Flutter Entertainment has had to withdraw its Junglee brand from India after the sudden introduction of new legislation banning real-money online gaming in the country.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, became law on August 22 after being proposed and passed all within a week.
As a result, Flutter has been forced to cease operations for its Junglee brand to ensure compliance with the swiftly imposed legislation.
The Cost Of Junglee’s Closure
Flutter, which also owns US sports betting site FanDuel and online casino Poker Stars, expressed its disappointment at the lack of any consultation process ahead of the new law being introduced.
Company expectation was that the operation in India would produce around $200 million in revenue and $50 million in adjusted EBITDA for the year.
Flutter now faces losing around $100 million in revenue from the closure.
The company acquired a 51% majority stake in San Francisco-based Junglee Games in 2021 for $70 million.
It had developed into India’s largest community for rummy and non-poker card games with an estimated 100 million users.
Chief Executive Peter Jackson said: “I am extremely disappointed with the sudden changes to the regulatory landscape in India.
“Over the last four years Junglee has invested significantly in its local market, building a workforce of over 1,100 employees to deliver innovative skill-based gaming products to Indian customers.
“Central to this has been a strategy which prioritizes consumer protections and responsible gaming.”
Jackson warned that the new ban could simply push customers towards offshore casinos and gaming sites.
“We believe this change will drive customers to the unregulated market, offering limited consumer protections and providing no contribution to the local economy,” he said.
“We believe in regulatory frameworks that put customers first and are evaluating options to restore skill-based games in the Indian market.”
Fallout From India’s Online Gaming Ban
Gaming companies have had to act quickly after the new legislation received presidential assent on August 22.
The money-based online gaming ban saw Dream11 withdraw its $41 million Indian cricket sponsorship which supported both the men’s and women’s national cricket teams.
Dream11 is India’s biggest online gaming platform, with a fantasy sports app that allows users to create their own teams of real-life players in real-world sports.
As soon as the proposed law that could lead to an online games ban was ratified by president Draupadi Murmu, executives from Dream11 met with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to excuse the firm from its three-year sponsorship deal.
It also announced via its social channels that Dream11 would continue to operate in India, but as a free-to-play game.
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
