Published on: Aug 22, 2025 4:56 pm IST|Updated on: Aug 22, 2025 4:56 pm IST
Fantasy Sports is ‘Dead’ in India! Yes, you heard it right. The Indian Parliament has passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which has sent shockwaves across the Indian online gaming ecosystem by banning all forms of real-money gaming (RMG) effectively. Therefore, fantasy sports platforms like My11Circle, MPL, Winzo, Zupee, and the king of the market, Dream11, among others, are effectively banned. The bill criminalizes the promotion, facilitation, and offering of online games involving any sort of monetary transactions, regardless of whether they are skill-based or chance-based.
This decision has stirred the fantasy sports owners around the country, and it also marks a dramatic shift in India’s regulatory stance. With over 450 million users and a market valued at ₹25,000 crore, the ban has triggered immediate shutdowns, sponsor withdrawals, and mass layoffs across the sector.
Both houses of Parliament gave a green signal to the Online Gaming Bill in August 2025. The Rajya Sabha approved it by voice vote, and the Lok Sabha gave its clearance earlier this week. The bill has barred;
Violators face up to three years in jail and fines of ₹1 crore, with repeat offenders liable for five years imprisonment and ₹2 crore in penalties.
The key reasons cited by the Indian government behind this ban are
The impact of this bill was immediate. The market leader Dream11, the epitome of fantasy sports in India with over 200 million users and a market share of 55%, didn’t waste any time in suspending all its cash contests on the app. After the suspension, began transitioning staff to non-RMG verticals. MPL and Zupee followed suit, halting paid games and initiating withdrawal protocols for user balances.
Besides the shutdown of cash contests, Dream11, the principal sponsors of the Indian Cricket Team’s jersey, now face termination of their contract ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, slated to begin on the 9th of September. The fantasy sports giant signed its sponsorship deal with Team India in July 2023, becoming the official lead jersey sponsor for a period of three years, running until March 2026. The agreement, valued at ₹358 crore, included branding rights across the men’s, women’s, and U-19 national teams. Apart from Dream11, other platforms like Vision11 and MyCircle11, which held Pro Kabaddi League and IPL fantasy rights, respectively, are similarly affected.
The advertising ecosystem has been thrown into deep waters. Fantasy sports platforms were among the biggest investors in sports marketing, contributing over ₹4,500 crore annually. Take a close look at the platforms affected,
Platform
200 million
MPL
80 million
WinZO
70 million
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, has successfully overridden the previous court rulings that stated fantasy sports as a game of skill. With this being a central government bill, there is no involvement of state parties and their permissions. Industry bodies like the All India Gaming Federation and Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports have called the move “a death knell for a legitimate, job-creating industry”.
The bill has created a stir over 1700 startups and over 200,000 jobs that are at utmost risk, as many companies are now exploring pivots to e-sports, casual gaming, or international markets to stay relevant in one way or the other. Critics have their own say as they have warned that this ban may drive people to tilt towards offshore betting platforms operating from tax havens like Malta and Curaçao, which evade Indian regulations and taxes. In a 2024 survey conducted in Telangana, where RMG was banned earlier, it was found that 94% of users still had access to illegal sportsbooks and apps via VPNs and deceitful Telegram groups.
With the RMG business model completely dismantled in the country, Dream11 and similar applications face a crossroads. Dream Sports, Dream11’s parent company, has already begun shifting focus to non-RMG verticals like FanCode, Sportz Drip, CricQ, and mobile games like Dream Cricket 25 and Dream Play Ludo. The company may also be open to exploring overseas markets where fantasy sports remain legal.
MPL, Zupee, and WinZO are expected to follow similar paths, leveraging their tech infrastructure and user base to pivot toward e-sports, casual gaming, and content creation. Some may enter the console and PC gaming space, while others could explore educational or social games that comply with the new law.
The government, meanwhile, is actively promoting e-sports as a legitimate sport like BGMI, with plans to establish training academies, research centers, and regulatory bodies. This opens new avenues for investment, innovation, and employment, though it may take years to match the scale and profitability of the RMG sector.
For now, the industry faces turbulence. But for platforms willing to adapt, the road ahead may still hold promise, just not in the form they once knew, but in an environment where things might be different and will take time to adapt the market structure and gain attractions.