The largest daily fantasy sports (DFS) site in India is now the official partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The deal comes as Dream11 joined forces with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to seal the exclusive partnership, which will be intact for a minimum of four years, at which time the relationship could be renegotiated.
BCCI announced the deal last week. The partnership begins with the upcoming IPL season, which kicks off on March 23. It will see Dream11 integrated into an array of activities in the IPL, as well as featured in marketing material. It is reportedly designed to enhance fan engagement in both cricket and fantasy sports.
Dream11 co-founder and CEO Harsh Jain states of the arrangement, “We are very excited to partner with the BCCI and provide an engaging cricketing experience for the IPL, which is the pinnacle of sports leagues in India. Dream11 is deeply integrating with the IPL, which is set to grow from its 1.4 billion TV impressions and 200 million online viewers in 2018, to achieve our goal of growing from 51 million users to 100 million users in 2019. It’s great to see how our dream of making fantasy sports intrinsic to sports fan engagement has come true.”
A statement from the Committee of Administrators for the BCCI added, “The online viewership of IPL is growing each year and it’s essential for us to engage with the fans on digital platforms as well. Partnering with the biggest fantasy sports platform in India, Dream11 will help us in further increasing the popularity of the IPL amongst cricket fans.”
Dream11 already has a number of sponsorship agreements with other sports leagues. It is the official fantasy game partner for the International Council of Cricket, the Indian Super League, the National Basketball Associations, the Pro Kabaddi League, the Big Bash League, the International Hockey Federation and the Caribbean Premier League.
The site also announced recently that it now has over 50 million registered users. It is expected to soon receive a large investment of about $100 million, which will come from Alternative Asset Management firm Steadview Capital out of the UK. That investment would provide a valuation in secondary capital of between $1.3 and $1.5 billion.
