Through streaming, data analytics and online commerce, the Dream Sports-backed digital platform is putting together a single portal to plug all need gaps for sports fans
Right at the entrance of its office in Mumbai, FanCode makes no bones about what it dabbles in—sports. Mounted on one of its walls at the reception is an enviable collection of autographed memorabilia—bats and jerseys signed by Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, a pair of gloves from South African keeper Quinton de Kock, what have you. On another is a floor-to-ceiling mosaic of key sporting moments—there’s Md Ali laying into his opponent with a right-hand jab, Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath sharing a laugh with the Prudential World Cup, Roger Federer fist-pumping at Wimbledon, Neeraj Chopra flaunting his Olympic gold, Megan Rapinoe exulting with the World Cup, and many more. Our short wait to meet the founders fly by in an absorbing game of who’s-who, identifying each tile of sporting history.
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Like FanCode’s scaling-up ambitions through streaming will be tested in a crowded, competitive Indian market, so will its attempt to take the fans closer to the teams through its other monetisable vertical: Merchandising. The licensed merchandising market is in a nascent state in the country, in contrast to the global market that’s on a growth trajectory. According to a Licensing International report in 2020, the global sales revenue generated by licenced sports merchandise amounted to $28.9 billion in 2019, while, in India, it was somewhere around $18 million. Reason: Quality, original merchandise remained prohibitively expensive for Indians who turned to affordable fakes instead.