Thanks to the Indian government’s recent decision, Team India might be forced to play the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 tournament without a main sponsor and wearing a jersey without a logo on the front of the shirt.
This comes after the Rajya Sabha approved the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Lok Sabha enacted a bill that outlaws internet gambling and gambling.
The President of India's signature is still required for the Online Gaming Bill to become law, although this is just a formality. Fantasy sports applications that host real-money competitions, such as Dream11 and My11Circle, will be forced to shut down and will not be permitted to display advertisements as a result of the Online Gaming Bill.
The intriguing aspect of this situation is that the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Indian cricket team, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are all heavily sponsored by the fantasy sports behemoths Dream11 and My11Circle.
According to sources, Dream11 signed a three-year, Rs 358 crore contract with BCCI to become the primary sponsor of the Indian cricket team through March 2026.
The Indian women's cricket team, the Indian men's cricket team, and the Indian Under-19 teams all wear shirts with the name Dream11 on this deal. In 2024, My11Circle agreed to pay Rs 625 crore for five years as the IPL's associate sponsor.
It is most likely that the BCCI will need to find a new sponsor for Team India after the parliament passed the Online Gaming Bill, as they cannot continue with Dream11, whose main business is now deemed illegal.
According to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, who spoke to the Times of India, the board will abide by the rules established by the Indian government and will carefully review the Online Gaming Bill before deciding on whether to continue with Dream11 or build any new agreements with online gaming companies in the future.
“Once the act comes into force, we will look into it and examine it, and if it’s permissible, then we will take sponsorship (from online betting and gaming companies); if it’s not permissible, we’ll not do anything.
Take the example of cigarettes and liquor. Has the BCCI taken any sponsorship from the cigarette and liquor companies since taking sponsorship from these kinds of companies was banned? So, whatever is permissible in the laws in force in our country, we will do that only. The BCCI will follow every policy of the country, which is framed by the central government," Saikia told the Times of India.
Despite his words, it is highly unlikely that Dream11 will continue as Team India’s main sponsor at the Asia Cup 2025, which begins on 9 September. If BCCI manages to find a new sponsor in the coming weeks, things will be fine; otherwise, expect Team India to play without a main sponsor or a logo on the front of their jerseys.
