Dream11 is a market leader in the fantasy gaming space. It will be the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season. BCCI awarded it with the sponsorship rights for Rupees 222 crore on Tuesday. The amount is nearly half of the Rs 440 crore that Vivo India was paying.
“In the given circumstances, we are happy with the deal. These rights are only for four months and only for this edition of the IPL,” the tournament’s chairman Brijesh Patel said.
The other companies that were running for title sponsorship were Byju’s and Unacademy. Both are education technology companies. Byju’s placed a bid of Rs 201 crore, and Unacademy placed a bid of Rs 171 crore. Byju’s is the jersey sponsor for the India cricket team.
Dream11 sponsoring the IPL was not unexpected. This is because has seen a rapid growth in the last five years. It is currently the most prominent player in fantasy gaming. It was already a key sponsor for BCCI.
However, BCCI’s decision to award the rights to Dream11 faced criticism. Dream11 has a Chinese investor, the internet giant Tencent, among its marquee investors. The criticism comes in the wake of the anti-China sentiments due to the Galwan Valley situation.
Dream11 became India’s first gaming start-up to be valued at over $1 billion last year. It has faced legal challenges in the past due to the similarities to gambling, which is illegal in India.