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Dream11 parent Dream Sports slipped into the red in the fiscal year ended March 2025 (FY25), reporting a net loss of ₹478.9 Cr as against a net profit of ₹1,295.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

It is pertinent to note that the company’s bottom line was impacted by an exceptional expense of ₹503.7 Cr incurred during the fiscal. These expenses pertain to taxes Dream Sports had to pay while redomiciling to India last year. For context, the company hadreverse flipped to India in March 2025, merging its US entity, Dream Sports Inc, with its India entity, Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd.

However, the company reported a decline in its top line during the period under review. Its FY25 operating revenue declined 14.8% to ₹6,759.3 Cr from ₹7,933.8 Cr reported in the previous fiscal. Including other income of ₹615 Cr, Dream Sports’ total income stood at ₹7,374.4 Cr during the period under review.

During the fiscal, revenue from the sale of goods and services fell 35.8% to ₹258.8 Cr from ₹403.3 Cr in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, gaming revenue declined 13.7% to ₹6,500.5 Cr from ₹7,530.5 Cr reported in the same period last year.

Notably, in August last year, the company shut down its sports merchandise business operating under FanCode. At the time, it was reported that its merchandise business was struggling with persistent viability issues and the unchecked circulation of counterfeit products, both of which have severely limited growth prospects.

Besides Dream Sports, the Indian gaming industry endured one of its most turbulent years in 2025.

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which came into effect on October 1, 2025, effectively banned RMG in India, marking a final act of the real money gaming saga with a bitter ending for startups.

The decision triggered a sharp fallout across the ecosystem, leading to the collapse or severe downsizing of several large players like Dream11, MPL, WinZO, Gameskraft, Games24x7, Hike, and PokerBaazi. The ban resulted in widespread layoffs, shutdowns, and forced pivots, marking a structural reset for an industry that had been heavily reliant on RMG-led growth for nearly a decade.

Dream Sports’ auditors note said in a statement that “the enactment of The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 and the consequent discontinuance of the Holding Company’s and one of its subsidiary’s online money gaming business, along with the pending GST demand of ₹28,294.19 Cr, indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Following the ban, Dream Sports doubled down on its sports content streaming platform FanCode as well as foraying into the investment tech space with the launch of Dream Money.

The company is also betting on creator-led watchalongs, real-time fan interactions and free-to-play formats to reinvent its flagship product, Dream11. Besides, it is also offering curated sports travel and live event experiences, while also offering an interactive experience-led service called “Watch Along”, which lets users watch live matches with creators offering real time commentary, fan charts and interactive polls.

Most recently, the company’s subsidiary Dream Money announced a partnership with ONDC to integrate its mutual fund offerings within the state-backed network. Notably, Dream Money was the first vertical Dream Sports explored after RMG ban, where it invested in services like FDs, gold investments, among others.

Total expenses for the period rose 8.5% to ₹7,122.6 Cr from ₹6,562.4 Cr in the corresponding period last year.

Advertising and Promotional Expenses: These expenses remained largely unchanged at ₹3,912.6 Cr from ₹3,958.01 spent in FY24.

Employee Benefit Expenses: Expenses under this head increased 62% to ₹1,673 Cr in FY25 from ₹1,030 Cr in FY24. The rise in expenses under this head was largely due to the expenses under “other benefits to the directors”, which accounted for ₹771.03 Cr.

Exceptional Expenses: The company exceptional expenses of ₹623.6 Cr during the year, largely driven by costs related to its reverse flip to India (₹574 Cr). The remaining ₹48.6 Cr was due to impairment of goodwill, including write-offs linked to the acquisition of Beryllium Ventures and the shutdown of online gaming operations following the enactment of the Online Gaming Act, 2025, as well as impairment related to its investment in Archetype.

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