Varsha
The Game Has Changed: Lok Sabha Passes Online Gaming Ban
On August 20, 2025, the Lok Sabha passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, shaking up the Indian online gaming landscape. While celebrated as a progressive move for esports and educational gaming, the Bill’s outright prohibition of real money online games—where users deposit funds and play for cash rewards—has sent shockwaves through the country’s fantasy gaming and sports sponsorship industry, especially cricket.
What Does the Online Gaming Bill 2025 Ban?
The law sets strict boundaries between four distinct gaming categories:
- Esports: Competitive video gaming, unaffected and fully legal.
- Educational Gaming: Edtech gaming remains unhampered.
- Social and Casual Gaming: Free or in-game-content-only games still permissible.
- Real Money Gaming: Where cash is at stake—now criminalized.
Key Restrictions:
- Offering or engaging in online money games is now a criminal offense.
- Banks and financial institutions are barred from processing transactions connected with online money games.
- All forms of advertisement for online money games are banned, regardless of media channel.
- Penalties: Service providers face up to three years in jail or ₹1crore fine; advertisers face up to two years or ₹50lakh fine.
Real Money Gaming: Cricket’s Main Sponsor Faces the Axe
Over the past decade, India’s fantasy sports platforms have bankrolled a large chunk of cricket’s sponsorship ecosystem:
- Dream11: Indian cricket team’s title sponsor at approximately ₹358crore.
- My11Circle: IPL’s official fantasy partner for ₹625crore (five-year deal).
If these real money operators are blocked, the financial pipeline that has fueled player endorsements, central sponsor pools, and league sustainability could shrink drastically.
Impacts on Cricket:
- The BCCI’s (Board of Control for Cricket in India) revenue pool from both team and league sponsorships is expected to take a hit.
- Franchise-based sports like cricket, kabaddi, and football may struggle to replace the revenue from gaming brands.
- Individual player endorsements—once buoyed by gaming firms—may decline.
- Fan engagement platforms, usually powered by fantasy gaming, might also see participation slump.
Sports law expert Vidushpat Singhania put it bluntly: “Cricket is huge in India and there won’t be any dearth of sponsors for Indian cricket and its properties. However, the personal sponsorship market can shrink because of this Bill. Fan engagement will also be affected.”
The Numbers: Indian Fantasy Gaming and Cricket’s Economy
- The Indian fantasy gaming industry was valued at over $3.5billion (₹29,000crore) in FY2024 and grew at a CAGR of 30% from 2019 to 2024.
- Fantasy sports sponsorships contributed to more than 60% of cricket league sponsorship revenues over the last five years.
- Over 100 million Indian cricket fans engaged with fantasy platforms during the IPL 2024 season.
Winners and Losers: Esports and Edutainment vs. Fantasy Gaming
- Winners: Esports organizations, educational gaming companies, and non-monetized casual/social gaming platforms.
- Losers: Real money and fantasy gaming apps, payment gateways, associated advertising agencies, and the broader cricket sponsorship ecosystem.
FAQ: All You Need to Know
Q: What’s the difference between fantasy games and esports under the new law?
A: Fantasy games offer cash rewards based on real sports results and are now banned. Esports—competitive video gaming for prizes, typically not involving real-world money—remain legal and even encouraged.
Q: Can users play IPL fantasy games for free?
A: Only if no entry fee or cash prize is involved. Paid fantasy leagues are now illegal.
Q: Will players and teams lose all their sponsors?
A: Not all—many non-gaming brands remain invested. However, the overall pool for sponsorships, particularly those linked to players’ personal endorsements, could be diminished.
Q: Are online sports betting and fantasy the same?
A: No. Sports betting is outright gambling on match outcomes (already strictly illegal); fantasy gaming, while skill-based, is now also banned if cash is wagered.
Q: What penalties do companies face if they continue banned gaming activities?
A: Operators face up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of ₹1crore; advertisers may also be imprisoned for two years or fined ₹50lakh.
Conclusion
India’s Online Gaming Bill 2025 marks a bold attempt to curb fraud and addiction, but could cripple a fantasy gaming sector interwoven with the nation’s cricketing fabric. As esports and edutainment platforms ready for their moment in the mainstream, all eyes are on cricket’s next funding innings—will new players step up, or has the golden goose of online gaming sponsorships laid its last egg?
Do you think India’s cricket economy can reinvent itself in a post-fantasy gaming era, or is the ban set to change the game forever?
