Mobile Premier League Legal

I was contacted by Mobile Premier League (MPL) last year. MPL is a gaming company and wanted to build the world`s largest digital sports gaming and esports platform. The gaming legal landscape is very different from what I did at Inshorts, but now we are one of India`s fast-growing apps – we are eight months old and have over 25 million users. November 19, 2022: The poker arm of the mobile eSports and skill gaming platform Mobile Premier League has surpassed 25 lakh poker players in India, making it the largest poker platform in the country. The app has a wide variety of users from different socio-economic backgrounds, hailing from major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and others. Over the years, it has also seen rapid adoption of Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Places like Thane, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, etc. experienced the fastest growth. Currently, more than 60% of users come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where the company has established a strong presence. The mobile gaming app is already available in 5,200 cities and is steadily expanding to other places thanks to the proliferation of affordable smartphones and improved internet access.

Notably, about a third of poker players are women, and MPL said the proportion is growing rapidly as women leave their mark on the typically male-dominated sport. The platform also has top players like Sharkshe S (Shakshi Shetty) on its roster of female players. There are over 10 crore poker players worldwide and it has grown a lot in India in recent years, attracting many new players as well as major brand tournaments. Some reports estimate the number of active poker players in the country at 30 lakh. «The growth we have seen on our platform is a testament to the fact that poker is gaining traction among users in India, not only as a hobby, but also as a mental sport,» said Namratha Swamy, Country Head – India, MPL. As recognized by the International Mind Sports Association, poker, along with bridge, chess and Scrabble, is part of the Mind Sports Olympiad, the global event for mental skill games. And for good reason: poker encourages players to use their mental skills and logical thinking when executing each move. And just like traditional sports, it takes strategy and practice to become a better player. But more importantly, it has become a serious profession for many in the country. Swamy said: «Poker as we know it today is not just another card game played in a social setting. There are many Indian players who are involved in the sport and make a living from poker.

Poker also owes its meteoric rise to advances in technology and security. Security, transparency and fair play are important considerations for users, especially when participating in monetary-based games. Swamy agrees: «Nowadays, it`s paramount to focus on the processes that make platforms secure for users. That`s why at MPL, we`ve implemented the best security protocols in the industry that can protect our users from fraud and preserve the world-class gameplay we want to provide them. Poker, which is part of the thriving gaming industry, is growing at a rate of 35 to 40 percent per year. The gaming industry as a whole will surpass the $5 billion+ mark with a CAGR of 25% by 2025. To further promote poker, MPL had previously launched its Poker Academy, which works with professional players to help users of all skill levels become familiar with the different nuances of poker and improve their skills and strategies. So far, more than 85% of poker players on the platform have benefited.

Inshorts faced legal issues with its intellectual property and content, and it also had very few internal processes for a company that had gone from 20 to 60 in three months and planned to grow to 200 in the coming months. You needed someone to oversee that growth – ideally, it wasn`t in the legal field, but if you`re a very small company with a very small core team, don`t ask these questions. I was responsible for putting in place their entire human resources policy, their commission against sexual harassment, to ensure compliance with the fundamental laws relating to work and employment, the existence of basic processes. Legally, I had to register their trademarks, make sure there was no copyright infringement, and make sure the company was protected as a 360° view. Mainak chose to specialize early in his career and talks about the qualities required to succeed in a startup environment and the importance of legal support for start-ups in India. With legal, most of the people involved at the start-up level are potentially younger, with four or five years of experience. When the company gets really big, the question always arises, do you need to hire someone more experienced, and if you had to, would they understand the company as well as someone who has been there since the beginning? Would they have a better understanding of the digital and technical space – which is mostly lacking in India? What is the right balance between experience and youth when a business is growing? Balwani heads the legal department of The Kraft Heinz Company in India and talks about her role and what she values in a company. WinZO, which offers real money games in categories such as Carrom, Ludo and 8 balls, will not benefit from Google`s new policy. The company`s founder, Saumya Singh Rathore, says Google is «unfair and restrictive» and has sued the tech giant for discriminating against its new policies.