Ahmedabad, March 18, 2025 – Leading Indian esports tournament platform Gamerji has unveiled Sportsdraft, a new IPL-style auction gameplay that allows cricket enthusiasts to experience team ownership through virtual auctions. The platform officially launches next week but has already captured attention during beta testing.
Sportsdraft differentiates itself from traditional fantasy cricket by offering a season-long experience where users draft exclusive player rights through a timed auction system. Players can join public leagues or compete with friends, building squads for various tournaments including the upcoming IPL season.
“With India’s unbeatable run in the ongoing Champions Trophy and world’s biggest league IPL starting in just a few weeks, the cricket fever is on,” said Soham Thacker, CEO & Founder of Gamerji. “Our users and telecom customers’ feedback encouraged us to develop Sportsdraft.”
The gameplay includes features such as a Daily Picker Mode for individual matches and a Power Player option that earns double points. Winners receive Gamerji diamonds redeemable for partner brand vouchers.
As a non-real money gaming platform, Sportsdraft aims to provide an accessible alternative in India’s growing esports market, which reached $200.7 million in 2024 and is projected to grow to $919 million by 2033.
Gamerji currently hosts over 1,400 daily tournaments with 16.7 million registered users across India and MENA regions, with plans to reach 30 million users within the next year.
Steps to Participate in a Virtual Auction league or single (picker) matches
Join A league: Access Gamerji platform via website or app and select a league of your interest
Participate in Auction: Engage in a virtual auction where you strategically allocate budget to bid on players to build squads for various season namely IPL, ICC tournaments and Domestic T20 leagues or just a picker game (single game). Each player has a base price and the bidding window works on a timer mechanism. If you don’t make a decision within those 10 seconds, the player is automatically assigned to the team with the highest bid. If someone places a bid, the timer resets again.
Manage your Team: Utilize features like the Daily Picker Mode to draft players for individual matches. Designate a Power Player to earn double points during games. Challenge others in Daily 1v1 Matches for head-to-head competition to earn bonus points.
Win Rewards: Team’s performance is automatically scored based on real match outcomes. Winners are rewarded with Gamerji diamonds which can be redeemed for gift vouchers also listed on the Gamerji website and in the app.
About Gamerji
Gamerji is an online esports platform for gamers to compete, communicate, share content, host matches, build their gaming profile & win exciting prizes. The platform launched in 2019 is currently serving more than 16.8M gamers from India and MENA and has conducted more than 14 thousand core esports scrims & tournaments till date. The company plans to be the first step for all the aspiring gamers to start their esports journey by organising tournaments for more than 30 titles. Gamerji has raised $5 million till date in funding.
