Viacom18 becomes the official media rights partner for ISL until 2025
The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the company operating the Indian Super League (ISL), announced on Thursday that Viacom18 will be the official media rights partner for the country's top-tier league for at least the next two seasons.
"Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) announces Viacom18 Media Private Limited as the ‘new home of Indian Football’ for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons," the statement read.
Since the tournament’s inception in 2014, Star Network has held the broadcasting rights for ISL. But Viacom18 has been growing in stature since acquiring the broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Hence, the decision to jump ship from the ISL stakeholders doesn't come as a surprise.
Going forward, the ISL matches will be broadcast on Sports18 or can even be live-streamed for free on the JioCinema app for the next two seasons.
A Viacom18 Media Private Limited spokesperson said about the collaboration between Viacom18 and the ISL in a press release:
“Winning the streaming and broadcast rights to the ISL is a big step forward for us in the direction of building a glittering stable of footballing action. The ISL has led the resurgence of Indian football in recent years and coming on board with the league as the exclusive media partner enables us to contribute to the development of the sport in the country."
"We believe this is an exciting time in Indian football and through our extensive presentation of the league we aim to stoke a renewed interest in the heart of every Indian football lover,” they added.
The tenth edition of ISL starts on September 21 with the highly-anticipated clash between Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC
The Indian Super League (ISL) will enter its 10th year this season and will kick off on September 21 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi with a blockbuster clash between rivals Kerala Blasters FC and Bengaluru FC.
As mentioned earlier, the matches can be streamed on Sports18 or JioCinema in multiple languages. The matches will take place at prime time of 8.00 PM IST, with double headers starting at 5:30 PM.
Here is the fixture list for the upcoming season of the ISL, along with the match timings and venues.