4 min readNew DelhiFeb 3, 2026 12:31 AM IST
First published on: Feb 3, 2026 at 12:30 AM IST
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday announced FanCode as the exclusive media rights holder for the truncated 2025/26 season of the Indian Super League (ISL), which is set to start on February 14. While it’s another positive development towards ending the impasse that has disrupted this club football in India, a closer look at the numbers tells a sobering story of a nearly 95 percent crash in the value of each match in India’s top men’s football league.
FanCode, a digital streaming platform owned by Dream Sports – the parent company of the erstwhile fantasy sports app Dream11 – acquired the broadcasting rights for Rs 8.62 crore. Kaleidoscope Production and Services (KPS) Studios was awarded the production rights of the league – global as well as domestic. They had earlier handled production of I-League, Durand Cup and Bengal Super League matches and will be paid Rs 5.22 crore by the federation for providing their services for the ISL.
FanCode’s winning bid is only a fraction of what the league’s valuation was in previous seasons. The broadcasting rights for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons was valued at Rs 550 crore in total – translating to Rs 275 crore per season over 163 matches.
While a fixture list hasn’t been officially announced, the ISL this year will have 91 games. It meant that while the value of each match last season was about Rs. 1.68 crore, it has crashed to about Rs 9.47 lakh for the upcoming season – a drop of nearly 95 percent.
The Indian Express also understands that FanCode will be looking for a partner for television broadcast. FanCode is a digital streaming platform and the final decision on how fans can follow the season on television will be made after discussions with the AIFF and ISL clubs.
Tough times
The drop in value of the broadcasting rights is pretty much a reflection of how finances have been hurt across the league, with a few clubs tethering on the edge of complete collapse as the competition was stuck in limbo. Former champions Bengaluru FC’s owner Parth Jindal said on Sunday that the first-team players, including Sunil Chhetri, had agreed to take pay cuts.
“I am grateful to all the first-team players who have agreed to reduce their remuneration during this phase. Without a doubt, this was one of the toughest decisions we have had to make as a club, and I truly appreciate that the players have made this sacrifice in the best interests of the club and the sport,” he wrote on his X handle.
FC Goa players, including India captain Sandesh Jhingan, and support staff have also accepted pay cuts for the ISL season, with the club terming their decision a “selfless” act. Meanwhile, FIFPro, the global representative body for football players, urged the clubs to “to respect players’ contractual entitlements” last month.
The impasse arose due to the expiration of a 15-year commercial rights deal between the AIFF and Reliance Sports on December 8, 2025, which would have come around halfway through a regular season of the ISL. With negotiations between the federation and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) stalled, the Reliance subsidiary that operated the league told ISL clubs in July last year that the 2025/26 season would be indefinitely delayed. When the AIFF floated a tender for a new partner in November, they did not receive a single bid.
FanCode's winning bid is only a fraction of what the league's valuation was in previous seasons. (ISL) 
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