all possible match scenarios for seamless user engagement. We conduct end-to-end testing↗ for complete coding accuracy along with scenario testing leveraging our extensive and prior knowledge of test cases to identify and nullify potential issues for a flawless launch.
Step 7: App Store and Play Store Release
We help you launch your fantasy cricket platform on App Store and Play Store, providing for all required formalities for each platform and ensuring your solution can reach your target environment seamlessly.
Dream 11 Alternative Apps and Their Features
Discussed below are some of the Dream 11 alternatives along with their features to help you get an idea of what users expect today and what is most popular among them.
Fantasy Sports Apps Developed by Sciflare
| App Name | Key Features |
|---|---|
| Boomer 11 | Daily Fantasy, Predictor, Quiz, Social Feed, E-commerce Integration, Virtual Coins, Live Scorecard |
| Fanze | Prediction, Live Chat, Scorecard, Coupon Purchase System |
| Fantasy Sports Pro | Daily Fantasy, Predictor |
| Superleague | Daily Fantasy, Local Leagues, Local Scorecard Updates |
| AD11 | DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports), KYC Verification, Multiple Payment Gateways for Different Countries |
| DPL11 | DFS, Cashback and Referral-based Networking System |
How Much Does It Cost To Develop A Dream 11 Like Fantasy App?
The fantasy cricket app development cost ↗ in India varies from business to business depending on their unique requirements and tech stack. However, two major development options remain-
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White-label fantasy app development: Starting at $5K-$15K per sport and ready to go to market in 14 days.
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Custom Fantasy App Development: Costs range from $15K-$100K depending on the kind of functionality and experience businesses want to offer their users, and ready to go to market in 3-6 months.
Conclusion
Building an app like Dream 11 entails understanding what makes it so loved. Despite regulatory challenges, Dream 11 has witnessed unprecedented user growth and continues to remain a top-choice among users with its continuous improvements to the platform, focus on enhancing the core gameplay experience with AI ↗ and ML integrations, and ability to offer reliable performances to the millions of sports fans who join the platform every minute. It also includes prioritizing data security from the outset and alignment with all established regulations to maintain credibility and provide a safe gaming experience. We have worked with several industry leaders, including Boomer 11, American Dream 11, DPL 11, and more to help them launch their fantasy sports solutions exactly the way they needed, and are ready to leverage our expertise cultivated over ten years to help your dream fantasy cricket solution too. Get in touch today!
FAQs
1. How long does it take to make app like Dream 11?
It can take approximately 3-6 months to develop a custom app like Dream 11 tailored to your unique business needs. However, for clients who need quick launch solutions, our white-label fantasy sports software ↗ is ready to go to market in 14 days with customizable brand identities.
2. What is the Dream 11 app cost?
The cost of developing a custom application like Dream 11 can range anywhere between $15K-$100K depending on your feature, customization, tech stack, and other unique business requirements.
