The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is on the lookout for a new title partner for the Indian cricket team after Dream11 informed the board that it will no longer be able to sponsor the team.
The decision comes a few days after the Parliament passed a law that made real-money-based online games illegal. Dream11 is one of the key players in the market, with diversified business interests – from sports tourism to online streaming apps.
With the Asia Cup a fortnight away and the Women’s ODI World Cup barely a month away, the BCCI is now planning to float a new tender soon.
“Their (Dream11) representatives visited the Board office recently and informed us that they are not in a situation to sponsor the teams anymore. There’s not much time left for the Asia Cup, but we are exploring options,” a Board official told Sportstar.
Dream11’s pullout, however, will not attract any penalty since the contract includes a clause which stipulates that if the sponsor’s core business is impacted by any law brought by the Government, they “won’t be liable to pay anything” to the BCCI.
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However, with hardly any time left for the Asia Cup, it would be a challenge for the BCCI to find a title sponsor for the men’s team, even though officials are confident that a new partner would be brought on board in the next few weeks, following the tender process.
According to Bloomberg, Dream11 is the biggest fantasy gaming platform in the country, with a valuation of $8 billion. In July 2023, it acquired the rights to become the BCCI’s lead sponsor in a three-year deal worth Rs 358 crore, replacing Byju’s.
The company’s footprint goes beyond the national team. It is the lead sponsor for several Indian Premier League franchises. It is also the official fantasy partner of the Caribbean Premier League as well as the title sponsor of Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition. While it has been in a partnership with the International Cricket Council since 2018, Dream11 also sponsors the Big Bash League and a few other sporting events.
Soon after the online gaming Bill was passed in Parliament, Dream11 announced that it had suspended all paid contests on its platform and would operate only free-to-play online games. A core of Dream11, Real-money fantasy gaming requires the customers to select a playing XI of players and compete against each other using statistics from a live match.
There was no comment available from the company on the issue at the time of publishing the story.
Published on Aug 25, 2025
