FOUR PRIVATE COMPANIES have expressed interest in acquiring the commercial rights for the Indian Women’s League (IWL) and IWL 2 for the next five years, though none has formally submitted a bid yet.
JSW Group, Capri Sports, Leisure Sports, and Shrachi Sports, were among those seeking clarifications on the tender issued by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) earlier this month, a report by newswire PTI said.
The interest from multiple private entities is being seen as a positive development for women’s football, particularly at a time when the Indian Super League (ISL) failed to attract bidders for its commercial rights. The momentum comes after a promising year in which the Indian women’s teams qualified for all three Asian Cups (Senior, U20 and U17) for the first time in over two decades, a new residential academy for girls was launched, and East Bengal impressed at the AFC Women’s Champions League.
The Request for Proposal (RFP), issued on 14 November, sets 29 November as the deadline for submissions. The selected bidder will be required to pay the AIFF a guaranteed sum of Rs 3 crore or 5 per cent of gross revenue, whichever is higher, as a governance and development fee.
The commercial rights offered cover a wide range of categories, including advertising, broadcasting, film, franchise, merchandising, production, sponsorship and video coverage related to the competitions. However, the AIFF will retain all data rights.
The rights holder will be responsible for producing and distributing the match feed, with coverage mandated on a linear channel and/or platform with prior experience in national or international football broadcasting. The rights holder will also serve as the title sponsor for each league.
After deducting the guaranteed payment and production/marketing expenses, the remaining net revenue will be shared between the rights holder and the AIFF. The rights holder will retain 40 per cent, while the AIFF will receive 60 per cent.
A key feature of the new model is that the AIFF’s share will then be distributed among participating clubs. Of the federation’s net revenue share, IWL clubs will receive 70 per cent, IWL 2 clubs will receive 20 per cent, and the AIFF will keep only 10 per cent, ensuring that most of the income flows directly back into the women’s football ecosystem.
