BCCI invites bid for Indian Cricket Team's lead sponsor; Online Gaming and Crypto firms banned

BCCI is looking for replacement of Dream11 as Indian Cricket Team’s lead sponsor.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, invited proposals for the Indian Cricket Team‘s title sponsorship rights.

This follows the withdrawal of fantasy sports behemoth Dream11 and the exclusion of businesses involved in real money gaming and cryptocurrency from the process due to a government prohibition on such organizations.

Dream11 had to shut down its money-based games after the “Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025,” which stipulates that “no one shall offer, aid, abet, induce, indulge, or engage in offering online money gaming services nor shall be involved in any advertisement which directly or indirectly promotes any person to play any online money game,” was passed by the government in parliament.

By sponsoring the Indian Premier League and Indian Cricket Team, Dream 11 and My11Circle collectively gave the BCCI ₹1,000 crore.

BCCI sets September 16 as the deadline for online application

The BCCI opened the bidding process for the lead sponsorship rights, which let companies put their name on the front of the Indian shirt. However, a comprehensive notice clarified the types of companies that were not allowed to enter their names in the BCCI pool.

Businesses competing for sponsorship rights must also make at least Rs 300 crore a year, according to a rule set by the BCCI.

The board released its announcement on September 2 and allowed the entities until September 16 to submit their ideas. This suggests that Team India is unlikely to have a jersey sponsor for the 2025 Asia Cup.

Cryptocurrency, alcohol, and surrogate branding firms are banned from applying

Similarly, bidders and their group companies are not allowed to engage in direct or indirect cryptocurrency-related operations. This includes trading, trading tokens, trading on cryptocurrency exchanges, and any similar activity.

If a bidder operates in more than one product or brand category and even one of them falls under a barred or forbidden category, they will not be permitted to put in a bid for a category when it comes to multi-category brands.

Among the prohibited categories are producers of athleisure and sportswear, banks, banking and financial services, NBFCs, fans, mixer grinders, safety locks, insurance, and non-alcoholic cold beverages.

Also forbidden are goods that include alcohol, gambling or betting services, cryptocurrency, online money gaming, or any other activity that is forbidden and that goes against the Online Gaming Act of 2025 and public morality. However, these bidders are still able to submit offers for any other brand category that is not subject to these restrictions.

Furthermore, the use of surrogate branding is strictly forbidden. Surrogate branding is any secret effort to bid on behalf of another company or person using a different brand name, logo, or identity. This involves using alternative entities, logos, or any other dishonest means to represent another party.

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