Dream Sports, the parent company of India’s leading fantasy sports platform Dream11, has announced a strategic investment of $50 million in Times Internet-owned cricket content platform, Cricbuzz and North American broadcaster, Willow TV.
This significant investment is aimed at creating a more immersive and engaging digital experience for cricket fans worldwide through deeper collaboration across content, technology, and commerce.
As part of the agreement, Dream Sports has acquired a minority stake in both Cricbuzz and Willow TV. The partnership is designed to leverage the distinct strengths of each entity: Dream Sports’ extensive user base of over 250 million and its expertise in sports technology; Cricbuzz’s position as a leading global digital destination for comprehensive live scores, news, and analysis with over 185 million monthly active users across more than 150 countries; and Willow TV’s significant broadcast reach, particularly in the crucial North American market where it holds exclusive rights to International Cricket Council (ICC) events until 2027 and streams over 1,500 live matches annually. Willow TV has also recently expanded its presence into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The collaboration is expected to drive significant synergies, combining content, community, and commercial opportunities to shape the future of digital sports consumption. The companies plan to jointly develop innovative features and integrations designed to bring fans closer to the game. These initiatives include enhanced real-time analytics and statistics, interactive streaming experiences, integrated commerce opportunities, and AI-powered predictions and personalisation across their platforms.
Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman of Times Internet, commented on the investment and said, “Cricbuzz and Willow sit at the heart of how hundreds of millions of fans follow cricket everyday. We’re excited to work with Dream Sports to reimagine and develop new ways to collaboratively create new experiences for cricket fans across the planet.”
Dream Sports Co-Founder and CEO Harsh Jain added, “Dream Sports’ mission is to ‘Make Sports Better’ for Indian sports fans. Cricbuzz and Dream11 have worked together for over a decade, and with this investment, all cricket fans can expect much more fan engagement, interactive streams, and integrated commerce experiences that will bring them closer to the action and to each other.”
This investment aligns with Dream Sports’ broader strategy to build a comprehensive sports technology ecosystem. The company’s portfolio already includes brands like the sports content and commerce platform, FanCode, the sports experiences platform, DreamSetGo, the mobile game development unit, Dream Game Studios, and the sports-focused virtual trading platform, Sixer, alongside its flagship Dream11 platform.
The $50 million infusion will specifically facilitate product-level integrations and joint initiatives aimed at delivering a more immersive and engaging digital environment for cricket enthusiasts globally. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Times Internet for this transaction.
This move also follows Dream Sports’ recent strategic actions, including its participation in the ownership group of English football club Salford City FC and the shifting of its domicile back to India.
