Dream 11: India's fantasy Cricket

Mad for Cricket – Dream 11

“One thing about our country that is constant and glues people together is CRICKET” -Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Dream11 was incorporated in 2007, but in 2012 that the company found its true calling, when Harsh and Bhavit, decided to pivot to a freemium fantasy cricket game on Dream11.com.

Now the leader in India’s fantasy sport space, Dream11 has grown from 0.3 million users in 2015to over 800 million in 2020. It holds 90% of the market share. In 2019, Dream11generated a revenue of around ₹775cr ($103M), a 250% growth over 2018 revenue of ₹224cr ($30M).

For those who are not aware about Fantasy Cricket here is the explainer on the same

Fantasy Cricket is a sports game where a user creates a team with 11 players from a total pool of 25to 30 players from the squad for an upcoming match. Once the match starts, the users get points for their 11 players based on how they perform in the “real match”. Points will be given for runs, wickets, catches etc.

How exactly does Dream 11 work?

For a given match, there are many contests. Few free and few paid. For every contest you enter, you create a team. The entry fee for a paid contest usually ranges between₹30-60 ($0.4-0.8). Given you have the chance to win prizes from ₹2 lakhs($2,600+) and above, you don't really mind paying the low entry fees.

Also, Dream11 lets 50%of the participant pool win prizes, with the largest share of the cash prize going to the top-ranked and a smaller share going to lower ranks. Unlike a lottery, your odds of winning on Dream11 is 50%. Higher odds of winning means more participation from users.

There is a catch -minimum withdrawal amount of ₹200. Another clever strategy by Dream11 to keep the user coming back. Because you will try to play more contests until you can get your balance up to ₹200.

When a contest is over, not all the money pooled from entry amounts is distributed. Dream11 keeps15% of this amount as "platform fee" and the rest is distributed as prize money. This is how Dream11 pays its bills.

The growth of Dream11attracted investors from all around the globe. Apart from Kalaari Capital, Dream11now has Stead view, Tencent, Multiples Equity, and Think Investments as its investors. Today Dream11 is valued more than 1 Billion dollars.

Dream11 was started in the same year as the first edition of IPL was launched, in 2008. Harsh and Bhavit started Dream11 with IPL in their mind. Who would have thought then that they will be named as the title sponsors of the biggest cricket league of the globe?

It happened, on 18August 2020, after 12 years of consistent efforts. In 2020, when Vivo pulled out their name from the title sponsor. Dream11 won the bid for 222 crores and will be the official title sponsors from Sept 2020 to Dec 2020. Dream11 is also the Official Fantasy Game partner since 2019 and will remain till 2023.

The story of Dream11sounds like a typical Bollywood movie story. However, this time it is real and the two young minds have made it possible. From starting as a fantasy gaming platform to being named as the title sponsors of IPL, Dream11 has come a long way in these 12 years. It doesn’t seem to stop now and aims bigger.

“Jo dete hain cricket ko dil aur jaan, India walon karta hain unko Salam.”

Ciao!