India Super League (ISL) has changed its chief executive officer (CEO) to Karan Yadav as the competition moves towards a club-led commercial model and establishes a new League Office structure. Yadav will be the first CEO of the ISL under this new model.
Yadav is in charge at a critical point in the evolution of Indian football. The ISL clubs will hold the commercial rights of the league, while the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will control the day-to-day operations and its oversight over the finances. In July, the AIFF and ISL clubs outlined the model, leading to a more club-led approach to the commercial side of the competition.
Yadav will be the new CEO of the League Office and will be responsible for the ISL's strategic, commercial, and organisational direction. He will also work closely with the league’s clubs and the AIFF, and will be responsible for the competition's commercial strategy and relations with broadcasters, sponsors, and other parties involved in the competition.
The new leadership structure will also put more emphasis on broadcast, sponsorships, partnerships, fan engagement, and long-term sustainability of the league. ISL says it wants to achieve better alignment of the League Office with the clubs as Indian football moves to the new model.
Yadav said the ISL is entering a new chapter. He said the club-led model would provide a basis for closer work with the clubs and the Managing Committee of the ISL. He also outlined that the League Office would be strengthened in terms of enhancing the league’s commercial and broadcast proposition, connecting more closely with fans, and creating an environment where clubs can grow sustainably.
Yadav has nearly two decades of experience in sports, media, marketing, commercial strategy, and operations. His career in sport started in 2010 with football when he founded TheHardTackle.com, a digital football publication. He was its Editor-in-Chief and managed a worldwide team of more than 50 writers and 10 editors.
Yadav expanded his horizons beyond football media and worked in the fields of sports rights, sales, marketing, sponsorships, athlete management, and commercial operations. He was the sports and content manager at Wavemaker and later worked on sports sponsorships and activations at ACKO.
Before becoming the ISL CEO, Yadav worked as Chief Commercial Officer at JSW Sports. During his tenure, he was involved in commercial strategy in sports properties and managed a reported ₹300 crore-plus profit-and-loss portfolio spanning sports franchises, talent management, and brand consulting.
His work at JSW Sports also included commercial strategy for Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and work on the company's kitting partnership with Team India for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He also played a role in launching the Neeraj Chopra Classic in 2025, giving him experience in developing sports properties and commercial agreements.
The appointment will bring Yadav back into football as a leader who has experience in the commercial side of professional sport after spending many years in the industry. His experience in football media, sports marketing, rights, sponsorships, and business affairs will also be incorporated into the ISL's new operational structure.
The transition will be in place for the ISL for the 2026-27 season. The AIFF has confirmed that 13 teams will participate in the league, and they will be working on the new commercial and organisational structure.
With Yadav as the chief executive, the League Office will need to balance the interests of clubs, AIFF, broadcasters, sponsors, and fans. The new structure creates a greater commercial role for clubs, so coordination between the League Office and each club will be essential in the next phase of the ISL.
The appointment represents a major change in the way ISL's commercial and strategic operations are organised for Indian football. Yadav will focus on building the League Office, enhancing commercial and broadcasting opportunities, improving fan engagement, and supporting a sustainable environment for the clubs as the competition moves into its new era.
