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

New Delhi: Last week, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) tender looking for a broadcast spouse for the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season.

This was the 2nd clip successful six months that the AIFF had issued specified a papers arsenic the archetypal version, released successful October 2025, demanded an yearly minimum warrant of Rs 37.5 crore. For a assortment of reasons, that didn't find immoderate takers.Ever since, Indian shot is successful a escaped fall.

AIFF's woody with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which had started the ISL successful 2014, expired connected December 8, 2025. Between AIFF Constitutional changes, tribunal visits, deficiency of commercialized partners and eventual involution by the Sports Ministry, ISL has taken a monolithic deed to its credibility, adjacent if it present has a commencement day successful February 14.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The fixtures for ISL 2025-26, which person been tucked distant successful the draught folder for days owed to location venues being successful shambles, adhd to the situation for immoderate prospective broadcast bidder(s).With 91 matches to beryllium played successful the upcoming truncated play successful a azygous limb home-and-away format, this contention against clip lone gets trickier with each passing day. The information that AIFF person not officially appointed an bureau to oversee the broadcast bids process doesn't bode good either.

In 2021, the BCCI brought successful audit, taxation and fiscal advisory consultants KPMG to counsel them connected the media rights merchantability for the IPL. The nonsubjective was clear: gain 'top dollar.' It resulted successful media rights for the IPL going astatine Rs 48,390.32 crore implicit 5 years - a 100 percent leap successful worth per match.AIFF, which has hardly showcased its competence successful the past fewer months, is unsocial successful this regard. Before FSDL stepped away, the ISL had a broadcast woody worthy Rs 550 crore implicit 2 seasons with games showcased connected linear TV and OTT.

At first, ISL matches were broadcast connected the Star Sports Network earlier moving to the Viacom18-owned Sports18/JioCinema.The Rs 275 crore-a-year woody was reportedly a 37.5 percent summation connected what Star India, who had a bulk involvement successful the ISL, had been paying successful the archetypal 10 years of the competition.This Rs 275 crore funded things specified arsenic lucifer production, league marketing, gross for the clubs and fixed payments to the federation.

Despite this, FSDL posted losses of Rs 14.34 crore successful FY23, Rs 46.3 crore successful FY22, Rs 13.7 crore successful FY21 and Rs 27 crore successful FY20. The league lone turned profitable erstwhile operations were scaled down, posting a nett net of Rs 45.2 crore successful FY24.

AIFF person nary bargaining power

Now, successful this post-FSDL era, AIFF and, by extension, the ISL clubs person small country to negociate with immoderate imaginable bidders. With the ISL acceptable to beryllium played successful aggregate cities, it adds to the costs progressive with lone Rs 9.77 crore budgeted for Production and Transmission.

In the past, it hovered astir Rs 70 crores.It means the prime output of the broadcast volition beryllium lower. Instead of multi-camera setups successful antithetic parts of the ground, 1 tin expect 3-4 cameras, akin to the I-League sum wherever instrumentality is placed astatine a precocious vantage point, down the extremity and adjacent the half-way line.An ISL nine official, who spoke to TimesofIndia.com connected the information of anonymity, said that organising the league successful aggregate cities could dissuade imaginable bidders.

He besides reminded that options are constricted anyway, arsenic February-March is besides the play for the T20 World Cup successful India and Sri Lanka, which JioStar volition broadcast.The logic is simple: higher viewership means higher sponsorship for clubs and with an inferior product, that Rs 5-6 crore portion of the puzzle is going to instrumentality a hit. All clubs are braced for different twelvemonth of reddish successful their equilibrium sheet. Even though galore volition chopped costs operationally and person reduced subordinate wages, the losses are expected to beryllium 3 times the mean successful the lack of commercialized revenue.

Time for recalibration

Like different aspects of the ISL including franchise fees and subordinate salaries, the broadcast rights worth besides needs to beryllium recalibrated for a healthier future. While this upcoming play tin mostly beryllium logged arsenic a stop-gap solution-finding exercise, the workout towards an economically viable merchandise needs to statesman now. As ICC and BCCI person recovered out, mindless pricing of broadcast deals volition thrust distant smaller players successful the streaming space.

And dissimilar sports similar cricket and kabaddi - whose assemblage inactive consumes sum connected linear TV - football's young viewership exists connected OTT.Subsequently, if players enactment distant owed to pricing, it volition further dwindle AIFF's options. Among the large broadcast players - connected linear TV and integer - determination are fewer options extracurricular of JioStar and Sony Sports Network.

What does the existent RFP say?

AIFF's RFP for media rights of the ISL is simply a 39-page papers that lays down the elaborate eligibility model for prospective bidders and specifies the timelines for bids to beryllium submitted, examined and assessed.As per the schedule, the AIFF has fixed January 23 for a pre-bid gathering with funny parties, portion immoderate written queries oregon requests for clarification whitethorn beryllium addressed by up to January 27.Bids indispensable beryllium submitted nary aboriginal than 5:00 p.m. IST connected February 1, with each submission accompanied by a information deposit of Rs. 5 lakh.Eligibility conditions necessitate bidders to beryllium broadcasters oregon net operators with a minimum of 3 years’ operational experience.

In addition, bidders indispensable person recorded a nett worthy of astatine slightest Rs. 10 crore successful the astir caller fiscal twelvemonth (2024–25) and an mean yearly gross of nary little than Rs. 10 crore crossed the past 3 completed fiscal years — 2022–23, 2023–24 and 2024–25.In the lawsuit of consortium bids, a maximum of 3 entities whitethorn travel unneurotic nether a peculiar intent conveyance (SPV). One subordinate indispensable beryllium designated arsenic the ‘Lead member’ and clasp astatine slightest a 51 percent equity involvement successful the SPV’s paid-up and subscribed stock capital.Each bid volition beryllium evaluated successful 2 components — Technical and Financial — carrying weightages of 70 percent and 30 percent respectively. The bidder securing the highest wide people volition beryllium awarded the rights for the forthcoming season.