How the End of BCCI-Dream 11 Sponsorship Deal Affects the Commercial Cricket Ad Pie

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Monday that they are ending their ₹358-crore jersey sponsorship deal with Dream11. This announcement came soon after the Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 last week, following which the gaming platform announced winding up of its real money gaming operations.

Speaking to ANI, BCCI Secretary Devachit Saikia said that the cricket board will not engage with such organisations in the future. “BCCI and Dream 11 are discontinuing their relationship after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, was passed. BCCI will ensure not to indulge with any such organisations ahead in future,” he stated.

The Central government’s newly enacted Bill prohibits the promotion, advertising and sponsorship of real-money gaming platforms, which makes it difficult for Dream11 to continue as Team India’s jersey sponsor. 

The Dream11-BCCI Agreement

In 2023, Dream11 replaced Byju’s as the lead sponsor and signed a three-year agreement with the BCCI. Its parent company, Dream Sports, spent about ₹2,964 crore on advertising and promotions in FY23, marking a 37% increase from the previous year.

The ending of this deal, just weeks ahead of the Asia Cup has put BCCI on a tight timeline to secure a new front-of-jersey sponsor. However, industry observers believe that since this is one of the most lucrative assets in Indian cricket, the board will not face much difficulty in finding a replacement.

The Indian team was first seen wearing a jersey with the Dream11 logo during a Test series against the West Indies in July 2023. In the fiscal year 2024 (FY24), Dream11 generated over Rs 9,600 crore in revenues. However, with its core real-gaming business being shut down, the company is facing prospects of a huge loss.

What Will the Impact on Cricket Ecosystem Be?

According to industry estimates, fantasy sports platforms together spend more than ₹5,000 crore annually on marketing. With the new law in force after receiving the President's assent on Friday, August 22, it is expected to significantly disrupt this advertising ecosystem.

Additionally, the cricket board will now be facing challenges as they will have to find a new sponsor, especially for the Asia Cup in a short span of time.

The impact will also be visible on players as jerseys and gear featuring Dream11 logos will need to be re-branded. Players will soon wear new sponsor logos, which changes fan merchandise too. Even though initially, there will not be any effect on the fees of the players as it is fixed on a contractual basis. But, if there’s a dip in sponsorship and broadcasting revenues over some time, the cricket board might have to revise some of the contracts, especially in cases of bonuses. This is because the money that comes from sponsorship contributes to BCCI’s overall revenue pool.

Further, in case of broadcasters, there may not be a direct impact on revenue as the contract with the broadcasters is different from the BCCI sponsorships. However, the broadcasters usually earn back their investment by selling ad slots during matches and these slots have been bought the most by the fantasy gaming platforms like Dream11, My11Circle and MPL in recent times. Thereby, with the recent ban on these online gaming platforms now, broadcasters might temporarily lose a top advertiser category.