Gaming
SportsBaazi recruits Uthappa, pitches sports trading as data-driven skill
MUMBAI: Online fantasy sports platform SportsBaazi has launched a campaign fronted by Robin Uthappa, promoting sports trading as a skill-based activity. The initiative, timed with IPL 2025, aims to shift fan engagement from passive viewing to active participation via live match moments trading. Uthappa, highlighting the role of data and discipline, features in the campaign films demonstrating strategic decision-making in real-time trading scenarios.
The campaign emphasises trading as a blend of intellect and analysis, not chance. SportsBaazi, chief marketing officer Puneet Dua asserts the platform seeks to legitimise sports trading as a mainstream skill format.
Says he: “This campaign is not just about awareness—it’s about sparking a movement. We’re building a space for serious sports fans—those who bring intellect, preparation, and strategy to their gameplay. Robin Uthappa’s evolution from cricketer to life coach to sports trader perfectly aligns with the mindset we want to cultivate — composed, thoughtful, and data driven. With IPL 2025 energising the nation, we’re excited to amplify this narrative across India’s sports-loving heartland.”
Adds Robin Uthappa: “What attracted me to this campaign was the philosophy behind it. I’ve always believed that great performance on the field or in life comes down to clarity, preparation, and discipline. Sports trading is a game of insight, pattern recognition, and strategic timing. I see it as a natural evolution for the serious sports fan. If my journey can inspire even a few to explore it with the right mindset, I’ll consider it a win.”
But Uthappa’s role goes far deeper than screen presence. In creative workshops with the SportsBaazi team, he also reimagined the platform’s core slogan. “While we began with ‘Dil. Dimag. Data,’ Robin added a fourth ‘D’: Discipline. That struck a chord. So much so, it became the name of our flagship podcast — Dimag. Data. Discipline — hosted in collaboration with him,” adds Dua.
Uthappa’s involvement underscores the campaign’s focus on strategic play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_ORCgcvNA
Digital platforms, including JioHotstar, YouTube, and Instagram, will distribute the campaign content, targeting India’s expanding digital user base in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. SportsBaazi aims to convert cricket viewership into active trading, advocating for a data-centric approach to sports engagement.
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.
