The Indian Super League announced on Monday the appointment of Karan Yadav as its chief executive officer, marking a new phase for the country's premier football league as it transitions to a club-led model.
Yadav brings nearly two decades of experience across sports, media, marketing, commercial strategy and operations. His career in sports began with football in 2010, when he co-founded football publication TheHardTackle.com.
He went on to build and lead the platform as its Editor-in-Chief, managing a global team of more than 50 writers and 10 editors, according to a release.
Over the years, Yadav has worked across commercial strategy, sales and marketing, sports rights management, athlete management and operations. He has led the sports and content practice at Wavemaker, part of WPP, and headed sports sponsorships and activations at unicorn startup ACKO.
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Before joining the ISL, Yadav served as Chief Commercial Officer at JSW Sports, where he managed a Rs 300-plus crore P&L covering sports franchises, talent management and brand consulting.
During his stint at JSW Sports, Yadav also worked on the commercial strategy for former Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. He managed JSW's kitting partnership with Team India at the 2024 Paris Olympics and played a key role in launching the Neeraj Chopra Classic, India's first global athletics IP, in 2025.
As CEO, Yadav will head the League Office and oversee the ISL's strategic, commercial and organisational direction, while working closely with its clubs and the All-India Football Federation.
His responsibilities will include developing the League's overall strategy, strengthening ties with clubs, broadcasters, sponsors and other stakeholders, and building a League Office focused on the long-term growth and sustainability of the competition.
The new club-led structure is also expected to create greater alignment between the League Office and clubs across commercial strategy, partnerships, broadcasting, fan engagement and competition development.
Yadav becomes the first CEO of the ISL under the new League Office structure, returning to football in a leadership role after beginning his career as a football writer and publisher.
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