iWorld
PNC Digital makes entertainment ‘Only Much Louder’
MUMBAI: PNC Digital, today announced an exclusive collaboration with Only Much Louder (OML). Through this partnership, global subscribers of Ogle, PNC Digital’s proprietary streaming platform can now watch, the country’s most awaited music event, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, live on-demand. This three-day multi-artist music festival Bacardi NH7 Weekender will be held in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune this November.
Ogle global subscribers are free to choose whichever artistes they wish to see and watch them perform on devices of their choice. This exclusive collaboration between Ogle and OML will widen the range of entertainment available on Ogle. Commenting on this collaboration, Pritish Nandy, Chairman, PNC Digital said: “This is the beginning of change. Viewers can now watch whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want. The power is shifting from those who deliver entertainment to those who view it. That is the future.”
Harshawardhan Sabale, CEO, Ogle said: “Ogle has been built ground up to become the digital platform of choice for viewers who are not interested in being slaves to entertainment intermediaries. Our partnership with OML will provide our subscribers access to some of the best local content and bleeding edge digital interaction technology which, till now, was out of reach of most Indian consumers given the sub-optimal data networks in India.”
Ogle constantly promises to provide anytime-anywhere entertainment to its viewers, establishing the power of choice for entertainment scripted and non-scripted. With this association PNC Digital has taken entertainment to the next level, allowing consumers an option, till now non-existent, to catch exciting new niche events and live performances in real time. Ogle strives to introduce an entire lifestyle shift for those who are pushed for time and simply cannot afford appointment viewing.
Vijay Nair, CEO, OML, said: “We are excited about partnering with Ogle and providing our fans a chance to watch some of the properties we have built and content we have produced through this platform. Ogle’s bouquet of content is quite exciting and we feel that the service is a natural fit for the content we create.”
Gaming
Dream Sports sees 100 plus exits after gaming ban forces overhaul
Company splits into eight units as real money gaming law hits revenue.
MUMBAI: For a company built on fantasy leagues, reality has suddenly rewritten the rulebook. More than 100 employees have exited Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, after the company reorganised its operations following India’s ban on real money online gaming. The shake up came after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force in August 2025, prohibiting games where users deposit money expecting winnings. The regulation struck at the heart of the fantasy gaming industry and dramatically affected Dream Sports’ core business, wiping out about 95 percent of its revenue and all of its profits.
In response, the Mumbai based company shifted into what chief executive officer Harsh Jain described as “startup mode”, splitting its operations into eight independent business units in December.
Around 700 employees were reassigned across these newly formed ventures based on their experience and interests. However, roughly 15 percent opted to leave the company.
A spokesperson for Dream Sports said many of those who exited were experienced professionals accustomed to running scaled businesses rather than early stage ventures.
“Since some of these employees were experienced with running high scale businesses and not startups, around 15 percent chose to leave and join other scaled companies or start ventures of their own,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the departures, the company noted that the attrition rate is only slightly higher than its earlier level of around 10 percent before the ban. Dream Sports now has close to 950 employees and is not currently hiring, choosing instead to focus on stabilising its existing workforce.
The restructuring has transformed Dream Sports from a fantasy gaming company into a broader sports entertainment platform. The eight units now operate independently, each focusing on different segments of the sports and technology ecosystem.
These include Dream11, sports streaming platform Fancode, sports travel service DreamSetGo, mobile game Dream Cricket and artificial intelligence initiative Dream Sports AI, which includes sports analytics platform Dream Play.
Other ventures include fintech product Dream Money, open source initiative Dream Horizon and the philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.
As part of cost saving efforts, Dream Sports also relocated its headquarters from Bandra Kurla Complex to Worli earlier this year. The new office, called Dream Sports Stadium, brings teams from its various brands together under one roof to improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
Jain had earlier said the company removed bonus lock in timelines for employees hired in recent years, allowing those who wished to leave to exit with pro rata payouts.
“We want people who are fully into the startup mode and willing to work for it, and we will share that reward if it comes,” he said.
Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at 8 billion dollars after raising 840 million dollars in 2021 from investors including Falcon Edge Capital, DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, TPG and Footpath Ventures.
The new gaming law has forced several companies in the fantasy gaming sector to either shut down or pivot their business models, signalling a significant reset for one of India’s fastest growing digital entertainment industries.
