Dream11 ditches betting for banter

MUMBAI: Dream11 is swapping cash contests for creator content. The fantasy sports platform, which once commanded a user base of over 250 million punters, is transforming itself into a global sports entertainment destination. Think less ‘pick your XI and pray’ and more ‘watch, chat, and play for free’.

The new offering centres on what the company calls a ‘second screen experience’. Translation? While you’re watching the match on telly, Dream11 wants you glued to your phone for creator-led watch-alongs, fan reactions, and what they’re rather brilliantly calling ‘banter streams’. Fantasy gaming hasn’t disappeared entirely, but it’s now strictly free to play.

This reinvention wasn’t exactly voluntary. A few months back, the Indian government pulled the plug on real money games for stakes, forcing Dream11 to shut down all its paid fantasy contests.

But Dream11’s parent company, Dream Sports, isn’t sitting around feeling sorry for itself. They’ve been diversifying like a hedge fund manager at a career fair. Their latest venture, Dream Money, is a personal finance app that lets users invest in digital gold, open fixed deposits, and track their spending by linking bank accounts. From fantasy cricket to actual finance. Who saw that coming?

Meanwhile, sister platform FanCode is closing its sports merchandise operation after battling wafer-thin margins and a flood of knock-off jerseys. They’re retreating to focus on content and streaming instead, which is probably wise. Selling authentic Premier League shirts in a market drowning in convincing fakes is rather like trying to sell ice to penguins.

The entire Dream Sports ecosystem is clearly in the midst of a major rethink. The days of relying solely on paid fantasy gaming are over, and the company’s throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Whether sports fans will embrace watch-alongs and banter streams with the same enthusiasm they once had for fantasy leagues remains to be seen. But given the alternative was shutting up shop entirely, it’s certainly worth a punt.

Just not a paid one, obviously.