Fantasy gaming platform Dream11 on Tuesday won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title sponsorship rights with a bid of Rs 222 crore, replacing Chinese mobile phone company Vivo, for a four and a half month deal.
They have won the IPL title rights for this season but whether the fantasy gaming platform holds on to that for the next two editions will depend on how high they raise the bid as the BCCI is unwilling to settle for the current offer.
There are also concerns about Chinese company Tencent's investment in Dream11.
Dream11's Chinese connection
According to reports, Tencent had invested $100 million in Dream11 for a major stake in the fantasy cricket league platform as part of the latter's Series D funding in September 2018. Reports also claimed that the Chinese company had acquired a 10 per cent stake in Dream11.
Founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Jain in 2012, Dream11 is a fantasy sports platform in India that allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi and basketball. It is also the first Indian gaming company to enter the 'Unicorn Club' in April last year after a secondary investment by US-based Stradview Capital.
The Mumbai-based company's investors include Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity, apart from Tencent and Steadview Capital.
Dream11 is also a commercial partner of the International Cricket Council, IPL, BCCI and has been associated with many international tournaments like National Basketball Association (NBA), Caribbean Premier League, T10 Vincy Premier League, Australia's Big Bash League, among other sports associations.
The 2020 IPL is going to be held in the UAE from September 19 to November 10 due to the widespread prevalence of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.