Dream Sports, the parent company of fantasy sports giant Dream11, will not challenge the constitutional validity of India’s new gaming law, co-founder Harsh Jain confirmed in an interview with Moneycontrol.
“The government has made it clear that they don’t want this right now. We want to focus on the future and not fight the government on something they don’t want,” Jain said.
Impact of the New Gaming Law
- The law prohibits online money games where users deposit funds with the expectation of winnings.
- Following its passage in Parliament, Dream11 halted all paid contests on August 22, shifting fully to free-to-play social games.
- The legislation later received the President’s assent and is now in force.
Financial Setback for Dream Sports
- 95% of revenues and 100% of profits came from cash-based fantasy contests.
- In FY23, Dream Sports reported ₹6,384.49 crore in revenue, up from ₹3,841 crore in FY22.
- The company had scaled to over 260 million users since its founding in 2008.
Industry-Wide Reactions
- Several real-money gaming (RMG) companies are expected to challenge the law in court.
- The Supreme Court is already hearing cases related to GST notices worth ₹2.5 lakh crore and state-level online gaming bans.
- Jain emphasized Dream11’s law-abiding stance, saying: “If the law changes again in the future, we will adapt. Today, we stand by the new law.”
Missed Chance at Self-Regulation
- Jain admitted the industry may have acted too late on self-regulation.
- In March, the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), along with AIGF and EGF, introduced a Code of Ethics with measures like:
- Age-gating
- Strict KYC norms
- User spending limits & self-exclusion tools
- Third-party audits and reporting standards
Beyond Dream11
Dream Sports’ portfolio includes:
- FanCode (sports content & commerce)
- DreamSetGo (sports experiences)
- Dream Game Studios (mobile game development)
- Dream Sports Foundation (philanthropy)
The company was last valued at $8 billion in 2021 after raising $840 million from global investors including Falcon Edge, Tiger Global, TPG, and DST Global.
