Dream11 forfeits $41m Indian cricket sponsorship following gambling ban
The fantasy sports operator has been forced to cease operations in the country and end its sponsorship deal with Indian cricket that was due to run until March 2026.
Key points:
– Dream11 has ended its multi-million sponsorship deal with the Indian National Cricket Team
– The operator published its goodbye to the country on social media
– This leaves the Indian cricket teams without a sponsor weeks before the T20 Asia Cup
According to local media, the online fantasy sports platform Dream11 has ended its INR358 crore (US$41m) sponsorship of the Indian cricket team following the country’s ban on real money online gambling.
The ban was passed last week as part of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, which prohibits all forms of online gambling – with the exception of esports and educational games.
Following this, Dream11 paused all paid content on its platform, which media outlets are reporting as accounting for over 90% of its revenue.
However, this has also affected its sponsorship of both the men’s and women’s Indian National Cricket Teams.
In July 2023, the operator signed a deal to become the lead sponsor of the teams with its logo printed on the jerseys.
The T20 Asia Cup is due to start on 9 September, less than two weeks away.
Good to know: Dream11 has previously evaded bans in India by representing itself as offering only games of skill, thus being adjudged as unaffected by rulings related to gambling
A spokesperson for the operator posted on LinkedIn, saying: “When we started this journey 18 years ago as a Sports Tech company, we were not even 1% of the size of the USA Fantasy Sports industry.
“Dream11’s Fantasy Sports product was our way to ‘Make Sports Better’ for all of India. With this passion, belief, and the spirit of Made in India, for India, by Indians, we became the largest fantasy sports platform in the world.
“We have always been and will always be a law-abiding company, and have conducted our business in compliance with the laws. While we believe that progressive regulations would have been the right way forward, we will respect the law and will fully comply with ‘The Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Law, 2025.’”
Almost immediately after the Bill was passed, the Enforcement Directorate raided several premises linked to Congress members, including KC Veerendra Puppy.
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