Dream11 Pivots to Global Markets as India Bans Fantasy Gaming

India's largest fantasy sports platform is making its first foray abroad after new domestic gaming rules upended a business model that once generated the bulk of its revenue.

Dream11 on Monday announced it would launch operations in 11 countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Australia, as it grapples with a September government ban that effectively prohibited real-money fantasy contests and related advertising in its home market.

The ban threatens a revenue stream that accounted for 95% of Dream11's domestic business.

The Bangalore-based company once controlled 80% of India's fantasy sports market and was last valued at $8 billion. Now it is racing to reinvent itself as a free-to-play platform supported by advertising and sponsorships, a fundamental shift for a business built on entry fees from millions of cricket-obsessed users.

Dream11 has already begun signing advertising partnerships with brands including food-delivery service Swiggy and e-commerce platform Tata Neu, placing banner ads and sponsored contests where paid tournaments once dominated.

The regulatory clampdown has been costly. Dream11 lost a 3.5 billion rupee ($44 million) title-sponsorship deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, one of the sport's most lucrative marketing vehicles.

Dream11's Strategy Shift: From Fantasy Gaming to Financial Services

The company is also exploring other revenue avenues. Dream11 has applied for a stock broking license and is reportedly considering a move into wealth management, seeking to leverage its financial services expertise with its existing user base. "The only way to deal with 95% of your revenue being gone is to build new products that you can monetize in the future," Jain told Moneycontrol in August.

Still, the platform retains significant reach. It claims over 260 million registered users and more than 10 million daily active users, keeping it atop Indian app-store rankings for sports content, according to data tracker Moneycontrol.

Dream11's international push will test whether its model can succeed in markets where established players such as FanDuel and DraftKings have locked in users and regulatory advantages. The company will operate in the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.