Football Premier League India - Coming Soon
Rupert Murdoch and Mukesh Ambani team up for IPL-style football league next year Star India initially considered just a 10-year broadcast deal for the as-yet-unnamed, three-month-long league before deciding to buy a stake in it. The deal is on the lines of the state television broadcaster CCTV partnering IMG for a 10-year rights deal for the Chinese Super League.
Each of the eight teams in the football league will have 22 players, with 10 of them from overseas, eight from India and four from the local area under 23. The eight cities are Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Goa, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore. Bidding for the franchises will take place at the end of this month. Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan and cricketers MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly have shown interest in bidding for the city teams.
Though AIFF runs many tournaments, including Nehru Cup, Federation Cup and the revamped National Football League, now called I-League, football hasn't been able to get anywhere near the fan following that cricket has. But things could change, experts said.
