IPL online betting: Are cricketers in a way driving youth to gambling addiction, financial losses?

A woman in Karnataka died by suicide after her husband’s debts ran up to more than 1 crore following his losses in online betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches.

Darshan Babu, an engineer in Chitradurga, Karnataka, has been betting on IPL matches since 2021. His losses touched lakhs of rupees, and then he borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates to place bets again in the hope of recovering. However, this was not the case, and moneylenders started harassing him and his family.

Online betting addiction back in focus

Unable to bear the harassment of the creditors, Darshan’s 24-year-old wife Ranjitha, a homemaker, ended her life. She was found hanging at home on March 18, four days before the start of the 17th edition of the IPL.

As the IPL 2024 Twenty20 tournament is currently underway across India, Ranjitha’s unfortunate death has brought the ugly online betting addiction back into the spotlight.

Lakhs of people like Karnataka’s Darshan are out there, who regularly place bets online on IPL matches. Apart from using online betting apps, youngsters are lured into making big money by investing a small sum in fantasy gaming apps.

Every year, during IPL matches, advertisements for fantasy gaming apps flood Indian TV screens. Famous cricketers and film personalities endorse fantasy gaming applications like Dream11, MyCircle11, and others, and youngsters are addicted to these apps.

Cricketers to be blamed?

In an Al Jazeera report in July 2023, a farmer named Lalji Dwivedi blamed ads on TV by cricketers for his 16-year-old son Prateek Kumar’s addiction to gaming apps during IPL.

“He got influenced by an advertisement during the breaks, and he started using fantasy gaming apps to bet every day. Now, before each match, he asks me to give him money to bet on these apps. When I refuse to give him money, he gets upset,” Dwivedi was quoted as saying in the report.

In the ongoing IPL 2024, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals (RR) are among the IPL cricketers who promote My11Circle and the app's advertisements talk about “Rs 1 crore” as “first prize”.

With My11Circle being the “associate sponsor” of IPL, these cricketers are, in a way, "forced" to endorse the app.

One needs to be 18 years of age to register on these apps and create their own virtual teams using real players from IPL and compete against other users. My11Circle promises a chance to win a “prize of Rs 1 crore” with a registration fee of “Rs 49”.

According to its website, it has more than 4 crore users and they have disbursed prize money of over Rs 500 crore so far.

Top advertisers

As per TAM advertising report, fantasy gaming apps were the top advertisers on TV during IPL 2023 with 18 per cent of the advertising share, up from 15 per cent in the previous IPL.

The income of fantasy gaming platforms increased by 24 per cent during IPL from 2022 to 2023, reaching over 28 billion rupees ($341m). Around 61 million users took part in fantasy gaming activities, nearly 65 per cent of whom came from small towns, according to RedSeer consultancy’s report.

What is fantasy cricket?

According to My11Circle, "Fantasy cricket is a fantasy sports game where each player can make a team of 11 players. As the game starts, the users get points for the fantasy teams they have selected based on their performance in the real match. The points are given on the basis of runs, wickets and catches, among others. To join a fantasy cricket league, you need to join a match and pick a fantasy team of 11 players that includes 1-6 batsmen, 1-6 bowlers, 1-4 wicket-keepers and 1-6 all-rounders. Along with it, you also need to select the captain and vice-captain of the team."

‘Misleading ads’

The law for controlling fantasy gaming apps in India is mainly based on the Public Gambling Act of 1867.

According to Shashank Tiwari, a lawyer at Jabalpur High Court, this law forbids all types of gambling in the country, except for certain games that involve skill, including bridge and chess.

“The ads for these apps can be misleading because they show people winning a lot of money, but in reality, most players only win a small amount,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Over 350 million bet, gamble during IPL

According to Think Change Forum’s (TCF) report in October 2023, illegal sports betting market receives an estimated inflow of Rs 8,20,000 crore ($100 billion) per annum from India.

The report said that in India, cricket dominates, with IPL being a significant driver of betting activity. As per estimates, more than 140 million people in India participate in betting and gambling regularly and this number shoots up to 370 million during the IPL.

Professor Ranganath Tannir, co-author of the TCF report, said that in 2024, betting apps are projected to earn an average revenue of $292 (around Rs 24,000) from every user, according to a report in Scroll.

Online games banned in some states

Some states, including Tamil Nadu, have banned online gaming apps. The action was taken by the Tamil Nadu government after at least 40 persons died by suicide in three years after suffering losses in gaming apps.

Mental health issues

On April 1, 2014, India opened its first clinic SHUT (Service for Healthy Use of Technology) for the assessment and management of “technology addiction”. It is located at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.

The clinic used to get about three to four patients with gaming addictions per week in 2014 but that number has now shot up to about 20 to 22 individuals seeking help per week, Dr Manoj Sharma, professor of clinical psychology and head of the SHUT Clinic, told the website. “Some students are treating these apps as the equivalent of their education, which, is a worrying trend”.

“They believe that if they continue to use these apps, they will earn significant money and recover their losses. This kind of thinking can lead to addiction to these gaming apps,” he added.

Who can seek help from SHUT?

Internet/technology users( Mobile phone, Social media, Gaming, Pornography, Show series etc) who want to know about their usage pattern, addiction or addictive use of internet, and its management at individual level as well as among young children.

The SHUT clinic also runs Digital Detox Helpline on every Friday to promote healthy use of technology. The helpline number is 9480829675.

Government’s norms for online gaming

In April 2023, the Centre notified norms to regulate the online gaming sector wherein real money games involving wagering or betting have been prohibited.

The government has also opted for a self-regulation model for the online gaming sector and will initially notify three self-regulatory organisations (SROs) that will approve the games that can operate in the country as per the rules.

Online games involving wagering or betting will violate new online gaming rules, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

“Permissible online games are those games, real money or otherwise, that do not involve wagering, user harm in its content and do not create any addictive consequences for children,” Chandrasekhar said.

He said that online games will be regulated by SROs, which will include industry, gamers, and other stakeholders, not the government.

The SROs, as per the rules, should also include an educationist, an expert in the field of psychology or mental health, an individual who is or has been a member or officer of an organisation dealing with the protection of child rights, etc.

The online gaming rules have been included as an amendment in the IT Rules of 2021.

According to the rules, the online gaming self-regulatory body may declare an online real money game as a permissible online real money game, if “the online real money game does not involve wagering on any outcome”.

(Suicides can be prevented. For help please call Suicide Prevention Helplines: Neha Suicide Prevention Centre – 044-24640050; Aasara helpline for suicide prevention, emotional support & trauma help — +91-9820466726; Kiran, Mental health rehabilitation — 1800-599-0019, Disha 0471- 2552056, Maithri 0484 2540530, and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)