The Indian Super League (ISL) has entered its most turbulent phase since its launch in 2014, with the 2025–26 season witnessing an unprecedented collapse in its commercial valuation.
FanCode has secured the league’s broadcast rights for just ₹8.5 crore a staggering fall from the ₹550 crore paid by Viacom18 for the previous two seasons combined highlighting a near 97 percent erosion in the league’s market value. This dramatic reset is not merely a consequence of reduced matches or changing broadcaster priorities.
It is the direct outcome of the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the Reliance–IMG joint venture that built the ISL over the past decade.
For 15 years, FSDL controlled the commercial and operational backbone of Indian football, paying AIFF a fixed annual fee while absorbing all financial risk. That agreement expired on December 8, 2025, plunging the league into a vacuum. With no commercial partner in place and legal uncertainty over league ownership and governance, broadcasters were unwilling to bid for ISL at premium levels.
The result is a survival-mode season rather than a growth-driven one.
Why the value collapsed
The ISL’s valuation has fallen for three core reasons.
First, the season has been heavily truncated. The 2025–26 campaign will run for only three months, starting February 14 and finishing in May. Only 91 matches will be played 72 fewer than last season with a single round-robin format and no playoffs. The champion will be decided purely on league position. Broadcasters are paying for less inventory, fewer marquee fixtures, and lower advertising potential.
Second, the governance crisis scared bidders away. With the Supreme Court mandating a new AIFF constitution, control of the league shifted away from FSDL and back to the federation. Promotion and relegation were also restored, creating financial risk for clubs. For broadcasters and sponsors, the lack of clarity on league structure, ownership, and future commercial control made long-term investment unattractive.
Third, production was unbundled from broadcasting. Previously, Viacom18 spent over ₹70 crore annually on broadcast production. This year, Kaleidoscope Production Services (KPS) will produce the world feed for about ₹5 crore. While this saves money, it also strips away the high-end broadcast presentation that helped ISL command premium rates.
Together, these factors transformed ISL from a flagship TV property into a low-risk digital offering — which FanCode capitalised on.
Digital survival, not premium television
FanCode’s win reflects the changing nature of ISL consumption. As a digital-first platform, FanCode thrives on subscription-driven, niche sports rather than advertising-heavy mass television. Major networks such as Sony, Zee and JioStar did not aggressively pursue the rights. JioStar, the former broadcaster, is understood to have bid around ₹5 crore barely half of FanCode’s offer signalling that even the incumbent had little confidence in the league’s current commercial value.
Under the new deal, ISL matches may appear on TV through sublicensing, but the core audience will be streaming-based, with lower production costs and reduced marketing muscle.
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The collapse in central revenue has hit clubs hardest. Under FSDL, teams received annual central distributions from media and sponsorship deals. With the MRA expired, that income disappeared overnight.
Most clubs have responded by cutting salaries. Senior players such as Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan have reportedly taken pay cuts to help clubs survive. Some teams had even suspended operations before government intervention forced the season to proceed. AIFF has asked each club to pay ₹1 crore as a participation fee to help cover league operations a reversal from the earlier model where clubs were beneficiaries, not contributors.
Regional leagues now outshine ISL
The most alarming comparison comes from Super League Kerala, whose current season’s media deal is valued at ₹20 crore more than double the ISL’s national broadcast figure. That a regional league now commands higher commercial value than India’s top division reflects a growing shift in sports broadcasting. Hyper-local leagues with loyal fanbases and diaspora engagement offer more stability than a national competition trapped in legal and governance limbo.
This is no longer about one bad season it is about a structural reset. ISL is moving from a corporate-backed, high-investment model to a federation-controlled survival league. The 2025–26 season is a bridge year, designed to keep Indian football alive while a new commercial framework is built.
AIFF is working with consultants to launch a fresh rights cycle from 2026-27 onwards. But to recover value, it must provide three things broadcasters demand: stability, clarity and long-term governance. Until then, ISL will remain a stripped-down league fighting to retain relevance in a crowded sports market.
What happens next will define whether Indian football rebuilds or permanently slips into the margins.
