From Rs 275 crore to bare bones: AIFF faces a tough test to sell ISL broadcast rights | Football News

With no takers for its first tender, the AIFF is scrambling to find a broadcaster for ISL 2025–26.

New Delhi: Last week, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) tender looking for a broadcast partner for the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season. This was the second time in six months that the AIFF had issued such a document as the first version, released in October 2025, demanded an annual minimum guarantee of Rs 37.5 crore. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t find any takers.Ever since, Indian football is in a free fall.

AIFF’s deal with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which had started the ISL in 2014, expired on December 8, 2025. Between AIFF Constitutional changes, court visits, lack of commercial partners and eventual intervention by the Sports Ministry, ISL has taken a massive hit to its credibility, even if it now has a start date in February 14.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The fixtures for ISL 2025-26, which have been tucked away in the draft folder for days due to home venues being in shambles, add to the challenge for any prospective broadcast bidder(s).With 91 matches to be played in the upcoming truncated season in a single leg home-and-away format, this race against time only gets trickier with each passing day. The fact that AIFF have not officially appointed an agency to oversee the broadcast bids process doesn’t bode well either.In 2021, the BCCI brought in audit, tax and financial advisory consultants KPMG to advise them on the media rights sale for the IPL. The objective was clear: earn ‘top dollar.’ It resulted in media rights for the IPL going at Rs 48,390.32 crore over five years – a 100 percent jump in value per match.AIFF, which has hardly showcased its competence in the past few months, is alone in this regard. Before FSDL stepped away, the ISL had a broadcast deal worth Rs 550 crore over two seasons with games showcased on linear TV and OTT. At first, ISL matches were broadcast on the Star Sports Network before moving to the Viacom18-owned Sports18/JioCinema.The Rs 275 crore-a-year deal was reportedly a 37.5 percent increase on what Star India, who had a majority stake in the ISL, had been paying in the first 10 years of the competition.This Rs 275 crore funded things such as match production, league marketing, revenue for the clubs and fixed payments to the federation. Despite this, FSDL posted losses of Rs 14.34 crore in FY23, Rs 46.3 crore in FY22, Rs 13.7 crore in FY21 and Rs 27 crore in FY20. The league only turned profitable when operations were scaled down, posting a net profit of Rs 45.2 crore in FY24.

AIFF have no bargaining power

Now, in this post-FSDL era, AIFF and, by extension, the ISL clubs have little room to negotiate with any potential bidders. With the ISL set to be played in multiple cities, it adds to the costs involved with only Rs 9.77 crore budgeted for Production and Transmission. In the past, it hovered around Rs 70 crores.It means the quality output of the broadcast will be lower. Instead of multi-camera setups in different parts of the ground, one can expect 3-4 cameras, similar to the I-League coverage where equipment is placed at a high vantage point, behind the goal and near the half-way line.An ISL club official, who spoke to TimesofIndia.com on the condition of anonymity, said that organising the league in multiple cities could dissuade potential bidders. He also reminded that options are limited anyway, as February-March is also the period for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, which JioStar will broadcast.The logic is simple: higher viewership means higher sponsorship for clubs and with an inferior product, that Rs 5-6 crore piece of the puzzle is going to take a hit. All clubs are braced for another year of red in their balance sheet. Even though many will cut costs operationally and have reduced player wages, the losses are expected to be three times the normal in the absence of commercial revenue.

Time for recalibration

Like other aspects of the ISL including franchise fees and player salaries, the broadcast rights value also needs to be recalibrated for a healthier future. While this upcoming season can largely be logged as a stop-gap solution-finding exercise, the exercise towards an economically viable product needs to begin now. As ICC and BCCI have found out, mindless pricing of broadcast deals will drive away smaller players in the streaming space. And unlike sports like cricket and kabaddi – whose audience still consumes coverage on linear TV – football’s young viewership exists on OTT.Subsequently, if players stay away due to pricing, it will further dwindle AIFF’s options. Among the major broadcast players – on linear TV and digital – there are few options outside of JioStar and Sony Sports Network.

What does the current RFP say?

AIFF’s RFP for media rights of the ISL is a 39-page document that lays down the detailed eligibility framework for prospective bidders and specifies the timelines for bids to be submitted, examined and assessed.As per the schedule, the AIFF has fixed January 23 for a pre-bid meeting with interested parties, while any written queries or requests for clarification may be addressed by up to January 27.Bids must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm IST on February 1, with each submission accompanied by a security deposit of Rs. 5 lakh.Eligibility conditions require bidders to be broadcasters or internet operators with a minimum of three years’ operational experience.

In addition, bidders must have recorded a net worth of at least Rs. 10 crore in the most recent financial year (2024–25) and an average annual revenue of no less than Rs. 10 crore across the last three completed financial years — 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25.In the case of consortium bids, a maximum of three entities may come together under a special purpose vehicle (SPV). One member must be designated as the ‘Lead member’ and hold at least a 51 percent equity stake in the SPV’s paid-up and subscribed share capital.Each bid will be evaluated in two components — Technical and Financial — carrying weightages of 70 percent and 30 percent respectively. The bidder securing the highest overall score will be awarded the rights for the forthcoming season.