CHENNAI: The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) has announced the Sports Data Gameathon, an AI-based sports analytics competition for students from top Indian institutes.

Powered by Dream11, the event aims to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics with sports to enhance fan engagement and improve strategy-making.

A total of 52 student teams from institutes like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, and IIIT Dharwad have been shortlisted for the competition.

These teams will participate in a daily fantasy sports format during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where they will use AI and machine learning (ML) to develop winning strategies while following the set rules and constraints.

The competition will assess participants based on problem identification, data collection, model selection, team strategy, and post-game analysis.

FIFS envisions the Sports Data Gameathon as a step toward making India a global leader in sports technology as the event aims to create a strong ecosystem where technology and sports converge to redefine fan engagement.

FIFS Director General Joy Bhattacharjya said he is excited about the first Gameathon, calling the response overwhelming. He also noted that the event will help young minds apply technology in sports analytics and could expand into a global, multi-sport competition.

To support participants, FIFS has brought in two experts, Joy Bhattacharjya, a renowned cricket analyst, and Vishal Misra, Vice Dean of AI at Columbia University, US.

They will mentor the student teams throughout the competition, helping them refine their AI-driven strategies.

The top three teams will share a prize pool of 25 lakh, with the winning team receiving 12.5 lakh, the second-place team 7.5 lakh, and the third-place team 5 lakh.

For more details, visit https://fifsgameathon.in/