ISL owners push for seat at table on AIFF rights tender
ISL club owners have asked the All India Football Federation to formalise their role in selecting a long-term commercial rights partner, a move that raises the stakes on governance and investor confidence ahead of the league’s next cycle.
Indian Super League club owners have proposed a new ownership-level working committee to engage the All India Football Federation on its long-term commercial rights process, seeking a structured role in decisions that will shape the league’s revenue model and governance.The request is a signal that ownership groups want greater influence over strategy, not only operational input, as the federation advances a tender that could lock in commercial control for up to two decades.In a joint letter to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, the clubs said: “We wish to engage with the federation in a structured and transparent manner to find the best taker for the long-term commercial rights. "We want to provide an appropriate platform through which ideas can be exchanged, common ground can be identified, and a balanced, sustainable, and mutually beneficial framework can be developed together.”The letter was signed by 13 of the 14 ISL owners, with Inter Kashi not among the signatories, according to reports of the correspondence.The owners proposed a committee that would include three club owners and four senior club executives, giving the group both ownership authority and operational expertise in discussions with the federation.The approach comes just as AIFF moves to tighten its governance framework around the league, after forming an ISL Governing Council and asking the remaining six clubs to submit their representative by a set deadline.Club owners have said the decision on long-term rights is not a routine procurement, given it will influence ownership-level investment, league cost structures and the commercial runway available for club growth.AIFF is understood to be progressing towards awarding the ISL’s commercial rights on a 15 plus five-year structure, with a London-based bidder, Genius Sports, cited as the leading contender.The bid referenced in reporting is about Rs 64 crore per year, equating to roughly Rs 2,100 crore over 20 years with an annual uplift, with approval required from the federation’s general body.The owners’ intervention suggests they want the federation to widen consultation before any binding decision, including deeper engagement with bidders and a clearer articulation of what the rights holder will control across media, sponsorship and league operations.Commercially, the outcome matters because the rights structure will influence the league’s central revenues, the balance of power between federation and clubs, and the appetite of strategic and financial partners to invest in Indian football.The next step is whether AIFF accepts the working committee model as a formal layer in the decision-making process, or keeps club input contained within the newly formed Governing Council as the tender reaches its approval stage.