Sports law in India has emerged as a rapidly developing field of legal study due to the increasing commercialization, institutionalization, and globalization of sports. The transformation of sports from a recreational activity into a multi-billion-dollar industry has generated complex legal issues concerning governance, athlete rights, contractual obligations, broadcasting rights, intellectual property, and doping, corruption, and dispute resolution. Although India does not possess a comprehensive codified sports law, the legal regulation of sports has evolved through constitutional principles, judicial precedents, government policies, administrative regulations, and international obligations. This paper critically examines the constitutional and institutional framework governing sports in India, the role of judicial intervention in sports administration, the commercialization of sports, and contemporary legal challenges such as match-fixing, doping, gender justice, and sports arbitration. The paper further evaluates the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 and argues for the enactment of a comprehensive sports legislation to ensure transparency, accountability, athlete welfare, and professionalism in Indian sports governance.

Sports law in India is an emerging but still largely fragmented field, built from constitutional provisions, policy documents, general legislation and case law rather than a single comprehensive statute. This paper surveys the constitutional framework, key regulatory instruments, institutions, major substantive areas (governance, contracts, IP, doping, dispute resolution, match‑fixing, broadcasting, player rights), and pressing reform needs in Indian sports law.