/
•
•
Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Offering everything from fantasy sports to live streaming to merchandise to travel, is it too expansive a vision to pull off?
Editor's note: Among many other things, 2020 was the year that live sport came to a grinding halt, another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. For at least a quarter, major events spanning sports from tennis to cricket were cancelled or postponed. This was obviously a blow to sports organizers, sponsors, advertisers and athletes, but also to the roughly $20 billion global fantasy gaming industry. Closer home, the 2020 Indian Premier League was left in limbo for months. Initially scheduled to start at the end of March, it was delayed repeatedly, with no resolution in sight as India went into lockdown. Dream11 was largely unfazed. The IPL is perhaps the most important event for sports betting in India, and without it, revenues go down the drain. But the country’s biggest fantasy sports company continued to work on its platform, getting users to participate in smaller sports leagues around the world. It also doubled up on hiring for some of its other verticals: FanCode, a streaming and fan engagement app, and DreamSetGo, which sells packaged tours for sporting events. None of these, however, generate …
The AI startup’s $100 million ARR claim does not quite add up even as Dream11—forced out of real-money gaming—prepares to take its massive user base into stockbroking.
The loss of business could dent volumes, but should have next to no effect on the bottom line of payment companies
The complete ban on online gaming involving money is just the latest example of a country running on a whim. To anyone doing business in India, this should serve as a reminder that the axe of high-handed government regulation could fall at any time.
