Founded in 2008, the Mumbai-based Dream11 has become one of the biggest fantasy sports platforms in the world and hit a new benchmark of 5.3 million concurrent users during the recently concluded India Premier League, of which it is also the headline sponsor.
Co-founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream11 initially struggled to make inroads into the highly competitive fantasy sports games industry. It wasn’t until four years after it was founded that things began to pick up for the company.
Dream11 Switches To Freemium Model
In 2012, Jain and Sheth decided to switch the platform to a freemium model, which allows users to play for free and they only have to pay in if they want to take part in official competitions and be eligible for prizes. The model is great for attracting new users because it allows people to have fun and enjoy themselves while learning how to play the game rather than having to dive right in.
With the new model in place, the platform began to explode. By 2014 the company hit 1 million registered users, which doubled by 2016. The user base grew to over 45 million by 2018 and is estimated to be more than 100 million this year.
“We are thrilled to have 5 Crore Indian sports fans on our platform,” said Jain in 2018 when the company broke the 50 million user barrier. “This achievement reaffirms the growth potential of fantasy sports in India, signaling a new era for the Indian sports gaming industry.”
Driving Growth Through The IPL
His confidence in that potential has proved to be well-founded as Dream11 has more than doubled its user base since and is projecting to hit 200 million users by 2022. The impressive growth and overwhelming success of the platform allowed the company to become the title sponsor of the IPL, a T20 cricket tournament, and one of the biggest sporting events in India, in 2019.
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in India and the IPL is a massive tournament that attracts the best players from around the world for a two-month carnival of short-form cricket matches. The viewership numbers reach into the billions and the overall brand was valued at just short of $6-billion by the end of 2019.
The explosive nature of 20-over cricket matches usually means it is very difficult to predict a winner, which makes the IPL ideal for generating user engagement through fantasy sports games and betting. However, this time around the favorites triumphed as the Mumbai Indians were listed at 2/1 on new betting sites on the Indian market, such as 1xBet, and emerged victorious after an intense final against the Delhi Capitals.
Dream Sports Piggybacks Off Dream11’s Success
Dream11’s triumph doesn’t just end there either. Off the back of its success, the parent company Dream Sports was able to secure an additional $225 million in investment financing. The deal was financed by Tiger Global Management, Tech Adjacencies, ChrysCapital, and Footpath Ventures to allow Dream Sports to continue on its quest to create what it calls an “end-to-end sports tech company”.
“The sports sector has high growth potential in India. There is a significant opportunity to enhance the fan experience and we are excited to partner with Dream Sports to leverage technology in ways that will deepen the connection between Indian fans and the sports they love,” said Tiger Global Management managing director Akshay Tanna.
While the IPL and cricket are the main driver of growth for Dream11, the platform also supports fantasy games for a variety of other sports including field hockey, football, basketball, and kabaddi. In April of 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian Gaming company to become part of the Unicorn Club – a term in business used to describe a private startup that is valued at over $1-billion.