New Delhi: Hours before the now-abandoned Indian Super League (ISL) season kicks off on Saturday, it was officially announced that Fancode has sublicensed its linear television rights to Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI). As reported by TimesofIndia.com, under the deal, Sony Sports Network will have exclusive television rights in India and non-exclusive rights in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. However, its position in international broadcasting is still under consideration.All 91 games will be televised on Sony Ten 2, with simultaneous doubleheaders being pushed to other channels.

This isn’t the first time Sony Sports Network and FanCode have collaborated. Both platforms hosted the French Open tennis tournament in 2025, with Sony retaining the primary broadcast and sublicensing the full-court streaming side to FanCode, which is owned by Dream Sports.Last year, a similar ploy between Sony Sports and JioHotstar was used for the India-England cricket tour. Under the terms, Sony held the television rights and JioHotstar was responsible for digital streaming.“The macro observation on this is that there are so many opportunities[in the sports industry].[It’s]so big, and to be honest, there’s so much work to be done in the industry that cooperation is probably better than competition at the moment, because there are so many opportunities,” explained FanCode co-founder Yannick Colaco, a sublicensing strategy. Go to TimesofIndia.com.“And our view on that is very clear. We are a digital-first platform. So two things that are unique about Fancode are that we are digital-first and that we are sports-only.”“Our product, our approach, has always been focused on technology, the experience, how it’s available across 11 operating systems, innovation on the digital side. And we’ve never been focused on, and we don’t want to be, focused on building a linear TV business.” “So when we look at these two unique pieces, we see a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with other major media companies that have much larger missions and ambitions. And let me put it very politely: We are a much smaller player in this overall media landscape.” “And I think that’s the way we see it in the sense that while the younger viewers are all digital-first and even some of the older viewers are moving to digital, there’s a large audience that still watches sports content on linear television.” “So, as we work with partners like AIFF (All India Football Federation) and ISL, we are very conscious of the fact that in order to help the sport grow, help the event be successful, and maximize distribution, we need to work with partners that have a television presence so that we can essentially reach every sports fan and every ISL fan across the country,” he continued.Less than two weeks later, FanCode acquired ISL’s broadcast rights (linear TV and digital) for Rs 8.62 billion. Although the company only has a presence in the digital streaming space, it consciously bid on both sides, knowing that few, if any, players were interested solely in terrestrial television rights.

During conversations between FanCode, AIFF and the ISL Interim Committee, it was made clear that the provider wants to ensure top division football is presented to as many viewers as possible.After officially acquiring the rights, the company began negotiations with multiple domestic providers and even some regional providers.“We immediately started talking to a lot of people about this, including local broadcasters, and we took a lot of the proposals that we received and put them all together. We shared them with AIFF and the interim committee. We had a call with them. I shared with them the pros and cons of each proposal.” And on this basis, the decision was taken to accept Sony’s offer,” Colaco said.Meanwhile, FanCode spoke with ISL club representatives to understand their expectations on how to improve the product. At this stage, the concept was born for each club’s ‘superfans’ to record visuals behind the scenes.

ISL will provide commentary in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali and Tamil (Chennaiyin matches only).With all this going on, why cede market share to competitors like Sony Sports?“We’re making it easy for people who want to watch the game on linear TV to be able to do so. And yes, we’re making sacrifices as well (if that happens), and that’s fine. I think it’s important to put the consumer first. So I believe that ultimately our product will be one that gives the user choice and provides a great experience. And if it’s good enough, that’s what I hope and believe it is,” Colaco reasoned.“I don’t think it should be forced and that’s what we’ve always believed. I also think we know that partners like Sony will help us raise the level of promotion and contribute (to) marketing. (As the saying goes) a rising tide lifts all boats,” he added.Sony adds to growing portfolio

Sony Sports Network, which took part in pre-bid meetings for broadcast rights but did not make a final bid, sees this as an opportunity to add to its soccer portfolio, which is dominated by European competitions.“We were keen to add ISL to our sports portfolio, but at the time we needed more time to evaluate the property before making any funding commitments,” said Rajesh Kaur, Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Sports & International Business, SPNI. Go to TimesofIndia.com.However, this is not their first foray into Indian football, having previously played the I-League and Durand Cup.“Our goal is to cater to soccer fans and expand the soccer ecosystem in India. Sony Pictures Networks India is the home of Indian soccer and has a diverse and extensive portfolio of both international and Indian soccer properties, including UEFA EURO 2028, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Nations League, Bundesliga, FA Cup, and India’s unique legacy tournament, the Durand Cup.” Last year, we were also the official broadcaster of the local soccer league, the I-League,” he said.