ISL’s Rs 8.62 crore reset and a 300 million alternative – Firstpost

Indian Super League’s (ISL) broadcast plummeted considerably this yr, from Rs 275 crore per season to simply Rs 8.62 crore. There are apparent causes for the autumn – a shorter season with fewer matches and the dearth of business companions, however most significantly, the chaos in Indian soccer, which at one level critically threatened any risk of getting a high division league within the 2025-26 season.

The lack of industrial companion Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) has been brutal for the All India Football Federation (AIFF), and the five-month delay in getting the ISL 2025-26 season underway is proof of it.

While setbacks have embedded themselves into the Indian soccer story like a legendary sword in stone, perception has remained simply as firmly lodged throughout the chaos. The story of FanCode rising forward of everybody else to amass the ISL’s media rights is born from that very perception.

Yes, they’ve needed to pay a paltry sum as towards what JioStar had been paying, nevertheless it was by no means about the price; it was all the time in regards to the potential. Football usually will get misplaced within the sporting narratives in India as a result of big that cricket has grow to be, however when you dig deep, you realise tens of millions are ready to be served. Not simply top-qualifying European soccer, however our personal desi leagues.

It’s that potential variety of followers who may be served, the unseen potential of the ISL, and its good alignment with the web streaming platform’s imaginative and prescient, which attracted the FanCode co-founder, Yannick Colaco, to the Indian Super League.

“We believe in sport. We believe in football. There’s a tremendous amount of following, especially among the younger generation. The growth of the game has to be facilitated by the stakeholders. The ISL clubs, AIFF, Sports Ministry have invested so much. It’s a no-brainer. We have an opportunity in this ecosystem to contribute…The ISL is the number one football tournament in this country. It has in the past 150 million fans across the country who support it. It was really important that the season happened,” Colaco, the previous Managing Director of NBA India, informed Firstpost.

The Indian Football Family ❤️💫

Catch all of the ISL motion LIVE on FanCode 📲#ISL12 | @IndSuperLeague pic.twitter.com/S0xg237Yb6

— FanCode (@FanCode) February 20, 2026

While it could come as music to the ears of some followers and stakeholders, the much more consequential level was the total scale of the untapped potential.

“There are 300 million football fans in the country. I think that’s the opportunity.”

This hole – between 150 million ISL viewers and 300 million soccer customers – defines the ambition. For years, Indian soccer followers have passionately tracked the Premier League, La Liga, the Champions League, Ronaldo, Messi, Manchester United. The home sport, in the meantime, has usually struggled to command the identical consistency of consideration.

Colaco believes that the divide is bridgeable.

“I think every football fan, whether they are a football fan of La Liga, whether you’re a football fan of Ronaldo, whether you’re a football fan of Manchester United, has the potential to become an avid Indian football fan.”

But what’s in it for the followers? Maybe consistency, high quality, accessibility and a relatable product. The exit of FSDL has created a worry that the sport could descend into an abyss that dominated the Indian footballing panorama not way back.

ISL’s new residence has followers on the centre 

But the brand new broadcasters are conscious and prepared! The thought will not be solely to serve the massive cities’ boys or ladies, however to make use of expertise and make the matches and content material obtainable in a method that it’s consumed broadly, even in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets. The ISL full-season go is out there for simply ₹299 on FanCode. A club-specific go is simply ₹149 and particular person match passes are ₹25. The commentary can be obtainable in numerous languages to create relatability. Technology is getting used to the most effective of its potential to make buffering and lag points disappear.

“How does it most efficiently come to you? If you don’t have a great bandwidth, how are you able to see it clearly without any buffering? And a subset of that, how do you, how does it take as little data as possible?”

“I believe the thesis about having the ability to present flexibility and selection basically comes from us being a digital-first platform,” Colaco said. “We are doing feeds in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali and Tamil for Chennaiyin games.”

But efforts are not just limited to matches.

You want the fans to come to the platform and stay there for a while. Don’t just watch a match and go away. When you stick with a product for a long time, a habit is formed. A bond is created that lasts forever. One would say maybe new fans would also be created.

“We are working with each club to run a program where we essentially select one super fan from each club and that super fan then follows the club throughout the season, goes to matches and training and essentially creates content. They basically tell the story of the club through the ISL season through their eyes,” Colaco revealed.

The smiles, the noise, the love = Peak Happiness 🥹💚♥️

Watch ISL 2026 on @FanCode 📺#MBSG #JoyMohunBagan #আমরাসবুজমেরুন pic.twitter.com/Ly0YKsQIdm

— Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) February 6, 2026

Then there is the longer view. It’s not a short-term game. Some loss here and there must not dissuade someone from looking at the larger goal and ISL’s full potential.

“There is a requirement for investment, there is a requirement to get fans more engaged. And that is something that we believe needs to be done over a few years. You can’t look at it saying, oh, in one month and now I’m going to, you know, make Indian football tremendously successful for everyone.”

“The focus of Dream Sports as a group is make sports better. And we imbibe that in everything that FanCode does,” Yannick said.

That statement matters because broadcast platforms shape perception. If coverage is consistent, data-rich, innovative and fan-centric, the league’s credibility rises alongside it.