Can FanCode Fill Dream11’s RMG Revenue Vacuum?

Last week, India’s $12 Bn real money gaming (RMG) industry was dismantled overnight after a ban on many formats of online games. Within three days, the once-booming sector was reduced to rubble.

The hardest hit was Dream11, the country’s most prominent RMG startup, valued at $8 Bn. Along with rivals MPL and WinZo, Dream11 was forced to shut down its fantasy sports app immediately. 

Unlike some peers who signalled their intent to lobby against the government’s decision by planning to move to court, Dream11 cofounder Harsh Jain made it clear that the startup would not contest the government’s stance. Instead, the company is now attempting to redirect focus toward its wider sports tech ecosystem.

The lynchpin in that strategy is FanCode, Dream Sports’ sport streaming and fan engagement platform. While once considered an ancillary offering, FanCode is now expected to carry a significant revenue burden shouldered by real money gaming and fantasy sports. 

While the monetisation intensity of RMG is difficult to replicate in streaming, FanCode has a differentiated strategy thanks to its focus squarely on sports streaming. And with a lifetime user base of over 160 Mn and more than 50 Mn app downloads, FanCode could turn into a weapon in Dream 11 parent Dream Sports’ arsenal.

FanCode’s Moat: Niche Sports, Sachet Subscriptions

FanCode’s road into the sports streaming market was never going to be easy. Launched in 2019, it was directly competing against Hotstar (before the Jio acquisition) and SonyLIV in the live sports segment, with the latter two having a huge lead. 

But things changed rather quickly, especially as Reliance Jio was preparing to acquire Hotstar as the Viacom-Disney deal was in the works. FanCode sharpened its focus on properties that the incumbents didn’t have. 

This was key in getting Indian users to pay for subscriptions for yet another OTT app. If anything, FanCode decided to ignore cricket to a certain extent and went with sports and events that had a strong loyal audience in India but which no other platform wanted to spend on in terms of buying rights.

To stand out further, FanCode flipped the traditional subscription model playbook. Instead of locking fans into rigid monthly or annual bundles, it brought in a pay-per-match model, a move that quickly became its key differentiator. 

Indians were familiar with pay-per-view thanks to Amazon Prime’s rental options, but this was never an option for sports fans. You had to buy at least a month’s subscription to watch something on Hotstar or SonyLIV. 

The logic was clear: advertisers would take time to arrive, so monetisation had to be solved first and this meant finding a unique niche.

“Younger avid sports fans told us they didn’t need fixed plans, they wanted flexibility,” FanCode cofounder Yannick Colaco told Inc42. 

This micro segmentation allowed FanCode to tap into passionate fan communities and gradually upgrade them to longer term packages.

The startup’s passion for fan communities and sports comes from its origin story. While Colaco headed the National Baseball Association (NBA) in India, the other founder Prasana Krishnan headed Sony’s sports arm. 

Both felt that the country lacked something like FanCode. “There were so many tournaments that were not broadcast in the country. Sports enthusiasts were left with no options to watch,” Colaco added. 

During the ideation phases, the duo approached Dream Sports, which was then entirely focused on RMG through Dream 11. Dream11 founder Harsh Jain saw some merit in a strategic arrangement with the platform, and brought FanCode under the Dream Sports umbrella for incubation.

Given the capex-heavy nature of the streaming platform, Dream Sports even invested $50 Mn, its biggest investment in a product outside of Dream11. 

In the initial years, FanCode tapped into the ever growing strong 100 Mn user base of Dream11, which provided early visibility. But what differentiated it was its ability to monetise niches.

Starting with free trials, FanCode offered per-match passes and later expanded it to more nuanced options, including team-specific and tournaments specific subscriptions. By offering flexibility in subscriptions, the platform positioned itself away from the mass market OTT faceoff and instead tried to build its loyalty among sports enthusiasts.

