Online Gaming Bill 2025: BCCI To Face THIS Much Loss After Dream11 Exit
The winds of change have swept through Indian cricket sponsorship, and Dream11, one of the biggest names in fantasy sports, has found itself at the center of this storm. After years of building its presence as the title sponsor of Team India, Dream11 has informed the BCCI that it will step away from the partnership.
The reason? The recently enacted ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025’ – a law that has shaken up the industry and left fantasy sports companies scrambling for survival.
How the New Bill Changed the Game
The central government’s Online Gaming Bill 2025 has effectively banned real money gaming and related advertising in India. This means platforms like Dream11, which thrived on such formats, have seen their primary revenue stream dry up overnight. The ripple effect has been immediate – advertising budgets slashed, sponsorship deals reconsidered, and the once-booming fantasy gaming sector staring at an uncertain future.
According to reports, fantasy sports platforms collectively spent over Rs 5,000 crore annually on marketing and advertising. Dream11 alone invested nearly Rs 2,964 crore in 2022-23, while Games24x7, the company behind My11Circle, poured in around Rs 1,421 crore. These staggering figures underline just how much the industry relied on aggressive promotion to fuel its rapid growth.
A Lucrative Deal Cut Short
In 2023, Dream11 took over from BYJU’S as the official jersey sponsor of Team India, signing a three-year deal worth USD 44 million (Rs 358 crore). The partnership was set to run until 2026. But with the new law in place, continuing the deal became financially unsustainable.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the BCCI, with the Asia Cup 2025 just around the corner. The board is now racing against the clock to find a new sponsor who can match the scale of Dream11’s contribution.
What Lies Ahead for Indian Sports Sponsorship?
Industry experts believe the Online Gaming Bill 2025 will lead to a significant shake-up in sports marketing. With fantasy sports platforms forced to scale back, traditional brands, tech firms, and global corporations might step in to fill the gap. But whether they can match the big-spending approach of gaming companies remains to be seen.
For fans, this may seem like just another corporate change, but for Indian cricket and the sports ecosystem at large, it signals a deeper transformation. The era of fantasy sports dominating sponsorships may have come to an abrupt end, and a new chapter is about to begin.