The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has decided to ban online gaming and betting platforms and gave its consent to changes in the AP Gaming Act – 1974, imposing stringent punishment to those charged with gambling. On September 25, the Andhra Pradesh government passed an ordinance to amend the Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act 1974. It came into force with immediate effect.
Calling it the Andhra Pradesh Gaming (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, the government of YS Jaganmohan Reddy prohibited (i) collection or soliciting of bets; (ii) receipt or distribution of winning or prizes in money or otherwise in respect of any wager or bet; (iii) any act which is intended to aid, induce, solicit or facilitate wagering or betting or such collection, soliciting, receipt or distribution and (iv) any act of risking money or playing stakes or otherwise on the result of a game or an event including on a game of skill.
Under the new laws, those convicted of playing banned online gaming platforms would be awarded six months of imprisonment, and two years of jail for a repeat conviction. This means in the home of
Sunrisers Hyderabad, no one will be able to participate in any contest on
Dream11 or any other fantasy platform.
Dream11 was started in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, and in just over a decade, it has turned not only into one of the biggest mobile gaming platforms in the country. Their investments in
IPL 2020 itself are set to cross 500 Cr.
Dream11’s current commitments on the sport of Cricket –
– Dream11 is now the title partner of
IPL 2020 – 222 Cr
– Before taking IPL 2020 title sponsor, Dream11 was the associate central sponsor of IPL and was paying 40 Cr per year to
BCCI– Dream11 is sponsoring 6 IPL teams
– Dream11 is also a Co-Presenting partner with Star Sports and spending 120 Cr
– Dream11 has also taken sponsorship on Live Streaming of
IPL 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar
– Dream11 is the associate sponsor of Indian Cricket 1.07 Cr per game
– Dream11 is International Cricket Council’s associate partner for all ICC events
– Dream11 is NewZealand Cricket Partner
– Dream11 regularly sponsors Indian Cricket’s international bilateral tours
– Dream11 is a sponsor of CPL 2020
But now the big question is amid the ban, will Dream11 get a return on their investments, unlikely says most of the industry experts. Dream11, paid BCCI INR 222 crores to buy the title rights of
IPL 2020, is using several Indian cricketers like
MS Dhoni,
Hardik Pandya,
Shikhar Dhawan, and
Rishabh Pant to advertise its fantasy app. This Ordinance has come as bad news for not only Dream11 but also for other big fantasy cricket operators, who like Dream11 are also armed with huge marketing budgets.
There are four other fantasy apps that are being endorsed by various other cricketers like BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, and Virender Sehwag who will also come under strain because of the ordinance by the AP Government.
