Fantasy sports platform Dream11 is reported to become the new jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team until 2027. The deal is valued at Rs 358 crore as per reports. The team has been without a jersey sponsor since Byju’s terminated its contract in March.

The tender for jersey sponsorship was floated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on June 14. Interestingly, the tender document specified that real money gaming companies would not be able to bid. However, fantasy sports platforms were exempted which is what explains the onboarding of Dream11.

As per a News18 report, the value of the deal was expected to be much lesser than what Byju’s was paying to the apex cricket board. For every bilateral fixture, the edtech decacorn was shelling out Rs 5.5 crore and for ICC tournament matches the value came down to Rs 1.7 crore due to the change in logo placement. The report also states that there was lack of interest among brands with only two purchasing the tender document despite the BCCI lowering the base price.

This is not the first time Dream11 is engaging with the BCCI for sponsorship. The prominent fantasy gaming platform was the title sponsor of IPL 2020, the deal being valued at Rs 222 crore. It has a number of cricketers as its brand ambassadors along with some Bollywood actors who have appeared in advertising campaigns together.

Dream11 has not just been associated with Indian cricket or cricketers but has been a sponsor at various tournaments overseas as well. Notably, in 2021, it signed a six-year naming rights deal with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the latter’s Super Smash domestic T20 tournament.

Recently, as per the IPLomania 2023 report released by Hansa Research, Dream11 topped the charts when it came to advertiser awareness with a recall score of 77%. Another fantasy sports platform My11Circle stood third with a recall score of 56%.

The reported jersey sponsorship deal appears to be a good bet for Dream11 considering the lower base price on offer, the Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams’ schedule until 2027 and the sizeable amount of revenues that the platform generates through cricket matches.