EXCL: AIFF receives three bids, including Genius Sports, for ISL & IWL long-term rights tender

FanCode and Capri Sports are also in the race as AIFF moves towards finalising a 15+5-year commercial model.

The All India Football Federation have received three bids for its long-term commercial rights tender covering the Indian Super League and Indian Women’s League, with the process now entering a decisive phase.

Khel Now understands that Genius Sports and FanCode have submitted bids for the ISL 15+5 year tender, while Capri Sports has submitted a bid focused on the IWL structure. The bids are set to be opened on March 27 after the federation extended the original deadline following the pre-bid meeting held earlier this month.

The interest from these three entities underlines how differently the commercial future of Indian football is being viewed.

It is possible that another bid may have been submitted, but Khel Now could not independently verify this at the time of writing.

Different bidders, different focus

Genius Sports, entering as a new bidder, operates largely in the data and technology space, working closely with leagues, betting companies, broadcasters and digital platforms by capturing and distributing live match data at scale. Their technology powers everything from real-time betting odds to augmented broadcasts and highly targeted digital advertising

They are the exclusive official live data distributor for the English Premier League, the EFL, and the SPFL (recently extended through 2029 by Football DataCo). In 2026, they also secured a massive partnership with 18 European Leagues (covering 46 competitions) and renewed their long-standing official data partnership with the Malaysian Football League.

“Betting is completely banned in India, so whether the government will allow a company (Genius Sports) involved in the betting business to become a commercial partner of AIFF remains to be seen,” said a source tracking the development.

FanCode, on the other hand, is already embedded within the Indian football ecosystem, having secured the ISL 2025–26 broadcast rights earlier this year, and its bid suggests a clear intent to further expand its position.

Capri Sports’ focus remains largely on the women’s side of the game, aligning with its previous attempts to acquire Indian Women’s League rights, which stalled.

Structure of the tender

The structure of the tender itself reflects a broader AIFF effort to package its commercial inventory more clearly.

The tender itself is split into two main packages:

• Package A (Men): ISL and Federation Cup
• Package B (Women): IWL and IWL 2

Beyond media rights, the tender includes sponsorship, advertising, digital, data, merchandising, and event-linked commercial opportunities, bundling the entire commercial ecosystem of Indian club football into a long-term arrangement.

AIFF has also put in place strict eligibility conditions. Companies were required to purchase the RFP for ₹2.5 lakh, and only those entities could submit bids. Any deviation from this process will result in rejection.

Context: Current financial model

For context, the current cycle has not set a high financial benchmark. FanCode secured ISL 2025–26 rights for ₹8.62 crore, while production rights were awarded separately, leaving AIFF with an effective net revenue of around ₹3.4 crore for the season. Those numbers have already raised questions within the ecosystem, particularly around long-term sustainability and value extraction.

That is where this tender becomes critical. A 15+5-year structure is not just about locking in a partner, but about deciding how Indian football’s commercial rights are packaged, distributed and monetised over the next two decades.

Not all expected players in the race

One notable development from the process is the absence of the GMR Group, which had participated in the pre-bid meeting but has chosen not to submit a bid. Their decision leaves the field open to three very different types of players: a global data company, a digital broadcaster and a domestic multi-sport investor.

What next?

The bids will now be opened and evaluated, after which AIFF will move towards finalising the commercial partner (s) for this cycle. What that final structure looks like — whether unified or split across packages- will be key.

Because this decision goes beyond just broadcast or sponsorship deals. It effectively determines who sits at the centre of Indian football’s commercial ecosystem for the foreseeable future.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.