The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday invited bids for commercial rights in both the men’s and women’s club competitions for a minimum of 15 years starting from the 2026-2027 season. The AIFF has offered two bidding packages for the men’s and women’s club competitions.
Package A consists of the Indian Super League (or top men’s league) and the Federation Cup (or top cup competition). Package B includes the Indian Women’s League (IWL) and IWL 2 and, at the bidder’s option, the Women’s Federation Cup – which is likely to be introduced at a later date.
Bids for the commercial rights of the recently rechristened Indian Football League (formerly the I-League) were not included in the latest Request for Proposal (RFP).
“We want commercial rights for a minimum period of 15 years. If the bidder agrees that it can be 20 years as well, that is an option,” a top AIFF official told PTI.
However, unlike in the past, the RFP will not be open to the public. Instead, interested parties will have to purchase the document for Rs 2.5 crore from AIFF.
“It is clarified that the RFP will be shared via email only after payment is received… the RFP must be purchased by the entity desiring to bid. Such right to bid is not transferable to any affiliates of the paying entity,” AIFF said.
“Any bid submitted in response to the RFP by an entity that has not made the payment described above will be summarily rejected and will not be considered for any evaluation under the RFP.”
A pre-bid conference is scheduled for March 11, the deadline for submitting bids is March 19. Bids will be opened on March 20.
The latest tender came amid prolonged uncertainty surrounding the start of the ongoing ISL season, which began on February 14 in a shortened format.
The start of the 2025-2026 ISL has been delayed by about five months after football in the country was hit by crisis after the national federation and its previous commercial partner FSDL failed to renew the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) after December 8 last year.
The AIFF has issued a tender for the selection of a new business partner under the supervision of a committee appointed by the Supreme Court, but found no takers.
However, following the intervention of the Sports Minister and after tough negotiations, all 14 clubs have confirmed their participation in the shortened ISL with 91 matches to be played at home and away.
The ISL clubs would share 60 percent of the financial cost (around Rs 1 crore per club) for the 2025-26 season of the league, while the AIFF’s contribution would be around Rs 9 crore. The total cost for the 2025-25 season has been pegged at around Rs 24 crore.
On January 18, the AIFF issued a Request for Offer (RFP) document for the broadcast rights relating to the abbreviated ISL.
AIFF on February 2 awarded the exclusive global broadcast rights of the shortened ISL 2025-26 to FanCode for Rs 8.62 crore.
Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS Studios) has acquired the league’s production rights – both global and domestic.
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Published on:
March 3, 2026 09:44 IST
