With IPL having gained popularity, other sports are following the same steps to induce interest amongst audience. With Kabaddi Pro League already successful in doing that now it’s time for one of the passionate games of the world – Football. We soon will witness a football league which hopefully will instill love towards a sport other than cricket. Way to go ISL!
15. Broadcast Channel
Star Sports, also part of the group that has founded the ISL, is the official TV partner for broadcasting all ISL matches.
14. The Name
Hero Motocorp has signed a 3 year long agreement with ISL for title sponsorship. Hence the name Hero Indian Super League.
13. Parents
Reliance Industries and International Management Group signed a 700 cr deal with AIFF to form a football league. Along with AIFF and Star Sports on Oct 2013 IMG-Reliance announced the launch of ISL.
12. The Team
There will be eight team who will participate in ISL namely FC Pune City, Atletico De Kolkata, Kerala Blasters, Northeast United FC, Team Mumbai, Team Chennai, Team Goa and Delhi Dynamos FC.
11. Player Density
Each team participating in ISL will constitute of 1 foreign marquee player, 7 foreign players, 14 domestic players and 4 local players.
10. Franchise System
Unlike the worldwide popular system of ‘promotion and relegation’ system, ISL follows the franchise system akin to IPL.
9. Bidder Scrutiny
Before the formation of the franchisee the bidders were supposed to fill up a tender form which was scrutinized the services company Ernst & Young.
8. Celebrity Involvement
Some popular names have got linked with the ISL. Some prominent owners of ISL teams are Sachin Tendulkar – Kerala Blasters FC, Salman Khan – FC Pune City, Ranbir Kapoor – Team Mumbai, John Abraham – Northeast United FC, Abhishekh Bachchan – Team Chennai, Saurav Ganguly – Atletico De Kolkata.
7. Companies Involved
In addition to the celebrities, many companies have invested in the teams such as DEN Networks (Delhi), Wadhwan Group (Pune), Videocon, Dempo Salgacor (Goa).
6. Price
Each city or franchisee were sold to their franchises for 12 cr except Kolkata which was for a whooping amount of 18 cr.
5. Almost Famous
Though the sport has gained popularity in the country lately, ISL wants to take it a step further by developing interest of the masses.
4. Game Format
The game will be played in a round robin format following which 4 teams who make it to the play-off will play a two legged match and the finals will be a one leg match.
3. Noted Players
There are a couple of big players who have joined the league such as Alessandro Del Piero, Luis Garcia, Joan Capdevilla, David James etc.
2. Player Drafts
There were 84 players for the domestic draft with opening pick of Lenny Rodriguez and the international draft had 49 players with the opening pick of Bruno Cirillo.
1. Game Watch
The inaugural series will start in October and run for a duration of 2 months with the finals scheduled on 20th Dec 2014.
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