International Swimming League Ltd

What International Swimming League Ltd does

International Swimming League Ltd is a Swiss-incorporated (CHE-245.260.478) private company that operates the world's first team-based professional swimming league, founded in 2019 by Konstantin Grigorishin. The league fields 10 city-branded franchise teams across North America, Europe, and Asia — including the Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current, NY Breakers, Toronto Titans, Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron, London Roar, and Tokyo Frog Kings — competing in seasonal match-based formats with playoffs and finals. Its product surface comprises three interconnected offerings: the league competition itself, a proprietary OTT streaming platform (isl.global) for live and on-demand distribution, and the ISL Ratings System, a zero-sum scoring architecture that incorporates the Jackpot Rule (up to 85 points in skins races) and VAR officiating.

Revenue mechanics span four streams: subscription fees on isl.global, broadcasting-rights deals with media partners, sponsorship and licensing tied to the 10 franchises, and event-related commercial income. Since founding, ISL has disbursed roughly $16.5M to athletes in salaries, prize money, appearance fees, and solidarity payments, and invested more than $20M in athlete-related expenses including travel, accommodation, training, coaching, and medical care. Operations have been paused since the 2021 season due to pandemic disruption and the war in Ukraine, with Season 4 postponed to 2023 and leadership publicly targeting a 2027 relaunch across multiple regions including Asia.

Name

International Swimming League Ltd

Legal name

International Swimming League Ltd

Website

https://isl.global

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

International Swimming League Ltd is a Swiss private company that operates a team-based professional swimming league with 10 city-branded franchise teams across North America, Europe, and Asia, distributing content via its isl.global OTT platform. Founded in 2019, it has paused active seasons since 2021 and targets a 2027 relaunch.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Sports League

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211), Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Individual-Sport Clubs & Teams (Cycling Teams, Athletics/Track Clubs, Swimming Clubs, etc.) (MPAKABAD)

Keywords

• Professional swimming league
• Sports streaming platform
• Athlete compensation programs
• Franchise sports operations
• Broadcast media rights

Headquarters

HQ city

Baar

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Prize Money and Athlete Compensation: The ISL distributes prize money, salaries, appearance fees, and solidarity payments to professional swimmers. Since founding, approximately $16.5 million has been distributed to swimmers in salaries, prize money, appearance fees, and solidarity payments. This includes $3.38 million in Season 1 (2019), $10.7 million in Season 2 (2020), and $2.45 million for Season 3 (2021). An additional $7 million was allocated for the Covid-era Solidarity Programme.
2. Athlete-Related Expenses: The ISL invests more than $20 million toward athlete-related expenses including travel, accommodation, training, coaching, medical care, equipment, apparel, Covid-related requirements, wider athlete engagement programmes, and social events.
3. Subscription/Streaming: The ISL operates a digital platform (isl.global) offering subscription-based access to live streaming, match highlights, and exclusive content for fans.
4. Team Franchises: The league operates with 10 city-branded franchise teams including clubs from North America (Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current, NY Breakers, Toronto Titans), Europe (Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron, London Roar), and Asia (Tokyo Frog Kings). Teams are sponsored and backed by commercial partners.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ISL operates the world's first professional team-based global swimming league, consisting of 10 city-branded franchise teams competing in seasonal matches, playoffs, and finals. Content and competitions are distributed to fans through a proprietary subscription-based digital streaming platform (isl.global), supplemented by broadcasting partnerships. The league also delivers substantial athlete compensation through prize money, salaries, appearance fees, and welfare programs including a Covid-era Solidarity Programme.

Product overview

The International Swimming League Ltd operates a professional swimming competition platform consisting of three interconnected offerings: (1) The ISL Digital Platform (isl.global) - a subscription-based streaming service providing live and on-demand access to competitive swimming matches; (2) The ISL Professional Swimming Competition itself - a team-based global league with 10 franchise teams across North America, Europe, and Asia; and (3) The proprietary ISL Ratings System - an innovative athlete performance scoring methodology. The league also plans to expand into a Junior League program for younger athletes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ISL Professional Swimming Competition (League) First global professional swimming team-based competition featuring 10 city-branded franchise teams across North America, Europe, and Asia, structured around regular-season matches, playoffs, and finals with an innovative format including skins races and jackpot scoring. Targeted at elite swimmers, fans, broadcasters, sponsors, and franchise owners.
• ISL Digital Streaming Platform (isl.global) Proprietary OTT subscription streaming platform providing live and day-after on-demand access to ISL swimming competitions, match highlights, club and athlete ratings, and exclusive content for swimming fans globally.

Quantifiable outcome

• $16.5 million distributed to professional swimmers in salaries, prize money, appearance fees, and solidarity payments since 2019
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• World Surf League: Operates a professional tour for an individual water sport with franchise/team-like elements and direct-to-consumer streaming. Most structurally analogous to ISL among major sport properties, including athlete compensation, broadcast innovation and the challenge of scaling an individual-sport league.
• SailGP: Global professional sailing league with national teams, centralized event production, broadcast-friendly formats and tech-driven scoring. Comparable in scale of ambition, centralized event format and OTT-plus-broadcast hybrid distribution.
• LIV Golf: A breakaway professional league for an individual sport (golf) using team-based franchise formats and big guaranteed payouts funded by a single principal investor. Highly comparable in governance structure, financing model and conflict with the established governing body (in golf, the PGA Tour).
• Premier Lacrosse League: Tour-based professional league for an Olympic-adjacent sport using a city-based franchise model, single-event weekend format and digital-first distribution. Comparable franchise economics, OTT streaming strategy and challenge of building audiences outside traditional US sport verticals.
• Athletes Unlimited: Innovative professional league model for individual Olympic sports (volleyball, lacrosse, softball) with athlete-led competition formats and strong athlete welfare focus. Comparable in mission to professionalize niche Olympic sports and in reliance on innovative competition formats.

Broad incumbents

• World Triathlon: International governing body for triathlon — an Olympic individual sport with limited professional commercial infrastructure. Comparable as the established federation-side counterparty that ISL effectively competes with for athlete attention and event calendar slots.
• World Aquatics: The IOC-recognized international federation for aquatic sports. Not a peer in commercial terms, but the governing body that ISL is structurally positioned against — and the relevant incumbent for athlete eligibility, Olympic qualification and the global swimming calendar.
• Formula 1: The dominant professional league for an individual motor sport using team-based franchise structures, sophisticated proprietary scoring/timing, OTT streaming (F1 TV) and global circuits. A scaled aspirational comparable for ISL's broadcast-driven, tech-enabled individual-sport league model.

Emerging players

• Major League Cricket: Recently launched US-based franchise T20 cricket league. Comparable as a venture-funded breakaway league model for a sport with established international governance, franchise economics, and the challenge of monetizing a niche audience in non-traditional markets.
• Padel Tour / Premier Padel: Professional tour for padel, a rapidly growing racket sport with team elements, franchise-style events and centralized broadcast production. Comparable as a newer-format professional league for a niche Olympic-adjacent individual sport pursuing global commercial scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iswimleague
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBoEDuW0Lg7AmCkts1j8LyQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/internationalswimmingleague
• Instagraminstagram.com/iswimleague

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Swimming League Ltd