Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Fantasy sports [1] |
Founded | 2008 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Area served | India |
Revenue | ₹6,384 crore (US$760 million) (FY23) |
₹188 crore (US$23 million) (FY23) [2] | |
Owners | Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd [3] |
Number of employees | 800+ (September 2022) |
Parent | Dream Sports [4] [5] |
Website | www |
Dream11 is an Indian fantasy sports platform [6] that allows users to play daily fantasy sports contests, primarily in cricket. [7] [8] [9] In April 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian fantasy sport company to become a unicorn. [10] In November 2021, Dream11 was valued at $8 billion. [11] [12] In October 2023, Dream11 claimed to have 200 million users. [13]
Dream11 was co-founded by Harsh Jain (son of Indian businessman Anand Jain) and Bhavit Sheth in 2008. [14] [15] [16] [17] In 2012, they introduced freemium fantasy sports in India for cricket fans. [17] In 2014, the company reported 1 million registered users, which grew to 2 million in 2016 and to 45 million in 2018. [18] [19]
In April 2019, Steadview Capital completed secondary investment in Dream11. Apart from Steadview, Dream11's investors included Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, [20] Multiples Equity and Tencent. [10] In April 2019, they launched FanCode, an ad-free multi-sport aggregator platform offering content, commerce and community engagement. [21]
In 2021, Dream 11's parent company, Dream Sports raised $840 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global, D1 Capital, Falcon Edge, DST Global, and Redbird Capital. [22]
In 2017, a case was registered against the company in an Indian High Court. The court, in its ruling, stated that playing the Dream11 game involves superior knowledge, judgement and attention. The Court also held that "the element of skill" had a predominant influence on the outcome of the Dream11 game. However, the law does not allow fantasy sports in a few Indian states like Assam, Telangana [23] and Andhra Pradesh. [24] A challenge to this judgement was filed with the Supreme Court of India, which dismissed the appeal. [25] The judgement provided legality [26] to the company and allowed them to run their operations throughout the country. [27]
In October 2021, Dream11 suspended its operations in Karnataka after the state prohibited online gambling and wagering. [28] In February 2022, Dream11 resumed operations in the state after the Karnataka High Court reversed the ban on online gambling and repealed a complaint lodged against the company. [29]
Despite it being adjudged to be a "game of skill", experts believe that the company operates in the country's regulatory "grey area". [30] [31]
In 2017, the company partnered with three leagues within cricket, football and basketball. Dream11 became the Official Fantasy Partner for Caribbean Premier League, Indian Super League [32] and US professional basketball league National Basketball Association (NBA). [6] Later in the year, they partnered with the Indian Super League as their official Fantasy Football Partner. [33] [34] In November 2017, the NBA, launched a fantasy basketball game in association with Dream11 and launched their official NBA fantasy game on their platform. [35] [36]
In 2018, Dream11 announced its partnership with International Cricket Council (ICC), [37] Pro Kabaddi League, [38] International Hockey Federation (FIH), [39] WBBL and BBL. [40] In 2018, through the above partnership, Dream11 introduced two new games on their platform viz., kabaddi and hockey.
In October 2019, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced Dream11 as the title sponsor for the Super Smash domestic Twenty20 competition. [41] In January 2021, this partnership was extended for another six years until 2026. [42]
On 18 August 2020, Dream11 won the title sponsorship rights for the 2020 Indian Premier League for ₹222 crore (US$29.96 million), after Vivo pulled out for the season. [43]
On 30 June 2023, Dream11 acquired the lead jersey sponsorship rights of the Indian National Cricket Team from July 2023 till March 2026 for ₹358 crore. [44] [45]
Year | Revenue (In crores) | Profits/Loss (In crores) | Source |
---|---|---|---|
FY 2018 | 224.6 | -65.1 | [46] |
FY 2019 | 775.4 | -131.6 | |
FY 2020 | 2,120 | 181 | [47] |
FY 2021 | 2,706 | 329 | |
FY 2022 | 3,480.75 | 142.86 | [48] |
FY 2023 | 6,384 | 188 | [49] |
The company had first signed commentator Harsha Bhogle as their brand ambassador in 2017 IPL. [50]
Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the brand ambassador of Dream11 and launched the "Dimaag se Dhoni" media campaign during the 2018 Indian Premier League. [51]
In 2019, Dream11 signed up seven cricketers and partnered with seven Indian Premier League franchise as part of its multi-channel marketing campaign. [52]
In March 2022, Dream11 announced actors Kartik Aaryan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu as their brand ambassadors. This was the first time that the company roped in celebrities outside of sports as their ambassadors. [53] Dream11 also has Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah as their cricket ambassadors. [54] [55]
Dream11 provides a fantasy gaming platform for multiple sports such as fantasy cricket, football, basketball, kabaddi, hockey, volleyball, handball and baseball. It is an online game where users create a virtual team of real-life players and earn points based on the performances of these players in real matches. [56] A user who scores the maximum points in their joined contests attains the first rank on the leader-board. Dream11 offers free and paid contests. A user has to pay a certain fee to join a contest and can win real cash. [57] To participate in a Dream11 game, a user must be at least 18 years old and needs to get their profile verified using their PAN. [58]
Cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is played almost everywhere in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all domestic tournaments and select the players for India national cricket team and India women's national cricket team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, also known as, Indian Cricket Board, is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Churchgate, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body of cricket in the world. It is involved in talent development through grassroots programs and cricket academies. Its initiatives include infrastructure development, coaching, and player welfare programs designed to maintain and enhance India's competitive performance internationally.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper batsmen and captains, he represented the Indian cricket team and was the captain of the side in limited overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in test cricket from 2008 to 2014. Dhoni has captained the most international matches and is the most successful Indian captain. He has led India to victory in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, being the only captain to win three different limited overs ICC tournaments. He also led the teams that won the Asia Cup in 2010, 2016 and was a member of the title winning squad in 2018.
