With the A-League entering its 10th season, there are three years remaining on the current television deal that Football Federation Australia negotiated in November 2012.
With a new deal to be put in place for the beginning of the 2017-18 season, the FFA need to have a look at expansion possibilities to increase their bargaining power.
It was a minor miracle that Western Sydney Wanderers managed to put together a competitive outfit within just six months, and a similar coup is unlikely to occur again.
Two new sides would make the A-League a much more attractive commodity. Given it would be ideal for them to have played a year of football before the TV deal is due, the time is ripe to kick-start plans.
Expansion should never be rushed, but it also needs to be pushed for the continuing growth of football in Australia. Taking 12 teams to the negotiating table could bring an unprecedented financial windfall.
First the FFA must work on consolidating the current 10 teams in the league, namely the Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners, and then they should begin evaluating which regions are ready for an A-League franchise.
The upcoming Asian Cup in 2015, and the introduction of the FFA Cup this season, are perfect opportunities to cash in on the interest that is dripping down from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The current four-year $160 million broadcast rights deal will end on June 30, 2017.
Negotiations will begin well before that, and most likely finalised during the start of the 2016-17 season. FFA chief executive David Gallop needs more ammunition than a successful Western Sydney side and a lucrative Melbourne City team to maximise the value of the new TV deal.
Therefore it would be ideal to have two new clubs established and competing in the season where negotiations will be coming to an end.
Successful franchises should be given about a year in order to recruit players, backroom staff and develop a solid membership base with the promise of regular football.
That means an ideal time to announce the new clubs would be around August 2015. That gives the FFA little more than a year to put the feelers out and decided where the next two teams should come from.
It seems like a very short timeframe, but it’s not impossible and would be in the best interests of the game. And there are already clubs out there willing and ready to take the next step to becoming part of the A-League. The FFA could also use the money they made from the Wanderers sale to help the two clubs get started.
If they can be announced at the start of the 2015-16 season, then that gives them enough time to ready themselves for competitive football in 2016-17.
So which clubs should be considered for the next two spots on the A-League roster? There are three areas that are particularly strong contenders, while the rest are either too fanciful, not necessary or not ready.
Re-born franchises
For supporters of North Queensland and the Gold Coast, this expansion project will come too soon. There’s no doubt both should be revisited in the future, especially North Queensland, but the dust hasn’t settled sufficiently for either to make a successful comeback yet.
Overseas
A Singapore side has been mentioned in various circles, but again it’s too soon to look at expanding the competition outside Australia. While such a venture would promise a massive market, great publicity and plentiful opportunities for owners and sponsors, it doesn’t make sense.
Given the FFA Cup has finally been given a green light, expanding to Singapore would put question marks over NPL sides with ambitions for gaining national recognition.
The A-League, ideally, should eventually move to a relegation and promotion system. It’s a long way off, and may be fanciful, but introducing a Singapore side would kill such dreams.
A third Sydney or Melbourne side
Barring a relocation of the Central Coast Mariners to north shore Sydney, which I’ll reiterate is not my suggestion or wish, the A-League should not be looking to expand in the country’s two most populous cities.
There have been suggestions that Sydney’s south is David Gallop’s next target, with certain areas feeling left out of other footy codes. But there are brighter prospects elsewhere for the next expansion plan.
While the populations alone make the cities appealing, Sydney FC has its own on-field problems to sort out without dealing with more competition, and Melbourne City needs a chance to establish a solid fan-base. Once those clubs have sorted everything out, then Sydney and Melbourne can flirt with ideas of a third club.
A rival for Brisbane
A second Brisbane team is a must, or a side that represents the southern part of the city and the encompassing areas such as Ipswich, Logan and even Toowoomba.
The western corridor was labeled as the “next big thing” by Gallop during his tenure as NRL chief executive. It would result in another derby, giving the Brisbane Roar a new rival without taking away its supporters.
The area from Logan to Toowoomba has strong roots in the game, and Logan in particular is a traditional football city. Could the South Brisbane Strikers be a viable candidate, perhaps playing out of the old ANZ Stadium? It’s definitely not ideal to stage games in a multi-purpose, but it’s the next best solution behind constructing a purpose-built stadium.
How the second Brisbane team would be established, including its catchment area, stadium and home base, would be a tough call. But it’s an area the FFA should strongly consider.
Entering football heartland
Wollongong can feel aggrieved to have been left out of the FFA’s expansion plans so far. They have a strong history in football, had a successful side playing in the old National Soccer League, and were never in financial strife until the breakup of the competition.
They have been constantly overlooked, and now is the time to get them on board. The support base would be there, the passion would be there and the infrastructure would also satisfy A-League requirements.