User Acquisition Through Communities

While FanCode’s flexible subscription model gave it an early differentiation, the platform still faced an uphill task when its portfolio of streaming rights was limited. The platform required a mix of aggressive outreach and community-driven engagement.

According to Colaco, FanCode relies on three key ways when it comes to acquiring users. The first is performance marketing, with targeted campaigns across social media platforms and Google to bring new audiences to the platform. The second leans on community engagement, where FanCode directly interacts with niche fan bases.

“For La Liga, we engaged with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona fan clubs, and for the Carabao Cup, when Manchester United were playing, we reached out to their fan club,” Colaco noted.

The third is more on a grassroots level. The platform hosts local T20 cricket tournaments, where participating players themselves promote the platform within their communities.

Unlike most OTT and streaming platforms, however, FanCode does not aggressively push users into long-term plans. 

“Our mindset is different. We want our single pass match pass owners to keep coming back to our platform. We know when they see value in our platform, they will upgrade on their own,” the cofounder said, adding that a significant portion of users do end up purchasing a monthly/annual subscription. 

Behind this philosophy lies a strong reliance on data analytics and AI driven recommendations. FanCode closely tracks viewing patterns to nudge users towards better value bundles. 

By analysing fan preferences, FanCode recommends other leagues or tournaments, effectively trying to expand its share of wallet from users. This kind of layered approach by FanCode which comprises community led acquisition and data led monetisation helps the platform in building a sticky, loyal user base.

FanCode Eyes AI And International Expansion

Over the past few years, FanCode has steadily broadened its rights portfolio to attract a wider consumer base. Starting with Formula 1, then MotoGP, and most recently acquiring rights to the Spanish La Liga, the platform has shown a clear pattern targeting underserved yet high-engagement sports properties. Beyond this, the platform has consciously reduced dependency on cricket tournaments by hosting other sports such as badminton, tennis, padel, and even pickleball.

For context, FanCode hosted over 300 sporting leagues/tournaments, which is almost double of what it hosted two years ago.  

The focus on niche IP rights for sports will continue, but the focus is also on profitability. One can see a bigger advertising push by FanCode in the next few months, and already more and more ads are being seen on sports apps advertising FanCode’s most recent acquisition — La Liga. 

Besides this, the Formula 1 mania in India is another major moat for FanCode and one that it poached from Hotstar before the Jio acquisition.

Beyond rights acquisition, the platform has been experimenting with AI-driven innovation to boost accessibility and reduce costs. Moreover, FanCode’s decision to wind down its merchandise platform – FanCode Shop due to low margin, further underscores the fact that it intends to ditch losses and shift its focus to scaling its streaming business. 

Another initiative is commentary in regional languages, which Colaco believes will allow FanCode to reach sports fans in the hinterlands and even in other geographies outside India. AI is being seen as a way to reduce the costs associated with regional language or foreign commentators and broadcast infrastructure.

For instance, AI-upscaled videos are on the cards at FanCode. In India, 4K streaming remains limited due to infrastructure challenges, but FanCode is building a proprietary AI tool aimed at enhancing content quality in real time. Once rolled out, this would give FanCode a competitive edge in delivering premium viewing experiences, especially when 4K subscription plans for Hotstar continue to remain out of reach for most Indians.

International expansion is also on the cards. According to sources, FanCode is preparing to launch first in neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, before pushing it to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Depending on the early traction, the startup is also eyeing Australia and New Zealand to tap into more mature sports-viewing audiences.

While Colaco has emphasised that these initiatives were in motion long before the RMG ban, the timing cannot be ignored. Dream11 is under pressure to replace the high-frequency monetisation engine that RMG games once provided, and FanCode’s growth ambition has in some ways taken centre stage.

The real question is whether its strategy of focusing on niche categories and not upselling subscriptions will remain the same when FanCode is forced to hit the revenue accelerator? Will a streaming platform  fill the monetisation vacuum at Dream11?

Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam