Vikrant Mudaliar bows out of Dream11 after eight blockbuster years

MUMBAI: Vikrant Mudaliar has packed his bags at Dream Sports, shutting the book on an eight-year run as chief marketing officer that saw him turn Dream11 from a plucky fantasy-sports upstart into a 260m-user juggernaut.

Mudaliar walked through Dream Sports’ doors in 2018, just as India’s fantasy-sports market was beginning its giddy ascent. He leaves having presided over some of Indian advertising’s most talked-about moments, from star-studded IPL campaigns to Bollywood face-offs, all part of a marketing machine that helped cement Dream11 as a household name. Under his watch, the single-brand outfit ballooned into a sprawling portfolio spanning Dream11, FanCode, DreamSetGo, Dream Cricket, Dream Money, Dream Play and Dream Horizon, alongside the Dream Sports Foundation.

Before Dream Sports came calling, Mudaliar spent three years as chief marketing officer at Yatra Online, steering brand strategy and revenue growth across the travel platform’s many business lines. Earlier still, he ran sales and marketing at Lenskart.com, helping prise open India’s online eyewear category. His real schooling, though, came at Tata Sky, where he spent nine years as vice-president of brand marketing, stitching together the campaigns that helped the DTH brand earn its superbrand stripes. His career began further back, cutting his teeth on Chevrolet and Opel at General Motors India.

An MBA from École des Ponts Business School and a stint on the IRG100 leadership programme round out the CV of a marketer who has now spent the better part of three decades hopping between media, telecom, travel, e-commerce and sport, building categories, not just campaigns.

Where Mudaliar lands next is, for now, anybody’s guess. But for a man who has spent eight years convincing 260m Indians to pick their fantasy XI, the only safe bet is that his next move won’t be a quiet one.