Come Sports has expanded its Rs 1 contest tier with 3 new categories - head-to-head, small group, and weekly mega.
Come Sports has expanded its Rs 1 contest tier with 3 new categories that go live this week for IPL 2026. The expansion is part of the platform's Rs 1-first strategy, which is built around the principle that fantasy cricket should be accessible to every Indian cricket fan regardless of their budget. The 3 new categories join the existing Rs 1 mega contest, which has been live since IPL 2026 started in late March.
The 3 new categories are: (1) Rs 1 head-to-head contests (1v1, winner takes 90% of prize pool), (2) Rs 1 small group contests (50-500 players, top 10% win), and (3) Rs 1 weekly mega contests (10,000+ entries, Rs 8 Crore prize pool). Each category is tuned for a different player type: head-to-head for direct competition, small group for low-variance volume, and weekly mega for high-ceiling prizes.
The expansion is the platform's response to the week 6 data that showed Rs 1 entries producing 18.2% ROI vs 12.4% for Rs 49 entries. The data validated the Rs 1 strategy, and the platform is now doubling down on the strategy by adding 3 more Rs 1 contest categories.
The Rs 1 head-to-head contest is the simplest of the 3 new categories: 2 players enter, the player with the higher fantasy score wins 90% of the prize pool (the platform takes 10%). The contest locks 30 minutes before toss, and the result is settled within 5 minutes of the match ending.
The head-to-head contest is the right category for players who want direct competition and don't want to compete against thousands of players. The head-to-head format reduces variance compared to the mega contest, but it also reduces the ceiling — the prize pool is Rs 1.8 (90% of Rs 2) per contest, not Rs 8 Crore.
The optimal strategy for Rs 1 head-to-head is to enter only when you have a high-conviction captain pick. The head-to-head format rewards skill, and the optimal captain pick is the one with the highest expected score. The selection discipline (pick your captain pick on Monday morning and stick to it) works for head-to-head too.
The Rs 1 small group contest is the volume + variance reduction category: 50-500 players enter, and the top 10% of players win cash prizes. The prize pool is 90% of the total entry fees, distributed as 5% to first place, 3% to second, 2% to third, and 0.5% to places 4-50 (or however many places pay out).
The small group contest is the right category for players who want low-variance volume. With 50-500 players, the variance is much lower than the mega contest (10,000+ players), which means the top 10% is more achievable. The lower variance comes at the cost of a lower prize pool, but the lower variance also means the expected ROI is more reliable.
The optimal strategy for Rs 1 small group is the same as the mega contest: enter 100-200 contests per week with a fixed captain pick strategy. The small group format doesn't change the optimal strategy, but the small group format does change the optimal distribution: 50% small group, 30% mega, 15% head-to-head, 5% practice is the recommended distribution.
The Rs 1 weekly mega contest is the high-ceiling category: 10,000+ players enter, and the prize pool is Rs 8 Crore distributed across the top 10,000 ranks. The first-place prize is Rs 80 lakhs, which is the same as the Rs 49 mega contest. The Rs 1 entry gives you the same chance at the same prize pool for 1/49th of the entry fee.
The weekly mega contest is the right category for players who want the highest-ceiling prize. The mega contest rewards contrarian captain picks (picks that 5% of players make), because the contrarian picks aren't crowded out by similar teams. The optimal strategy for the mega contest is the contrarian captain pick, with the contrarian pick being the captain that's most likely to be under-picked by the crowd.
The optimal strategy for Rs 1 weekly mega is to enter 50-100 contests per week, with each contest using the contrarian captain pick. The contrarian strategy is high-variance (the contrarian pick might be wrong), but the high ceiling makes the high variance worthwhile. The expected ROI for the contrarian strategy is 15-25% per week, vs -5% to -10% for the popular captain pick strategy.
The Rs 1 contest expansion is the most significant platform change of IPL 2026. The expansion gives casual players 4 contest categories (head-to-head, small group, weekly mega, plus the existing IPL 2026 mega) to choose from, all at Rs 1 entry. The expansion is what makes the volume + selection strategy viable for casual players, because the strategy requires 100-200 contests per week across multiple categories.
The expansion also makes Rs 8 Crore prizes accessible to casual players for the first time. Before the expansion, the only way to play for Rs 8 Crore prizes was to enter Rs 49 mega contests, which most casual players couldn't afford to enter with enough volume to be competitive. After the expansion, casual players can enter Rs 1 mega contests with enough volume to be competitive.
The right way to think about the Rs 1 contest expansion is as a democratisation of fantasy cricket. The expansion removes the entry fee as a barrier to competition, and the expansion makes the volume + selection strategy accessible to casual players. The result is a more competitive ecosystem, with more players, more contests, and more chances to win.
Week 6 of the IPL 2026 contest cycle showed that Rs 1 entries aren’t just for fun — they’re producing the highest ROI of any entry tier.
New analysis of Come Sports contest data shows low-volume Rs 1 players have 28% higher ROI than high-volume Rs 49 players. Here’s why.