A big crowd at the South Coast Wolves’ FFA Cup round of 32 clash against the Central Coast Mariners on August 20 is a perfect chance for the Wollongong population to show their intent in getting A-League football to the region.
Bring football to the capital
Canberra is another potential candidate to fill one of the two expansion spots. While they already have rugby league, cricket, union and basketball in a region that has a population of 400,000, the A-League has one massive advantage over the other football codes.
They have the Australian summer all to themselves.
There is no reason why a population the size of Canberra cannot support a trio of football codes. They also have an established W-League side, the only one not affiliated with an A-League representative. Moving into Canberra would help grow the game at a grassroots level and assist the women’s game.
Out of the three most viable options – Canberra, Wollongong and South/West Brisbane – it’s hard to pick two winners. Each candidate has its own reasons to be one of the next teams to join the A-League, and it’s not an easy decision.
But it is almost irrelevant which teams do eventually get earmarked by the FFA, as long as they are set up to succeed in the same way as Western Sydney, and as long as they are chosen with enough time to get them on the field for the 2016/17 season.
Expansion is necessary for the A-League to grow, especially at a time when football is gaining momentum after the 2014 World Cup and the upcoming 2015 Asian Cup. The time is right, FFA must put the gears in motion.
Dl2136
Guest
You lost me at mindfield
George Weah's cousin
Guest
Good article, agree 100%. The idea of a Brisbane side playing out of the ANZ stadium is a good one too, although the smaller training track next door is perfect to be converted to a boutique football stadium. I have long held fanciful notion that Brisbane Roar buy the rights to the red and blue stripes from Newcastle and change their name to FC Brisbane. The Melbourne City situation should be seen as an opportunity for other clubs to become an attractive investment option for big euro clubs looking for ways to work around the FFP rules. Wouldn't it be cool if Barca looked to invest in FC Brisbane and share their knowledge and coaching staff…one day maybe….
Domitian
Guest
Central Coast v South Coast could be and should be one of the great rivalries in Aus football.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Reports coming through that the attendance for FFA Cup match: South Coast Wolves v CCM is 6,125. If this is replicated, no reason they couldn't average 10k for ALeague matches on a week-end. A couple of thousand are also watching the Live stream.
Arto
Guest
Normally I like your articles Janek, but this time I think you fell the cracks a wee bit so to speak... Whilst well-meant, expanding the comp before the current tv rights deals ends is a commercial mindfield - either Fox/SBS get more games than they paid for (thus, denying FFA vital funds to push ahead with their initiatives) or the FFA gets a free-lunch if the networks agree to an increased deal for the last season. Whilst I definitely agree that the clubs should be given as much time as possible to ready themselves for playing in the HAL, it would be better to simply announce that the clubs chosen would start from the start of the next deal - thus, both the networks & FFA know what they are negotiating for and the goalposts don't move during the negotiations. You stated the cases for & against certain teams, but there needs to be a bit more meat on the bones as you don't really give any justifications for your assertions. Eg: why will the next tv deal "come too soon" for Nth Qld? By some media reports they are well advanced in their work to submit a application for competing in the HAL, with a junior team and women's team competing already in local competitions and the drive for funding having been started over 1yr ago... Also you say Sydney & Melbourne shouldn't be getting a 3rd club yet as they have enough on their plate, yet if you dig a bit deper how much do they really have to deal with? MCFC is a long-term project (although I realise even their owners won't keep throwing money away on it if it's unsuccessful), so the setting up of a 3rd Melbourne club shouldn't be discounted because they are entering their 1st season under new ownership. What should dictate whether Melbourne gets another club is whether there is enough serious interest in doing so - so far I haven't heard anything along those lines, but I don't know Melbourne so well being a Sydneysider who resides overseas! As for SFC, despite their on-field troubles of recent years, they have been doing very well off the field and are backed by a wealthy owner who has shown his interest in football is genuine (unlike say Nathan Tinkler or Clive Palmer who were more in it for the headlines, IMO). So they shouldn't field threatened by a 3rd team either - just look at how the addition of WSW has boosted the HAL in Sydney - quite the opposite in fact, they should see it as a great opportunity that if a 3rd team that were to service Sydney's south as has been speculated in the media is more about the need to show it's a serious entity in terms of it's own ability to gain & maintain support. Another dimension to the Sydney Derby may well take HAL in Sydney to a whole new level (although I'll admit there's also the possibility of having too much of a good thing!) As for the other areas you evaluate, a 2nd Brisbane team, Canberra & Wollongong are all good ideas IMO, but the real test is how well they can show themselves to be a realistic candidate. Expecting new teams to have average attendences over 10K is pretty unrealistic first up - it's more important that they focus on memberships and keeping operating costs low. The great advantage that new teams will have now is that the TV deal will cover the Salary Cap and thus their marketing & sales efforts will determine their budgets for running the club. If the teams have high goals, but start small-scale and work methodically to achieve each sub-goal along the way, then then will be successful - and it's imperative that the same or similar manner in which WSW engaged their target area is used in order to build the strong bond with that area that will be needed if success on the pitch is not immediately forthcoming. Finally, I believe the other major factor that has to be considered (and I've said this before on other threads!) is that we need to have sufficient amount of talented players & coaches in order to maintain the growth in playuing standards - nothing burns the candle at both ends like opting for the sugar-rush option of expanding teams based upon the initial fanfare of current successes only to see that the fans decide after a while that their hard-earned is better spent on other entertainment sources. The tv networks lose interest also, thus creating a vicious circle which has the potential to ruin the gains made in the last few seasons - no need to look further than at rugby in NSW the past few years (prior to this season) to understand what I mean!!
