Bets are off: How ban on online money games could reshape sports industry

Significant funding source for various teams and leagues at risk of drying up

For years, Indian sport has leaned on sponsorships and endorsements by real-money fantasy gaming companies: Be it cricket’s Indian Premier League, football’s Indian Super League (ISL) or the Pro Kabaddi League. The Indian cricket team and other athletes displayed logos of fantasy gaming brands, while broadcasters treated them as priority sponsors.

 

However, with Parliament clearing the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 — it bans real money games (RMG) — this funding pipeline stands at crossroads. RMG industry insiders believe this could mark a defining shift in the sponsorship landscape and compel both sports teams and gaming firms to reimagine their future strategies. 

 

What’s the latest update?

The Lok Sabha passed the Online Gaming Bill on Wednesday, followed by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, pushing the legislation to the President’s desk for approval. Industry associations, including the E-Gaming Federation, the All India Gaming Federation, and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, have warned that such a ban would stifle innovation and punish compliant businesses.

Why did the need for a ban arise?

Government officials justified the ban by pointing to multiple cases where online money gaming was linked to financial crimes. Instances of fraud, laundering, and even alleged terror financing through offshore betting platforms heightened national security and consumer safety concerns. Sports lawyer Nandan Kamath observed that this moment represents a critical turning point, since unchecked gaming expansion had brought risks beyond the business ecosystem, impacting the country’s financial integrity.

What exactly does the Bill state?

Under the new law, RMG platforms based on chance will be equated with betting and gambling, effectively banning them nationwide. Domestic fantasy platforms like Dream11, which operated under the “skill game” argument, now fall into regulatory jeopardy. Offshore betting brands that had masked their presence through “surrogate advertising” — by posing as sports news sites or blogs — are also expected to face tighter restrictions. The legislation positions India alongside global markets such as the UK, the Netherlands, and the US, where regulators have drawn firm boundaries between gambling and sports sponsorships.

Impact on sport industry

For India’s sports leagues and clubs, the ban disrupts a key source of fast-flowing capital. An ISL team official, who did not want to be named, admitted that this had been “easy money” for leagues, players, and broadcasters in recent years. Fantasy operators had been among the highest bidders for sponsorship rights, lifting team revenues and fuelling large-scale marketing campaigns. With their sudden exit, teams anticipate short-term losses, forcing leagues to either scale back dependence on gaming firms or aggressively court new categories of sponsors. 

The bigger picture

Globally, regulators have tightened rules around the influence of betting and gaming companies, and India’s crackdown now is the lates. While the move could safeguard consumers and choke illicit offshore operators, it also leaves a vacuum in sports funding that will need to be filled by brands from other sectors. Whether broadcasting companies, teams, and players adapt swiftly to this change may well decide the financial stability of India’s sports industry in the coming years.