India's online gaming ban upends Dream11 BCCI sponsorship

India’s sudden ban on real-money online gaming has forced fantasy platform Dream11 to withdraw as lead sponsor of the national cricket teams and has triggered widespread job cuts across the gaming sector, leaving the Board of Control for Cricket in India scrambling to find a replacement ahead of the Asia Cup on September 9. The government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act in late August, outlawing paid online contests and their promotion, a move that has upended sponsorship deals and revenue models across the industry.

Dream11, which had a multiyear contract with the BCCI running through 2026, invoked a contractual exit clause after the law made its core business illegal. The BCCI has launched an open invitation for expressions of interest for the national team lead-sponsorship rights, setting purchase and submission deadlines in September and specifying strict eligibility rules. The board has barred bidders with links to online money gaming, betting, gambling, crypto, alcohol, tobacco or explicit-content businesses, and said it will require bidders to satisfy fit-and-proper criteria, the board said in its release.

Board officials have acknowledged that...