Dream Sports' second innings: Dream11 stops paid contests, pivots to free-to-play games

Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at $8 billion when it bagged a $840 million funding round

Dream Sports announced on August 22 that it has stopped all paid contests on its fantasy sports platform Dream11 and pivoted entirely to a free-to-play online social game.

This announcement comes shortly after President Droupadi Murmu granted assent to the government's Online Gaming Bill passed in the Parliament. The law prohibits online money games, which are games where a user makes a deposit, directly or indirectly, with the expectation of earning winnings on that deposit.

"While we believe that progressive regulations would have been the right way forward, we will respect the law and will fully comply with “The Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Law, 2025”" the company said in a statement shared on LinkedIn.

Moneycontrol had reported on August 21 that Dream Sports had paused all 'Pay to Play' contests on Dream Picks, a recently launched fantasy sports app that let users build four-player teams and compete across both innings.

The company's casual real-money gaming (RMG) app Dream Play has also discontinued paid contests. It currently allows users to play a free version of Online Ludo.

"When we started this journey 18 years ago as a Sports Tech company, we were not even 1 percent of the size of the USA Fantasy Sports industry. Dream11’s Fantasy Sports product was our way to “Make Sports Better” for all of India. With this passion, belief, and the spirit of Made in India, for India, by Indians, we became the largest fantasy sports platform in the world," the company statement said.

Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at $8 billion when it bagged a $840 million funding round led by Falcon Edge, DST Global, D1 Capital, Redbird Capital, Tiger Global, TPG and Footpath Ventures in November 2021.

Apart from Dream11, the company houses brands such as sports content and commerce platform FanCode, sports experiences platform DreamSetGo, mobile game development unit Dream Game Studios, and its philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.

"These will continue to power our vision to “Make Sports Better” and support our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ambition of making India a global sporting superpower" the statement said.

"See you in our second innings," the statement concluded.

For the financial year FY23, Dream Sports saw its revenue from operations jump 66 percent to Rs 6,384.49 crore, up from Rs 3,841 crore in FY22. Dream11 accounts for the majority of the company's revenues.