Shadow
Roar Rookie
Well there you go. I do know the Broncos crowds dropped in that period they were using ANZ. Just goes to show that a proper stadium is the main stumbling block for a second brisbane team in both the A-league and the NRL
Paul
Guest
A carefully managed two-at-a-time expansion in 2017 would be an idea. Wollongong and Canberra would be the priority, then perhaps followed by North Queensland (Townsville/Cairns) and Tasmania (Hobart/Launceston). Expanding to Singapore would be frowned upon by the AFC. It would make more sense for a Darwin side to enter the S-League.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
This. Remember, there is a functionally unlimited supply of very good association footballers who will play for $1000 a week. If Fox is willing to pay for new content, then the deal can be adjusted, and at that point it's just a matter of keeping the salary cap more or less where it is, and bringing in new teams. Woolongong, Canberra and a third Sydney side is where I'd be looking.
AR
Guest
I stand corrected on that. I had thought rights were sold as a whole package, then revenue distributed to clubs accordingly. Still, I don't think the Eibar example works here. The Victory playing out of a 5k Tassie stadium (for eg) lacks the 'romance' and the bottom line that applies in Spain.
Jack
Guest
No mention of Auckland. A derby between Wellington and akl would be a marquee event 20 thousand plus! Would create lots of momentum in NZ. However my vote would be Canberra and South Coast . West brisbane would not support a team it would just dilute brisbane roar suppost. Might work for league as it's rugby heartland
Griffo
Roar Guru
Stirling Lions v Brisbane Roar YouTube live event:
Timmuh
Roar Guru
It is certainly either a lot longer to do the journey, as these places do not have direct flights to all capitals, or more expensive if charter flights are put on to get (for example) from Perth or Adelaide to Hobart. And I don't think professional sporting teams get the $39 Jetstar deals too often, certainly not for a full travelling contingent. Flight cost is also an issue with Canberra, where the airlines jack up the prices to horrendous levels because they know the government/corporates have no choice but to pay it. As for extra TV revenue, there isn't much in smaller centres. Regional viewers are worth far less per capita (mostly, high wealth Canberra may be an exception) than "5 metro" viewers, in terms of advertising spend.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
And they even have replays which is great
Bondy
Guest
These FFA Cup match streams are great no buffering or pop up distractions, far better than european football streams ..
Chuq
Roar Pro
I didn't say "why wasn't it the first option" I said "why wasn't it even mentioned in the article". Plenty of pros for a Tassie team as well. No pre-existing football team of any code. Population doesn't seem to be an issue for Canberra which has a lower population than Hobart & Launceston combined, Townsville and Wollongong, both with a lower population than Hobart. Wellington and Melbourne teams (part-time) don't seem to have an issue with playing out of an oval stadium.
Chuq
Roar Pro
I didn't say "why wasn't it the first option" I said "why wasn't it even mentioned in the article". Plenty of pros for a Tassie team as well. No pre-existing football team of any code. Population doesn't seem to be an issue for Canberra which has a lower population than Hobart & Launceston combined, Townsville and Wollongong, both with a lower population than Hobart. Wellington and Melbourne teams (part-time) don't seem to have an issue with playing out of an oval stadium.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
jb All will be broadcast LIVE via online channels. The future is here!
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - Are you talking air waves or tv viewing???? Nothing on our TV programs.If they are just out of date ,what times??? jb
Griffo
Roar Guru
The Youtube live events are up for Sydney City Hakoah v Palm Beach tonight and the South Coast Wolves v Mariners tomorrow night: Hakoah Sydney City East v Palm Beach South Coast Wolves v Central Coast Mariners Brisbane Roar game will have the live link via their site 9:30pm AEST Melbourne Victory will have their live feed on their site 9:30pm AEST tomorrow night as well
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Throw in 'Hobart vs Launceston rivalry' while you're there.