One of the few things that bring together the entire world is Sports. It crosses all the barriers like language, religion, race, and ethnicity, and brings people together to cheer up for their favorite sports. Although, not every sport is popular in every nation, but there will always be at least one sport that rules on the heart of the people of that country. For e.g. football or soccer is highly popular in European countries while in Asian countries, Cricket has a lot of popularity.
To increase the excitement of the games, the fans also wish to put a bet on the performance of their favourite players. That’s why many sport prediction apps like Dream 11, Yahoo Sports Fantasy, CBS Sports, Fantasy, Draftkings, FanDuel, etc.
These apps increase the thrill of the game to the next level and also entice the users with exciting prizes. The growing demand for sports prediction app development has created a lucrative business opportunity for entrepreneurs. In this article, we will go through all the important aspects of fantasy sports app development. Let’s begin with the basics.
What is a Sports Prediction App Development?
In a sports prediction app, the user can register themselves to predict the performance of a player or a team in various sports. The players get points based on real-time performance. The users have to pay an entry fee to participate in various performance based leagues and they win prize if their prediction proves right. It is a completely legal app across various countries in the world.
There are various leagues, level of competition, entry fee, and user’s ranking within the competition that decides the money won in the prize. There is a huge number of people who like to predict the performance of players and make money out of it.
When the sports prediction apps were in their nascent stage, the users had trust issues. They felt it was like a betting app and it was not secure to link their debit or credit cards with these apps. However, things have changed now.
Popular apps like Dream11, William Hill Sports, Belfred, etc. has build a great reputation in the market. The users trust on these apps. These apps provide complete transparency, and security to the financial information of the users.
Furthermore, these apps also allow users to check the teams created by other users so they don’t feel cheated by the platform. All the rankings and the results are completely transparent.
Why invest in Sports Prediction App Development?
As per the Statista report, 85% of the users who like to use fantasy platforms prefer mobile apps and only 8% prefer websites.
If we talk about market valuation, in 2019, the fantasy sports market was valued at $18.6 billion. It is expected to reach a valuation of $48 billion by 2027. The CAGR is a whopping 13.9%.
This exponential growth is fueled by the development of sports prediction apps in developing countries. For instance, there were around 700 million internet users in India in 2020, and by 2025 the number is expected to reach 974 million.
Must-Have Features For Sports Prediction App Development:
The features play a pivotal role in defining the success of an app. In a sports prediction app development, the features are divided for two main entities: Participants and Admin Panel. Let’s know the feature set for each entity:
Participants Features:
User Registration:
One thing which is common in every app is user registration and it is important. Users should be able to register and log in on the app through e-mail/contact number and password. You can also allow social media login for smooth onboarding.
Landing Page:
After successful registration, the users will boarded on a landing page where they come across sports that are being played. The users get searching elements as per their choice. The most common filters are sports type, date, type of matches, etc.
Contest Details:
In the contest details, the users can check the details of the contest they participate in the sports fantasy app. They can get information as per the filters like winning amount, entry fee range, winners count, contest type, winning range, contest size, etc.
Join Contest:
The users would be able to join the contest they want. In the contest, there should be information related to it, such as the number of allowed entries, prizes, etc.
Create a Team:
To participate in a contest, the users have to create a team and predict things.
Winning History:
There must be an option by which the users can have a look at the matches where he won contests and money.
Playing History:
A complete overview of all the contests in which the user participates, whether lost or won.
Admin Features:
Login:
The administrator is also required to log in to the app’s backend using a strong username and password.
Dashboard:
A unified place for the admin where they can get a complete overview of the app and metrics like number of matches, contests, revenue, winners, etc.
User Management:
The admins will have ultimate control over user management. The admin can update profiles, delete inactive profiles, or ban suspicious accounts.
Match Engagement:
Admin can manage the live matches, and upcoming matches, add unique contests, manage prize money, the number of contestants in each group, etc.
Transactions:
The admins would also be able to manage the revenue and monitor all app transactions, whether credit or debit. They would also be able to manage the payment modes and gateways.
Prizes:
The admins can check the prize money won by users. It is a useful feature as they can identify a user who has consistently won a lot of money.
Additional Features:
Apart from the user-specific features, you can also implement some additional features in the sports betting app development process:
Push Notifications:
Push notifications help remind the users about upcoming contests, performance of ongoing contests, app updates, important upcoming contests, etc.
Live Score:
The functionality will display the live score of any matches in which users have participated as contestants. It helps them understand what expectations they should have based on their predictions.
