AIFF Seeks 15-Year Commercial Rights Bids for Club Competitions, Including ISL

Last Updated:March 02, 2026, 19:51 IST

AIFF invites bids for 15-year commercial rights of men's and women's club competitions from 2026-27. ISL broadcast rights for 2025-26 awarded to FanCode for Rs 8.62 crore.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Monday that it is inviting bids for the commercial rights of both men’s and women’s club competitions for a minimum period of 15 years, starting from the 2026-2027 season.

The AIFF has introduced two distinct packages for the bidding process related to men’s and women’s club competitions.

Package A includes the Indian Super League (or the top-tier men’s league) and the Federation Cup (or the premier cup competition). Package B covers the Indian Women’s League (IWL) and IWL 2, with an option for the bidder to include the Women’s Federation Cup, which is expected to be introduced in the future.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the commercial rights of the recently renamed Indian Football League (formerly I-League) was not featured in this latest offering.

“We want the commercial rights for a minimum duration of 15 years. If the bidder agrees it can be done for 20 years, it is also an option," stated a senior AIFF official.

Unlike previous instances, the RFP will not be made publicly available. Interested parties will need to purchase the document from the AIFF for Rs 2.5 lakh.

“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 desires to bid. Such right to bid may not be transferred to any affiliates of the entity making payment," the AIFF announced.

“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 meeting is scheduled for March 11, with the final date for bid submission set for March 19. The bids will be opened on March 20.

This new tender process emerges amid the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the start of the current ISL season, which commenced on February 14 in a shortened format.

The 2025-2026 ISL season’s start was delayed by approximately five months following a crisis that arose when the national federation and its previous commercial partner, FSDL, failed to renew the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) beyond December 8 of last year.

Under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee, the AIFF had issued a tender for selecting a new commercial partner but received no responses.

However, after intervention from the sports minister and some intense negotiations, all 14 clubs confirmed their participation in the shortened ISL, consisting of 91 matches played on a home-and-away basis.

For the 2025-26 season, ISL clubs will share 60 per cent of the financial burden (approximately Rs 1 crore per club), while the AIFF will contribute around Rs 9 crore. The total cost for the 2025-25 season has been estimated at around Rs 24 crore.

On January 18, the AIFF issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) document for broadcast rights for the shortened ISL.

On February 2, the AIFF awarded exclusive global broadcast rights of the truncated ISL 2025-26 to FanCode for Rs 8.62 crore.

Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS Studios) secured the production rights for the league, covering both global and domestic markets.

(With PTI Inputs)

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