Genius Sports Leads ISL Commercial Bid, KPMG to Evaluate
Indian football’s biggest commercial deal in years is one step closer — and considerably more complicated. The AIFF Executive Committee met on March 29 and handed the evaluation of bids to KPMG India, who will prepare a detailed comparative report before any decision goes to the AIFF General Body for approval.
Two companies are competing for the ISL and Federation Cup commercial rights over a 15+5-year cycle. Genius Sports leads with a bid of ₹2,129 crore — nearly double FanCode’s offer of around ₹1,190 crore. Capri Sports was the only bidder for the women’s league, tabling between ₹150 and ₹160 crore for a 20-year deal.
But ISL clubs aren’t happy with the speed of it all. They received the tender documents less than 12 hours before the bid opening and fired off a blunt warning to AIFF: “This is not a routine commercial appointment. The party selected will have a material bearing on the structure, commercial direction and long-term future of Indian football.” They urged no binding decision be taken at Sunday’s meeting. AIFF listened — for now. KPMG’s report will decide what happens next.