ISL, domestic leagues set for new era as commercial rights go up for bids

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday invited bids for the commercial rights of both men’s and women’s club competitions for a period of 15 years minimum starting with the 2026-2027 season. The AIFF has offered two packages for bidding pertaining to men’s and women’s club competitions.
Package A consists of Indian Super League (or seniormost men’s league) and Federation Cup (or seniormost cup competition). Package B comprises Indian Women’s League (IWL) and IWL 2, and at the bidder’s option, Women’s Federation Cup — which is likely to be introduced later on.
The bids for the commercial rights of the recently rechristened Indian Football League (earlier I-League) were not included in the latest Request for Proposal (RFP).
“We want the commercial rights for a minimum duration of 15 years. If the bidder agrees it can be done for 20 years also, it is an option,” a top AIFF official told PTI.
However, unlike in the past, the RFP will not be made publicly available. Instead, interested parties will have to purchase the document for Rs 2.5 lakh from the AIFF.
“It is clarified that the RFP shall be shared by way of email only upon receiving the payment … the RFP must be purchased by the entity that is desiring to bid. Such right to bid may not be transferred to any affiliates of the entity making payment,” the AIFF said.
“Further, any bid submitted in response to the RFP by an entity that has not made the payment described hereinabove, shall be summarily rejected and not considered for any evaluation under the RFP.”
A pre-bid conference has been scheduled for March 11, while the last date of bid submission is March 19. The bids will be opened on March 20.
The latest tender process came against the backdrop of prolonged uncertainty surrounding the start of the ongoing ISL season which began on February 14 in a truncated format.
The start of 2025-2026 ISL was delayed by around five months after crisis hit the country’s football after the national federation and its previous commercial partner FSDL failed to renew the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) beyond December 8 last year.
A tender was floated by the AIFF for the selection of a new commercial partner under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee, but it found no takers.
But, after the intervention of the sports minister and following some tough negotiations, all the 14 clubs confirmed participation in the truncated ISL with 91 matches set to be played on home and away basis.
The ISL clubs would share 60 per cent of the financial cost (around Rs 1 crore per club) for the 2025-26 season of the league, while the AIFF’s contribution would be around Rs 9 crore. The total cost for the 2025-25 season has been pegged at around Rs 24 crore.
On January 18, the AIFF issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) document for broadcast rights relating to the truncated ISL.
The AIFF, on February 2, awarded the exclusive global broadcast rights of the truncated ISL 2025-26 to FanCode for Rs 8.62 crore.
Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS Studios) was awarded the production rights of the league — global as well as domestic.