The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has once again invited bids to find a broadcast partner for the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season. This is the second such attempt in six months.
The first Request for Proposal (RFP), released in October 2025, asked for a minimum annual guarantee of Rs 37.5 crore. No broadcaster showed interest.
AIFF’s long-term deal with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) ended on December 8, 2025. FSDL had launched the ISL in 2014.
Since then, constitutional changes, court cases, lack of sponsors and government intervention have hurt the league’s image. Even though ISL is now set to start on February 14, major problems remain.
The fixtures were delayed due to poor stadium conditions. This makes things harder for any broadcaster willing to step in.
AIFF have no bargaining power
The upcoming season will have 91 matches. It will follow a single-leg home-and-away format. Time is running out, and AIFF has not appointed any professional agency to manage the broadcast process.
In contrast, the BCCI hired KPMG in 2021 to sell IPL media rights. The aim was to earn “top dollar.” That deal was worth Rs 48,390.32 crore for five years.
Earlier, ISL had a Rs 550 crore broadcast deal for two seasons. Matches were shown on Star Sports and later on Sports18 and JioCinema.
The Rs 275 crore per year deal funded production, marketing and club revenues. Now, AIFF has budgeted only Rs 9.77 crore for production. Earlier, it was close to Rs 70 crore.
This will reduce broadcast quality. An ISL club official told TimesofIndia.com that “organising the league in multiple cities could dissuade potential bidders.”
He also pointed out that February-March clashes with the T20 World Cup. Clubs expect heavy losses again. Player wages and costs are already being cut. The current RFP is a 39-page document. Bids are due by February 1. The winning bidder will be chosen using technical and financial scores. For ISL, this season may only be a stop-gap. A long-term reset is clearly needed.
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