Varun Dhawan FC Goa Team LaunchAnselm Noronha/Goal

ISL 2017: New teams need to bring in the celeb factor

The Indian Super League (ISL) has expanded to 10 teams for the 2017-18 season with two steel conglomerates in Tata and JSW joining the fold.

Jamshedpur FC, who have only just been formed, alongside Bengaluru FC, who have enjoyed considerable success in their four years in the I-League, are the two new franchises to feature in the ISL, which has now been recognized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

It must be noted however, that when the ISL announced the names of the eight ‘league partners’ back in 2014, almost every team except Delhi and Bangalore had a celebrity on board.

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Every franchise has to pen a participation agreement, as is the standard procedure globally. It is reliably learnt that one of the clauses for ISL teams is to have a celebrity owner/endorser on board with the idea being to grab as many eyeballs in order to further popularize the sport.

According to sources close to Goal, Jamshedpur FC are in talks with Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan.

Meanwhile, Delhi Dynamos who haven’t had a celebrity endorser for the last two seasons are in advanced talks at least with a couple of Bollywood personalities.

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