Has anyone caught up ISL yet?

[CyberPunk]

a.k.a Indian Super League? For those who don't know, Indian Super League is a fresh attempt to resurrect Football (or Soccer) in India and is currently in its first season. It's structure is similar to the cricket league IPL and is managed by Reliance and IMG (who also manage MLS). Big marquee names who are in twilight of their careers are currently playing in the ISL. Well known names like Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires, Luis Garcia, Joan Capdevilla, David Trezeguet, Fredrik Ljundberg, David James, Elano are marquee signings. Apart from these, players like Nicolas Anelka, Alessandro Nesta, Manuel Friedrich, etc are also included and play for various teams.

The teams are not exactly football clubs but Franchises which are owned by Bollywood celebrities, cricket players and corporates. 8 franchises are playing in the first season. The leagues is played on double round robin (home-away system) basis followed by semifinals and then finals. The league will be played over 10 weeks and is currently in its later stages of round robins.

The league is an attempt to popularize and monetize the sport of football in India. Thus far, the average attendance has already broken records for any football league ever played in India (currently at an estimated 24,812 per game). It is aired across the world including the US, UK, Australia and many other such countries.

The football played thus far has been nothing to write home about but it does show that if developed right, football has place in India. Not only that, it can finally help fund growth of football in India. it also gives hope to other big name players in twilight of their careers to come over and make some decent money (Alessandro Del Piero is reportedly the highest paid in the league at $1.7 million for a 4 month contract and similar contracts are offered to other marquee players).

Has anyone seen ISL yet? What do you think this league can do for Indian football in the long run? Are these marquee signings worth the amount they're being paid? What's the future for this league?

 

[Reflection]

The future is nothing but bright. It will sound like a cliche, but the only way to go is forward. I have never seen football of this quality in India, and I'm quite sure nobody else has either. The i-league, ONGC league and such were terrible, and the people inclined towards cricket as a result. Those who watched football preferred the EPL, BBVA, Serie-A and the likes over the domestic leagues, and rightfully so... The ISL has made football more popular in India and it will continue to do so in the years to come. The domestic players too will learn a lot from the foreign players, which in turn can help India climb up the world rankings in this sport.

Edit: Also, one more thing I really liked about the ISL is that there are so fewer fouls compared to the European leagues and the world cup, where one guy or another commits a foul after every two minutes hardly. The matches too are never one-sided (again, unlike European leagues), and any team can emerge victorious.

 

[L@RISANO]

I heard about it in the initial stages and it seems like the right step forward for Indian football and as been proven by the attendance stats posted, it has reaped some rewards in the first year, in terms of fan interest which was of great importance.

Next season, they will have to try to attract some more big timers into India, as India generally is a sucker for Star names, and as such, the bigger the star attracted, the more people will attend.
How about trying to entice Ronaldinho?


Anyways, on the playing side, with guys like ADP, Nesta, Pires, etc... to play with, I am sure the standard of the Indian players will rise as well, given those 3 guys, for instance, have all tasted World Cup success as well as great club level success as well.
Think of an Indian defender playing alongside Nesta, who was once the absolute best defender in the world, or an attacker alongide Juve legend, Del Piero.
No question they should improve and that is essentially what it should be all about.