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Indian Super League returns, with all eyes on football league's viability
The Indian Super League faces an uncertain future. The new season begins today after a hurried setup. Media rights value has sharply dropped. Clubs will absorb significant losses. The league's clash with the T20 World Cup impacts ad revenue. Despite challenges, broadcasters remain confident in football's growth in India. Fan bases and communities are key to future monetization.
Mumbai: The future of the Indian Super League (ISL), a franchise-based football league, is at stake as the new season gets underway today, February 14, following the sports ministry's intervention after JioStar's Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) exited as the league's commercial partner last year.
With FanCode securing the media rights for the 2026 season and sub licensing the television rights to Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), the commercial viability of the tournament will be put to the test. Since the event has been hurriedly put together, the rights holders did not get much time to promote the league or monetise it.
This comes amid a sharp drop in media rights value from ₹275 crore per year, which JioStar was paying, to just ₹8.62 crore offered by FanCode this season. JioStar had bid ₹5 crore for the property but eventually lost out to FanCode.
Industry watchers say the future of the ISL remains uncertain though the government managed to bring all stakeholders on board for this season. "The burden of organising the ISL has fallen on the clubs. Each club will have to absorb losses potentially running into several crores due to the dent in central rights, sponsorship, and ticketing revenues," said a senior sports business executive. Kick-Off Today This time, the rights holders have had little time to monetise the league
The ISL's clash with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup has also dashed hopes of attracting ad dollars, as most brands are allocating spends towards cricket, which attracts more than 90% of sports media spends.
Despite the recent challenges faced by Indian football, both FanCode and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) remain confident about the sport's long term growth trajectory.
"There is no doubt that football is clearly the number two sport after cricket in India. Its popularity, especially among young audiences, is only growing. We believe monetisation will follow sustained engagement," said FanCode co-founder Yannick Colaco.
Rajesh Kaul, who leads the sports and distribution verticals for SPNI, said nearly 100 million viewers watched football on its sports channels in 2025, reflecting the growing appetite for the sport in the country.
Colaco noted that the first step in developing the sport is to build fan bases and communities. He added that the opportunity to engage with the growing football fandom in the country is tremendous.
SPNI has made substantial investments in its football portfolio, which includes the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Nations League, Bundesliga, and the FA Cup.
FanCode, on the other hand, has streamed global football properties such as La Liga, the Saudi Pro League, and the Carabao Cup, along with Indian competitions including the I League, Super Cup, and AFC Champions League matches featuring Indian clubs.
The ISL, which usually runs from September to March, was delayed after the 15-year ₹700 crore commercial rights agreement with FSDL ended in December 2025 with the latter seeking a more equitable partnership with AIFF and the clubs during the renewal discussions, which didn't yield any results. Subsequently, the AIFF invited bids for the commercial rights of the ISL, but the process did not attract any bidders. The sports ministry had to intervene to ensure that the 2026 season takes place, following which it issued another tender that resulted in FanCode winning the rights.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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