Asia Cup 2025: India likely to play without jersey sponsor in continental tournament, say sources

India are likely to play without any jersey sponsor during the Asia Cup 2025, sources have confirmed to India Today. The BCCI is planning to rope in a sponsor till the ODI World Cup 2027 and not just the continental tournament, which is expected to take a longer time and the Asia Cup is set to begin from September 9.

After the recently passed Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, Dream 11 ended its association with the BCCI as the Indian cricket team's title sponsor. A BCCI emergency Apex council meeting was held on Thursday, August 28, chaired by Rajeev Shukla as interim president of BCCI.

During the meeting, there were discussions about finding a new sponsor, and the BCCI is still hopeful of completing the task. But since there is not enough time to advertise and complete the process, it is going to be tough for them to find one just before the Asia Cup.

Earlier, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that the deal with Dream11 has ended and the board is putting the process in motion to get new title sponsor for various national teams.

"Our stand is very clear. With government regulations in place, the BCCI cannot continue its sponsorship relationship with Dream11 or any such other gaming company. Under the new restrictions, there is no scope and we are facing a roadblock with Dream11," Saikia told PTI.

Dream11 and My11Circle together contribute approximately Rs 1,000 crore to the BCCI through title sponsorships of the Indian cricket team and the Indian Premier League. Dream11, in particular, signed a contract worth USD 44 million (Rs 358 crore) for the 2023-2026 cycle as Team India's title sponsor.

However, the passage of the government bill-which clearly states that "no person shall offer any, aid, abet, induce, indulge, engage in offering online money gaming services nor shall involve in any advertisement which directly or indirectly promotes any person to play any online money game"-has dealt a major blow to the revenue streams of all major fantasy sports companies in India.