Sports
ISGL launches India’s franchise esports league
8 teams including Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, Vizag finale after nationwide qualifiers.
MUMBAI: India’s esports just levelled up to league status because when football clubs swap pitches for pixels, the game changes forever. The Indian Super Gaming League (ISGL), a franchise-based national esports competition organised by Letsgamenow (LGN), was unveiled on 24 February 2026, marking a structured shift for the sector beyond standalone tournaments.
Founders Santanu Basu and Gautam Badalia, alongside Andhra Pradesh sports minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy, actors Ranbir Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, launched the league with 8 founding teams: Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Inter Kashi, Puneri Paltan, Bangalore Bhargavas, and Andhra Agneyas. The cross-sport expansion brings established football brands into competitive gaming.
The inaugural season later this year will feature a nationwide qualifier circuit in respective cities, culminating in a grand finale in Vizag. Permanent team ownership and season-led format aim to foster continuity, professional governance, and talent pathways.
Letsgamenow co-founder Gautam Badalia said, “India has scale, talent, and passion for gaming. What it now requires is structure. ISGL is built to create continuity, professional governance, and sustainable opportunity.”
Co-founder and professional esports athlete, Santanu Basu added, “For Indian players to compete globally, the domestic ecosystem must meet global standards. ISGL is about creating consistent platforms, exposure pathways, and a professional environment.”
In a market already among the world’s largest by audience size, ISGL’s franchise model promises stable identities and progression for players turning raw passion into pro leagues, one pixelated pitch at a time.
Sports
JioStar drags Legends League Cricket to Delhi High Court in media rights row
The streaming giant secured an interim order on the very day the tournament was set to kick off, freezing commercial dealings and pushing the dispute toward mediation
MUMBAI: JioStar India moved fast and hit hard. On March 11th, the same day the Legends League Cricket Masters T20 Tournament was scheduled to begin, the company secured an interim order from the Delhi High Court against Absolute Legends Sports Private Limited, the outfit that runs the league, in a bitter dispute over media and commercial rights.
The petition, filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, before Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, sought ad-interim protection preventing Absolute Legends from creating third-party rights, transferring, assigning or otherwise dealing with the media and commercial rights relating to the league. In plain terms: JioStar wanted to stop Absolute Legends from doing any more deals with anyone else while the dispute runs its course.
What Absolute Legends agreed to
Senior advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, appearing for Absolute Legends, did not come to court empty-handed. He submitted that the company would file a comprehensive affidavit disclosing all commercial transactions currently being undertaken, including the agreement entered into with the second respondent in the case. The affidavit, he said, would be filed by all directors of the company.
Crucially, Bhandari also undertook that any receivables arising from commercial arrangements connected to the league would be deposited directly with the court, in an account to be opened by the registrar general, toward satisfaction of the admitted liability. The one caveat: those deposits should not prevent Absolute Legends from meeting its operational expenses necessary for the smooth functioning of its commercial activities. In other words, the company wants to keep the lights on while the legal battle plays out.
JioStar was represented by senior advocate Kunal Tandon, leading a team that included Aanchal Tandon, Niti Jain, Niharika Sharma, Nitai Agarwal and Natasa, along with Krishma Shah as the authorised representative of the petitioner.
Mediation ordered, next date set
Both sides agreed that the matter should be referred for mediation, and the court obliged. The dispute was directed to the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre, with parties ordered to appear before it on March 13th. The incharge of the mediation centre was requested to appoint a senior mediator. The case is listed before the court again on March 17th for further proceedings.
The timing could hardly be more awkward for Legends League Cricket. A tournament that was supposed to be launching was instead the subject of a courtroom freeze on the very day it was meant to kick off. Whether mediation resolves the dispute quickly or the matter returns to a full hearing on March 17th, one thing is clear: JioStar is not prepared to let its rights walk out the door without a fight.
