Dream Sports, the parent of popular fantasy sports app Dream11, was last valued at $8 billion during its 2021 funding round, when it raised $840 million from the likes of Tiger Global, Alpha Wave Global, DST Global, and TPG.
However, with 95% of its revenues and 100% of its profits getting wiped out as a result of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, the company’s valuation is likely to be impacted, Jain said.
“The valuation of the company is going to plummet… Investors have to look at it almost like a fresh investment,” he said. “Given what they know about the company, the team, founders, user base, and brand, I think they’ll back us. Indians are ready to build global products… These are very early days, but I’m confident I will have the complete support of our board and most investors to pursue these opportunities.”
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He said that investor reactions to the real-money gaming ban are also likely to vary. “It depends on their India exposure, the share of their fund tied to this industry, and how they view risks across other regulated or unregulated bets…like the hit on F&O revenues, for example.”
“But India is a growth market, and investors will continue to invest as long as returns justify it. Of course, this is a setback, both in speed and scale, but venture investing is inherently risky. When you back a disruptive sector, you expect exponential growth followed by regulation – it’s the story of Airbnb, Uber, and now gaming, which is regulated in markets like the US, UK, Canada, and Germany,” Jain added.
Dream11 currently has 260 million registered users, which Jain said would be the cushion as the company resets.
In 2023, Dream11 signed a Rs 358 crore deal to sponsor the Indian Cricket Team, with its logo on the jersey until March 2026. But with the ban, it is now in discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on how to move forward. “On the Dream11 side, we are going to slash all our marketing spends to zero,” Jain said.
“We are in touch with them (BCCI) on how to resolve this going forward.”
ET had reported on August 20 that nearly $2 billion in advertising and marketing spends by the online gaming industry will be erased following the new law.
Even prior to the ban, GST changes had already pushed the company into the red after more than five years of profitability. For FY23, Dream Sports reported a profit of Rs 188 crore on revenue of Rs 6,384 crore. It has yet to file financials for FY24 and FY25. Jain said current cash reserves provide the company with a few years of runway.
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