MUMBAI: Fantasy sports are no longer just a game — they’re becoming a driving force in India’s artificial intelligence revolution. At the WAVES 2025WAVES 2025WAVES 2025: Fantasy Sports Key to India’s Sports AI Vision (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit) in Mumbai, renowned academic and AI expert Professor Vishal Misra, Vice-Dean of Computing & AI at Columbia University, unveiled a landmark white paper titled “Fantasy Sports as a Catalyst for India’s AI Revolution in Sports.”
The white paper is based on insights from the FIFS Sports Data Gameathon, a national-level sports AI challenge launched by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) in partnership with Google Cloud and Dream11. Designed as a practical, problem-solving initiative, the Gameathon invited top engineering and technology institutes from across India to develop AI/ML models based on real-world sports applications — and test them through daily fantasy sports simulations.
Fantasy Sports: A Data Playground for AI
Speaking at the launch, Prof. Misra emphasized the transformational potential of fantasy platforms.
“Fantasy sports is more than entertainment — they are a powerful, accessible platform for advancing AI in India,” said Misra. “By turning sports into a data science playground, we can nurture the next generation of AI talent while unlocking real-world applications in athlete performance, fan engagement, and strategic decision-making.”
The white paper explains how fantasy sports — with their rich, real-time data and mass user base — present an ideal testbed for training AI models, enabling everything from predictive analytics to performance modeling. It underscores fantasy sports’ potential in democratizing AI development by engaging India’s vast pool of engineering talent through accessible, gamified formats.
Aligning with the IndiaAI Mission
As India targets a USD 500 billion GDP boost through AI adoption by 2025, the paper makes a strong case for formally integrating sports as a strategic focus sector under the IndiaAI Mission. It notes that fantasy sports can serve as a public platform for nurturing indigenous AI innovations — not just for elite athletes or teams, but for grassroots and community-level sports ecosystems.
“The FIFS Sports Data Gameathon not only supported IndiaAI’s application development and FutureSkills goals,” Misra added, “but also showed how fantasy platforms can fuel AI-driven innovation beyond elite teams, making sophisticated analytics tools accessible at scale.”
Key Policy Recommendations
To harness the full potential of AI in sports, the white paper outlines a set of forward-looking policy recommendations:
Establish a National Sports Data Repository: To be housed under the IndiaAI Datasets Platform, enabling AI researchers and developers access to structured, diverse, and real-time sports data.
Develop Sports-Focused AI Curricula: Introducing specialized AI modules in higher education institutions that focus on applications in sports science, performance analysis, and digital fan engagement.
Create a Dedicated AI-in-Sports Innovation Hub: A national hub to incubate startups, support research, and build prototypes linking AI with athletic and fan experience outcomes.
Launch Regular Multi-Sport Data Competitions: Encouraging innovation through sustained engagement of young developers and institutions with sports-centric AI challenges.
Enable Real-Time Data Infrastructure: Facilitating the collection, transmission, and analysis of live data from matches and events to develop responsive AI systems.
Foster Public-Private Partnerships: Promoting collaborations between fantasy sports platforms, academic institutions, startups, and sports governing bodies.
Encourage Cross-Disciplinary Research: Supporting research that combines AI, sports science, statistics, psychology, and human performance for holistic solutions.
From Fantasy to Reality
By tapping into the enthusiasm of fantasy sports users and the capability of India’s tech institutions, the paper argues that India can evolve a new generation of AI professionals and homegrown solutions that serve not only sports but also broader sectors like health, education, and public policy.
Importantly, the paper positions fantasy sports as a “gateway AI platform” — one that is already integrated into popular culture, scalable, and driven by real-time analytics, user participation, and predictive modeling.
A Vision for Inclusive Innovation
In conclusion, Prof. Misra’s white paper lays out a compelling vision for how a popular digital pastime like fantasy sports can become a cornerstone of India’s AI strategy.
“We have a unique opportunity to build an inclusive AI ecosystem — one that’s not limited to labs or elite athletes but is powered by data, driven by innovation, and rooted in India’s passion for sports,” said Misra.
As India accelerates its AI journey, leveraging fantasy sports as a tool for innovation, education, and engagement could prove to be a game-changer — not just for sports, but for society at large.
