Exclusive: Dream11 parent set to invest $50 Mn in Cricbuzz

Dream Sports, the parent company of fantasy gaming giant Dream11, is set to acquire a stake in Cricbuzz, the popular cricket media platform owned by Times Internet, according to two sources familiar with the matter. This would be the first major investment by the Mumbai-based firm in a cricket-focused content platform.

“Dream11 is in the final stages of acquiring a 15% stake in Cricbuzz for $50 million,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity. “The terms of the deal have been finalized, and the transaction is likely to materialize soon.”

Founded in 2004 by Pankaj Chhaparwal, Piyush Agrawal, and Pravin Hegde, Cricbuzz started as a cricket-focused digital platform. In November 2014, Times Internet — the digital arm of the Times of India Group — acquired a majority stake in Cricbuzz for an undisclosed sum and later merged it with its cricket portal, GoCricket.

“With Cricbuzz being one of India’s most visited cricket platforms, especially during major tournaments and the IPL, Dream11 will gain direct access to a highly engaged and relevant audience. This investment could help the fantasy gaming platform boost brand visibility, run targeted campaigns, and seamlessly integrate user acquisition funnels within Cricbuzz's content ecosystem,” said another source, who requested anonymity as the talks are private.

According to sources, Cricbuzz closed FY25 with an estimated revenue of Rs 400 crore. However, Entrackr couldn’t verify this independently.

Dream11 declined to comment on the story, while queries sent to Times Internet and Cricbuzz remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

While Cricbuzz's actual number of users are not public, the platform is expecting 185 million users during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) along with 350 million video views.

At the very least, the valuation will look decent to fans that follow cricket deeply in India. On the other hand, if you have watched a match broadcast, you couldn't have missed the bombardment by gaming sites, indicating just how massive the cricket opportunity remains for them. Moreover, Cricbuzz has acquired broadcasting rights to international matches in quite a few markets where JioHotstar is absent, further improving its ability to monetise. For Dream11 that would certainly have been a factor as well. 

Cricbuzz has tried to counter competition such as Espncricinfo by focusing on fast, snappy updates. Perhaps just the thing punters on Dream11 prefer when they are pitting their ‘skills’ on the platform. For Times Internet as well, the Cricbuzz deal will be a good option at a time of tough market conditions. But  just a 15% stake is neither here nor there for the cash rich Dream11, and we look forward to seeing just how the picture looks a year or so down the line. 

With inputs from Kul Bhushan.