Indian Super League

What Indian Super League does

The Indian Super League (ISL) is India's top-tier professional football league, founded on October 12, 2014, and promoted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), a government-affiliated national governing body. The league was officially recognized by FIFA and AFC as India's premier domestic football competition in October 2019, granting it monopoly status within the Indian football pyramid and access to AFC club competitions. ISL operates a franchise model with 14 professional club franchises competing in a single round-robin format (13 matches per team), with matches played across 11 cities including Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Kochi, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Shillong, Bhubaneswar, and Delhi. The 2025-26 season concluded with East Bengal FC winning their maiden ISL title on May 21, 2026, finishing with 26 points and a +18 goal difference.

ISL's core products are (1) the ISL season competition itself, (2) the AIFF Super Cup knockout tournament (won by FC Goa for a record third time on December 7, 2025), (3) live match streaming through FanCode, (4) video content including match highlights and player features on the official website and YouTube channel, and (5) comprehensive player and club statistics tracking. The underlying technology is described as "professional football league infrastructure" with no proprietary AI/ML components disclosed.

The league's business model rests on three revenue streams: (a) broadcasting rights, sold exclusively to Sony as the official broadcast partner since the 2014 launch; (b) sponsorship and commercial rights, managed through the AIFF, which proved to be the bottleneck causing the 2026 season delay; and (c) franchise fees, paid by the 14 club owners (a mix of Indian industrialists and celebrities, including Nita Ambani as Founder and Chairperson), with 2026 negotiations structuring 20-year agreements with deferred payments to June. ISL reaches consumers through broadcast (Sony), digital streaming (FanCode), stadium attendance across 11 cities, and an official digital footprint spanning English, Bengali, and Malayalam website editions plus Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The league targets hundreds of millions of Indian football fans and aims to provide international-quality domestic competition and a talent-development platform for Indian footballers.

Name

Indian Super League

Legal name

Indian Super League

Website

https://indiansuperleague.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Indian Super League is India's top-tier professional football league, promoted by the AIFF and operating 14 franchise clubs across 11 cities. It generates revenue through Sony broadcast rights, FanCode streaming, sponsorship, and franchise fees, serving hundreds of millions of Indian football fans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Football League

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Spectator Sports (7112)

akta.pro primary industry

Association Football (Soccer) Leagues (MPAKAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

National Governing Bodies (NGBs) (MPAKAFAC)

Keywords

• Professional football league
• Sports broadcasting rights
• Franchise sports competition
• Football talent development
• Sports entertainment media

Headquarters

HQ city

Bandra

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Broadcasting Rights: Television and digital streaming rights sold to broadcasters for live match coverage. Sony is listed as the official broadcast partner and FanCode as the official streaming partner.
2. Sponsorship and Commercial Rights: League commercial rights including sponsorship, advertising, and partnership deals managed through AIFF. The 2026 season faced delays due to failure to secure a marketing partner for commercial rights.
3. Franchise Fees: Clubs pay franchise fees to participate in the league. In 2026 negotiations, clubs were given until January 15 to submit 20-year agreements with deferred franchise fee payments until June.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Indian Super League organizes and operates a top-tier professional football league featuring 14 franchise-owned clubs competing in a single round-robin seasonal format, recognized as India's premier domestic football competition by FIFA and AFC. The league sells broadcast rights, sponsorship and commercial partnerships, and franchise participation fees, delivering sports entertainment content to viewers and stadiums across 11 Indian cities and via digital and television distribution.

Product overview

The Indian Super League (ISL) is a single unified professional football league serving as India's top-tier domestic competition. The product portfolio includes the core ISL season competition featuring 14 clubs, the AIFF Super Cup knockout tournament, live match streaming via FanCode, video content including match highlights and player profiles, and comprehensive statistics and standings tracking. All offerings are accessible through the official website indiansuperleague.com.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Indian Super League (ISL) India's top-tier professional football league featuring 14 franchise-owned clubs competing in a single round-robin seasonal format, recognized as the country's premier domestic football competition by FIFA and AFC. For broadcasters, sponsors, franchise clubs, and football fans across India.
• AIFF Super Cup A knockout football tournament organized by the All India Football Federation featuring ISL clubs and other participating teams. For football fans and clubs seeking a high-stakes cup competition alongside the ISL season.
• Live Match Streaming via FanCode Live streaming of all ISL matches accessible through the FanCode mobile app and website in India as the official streaming partner. For football fans who consume matches via digital platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• East Bengal FC won the ISL 2025-26 title with 26 points from 13 matches
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Sony (Official Broadcast Partner)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 October 2014Sony is the official broadcast partner of the Indian Super League, airing live matches on television across India.
• All India Football Federation (AIFF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIFF is the governing body for football in India and the official promoter of the Indian Super League. The league was recognized as India's top tier domestic league by FIFA and AFC in October 2019. AIFF is responsible for league governance, scheduling, and administrative oversight.
• FanCodecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFanCode is the official streaming partner for the Indian Super League, providing live match streaming through its app and website in India.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Premier League: England's top-tier professional football league and the global benchmark for football league economics; comparable as a broad incumbent establishing the operating template ISL follows in broadcast rights, sponsorship, and franchise structures.

Direct peers

• A-League (Australian Professional Leagues): Australia's top-tier professional football league operated under franchise model with centralized broadcast rights; directly comparable as a single-country top-tier league in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Major League Soccer (MLS): North America's top-tier professional football league operating a franchise model with centralized broadcast and sponsorship rights; directly comparable to ISL in structure, single top-tier designation, and franchise-based commercial model.
• K League (Korea Professional Football League): South Korea's premier professional football league with single-tier club structure and centralized media rights; comparable to ISL as an Asian top-tier professional football league.
• J.League (Japan Professional Football League): Japan's top-tier professional football league operating a single-tier competition with broadcast and sponsorship rights centrally managed; directly comparable as an Asian single-country top-tier football league.
• Saudi Pro League: Saudi Arabia's premier professional football league with franchise/club structure and centralized commercial rights; comparable to ISL as a single-country top-tier league pursuing premium broadcast and sponsorship economics.
• Chinese Super League: China's top-tier professional football league with franchise-style club ownership and centralized broadcast rights; comparable to ISL as an Asian emerging-market top-tier league seeking premium broadcast and sponsorship economics.

Regional players

• Pro Kabaddi League: India's professional kabaddi league with franchise model and Star Sports broadcast partnership; comparable to ISL as a co-territory Indian sports league competing for the same domestic broadcast and sponsorship audience.
• Indian Premier League (IPL): India's premier cricket league and the dominant sports property in the country; comparable as a co-territory sports league competing for the same advertising, broadcast, and sponsorship wallet in India.

Others

• Indian Super League - Cricket (off-season comparison: ISL vs IPL media-rights benchmark): Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) operates IPL and other cricket properties that set the benchmark for Indian sports media-rights valuations, influencing ISL's commercial negotiations with Sony and FanCode.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IndSuperLeague
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/indiansuperleague
• Facebookfacebook.com/IndianSuperLeague
• Instagraminstagram.com/indiansuperleague
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/football-sports-development-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Indian Super League