Gaming
Cricbuzz teams up with Decathlon during ongoing T20 League
Mumbai: Cricbuzz has partnered with Decathlon during the ongoing T20 League. The partnership aims to provide a thrilling experience to all cricket enthusiasts with an exciting offer to support their favourite team by donning a brand-new jersey and dominating fantasy cricket leagues.
If a user is an avid cricket fan, now is the perfect time to download the Cricbuzz app and subscribe to Cricbuzz Plus. With this exclusive partnership, enthusiasts can get a 20% discount on FLX jerseys from Decathlon and access to the Cricbuzz Fantasy Handbook, a comprehensive guide to help dominate the fantasy cricket leagues and achieve those big wins.
Alternatively, users can walk into any Decathlon store, scan the QR code and subscribe to Cricbuzz Plus to get the same benefits.
“As T20 League returns home to India, we are thrilled to partner with Decathlon to provide cricket fans with a chance to win big and cheer for their team from the stadium,” said Cricbuzz CEO Pankaj Chhaparwal. “We are confident that our users will find immense value in this partnership,”
On the collaboration, Decathlon brand director FLX Sarun Chandran said, “Cricket is nothing short of a religion in India, and it binds the whole nation in an unbreakable bond simmering with love and major fan following. At Decathlon, we are committed to democratizing sports for everyone with our high-quality products. The collaboration with Cricbuzz for the ongoing cricket league, one of the largest cricket fests in India, is another addition to our efforts towards engaging with cricket fans, enthusiasts, supporters, and players across the globe. Each person who discovers their love for sports with Decathlon is a win for us, and by working together with Cricbuzz, we hope to inspire a greater audience with the true essence of the game.”
Overall, this partnership promises to be a game-changer for all cricket enthusiasts, offering an all-encompassing experience that includes merchandising, fantasy leagues, and more.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
