After the National Sports Governance Bill received the presidential approval on August 18, and it became an act, on Wednesday, August 20, another bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha which might have huge implications on Indian sports. The Online Gaming Bill 2025 could put the multi-billion dollar fantasy gaming industry at risk.
The bill aims to put a regulation in the vast diversity of online gaming fraternity — eSports, social and casual gaming, real money gaming and educational gaming. According to a report by PTI, there’ll be restrictions on online money games.
The ‘PROHIBITIONS’ clause says, “No person shall offer, aid, abet, induce or otherwise facilitate any transaction or authorisation of funds towards payment for any online money gaming service.”
As per the ‘OFFENCES AND PENALTIES’ clause, real money gaming is a criminal offence leading to jail and the service provider might be fined a humongous sum.
Several clauses in the bill state clearly that real money gaming is causing a lot of social problems and it requires regulation. Clause 9 (1) and (2) clearly mention the implications of providing real money gaming services or advertising it in contravention of section 6. For the former, the punishment shall be imprisonment for a term up to three years or a fine up to rupees one crore, or both, while for the latter, imprisonment for up to two years or fine up to rupees fifty lakhs or both.
In the Indian sports sponsorship ecosystem, especially in cricket, fantasy sports companies like Dream11, My11Circle, Winzo, etc make a huge portion of it. My11Circle is even the official sports partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to an Economic Times report, Indian Cricket Team’s title rights bagged a whopping sum of Rs. 358 crore from the Dream11 partnership. While, My11Circle paid a fee of Rs. 625 crore to buy the IPL fantasy gaming rights for five years.
Apart from the sponsorship or right deals, individual sports stars get endorsements from these companies which are valued at crores. Renowned sports lawyer, Vidushpat Singhania in this regards said, “Cricket is huge in India and there won’t be any dearth of sponsors for Indian cricket and it’s properties. However, personal sponsorship market can shrink because of this bill”. (Per, PTI)
As per the bill, paying and earning money in the real money gaming platforms will be prohibited. However, they can run a subscription based model to test the analytical skills of the users, but the usual money making proposition will be stopped.
As a result, this multi-billion dollar industry might face a huge setback which is ought to reflect on the sponsorship deals they have with the sports clubs and franchises, especially in Indian cricket.
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