Analytics:
The feature allows the administrator to view insights into everything, such as the number of users each match, income generated per day/week, and so on, and make informed decisions.
How do you make money through sports fantasy app development?
A sports fantasy app development has tons of ways to generate revenue. Here are the major ways to make money through sports prediction app development:
Subscription Fee:
You can charge users a certain amount as a fee to use your fantasy app. Generally, this model is used for entertainment apps. However, in the sports app, you have to properly analyze the demand of the app in the market before implementing this model. The fees can be monthly, quarterly, or annual.
Participation Fee:
In some sports betting apps, there are contests organised by the apps. These contests offer users a chance at winning NFL-sized payouts, for which they charge a subscription fee. They also take a portion of the cash-prize contests which is huge in numeric values.
Advertisements:
In any app, advertisement is the most common way of generating revenue. You can run ads on your app and earn based on the number of views or clicks on the ads. The ads can be pop-ups, banners, or full-screen ads. The brands could advertise themselves through videos, banners, and other advertising models.
Premium Features:
Another way to make revenue is through offering premium features. You can allow users to create more teams or access advanced-level statistics of players or teams. It is also a significant way to generate revenue. These features can be available for purchase within the app.
Partnering with Brands:
You can collaborate with sports brands to offer special discounts or promotions to the premium users of the app. In return, the brands will pay you a commission for every sale made through your app.
Paid Contests:
You can organise paid contests within your app and charge users an entry fee. The prize money can be a portion of the entry fee or sponsored by a brand.
How to Develop a Sports Prediction App? Steps To Follow:
Here are the steps to follow for sports prediction app development:
Market Research:
You should research your market in a comprehensive manner. You have to find which sports have the maximum viewership or fan following. Not every country has an interest in the same sport. The market research will help you find whether your audience is active on mobile apps or not.
Decide the sports:
At the initial level, it would be better, to begin with a single sport for sports fantasy app. You can choose among the popular sports like football, cricket, baseball, tennis, etc. If you are in a country where more than one sports are popular then you can select multiple sports. For e.g. in England both Cricket and Football are popular.
Finalize the features and functionalities:
You have to draft a document in which you will mention what features and functionalities you want to implement in the app. The advanced and high-utility features are paramount for successful sports fantasy app development. With the market research, you will get to know what features your audience wants. Also, you can analyze the features of your existing competitors.
Hire mobile app developers:
You have to find a mobile app development company that meets your requirements. Either, you can outsource your project to them or you can hire mobile app developers who will work just like your in-house team. You have to ensure that the development team understands your vision and requirements.
Development:
After sharing the requirements with the mobile app development company, the developers will start working on your app. The front-end developers take responsibility for the user’s end screen, button, UI, and other elements. On the other side, the backend team has to ensure that all the features and functionalities should work seamlessly.
Testing:
After the development phase, the QA team will start the testing. In this phase, the QA experts will ensure that there are no bugs in the front end or back end of the app. They will also check the performance and security aspects of the app.
Deployment:
Once the QA team gives the sign-off, the app is ready to deploy on the cloud infrastructure.
How much does it to build a sports prediction app?
There are several factors that influence the cost of sports prediction app development. These factors include the complexity of features and functionalities, experience of the development, platform like iOS or Android, location of the development team, and others.
Among all these factors, the location of the development significantly decides the cost. If the team is from North America or European countries, then the hourly cost will lie in the range of $80-$120 per hour. On the other side, you can get the same development quality from Southeast Asian countries at a much lower cost. For e.g. in countries like India, the hourly cost is $25-$40 per hour which is a huge cost difference.
On average, the total cost for developing a sports prediction app will be around $10k to $15k with standard features and functionalities.
Wrapping Up:
In this article, we have gone through various aspects of sports prediction app development. With the rise of mobile app users and the craze for sports, there is a high demand for these apps.
Looking to invest in a sports prediction app would be a great idea to generate huge revenue. At Ebizneeds, the best mobile app development company in India, we have expertise in developing mobile apps for varying features and functionalities. Let us know your requirements.
Naveen Khanna is the CEO of eBizneeds, a company renowned for its bespoke web and mobile app development. By delivering high-end modern solutions all over the globe, Naveen takes pleasure in sharing his rich experiences and views on emerging technological trends. He has worked in many domains, from education, entertainment, banking, manufacturing, healthcare, and real estate, sharing rich experience in delivering innovative solutions.
