Dream11 was founded in 2007 by two 22-year-old Indian fantasy football fanatics. Harsh Jain, a University of Pennsylvania engineering graduate, and Bhavith Seth, a DJ Sanghvi graduate from Mumbai, set out to create something comparable for the Indian Premier League, one of India’s most prestigious sporting events.
Dream11 began as an ad-supported business model with a season-long structure, but it never gained traction. In 2012, the corporation decided to forsake this strategy, focusing instead on daily matches and enabling users to gamble on the teams.
How Dream11 Started? / Origins of Dream11
In the year 2008, Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth co-founded Dream11. It began as a personal initiative because Jain and Sheth were both major followers of English football fantasy leagues. They considered doing something similar for the (Indian Premier League (IPL), which began the same year. Twelve years later, their company was named the title sponsor of the same league, the IPL.
The young founders would look at how fantasy leagues would play out in the United States. Fantasy baseball leagues, fantasy basketball leagues, and fantasy football leagues were all available. Fantasy football leagues for the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga would exist in Europe as well. India is a cricket-crazy country, and we didn’t have the notion of a money-making fantasy league. That is how Dream11 came to be in 2008.
Initially, Dream11 operated as an ad-based model with a season-long framework, which was not well received. As a result, they chose to abandon this approach in 2012, shifting their attention to daily matches and allowing users to wager on the teams. It worked, and their path to become the largest fantasy sports platform began. Dream11 found its first investor in the shape of Kalaari Capital in 2014, and they have never looked back since. The number of users increased from 3 lakh in the first three years in 2015 to 1.67 crore in the next three years. Dream11 now has 14 crore users linked with them after 15 years of operation.
The firm turned its focus on Dream11.com to a freemium fantasy cricket game. Dream11 has grown from 0.3 million users in 2015 to over 100 million by 2020, making it India’s most important fantasy sports platform. It controls 90% of the market.
Business Model of Dream11
They give cash prizes to the top scorers. They must also invest heavily in technology advancement, platform maintenance, human capital, and, of course, advertising. So how do they earn a living?
To answer this question, we need to go a little further and learn about the many types of contests available on the Dream11 platform.
There are tournaments for both ‘free’ and ‘cash.’
The free contests are virtually free for people to enter and participate in. The highest scorers in the free events, on the other hand, do not get any monetary prizes. All they get are bragging rights and the urge to make some real money from their team picking abilities.
Enter the cash competitions!
The ‘cash’ contests are no longer free to enter. To enter the contest and build his or her fantasy squad, a user must pay a free entrance fee. It should be noted that only the top scorers in the cash contests are eligible for the cash awards (which may be sent to the user’s bank account).
For Dream11 to generate money, the total amount collected in ‘entry fees’ must be larger than the total amount awarded in cash incentives to the highest scoring competitors.
Take note of Dream11 website screenshot.
To participate the big cash event, a user must spend Rs. 73 after selecting his fantasy league team. The total prize money to be handed to the winners is Rs. 3 lakhs. It is worth noting that there are a total of 5,333 spots available.
Thus, the total amount received by Dream11 assuming all slots are filled is Rs. 5333 x 73 = Rs. 3,89,309.
The entire prize money awarded under the contest is Rs. 3,00,000, of which Rs. 89,309 is Dream11’s income.
The math is straightforward; the concept is brilliant!
Thus, Dream11 generates revenue by charging customers a fee to participate in monetary contests.
Revenue Model of Dream11
Many businesses offer paid contests in which their customers may win rewards. But what about the entry-level fees charged by these companies?
The Dream 11 Revenue model is a long-standing business concept. It is a revenue-sharing mechanism in which players in sponsored contests can earn money based on their real-time performance.
Contest organizers frequently establish entrance fees for contestants to participate in paid contests. They can vary depending on how much money is required for hosting and running the game.
The Dream 11 Revenue model is a payment method used by businesses to charge customers for entering paid contests. It is a method for businesses to generate an entry-level charge from participants in paid contests.
Also Read: Zepto – Success Story, Business Model, Revenue, Growth & Funding
Funding
As of November 25, 2021, Dream11 had raised about $1.62 billion in fundraising via nine rounds of funding. Dream11’s most recent investment round was led by Falcon Edge, DST Global, D1 Capital, Tiger Global, and Redbird Capital, with participation from TPG and Footpath Ventures. This investment round, which will arrive on November 24, 2021, will help them raise around $840 million. Dream11 has received money from a number of major investors, including the Chinese conglomerate Tencent, who invested $100 million in a Series D funding round in September 2018. Tencent Holdings, a Chinese global investment firm, has previously invested in several Indian businesses, including Practo, Hike, Flipkart, Ola, Gaana music app, and information aggregator Newsdog.
With an investment from Steadview Capital, the startup reached the unicorn club in April 2019. Dream11 is supported by major investors such as Kalaari Capital, Tencent, Think Investments, and Multiples Equity.
Dream collaborations
Dream11 has signed Khaby Lame, a fantastic TikToker and one of today’s most popular social media influencers, as their new commercial partner. According to reports dated October 6, 2021, the deal is valued roughly Rs 2 crore. The brand has successfully published its first promotional campaign video with Khaby: #Dream11PeDimaagLagaNa.
During the IPL 2021, Dream11 has also marketed six new advertisements. These advertisements were all created with the phrase “Team Hai Toh Mazaa Hai,” which emphasizes on cricket and Dream11 supporters and their passion for the game.
Following the withdrawal of technology giant Vivo for a year, Dream11 gained the title sponsorship the 2020 Indian Premier League for $2.22 billion on August 18, 2020. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Dream11 the Official Partner of the Indian Premier League in August 2020.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) also announced Dream11 as the title sponsor of the Super Smash domestic Twenty20 event in October 2019. In January 2021, this connection was extended for another six years, through 2026.
Dream11 announced ties with the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), International Hockey Federation (FIH), World Basketball League (WBBL), and British Basketball League in 2018. As a result of the aforementioned collaboration, Dream11 released two additional games to their website in 2018: Kabaddi and Hockey.
The startup collaborated with three cricket, football, and basketball leagues in 2017. The Hero Caribbean Premier League, Hero Indian Super League, and the National Basketball Association of the United States of America have all chosen Dream11 as its Official Fantasy Partner. Later that year, they were named the Indian Super League’s official Fantasy Football Partner. In November 2017, the NBA and Dream11 cooperated to produce a fantasy basketball game, and Dream11 debuted their official NBA fantasy game on their website.
Concluding..
Dream11 has effectively capitalized on the rising popularity of fantasy sports by combining it with inexpensive entry fees, high winning chances, and celebrities such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador to become the market leader in the fantasy sports sector.
This online platform allows dedicated fans to become team owners rather than speculators, allowing them to deepen their engagement and connection with the game they love.
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