Indian Super League owner swings to profit in FY25 even as 2025–26 season remains in limbo

Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the JioStar subsidiary that owns and operates the Indian Super League (ISL), reported a sharp financial turnaround in FY 2024–25, posting a net profit of ₹45.2 crore. The company had reported a loss of ₹14.3 crore in the previous fiscal.

The reversal was underpinned by a 39% increase in revenue from operations, which rose to ₹492.2 crore from ₹355 crore in FY24. Total income climbed to ₹508 crore, while expenses were tightly controlled at ₹462 crore, resulting in a profitable bottom line, as the company has been racking up losses since inception.

In 2023, FSDL had signed Viacom18 Media, now part of JioStar, as the new home of Indian football for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons at a base price of ₹550 crore for the two-year media rights deal.


The turnaround comes even as the future of the ISL remains uncertain beyond 2025, with the 2025–26 season placed on hold amid an unresolved commercial dispute between FSDL and the All India Football Federation (AIFF). As reported by ET on July 12, the disagreement stems from the impending expiration of their current agreement on December 8.

The ISL, launched in 2014 and sanctioned by the AIFF, is India’s top-tier football league. Organised by FSDL under a franchise model with 12 teams, the league typically runs from September to April.

In a recent communication to clubs, FSDL said it was unable to proceed with planning or commercialising the 2025–26 season due to the lack of clarity over the Master Rights Agreement (MRA), which expires in December, roughly a third of the way into the league’s usual season.

“While discussions between FSDL and AIFF on the potential renewal of the MRA were initiated several months ago, they remain inconclusive at this time,” the company said in its note. “In the absence of a confirmed contractual framework beyond December, we find ourselves unable to effectively plan, organise, or commercialise the 2025–26 ISL season.”

The company has reportedly proposed a new governance structure for the ISL via a holding company jointly owned by ISL clubs (60 percent), FSDL (26 percent), and AIFF (14 percent). However, the federation has demanded an all-cash agreement worth ₹50 crore annually with a 5 percent annual escalation, leading to a disagreement.

The AIFF, in a statement, said it began formal renewal talks with FSDL on November 21, 2024, and held meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai in February and March, respectively. FSDL submitted a renewal proposal on March 5, to which the federation responded with a counteroffer on April 21.

However, the process stalled after the Supreme Court, during a hearing on April 26, observed that the renewal should not proceed until further orders. On legal advice, both parties have paused negotiations pending further instructions from the court.

“The AIFF is conscious of the importance of the ISL not only to the football structure in the country but also to all the clubs, players, support staff, officials, and fans, and recognises the challenges and difficulties posed due to its disruption,” the federation said. “At the same time, AIFF respects the law of the land and the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.”

Back in 2010, AIFF had signed a ₹700 crore, 15-year commercial agreement with IMG-Reliance (now Rise Worldwide), which was, at the time, among the most lucrative deals in Indian sport. Rise Worldwide continues to support FSDL commercially.

ISL club owners include some of India’s most prominent corporates and individuals. Mohun Bagan Super Giant is backed by the RPSG Group (Sanjiv Goenka), Bengaluru FC by the JSW Group (Parth Jindal), Chennaiyin FC by Vita Dani, Abhishek Bachchan, and MS Dhoni, and East Bengal FC by the Emami Group and East Bengal Club.

Other clubs include FC Goa (Jaydev Mody, Akshay Tandon, and Virat Kohli as a stakeholder), Hyderabad FC (BC Jindal Group), Jamshedpur FC (Tata Steel), Kerala Blasters FC (Magnum Sports, Nimmagadda Prasad), Mumbai City FC (City Football Group, with Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh), NorthEast United FC (John Abraham), Odisha FC (GMS Inc., Dr. Anil Sharma), and Punjab FC (RoundGlass Sports, Sunny "Gurpreet" Singh).