Facing scrutiny after bagging title rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Dream11 clarified it's founded by an Indian and is "a completely homegrown brand".
The criticism is about Tencent Holdings, a China-based internet conglomerate, holding a stake in the enterprise and yet it being awarded the title sponsorship rights. This, when the talk around doing away with the previous rights holder, Vivo, triggered out of the anti-Chinese sentiment across the country.
However, while talking to IANS, a spokesperson for the company said, "Dream11 is almost entirely owned by Indians, which includes its founders, all 400+ Indian employees and our Indian investors such as Kalaari Capital and Multiples Equity. Out of the five investors, one of the investors has Chinese origins and holds a very small minority stake."
“Dream11 is a completely homegrown Indian brand. We are proud to say that the entire product and technology of Dream11 is developed within India, by Indians and is exclusively available for only Indian sports fans."
Rising tension at the India-China border in the Galwan Valley of the Ladakh union territory led to a violent skirmish between the soldiers and resulted in the martyrdom of 20 Indian army personnel.
Subsequently, calls to boycott Chinese products and companies operating in India went on the up. The central government here decided to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications. The BCCI also announced it would be reconsidering the investment in the IPL.
However, before the board could take any decision on its own, Vivo, which had bagged a deal worth 440 crores per year till 2022, walked away for the season and Dream11 stepped in, paying 222 crores for the tournament in UAE.
"With live sporting action being missed by Indian sports fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IPL will mark the comeback of mainstream Indian cricket, making this IPL season the most-awaited and watched sporting event in India. Dream11 is the only sports brand to bag the title sponsorship in the IPL's history," the spokesperson said.
"It will be a treat for sports fans to see the collaboration of one of the biggest Indian homegrown sports brands, thereby making sports fan engagement central to this year's IPL."
"During the lockdown, in the absence of mainstream cricket, Indian fantasy sports fans were happy to consume non-mainstream cricket leagues from COVID-19 free regions like Vincy Premier League, ECS and so on."
"This trend indicates there is a lot of pent-up demand for mainstream live sports and Dream11 IPL could potentially break all records of sports consumption this year."
The IPL 2020 begins on September 19 and runs till November 10 across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
