The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has confirmed FanCode as the official broadcast and digital media partner for the Indian Super League (ISL) 2025–26 season, while Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS) has been awarded the production contract.
The decision marks a significant shift in how India’s top-tier football league will be delivered to fans after a decade under the Star–Viacom and later JioStar ecosystem.
FanCode, owned by Dream Sports, submitted two proposals one including production and one limited to broadcast and streaming both carrying financial bids exceeding Rs 8.5 crore. After evaluation, the Bid Evaluation Committee selected the broadcast-only proposal under its quality-and-cost-based assessment framework, which carried a 70:30 weightage between technical and financial criteria. This structure ensured that the broadcaster was chosen not only on price but also on delivery capability, platform strength, and operational readiness.
KPS, which has extensive experience producing Indian football, including the I-League, Durand Cup and Bengal Super League, secured the production contract with a financial bid above Rs 5 crore. The separation of broadcast and production represents a structural change for ISL, aligning it with global sports broadcasting models where content creation and distribution are handled independently.
The AIFF issued its Request for Proposal on December 18, seeking partners for the upcoming ISL season, with the submission deadline set for February 1. Seven entities submitted bids across different verticals, including broadcasting, digital streaming, and production. These included FanCode, Two Circles, Anandabazar Patrika Digital, Monarch PR Solutions, JioStar, Kaleidoscope and Sportzworks.
The technical evaluation phase was conducted on February 2, followed by bidder presentations before the Bid Evaluation Committee. This phase accounted for 70 percent of the final score, with bidders required to secure at least 35 out of 50 points to qualify for the commercial round. After this stage, Two Circles and Monarch were eliminated, leaving the remaining bidders to submit financial proposals.
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The commercial round, weighted at 30 percent, concluded later that evening, after which the committee deliberated before finalising FanCode and KPS as the winning bidders. FanCode was informed of the decision around 6 pm, bringing the tender process to a close.
One of the biggest casualties of this transition was JioStar, which had been the ISL’s exclusive broadcast partner for the previous two seasons and whose parent company had owned the league for a decade. JioStar’s bid, reportedly around Rs 5 crore, fell significantly below FanCode’s offer and was not competitive under the new evaluation framework. This also highlights the steep decline in ISL’s media rights valuation, which has dropped by nearly 97 percent compared to previous long-term contracts, reflecting the league’s financial reset after the end of the centralised franchise-driven model.
For FanCode, the acquisition of ISL strengthens its portfolio of domestic sports properties. Over the past few years, the platform has built its reputation around cricket, kabaddi, basketball, and Olympic sports, and ISL adds a marquee football property to its ecosystem. With a strong digital-first model, FanCode is expected to focus on mobile-centric and on-demand viewing experiences, targeting younger and data-driven audiences.
KPS’s role will be equally crucial, as it will be responsible for the entire live broadcast production, including camera deployment, graphics, replays, commentary feeds, and international-standard telecast output. Having already produced major Indian football competitions, KPS brings operational continuity and domain expertise, which will be vital for a league operating on a shortened and compressed calendar.
The ISL 2025–26 season is scheduled to begin on February 14, with Mohun Bagan Super Giant facing Kerala Blasters at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The tournament will be played in a truncated format, a result of the league’s restructuring and calendar realignment, making smooth broadcast execution even more critical.
With FanCode and KPS now in place, AIFF has locked in the final pieces required to deliver the season to fans. The partnership represents both a pragmatic financial adjustment and a strategic shift toward a modern, digital-driven broadcasting model for Indian football at a time when sustainability and reach are becoming more important than headline-grabbing rights fees.
