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Fantasy Sports and Real Money Gaming: Retention Playbook | Puneet Dua, SportsBaazi

Puneet Dua, co-founder of SportsBaazi, explains how real money gaming and fantasy sports differ, who plays, and why retention beats acquisition.
Puneet Dua, SportsBaazi on The Builders Club Startup Founders Podcast
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Gaming in India is not just PUBG and Free Fire. A large and profitable slice of it is real money gaming, where sports fans turn match-day spectatorship into a game.

Puneet Dua, co-founder of SportsBaazi, joins the podcast to explain how a modern fantasy sports platform is built, who plays on it and what keeps users coming back.

What is a fantasy sports platform, and how does it fit into real money gaming?

Puneet explains that real money gaming is a broad category that includes hyper-casual games such as Ludo, fantasy sports, and skill games such as poker and rummy. Fantasy sports sit in the middle: they reward knowledge of players, grounds, form and conditions, and they are tied to the sports calendar.

SportsBaazi started in 2017 as a fantasy platform and has since added player stocks and prediction leagues. His central business lesson is that acquiring users does not build a business, retention does.

  • Know your segments. Puneet sees three kinds of users: aspirational, recreational and regulars.
  • Retention over acquisition. Repeat usage, not installs, decides whether paid acquisition pays back.
  • Innovate continuously. Products that stop evolving become irrelevant, however good their ads are.
  • Use creators wisely. Influencers who actually win on the platform bring credibility and high-intent users.

How did SportsBaazi start?

Puneet began his career in e-commerce, working on the launch team of an online product at Arvind and moving between the Ahmedabad and Bangalore offices. He was also an active user of PokerBaazi and met its founders in 2016.

With co-founder Saurabh, he set out to build a sports-centric platform in real money gaming. PokerBaazi’s parent, Moonshine Technology, invested, and the platform launched in 2017 as a fantasy sports product. IPL growth and the spread of cricket helped the early years.

What is the difference between hyper-casual games, fantasy sports and poker?

He compares them by effort and skill. Ludo is quick and easy to pick up, so it brings many users at small amounts. Fantasy sports need real knowledge of players and conditions, and poker and rummy need non-stop learning of strategy.

  • Hyper-casual games: many users, low spend per user.
  • Fantasy sports: mid-range spend, tied to sports knowledge and seasons.
  • Poker and rummy: fewer users, much higher spend per user.

Who plays real money games in India?

Puneet groups players into three categories, and each behaves differently.

Aspirational players

These are hard-working people with a phone and data, such as delivery riders and drivers, who spend small amounts for a chance to win big.

Recreational players

They play for the thrill of spectatorship, social bragging rights and seasonal events such as the IPL. A sports fan who picks a captain feels more invested in every ball.

Regulars

These are experts who study data, form and match-ups. Some win consistently, and many become YouTube or Telegram creators.

Why is retention more important than user acquisition?

Drawing on his e-commerce experience, Puneet says paid acquisition only works if users come back often enough to break even. In gaming he tracks how many game days a user has had since signing up.

He uses Nokia and BlackBerry as examples of companies that lost despite good marketing because the product stopped evolving. In his view the product experience comes first, content second.

  1. Make the first experience good enough that users come back.
  2. Teach users with educational content, since players who improve tend to win more.
  3. Keep launching new features, usually before each IPL season.
  4. Track repeat behaviour, not just installs.

How do influencers and marketing channels work for gaming brands?

SportsBaazi works with around 80 influencers during the IPL and 30 to 40 outside it. Puneet says rates have grown from a few hundred rupees per video to lakhs for the biggest names.

On channels, he says Instagram creates the trigger but YouTube brings conviction and high-intent users. His shorthand is that Google is high intent and Meta is higher volume but lower intent.

How does Puneet Dua run his team and day?

The company has about 105 to 110 people, with 25 to 28 in growth. Puneet owns branding, performance, product marketing and retention.

He starts with yoga, reviews reports and runs a quick growth stand-up. He relies on simple Excel trackers for his own work, Tableau for daily reports and Jira for engineering, and keeps Fridays free of scheduled meetings.

Further reading and sources

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between fantasy sports and real money gaming?

Real money gaming is the broader category and includes hyper-casual games, fantasy sports and skill games like poker and rummy. Fantasy sports are the sports-centred slice, where users build teams or predictions around real matches.

What types of players use fantasy sports platforms?

Puneet Dua describes aspirational players who spend small amounts, recreational players who play for the thrill of watching, and regulars who are experts. Each group needs different product and marketing.

How should a gaming startup think about growth?

Focus on retention before acquisition. Track repeat usage, keep improving the product and use educational content so users get better and want to return.

Conclusion

Puneet’s message for founders is simple: building a user base is easy to buy and hard to keep. The businesses that last keep innovating and keep their users learning and engaged.

Look at your own retention numbers this week. If users are not returning, fix the product experience before you spend more on acquisition.

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