The enactment of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, has left tremors in the Indian sporting landscape. The law was passed by parliament prohibiting all money-based online games and encouraging e-sports and casual gaming. The action has already sent shockwaves through cricket with Dream11 relinquishing its position as the official sponsor of the national team.
Endorsement losses hit top cricketers
As the Asia Cup is set to start September 9, the BCCI has a possibility of going into the tournament without a front-of-jersey sponsor. Board officials confirmed the exit of Dream11 and they were left scurrying to find replacements. However, the greater victim is to cricketers themselves who will lose high-profit endorsement deals.
Dream11 had contracted Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Pandya brothers among others. Test captain Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Sourav Ganguly have endorsed My11 Circle. Virat Kohli was the face of MPL and MS Dhoni was the face of WinZO.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma among biggest names impacted
The endorsement values varied depending on the stature of the cricketer. As reported by Cricbuzz, “Kohli’s contract was estimated at around INR 10–12 crore annually, while Rohit Sharma and Dhoni were believed to be in the INR 6–7 crore bracket. For younger or lesser-known players, the figures hover around INR 1 crore.”
All these endorsements amount to mind boggling figures. It is estimated that the Indian cricketers will lose between INR 150-200 crore annually because the contracts have been cancelled. The prohibition on the advertising and promotion of money games in all media does not leave any chances to companies to continue the deals.
Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar face heavy setbacks
Some of the veteran players earn a small proportion of their endorsements online through gaming platforms. With younger names, however, the influence is much more. Mohammed Siraj, as an example, promoted three brands, of which My11 Circle was one of them. The loss of that deal is equivalent to 33 percent loss of his sponsorship income.
This situation is not different with the case of Washington Sundar, who had gaming companies constituting a significant proportion of his endorsement list. Such instances point to how the Online Gaming Bill can affect not only the star players such as Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, but also young cricketers who depend on such contracts as a major source of income.
BCCI and IPL also staring at major revenue dip
The BCCI has more problems to lose Dream11 as the national team sponsor. My11 Circle is also an associate sponsor of the IPL and is reportedly contributing almost Rs 125 crore a year. Now that the new law is in place, that partnership has been threatened, which imposes a new burden on the finances.
The franchise teams are also hit Online gaming websites are the PRL team sponsors such as Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The abrupt suspension has left them rethinking agreements before the new season, which increases the financial loss of the Indian cricket.
The Online Gaming Bill 2025 was designed to control the sphere and secure the stakeholders. However, its direct repercussions are being experienced most by Indian cricket, where cricketing legends like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma along with upcoming cricketing talent are faced with massive losses in terms of endorsements running into hundreds of crores.
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