ISL and Indian Football: A road ahead

The new Indian Super League (ISL) season is upon us. Football fans in India, who mostly rely on European football to unroll their passion, have something to look forward to. A league with 11 fierce competitors, all vying for the throne of Indian top flight.

This season we have new entrants, S.C East Bengal as a new team in the league, while their Kolkata rivals Mohun Bagan have also entered the league albeit merging with reigning champions ATK.

We all know ISL is here to stay. It has the potential to take Indian football to the the global map. Next few steps will determine if it can fulfill its potential.

First of all, the league should not be a closed one. If it really wants to grow the beautiful game and itself, it needs to grow. ISL should connect itself with the broader football infrastructure in the country. The second tier league(I-League) clubs should have a path of promotion to the top flight. Also the number of teams in the ISL needs to grow. It can be done by roping in I-League giants and thus making ISL a full fledged league with round the year season, at par with top leagues of the world. This will help in recruitment of talent from around the world to help and grow the local talent.

TV revenue is the main source of income for any sporting tournament. Sports TV has a lot of growth potential outside of cricket in India. Broadcasting rights should go to a few different broadcasters in India and as an experiment, outside India. This will take the league to a global audience and will generate a lot of money for the league and in turn for the clubs if that money is distributed among them. It will enable the clubs to invest more on the club and game itself, growing brand ISL even more.

No sporting league can sustain itself without a constant influx of grassroot talent. ISL is working on the grassroot level but it needs to take its efforts up a notch. Creating club academies would go a long way in early identification and nurturing of talent. Young players from football powerhouse nations can be roped in from big clubs on loan to help them and Indian football alike. A global appeal never hurts.

There are many more steps that can be taken to increase the stature of the ISL and Indian football. We know it is a step by step process. But as Indian football fans, we want to be there as soon as possible so that the next time Bayern Munich come to India, they wouldn’t be overwhelming favourites to thrash an Indian side.