FanCode and Genius Sports have submitted bids for the commercial rights associated with the ISL and the Federation Cup (or the Super Cup), while Capri Sports has bid for the commercial rights of the Indian Women’s League first division and Indian Women’s League 2.
Reports indicate that Genius Sports, recognized as the official data feed provider for the English Premier League, the Championship, and the Scottish league, has made a bid of Rs 2129 crore for a 20-year agreement.
In contrast, FanCode’s bid is approximately Rs 1190 crore, nearly half of what Genius Sports has offered.
Capri Sports is the sole bidder for the commercial rights of the Indian Women’s League first division and the Indian Women’s League 2, submitting a bid of Rs 150 crore for the same 20-year period, as per reports.
“The AIFF has opened bids for the Request for Proposal (RFP) concerning Commercial Rights Relating to Competitions and Properties Owned by AIFF. The bids include rights for the Indian Super League (ISL), Federation Cup (formerly known as the Super Cup), the Indian Women’s League (IWL), and the IWL 2,” stated AIFF.
“Bids were received from three entities. FanCode and Genius Sports submitted offers for the commercial rights related to the Indian Super League and the Federation Cup (or the Super Cup). Concurrently, Capri Sports aimed for the rights of the Indian Women’s League and the Indian Women’s League 2.
“Bids are for a 15-year term, with an option for an additional five-year extension, granting the bidder a right of first refusal. The proposal stipulates a five percent annual increase in value throughout the agreement’s duration.” The bid evaluation report will be presented to the AIFF Executive Committee during its meeting on Sunday, with a decision expected on the same day.
AIFF Deputy General Secretary M. Satyanarayan dismissed reports linking Genius Sports to betting and bookmaking.
“Genius Sports is not a betting entity; it is a provider of data and statistics. They collaborate with FIFA, AFC, and over 100 clubs,” Satyanarayan informed PTI.
On March 2, the AIFF called for bids for the commercial rights of both men’s and women’s club competitions, with a minimum term of 15 years commencing with the 2026-2027 season.
The AIFF has presented two bidding packages relevant to men’s and women’s club competitions.
Package A includes the Indian Super League (or foremost men’s league) and the Federation Cup (or principal cup competition). Package B consists of the Indian Women’s League (IWL) and IWL 2, and optionally, the Women’s Federation Cup, which is anticipated to be introduced later.
The bids for the commercial rights of the newly renamed Indian Football League (formerly I-League) were not part of the latest Request for Proposal (RFP).
However, different from previous processes, the RFP was not publicly accessible, requiring interested parties to purchase the document for Rs 2.5 lakh from the AIFF.
The latest tender process coincided with ongoing uncertainty surrounding the commencement of the current ISL season, which began on February 14 in a condensed format.
The beginning of the 2025-2026 ISL was postponed by around five months after a crisis engulfed the nation’s football due to the national federation’s failure to extend the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) beyond December 8 of the previous year with its former commercial partner, FSDL.
A tender was issued by the AIFF to select a new commercial partner under a Supreme Court-appointed committee’s oversight, but no bidders emerged.
However, following the sports minister’s intervention and extensive negotiations, all 14 clubs confirmed their participation in the truncated ISL, which will feature 91 matches played on a home-and-away basis.
The ISL clubs will collectively cover 60 percent of the financial cost (approximately Rs 1 crore per club) for the 2025-26 season, while the AIFF will contribute around Rs 9 crore, culminating in an overall expenditure of around Rs 24 crore for the season.
On January 18, the AIFF released the Request for Proposal (RFP) document pertaining to broadcast rights for the truncated ISL.
On February 2, the AIFF granted exclusive global broadcast rights of the truncated ISL 2025-26 to FanCode for Rs 8.62 crore.
Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS Studios) secured production rights for the league, both for global and domestic broadcasts.
