Dream11, the fantasy sports operator, recently suspended their real money games, a move made after the central government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online gaming Bill 2025 in both Houses of Parliament. Dream11 told the BCCI that it can no longer continue as the lead sponsor of India’s cricket teams as it expects significant revenue loss.
As the giants in the Indian online gaming space, Dream11 has been associated with the game of cricket through its sponsorships and partnerships that are at the upper end of the value scale. Dream11’s engagement as BCCI’s title sponsor for several marquee domestic and international tournaments has helped to establish the commercial ecosystem in cricket.Now, with new legislation classifying real money fantasy sports as gambling, it is uncertain if Dream11 will operate, let alone invest in sponsorships.
Dream11 has a US$ 44 million (INR 358 crore approx.) sponsorhip deal with the BCCI – 2023 to 2026. Dream11 with My11Circle another fantasy sports company pay about INR 1000 crore collectively to the BCCI, managing sponsorships for Indian cricket teams and the IPL.
The new government bill states that “no person shall offer aid, abet, induce, indulge, engage in offering online money gaming services nor shall involve in any advertisement which directly or indirectly promotes any person to play any online money game”. Though BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia wouldn’t even acknowledge the development or the way ahead, it is understood that Dream11 might not be liable to pay a hefty penalty because the contract has waiver clause if the government regulation is imposed.
Dream11 Officially Post:
It was really just a matter of time when real money gaming was included in the bill that banned it altogether. According to one source in the fantasy game industry, that represented possibly 90% of the revenue of all the larger players. “The next interesting step would be see what My11Circle, which pays BCCI Rs 125 crore every year to be an official fantasy partner of IPL.”
