Men’s professional football league Indian Super League (ISL) will start its next season 7 October where last season’s runners-up Kerala Blasters will play against East Bengal FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
The professional football league is organised by Football Sports Development Limited and is a joint venture by Reliance Industries and Star India under the aegis of All India Football Federation and its title sponsor is Hero.
All Hero ISL teams are currently participating in Asia’s oldest competition, the Durand Cup, as they gear up for the new season. All Indian football stakeholders have been determined to create a longer football calendar that provides players with more competitive matches throughout the year. The league will be followed by the Super Cup in April, 2023.
Each club will play 20 league matches – 10 each at home and away through the autumn till next spring as the league stage draws to a close on February 26.
The 2022-23 season will also be special as fans will be welcomed back to the stadiums after a gap of two seasons. To make it convenient for more fans and families to attend and watch their teams in action, the league has created a fixture list with matches taking place on weekends. Each match week is scheduled between Thursday and Sunday, bringing it in line with the top global football leagues.
This season, the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) has also introduced a new playoff format for the league, adding two exciting matches into the calendar. The top two teams at the end of the league stage will automatically qualify for the semi-finals. Teams finishing between third and sixth will feature in a single-leg playoff to determine the other two semi-finalists.
Defending champions, Hyderabad FC start the defense of their title on October 9 in front of their home fans against former champions Mumbai City FC at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium Gachibowli.
India’s sports media and sponsorship industry reached about ₹95 billion in FY20 but will be growing at a slower pace to reach ₹150 billion by 2024, a report has claimed. According to the report by sports-related employment agency Sporjo and FICCI, the industry grew at a CAGR of 14% till 2020
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
