Big Blow to IPL 2025: Fantasy Sports Giants and Real-Money Gaming Ads Wiped Out by New Ban
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which was cleared in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, could slow down the huge business around the Indian Premier League (IPL), at least for some time.
During the 2025 IPL season, companies from real-money gaming and fantasy sports together spent nearly ₹2,000 crore on advertising. This made up about 40% of the total ₹5,000 crore ad spend during the tournament. With the new law in place, experts believe a big part of this spending may now disappear.
New Gaming Law May Hurt IPL Ads and Earnings
Experts believe the new rules could put digital ad spending of around ₹3,000-₹4,500 crore at risk. If you add TV, OTT, print, and outdoor ads, the total impact could touch ₹5,000-₹7,000 crore.
“Let’s be clear, the market will feel a draught. RMG-sized cheques don’t replace themselves overnight,” says Sindhu Biswal, CEO and founder of Buzzlab.
The new law bans ads related to online money-based games across all platforms, TV, print, OTT, outdoor, even WhatsApp and social media influencers. Breaking this rule could mean up to two years in jail, a fine of ₹50 lakh, or both.
Big Blow for IPL’s Top Advertisers
While media rights remain BCCI’s biggest money-spinner earning ₹9,678 crore in 2025 the IPL also gains heavily from gaming sponsors like My11Circle, Dream11, and Real Cricket, who spend nearly 80–90% of their ad budgets during the tournament.
Franchise deals also add a big share to BCCI’s IPL earnings. For example, Dream11 is the main jersey sponsor for five teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Gujarat Titans.
Where will the effect show up first?
Earlier, most of the money in this space went to Meta, Google, and programmatic ads. The next group likely to feel the cut will be creators and sports properties, from short add-on content and mid-level influencers to tie-ups with teams.
“When the CPM (cost per mile or the cost an advertiser incurs for one thousand impressions of their ads) softens, the fill rates dip, and the quick commerce and news ecosystems lose a reliable firehose of budget,” says Biswal.
That said, the money won’t disappear, it will show up in other places. Experts say a large part will move to non-gambling gaming, fintech, e-commerce, and utility apps. Some of it will be spent on customer tools like CRM, WhatsApp, referral programs, and loyalty schemes. The rest will likely go into safer options like sports and lifestyle content.
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