 "Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will lose at least Rs 6 crore endorsement income per year as real-money game apps have been banned in India. Image: Reuters")
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025, brought by the Indian government, which made real-money online gaming and its advertisement illegal in the country , is set to massively impact the earnings of some of India’s biggest sportspersons, especially the cricketers.
The sports federations and sporting leagues also stand to lose a lot. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already ended its partnership with fantasy sports platform Dream11 and its contract with My11Circle for the Indian Premier League (IPL) is also set to end.
“BCCI and Dream 11 are discontinuing their relationship after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, was passed. BCCI will ensure not to indulge with any such organisations ahead in future,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said recently.
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Considering the popularity of the cricket game, BCCI is expected to find new sponsors soon and the loss is expected to be minimal. As per reports, automobile giant Toyota could be Team India’s new sponsor , but the financial blow to the players would be massive.
Indian cricketers set to lose big as Dream11, My11 Circle close real-money games
India’s top players are on the list of ambassadors for the real-money gaming apps. Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were contracted to Dream11. Virat Kohli is connected to MPL, while Dhoni promoted Winzo.
My11 Circle had Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Sourav Ganguly as its ambassadors.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, Kohli earned Rs 10-12 crore annually by endorsing MPL, while Dhoni and Rohit made around Rs 6-7 crore. Younger and lesser-popular players made something around Rs 1 crore by promoting real-money gaming apps.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWith the termination of these contracts, Indian cricketers are collectively set to lose Rs 150-200 crore. The top players like Kohli and Rohit are set to lose 5-10% of their annual endorsement income, but players like Siraj and Washington Sundar would lose much more.
As per Cricbuzz, Siraj and Sundar, who endorsed Dream11, promote three brands each, out of which one for both was a real-money gaming app. This means they are set to lose 33% of their endorsement income.
And for a few players, promoting these apps was the only means of making endorsement income. They are now set to lose every penny that came from sponsors.