Harsh Jain, co-founder and CEO of Dream Sports, the parent company of online gaming and fantasy sports major Dream11, has announced the company's strategic pivot following the Indian government's recent ban on online real money gaming. Despite the significant impact on its revenue, Dream11 will not oppose the government's decision, choosing instead to rebuild under a new "3.0 model". The ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025’ led to an immediate suspension of all paid contests on Dream11's fantasy sports platform on August 22nd.

The ban has severely affected Dream11, as 95% of its current revenue and all of its profits were derived from cash-based contests now deemed illegal. Jain elaborated on the "3.0 model," explaining that the company's non-RMG journey from 2008-2012 constituted phase 1, while the RMG-based phase from 2012-2015 was Dream11 2.0. The new Dream11 3.0 will aggressively focus on other businesses within Dream Sports, such as DreamCricket, DreamMoney, DreamSetGo, and the sports content and commerce platform FanCode. The objective is to make fantasy sports more engaging, establish a sustainable business model primarily through free-to-play formats, and potentially expand globally as a 'Make-in-India' product. Monetization strategies for this new phase will rely heavily on advertising, sponsorships, and international market expansion.

Jain affirmed the company's immediate compliance with the new law. He stated, “When our business model was constitutionally protected, we ran it. Now that the law has changed, we’ve complied immediately — even before the ban was formally signed. And I can say clearly: Dream11 will not challenge this law in court.” However, he clarified that while they will not contest the current law, Dream11 would defend itself should anyone attempt to retroactively claim that their past constitutionally protected operations were illegal gambling.

A critical commitment from Dream11 amidst this transition is the assurance of no layoffs. Jain emphasized, “No. The only way out of this hole is by building great products, and that requires great talent… If we ever have to start laying off talent, that would be the day we should consider shutting down. Instead, we’ll cut marketing, advertising, and partnership spends. But our people stay.” The company plans to redirect its 500 engineers, previously focused on maintaining existing systems, toward developing AI-driven innovations in sports content, commerce, merchandising, and fan experiences. Dream Sports maintains sufficient cash reserves to sustain its workforce and operations for several years, demonstrating financial stability despite the revenue loss. The company reported operational revenue of ₹6,384.49 crore for FY23, an increase from ₹3,841 crore in FY22.

The ban has also impacted Dream11's high-profile sponsorships. Reports indicated that Dream11 informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of its inability to continue sponsoring teams. Jain confirmed that the company is in the last six months of its contract with the BCCI and has discussed the implications of the ban. He noted their decade-long relationship and expressed a commitment to finding a mutually beneficial way forward, with the BCCI already exploring other options given the short timeframe before upcoming tournaments like the Asia Cup.

Reflecting on the ban, Jain expressed a wish for regulations instead of an outright prohibition, citing Tamil Nadu's approach of mandating KYC, time, and player limits. He noted that such regulations addressed concerns while preserving government tax revenues and preventing a black market. The industry was "caught off guard" by the swift progression of the Bill through Parliament. Jain conceded that the industry's failure to self-regulate strongly years ago, and its inability to unite under a common code of ethics earlier, contributed to the current situation, stating, “In hindsight, the industry failed to strongly self-regulate years ago... we never united under one.”

Moving forward, Dream11 will concentrate all its efforts on sports-related opportunities in India, leveraging artificial intelligence, particularly within the creator economy. Jain sees AI disrupting areas like sports content, commerce, fan engagement, analytics, sports performance, and merchandise, and views his engineering talent as key to solving these problems for Indian sports fans.