Suresh Raina is an Indian former international cricketer. He occasionally served as stand-in captain for the Indian men's national cricket team as well as in IPL for Chennai Super Kings during the absence of the main captain, MS Dhoni. He played for Uttar Pradesh (UP) in domestic cricket circuit. He is an aggressive left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional off-spin bowler. He is the second-youngest player ever to captain India. He was the captain of Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and he also served as vice-captain of the Chennai Super Kings. He is the first Indian batsman to hit a century in all three formats of international cricket. During his time with India, he won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Raina made history being the first Indian to score a century in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which he did with his 101 runs against South Africa at the 2010 Tournament.
Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja is an Indian international cricketer who represents the Indian national cricket team in ODI and Test formats. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. He is regarded as one of the best all-rounders of his generation, becoming the fifth Indian and fifth-fastest player to score 2,000 runs and take 200 wickets in Test cricket in 2021. Jadeja was the leading wicket-taker in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and received the man of the match award as a member of the final-winning team. Later in his career, he was also a part of the team which won the 2024 T20 World Cup, after which he announced his retirement from the T20Is. He represents Saurashtra in first-class cricket and has captained the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. As of August 2023, Ravindra Jadeja is the 7th highest ODI wicket taker for India with 220 wickets.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as the TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's Twenty20 (T20) cricket league held annually in India. Founded by the BCCI (the Board of Control for Cricket in India) in 2007, the league features ten state or city-based franchise teams. It is the most popular and biggest cricket league and it usually takes place during the summer for 2 months, between March and May each year. It has an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Programme, resulting in fewer international cricket tours occurring during the IPL seasons.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian professional cricket franchise based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The team competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was one of the eight franchises incorporated when the league was established in 2008. The team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium and is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a professional franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and her spouse Jay Mehta. Their home ground is the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Mumbai Indians are a professional franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, through its 100% subsidiary Indiawin Sports. Since its establishment, the team has played home matches at the 33,108-capacity Wankhede Stadium.
Virat Kohli is an Indian international cricketer who plays Test and ODI cricket for the Indian national team. A former captain in all formats of the game, Kohli retired from the T20I format following India's win at the 2024 T20 World Cup. He's a right-handed batsman and an occasional unorthodox right arm quick bowler. Kohli holds the highest IPL run-scorer record, ranks second in T20I, third in ODI, and stands the fourth-highest in international cricket. Regarded as one of the greatest batsman of all time, he also holds the record for scoring the most centuries in ODI cricket and is second in the list of most international centuries scored in international cricket.
Kedar Mahadev Jadhav is an Indian former cricketer who played for the India national cricket team. He played for Maharashtra in domestic cricket. He was a right hand batter, who occasionally kept wickets and bowled right-arm-offspin.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are a professional franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was founded in 2012 after the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers were terminated by the IPL. The team is currently coached by Daniel Vettori and captained by Pat Cummins. Their primary home ground is the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, which has a capacity of 39,000.
Disney+ Hotstar is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries, Viacom18 and Disney India.
Ishan Kishan is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team as a wicket-keeper batsman. He made his international debut in March 2021 against England. He plays for Jharkhand in domestic cricket. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) he plays for Mumbai Indians.
The 2020 Indian Premier League was the thirteenth season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2008. The tournament was originally scheduled to commence on 29 March 2020, but was suspended until 15 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 14 April that the lockdown in India would last until at least 3 May 2020, the BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely. On 2 August 2020, it was announced that the tournament would be played between 19 September and 10 November 2020 in the United Arab Emirates.The tagline was Ab Khel bolega:
Mobile Premier League (MPL) is an Indian online gaming platform. It is based in Bengaluru, India. Founded in 2018 by Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra, the company currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. MPL offers fantasy cricket, football, and basketball leagues and has partnerships with major sports leagues such as the NBA and Pro Kabaddi League.
The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports or FIFS is India's only self-governing body for fantasy sports in India and is based in New Delhi. It supports the Indian fantasy sports industry and its interests.
Fantasy sports came to India in the later half of the 2010s. The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) is the highest governing body.
FanCode was founded in 2019 by Yannick Colaco and Prasana Krishnan. It is an over-the-top streaming service and sports e-commerce company in India. It is part of the Dream Sports group. It offers interactive live streaming, sports fan merchandise, fantasy sports statistics and analytics, interactive live match scores, live commentary, expert opinions and news to its users on its website and application. In May 2024, FanCode crossed 100 million user base.
Games24x7 is an Indian online gaming company founded in 2006 by Bhavin Pandya and Trivikraman Thampy. It's headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company is known for its games like RummyCircle and My11Circle. The company has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Miami. As of 2022, the company was valued at $2.5 billion following a $75 million fundraising round.