ISL seeks new home after Disney Star exit
₹46 crore in 2021-22, ₹13 crore in 2020-21, and ₹27 crore in 2019-2020. Initially, Star India held the majority ownership with a 35% stake in FSDL and had broadcasting rights for the league. Reliance Industries owned a 33% stake directly and another 32% through the joint venture with IMG Worldwide.
In 2018, Reliance acquired IMG’s stake and rebranded the company as Rise Worldwide. Now, with a change in ownership, Reliance owns 65% in FSDL. According to the people cited above, with Reliance looking to aggressively expand its entertainment business with Viacom18, Disney Star doesn’t want to be a part of a loss-making league.
Disney Star had urged FSDL to auction the media rights of ISL with their decade-long agreement coming to an end this year. However, it was evident that due to Reliance’s majority stake in the league, competing broadcasters such as Sony Pictures Networks India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd would not actively participate in the bidding process. The people said ISL’s media rights is expected to be owned by Viacom18 from next season.
Email queries sent to Disney Star, Rise Worldwide and Viacom18 did not elicit a response till press time. The absence of contenders for media rights is raising concerns among sports marketing experts, as this scenario could hinder the league from realizing its potential and impeding growth prospects for football in India, as it may continue to pose challenges for the league and hamper its development. In comparison, the Indian Premier League (IPL), which recently saw fierce bidding from Disney Star and Viacom18 for the rights, managed to get over `48,390 crore from two players for the TV and digital rights, respectively.
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