The All India Football Federation has finally floated a tender to select the commercial partner for the Indian Super League for the 2025-26 season on Thursday. In its tender, the AIFF has expressed its demand for a ‘guaranteed payment’ of Rs 37.5 crore or five percent of gross revenues(whichever is higher) on a 15-year agreement for a 12 to 14-team league with bids to be opened on 5th November.
The Supreme Court set a deadline to complete the entire bidding process, and hours later, 10 ISL clubs sent an urgent letter to the Federation over the delay. The AIFF said that interested companies must have a net worth of Rs 250 crores at the close of the 2024-25 financial year.
Bidders have to furnish Rs 10 lakh as a security deposit. The last date for submission of written queries for clarifications is 21st October.
“The Bidder must have a Networth of at least INR 250, Crores (Two Hundred and Fifty Crores in Indian Rupees) at the close of the Financial Year preceding the Bid Due Date, that is FY 2024-2025. In this regard, it is clarified that in the context of any Consortium Bidder, the cumulative net worth of the Consortium Bidder shall be a minimum of Rs 250 Crores. This must also be at the close of the Financial Year preceding the Bid Due Date, that is FY 2024-2025,” it is written in the bid document.
Significantly, relegation and promotion in the ISL have also been mandated under this agreement. The first season will begin in December 2025. Promotion and relegation will be implemented at the end of the 2025-2026 season. One team will be promoted to and one team will be relegated from the competition. The number of participants for later seasons shall remain at 12. However, a governing council, comprising AIFF and company representatives, will reserve the right to induct new teams.
In the first 10 years of the competition, there was no relegation despite an Asian Football Confederation roadmap for its beginning in 2024-25, while promotion began only in 2023-24.
Relegated teams are guaranteed financial support in terms of “parachute payments” as per time spent in the competition. The bid-winning company will be liable to distribute “Central Revenue Pool” to teams, amounting to 2.5% of gross revenues for the first five years of the term and 5% for the next 10 years.
Teams must maintain a salary cap of Rs 18 crore, while they will receive a minimum of 70% of the contributions made by the bid-winning company for grassroots development. Such amounts would be distributed equally between the teams.
No franchise fee will be charged from teams, with the founding teams having to give 10% of revenue, while new teams will have to shell out 20%.
From 2025-26, the league will implement a “football video support system” as part of its broadcast/match infrastructure, while full VAR (Video Assistant Referee) adoption can be mandated from the 2030-31 season, if both the AIFF and the bid-winning commercial partner agree.
A three member committee of Justice LN Rao, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, and AFC representative Kesvaran Murugasu will evaluate all bids.
