Has the Indian team ended ties with Dream11 as lead sponsor? BCCI official responds
BCCI's sponsorship deal with Dream11 was worth a whopping INR 358 crore.
2 Min Read
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricketing body in the world, has ended sponsorship ties with Dream11 as its lead sponsor. This comes after the Indian Government recently passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill. The Act has been introduced to encourage e-sports and online social games while online real money gaming services, advertisements and financial transactions related to them.
BCCI's secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed the news of the two organizations separating ties with each other. Saikia further mentioned that the cricketing body will also keep in mind not to engage or associate with similar brands ahead for its sponsorship deals in the future, at least for the time being.
"The BCCI has already announced the termination of the partnership. BCCI and Dream11 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 organizations ahead in future," stated Saikia, in a report as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Although a spokesperson of Dream11 did not comment on the situation, it is understood as per the aforementioned report that the initiative to end the highly-valued deal was mutual. In fact, the onus for taking immediate action was on the BCCI more than Dream11, despite the latter having been onboarded for a lucrative amount of INR 358 crore.
Dream11's parent company Dream Sports had signed a jersey sponsorship deal for a total of three years with the BCCI in 2023. This means that India will be currently without a sponsor with the Asia Cup round the corner next month. It will be interesting whether the BCCI will land up another deal with any other organization in the next period of two weeks.
The salient features of the Online Gaming Bill are:
-
Complete ban on offering, operating, or facilitating online money games, irrespective of whether based on skill, chance, or both.
-
Ban on advertising and promotion of money games across all forms of media.
-
Ban on financial transactions linked to real money gaming; banks and payment systems barred from processing such payments.
-
Empowerment to block access to unlawful gaming platforms under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
It is also understood that the banks have blocked the pathway for any sort of transaction going through with the gaming companies.
Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:
Download Our App