AIFF floats tender for commercial partner of ISL

The All India Football Federation (AIFF), on Friday, announced the Request For Proposal (RFP) for awarding the right to monetise the commercial rights of the Indian Super League (ISL) – the top tier of men’s football in India, for a term of 15 years, reports Sportstar.
Sportstar has a copy of the 62-page document, which is divided into two volumes and outlines instructions for bidders and the terms of the draft contract.
The RFP elaborates several key issues, including the eligibility criteria of bidders, promotion-relegation in the league, wage cap for clubs and potential introduction of the Video Assistant Review (VAR) in the long term.
The decision to float the tender comes after the Supreme Court approved AIFF’s draft constitution — edited and submitted by former Supreme Court judge, Justice L. Nageswara Rao — on September 19. The AIFF had signed a Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) for 15 years, from 2010 to 2025, to run and manage the ISL.
However, that MoU expires on December 8, with the new constitution mandating the federation to run the league; a commercial partner – selected through the RFP – would manage the operations, likely by December 10.
Eligibility criteria for bidders and bidding process
Under the RFP, the bidder must have a net worth of at least Rs. 250 crore at the close of the financial year (FY) 2024-2025, and the submitted bids will be reviewed by the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC).
The BEC comprises Justice Rao, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, and an independent member, Kesvaran Murugasu.
The potential bidders will have to submit a written bidding request to the AIFF by 5 pm IST on November 5. They will also have to submit a refundable security/ earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs. 10 lakh. The BEC will then evaluate the bidders on several factors, such as net worth, broadcast hours, aggregate amount of sponsorships raised and technical acumen in hosting sports tournaments.
Accordingly, the BEC will give a Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful bidder, who will then have to send a signed duplicate letter to the AIFF within three days of receiving the LoA.
Mandate for selected bidder: the Company
The selected bidder – called the Company in the document — will have to pay Rs. 37.5 crore or five per cent of its gross revenue — whichever is higher — annually as Governance and Development Fees (GDF) to the AIFF. In return, the federation will ensure at least 189 matches are played in a season.
If the number of matches falls below the threshold, the minimum value to be paid by the Company could be reduced to Rs. 30 crore from Rs. 37.5 crore.
The GDF will have to be paid in two equal instalments in the first year (2025-26), while the payment for the next 14 years will be in four instalments per financial year.
Interestingly, the RFP mentions, “the copyright for broadcast and streaming (Live TV, Deferred Live, Digital Streaming, highlights, clips, archives, still images from the broadcast) would rest with the AIFF.” “The defined windows for Live Telecast, Clips, Re-Telecast, and Digital streaming shall be agreed upon between the Commercial rights holder and the broadcaster/streaming platform, with the approval of the Governing Council.”
Under the previous MoU, it was the official broadcasters — JioStar/Network 18 — that held rights for the broadcast. The above clause is expected to make it even more difficult to find a bidder.
Moreover, the Company will have to share the Central Revenue pool with all ISL teams in a way that the founding teams get at least 20 per cent more than non-founding teams.
The Company will also have to pay 2.5 per cent of its gross revenue for grassroots development of Indian football for the first five years and five per cent in the next 10. This amount will be distributed into two parts – 70 per cent of it will be equally divided into ISL clubs, while the remaining will go to I-League sides at the discretion of the AIFF.
Changes in ISL, Wage cap, and what can the clubs expect?
The RFP has made a significant change in franchise fees paid by the ISL teams, which ranged from Rs. 12 crore to Rs. 16 crore in each of the last 10 seasons. Instead, the Company will receive 10 per cent and 20 per cent of revenues from the founding and non-founding teams, respectively.
The 20 per cent share for non-founding teams will remain in effect until they have completed 10 years in the ISL.
The AIFF also mandates the Company to implement a ‘football video support system’ for the next five years, which could be followed by VAR, with a nod from the federation, in 2031.
Though ISL has never had relegation so far, with Mohammedan Sporting and Punjab FC getting promoted in the last two seasons, the new RFP introduces promotion and relegation – one team goes and another comes in – in accordance with the roadmap of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
There will be a share, as parachute payments, from the Central Revenue Pool for relegated sides too, depending on the time they spend in the top flight, according to the following:
One year: 0 per cent
Two years: 20 per cent
Three years: 30 per cent
More than three years: 40 per cent
In the 2025-26 season, I-League champion Inter Kashi will join the league as a newly-promoted side. However, there is a glaring inconsistency in the rules in this context.
The document mentions that the 2026-27 season will have 12 teams, two fewer than that in the 2025-26 season, and 12 will be the set quantity of teams in the league going forward.
This provision raises serious questions about the fate of the two teams that will finish last in the upcoming season in the ISL. Secondly, if the number of teams is reduced to 12, the number of matches would fall from 189 — 14 teams — to 139, another change that could result in AIFF getting a reduced GDF from the 2026-27 season. However, the AIFF Governing Council has the right to change the teams.
The RFP also outlines a fixed wage cap of Rs. 18 crore for each ISL club, including bonuses and salaries to players. The cap will not be applicable for coaches and non-playing technical staff.
The ISL teams will also be required to invest 2.5 per cent of their revenue in grassroots development for the next five years, which will increase to five per cent in the 10 years that follow.
Why is it important now?
According to Article 4.1 — [Criterion 4, Part 1(c)] — of the AFC Club Competitions – Entry Regulations, a member nation must have an existing domestic top division, one that has not been played this season in India.
That left India vulnerable to sanctions from the AFC.
At the Supreme Court last month, it was decided that FSDL would continue to comply with its MRA till its expiry in December, while AIFF would look for a commercial partner.
However, a delay in the announcement of the RFP led to 10 ISL clubs — NorthEast United FC, Mumbai City FC, Punjab FC, Hyderabad FC, Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, Chennaiyin FC, Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters — writing to the federation earlier on Friday, citing ‘erosion of confidence among clubs and other stakeholders.’
With the Super Cup starting later this month, the Federation will now hope to finish the bidding process to get the new season of the ISL kicking off soon.