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If football is to expand beyond the current 10, maybe 12 A-League clubs, the current revenue and expenditure model has to be revisited.
The easiest way to achieve this is to have a two-tier salary cap.
Currently the cap is around $2.5 million per year for each team, not including all the add-ons like marquees that only the wealthier clubs can afford.
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Clubs struggled to remain in the league after the first season when the salary cap was just $1.5 million, with many going to the wall or searching for new investors.
So how will it be easier for regional clubs to enter the A-League now, with the salary cap at $2.5 million and expected to rise, and out-of-cap payments running higher each year?
With the current salary cap there is a minimum spend somewhere around the 80 per cent mark. But what if the salary cap was divided in two, with new clubs only allowed to apply for cap one or cap two and it stays in place for five years.
Salary cap one: $2.5 million per year, plus all the add ons.
Salary cap two: $1.5 million per year, plus all the add ons.
A minimum spend for both caps could remain.
Prospective regional clubs like Wollongong, Canberra, Geelong, and Townsville may suddenly find they have a business model that is much more achievable, especially given the funding from TV is now around $2.5 million per club.
Average crowd figures at regional clubs become less important to sustainability.
Clubs on the smaller cap would be less competitive on the field in theory, but we’ve seen the Central Coast Mariners punch above their weight on and in many areas, though not profitability off the field. And they’ve done it not by spending oodles of dosh on marquees. They’ve focused on Australian youth, local players, some astute overseas signings, and of course outstanding coaching.
Only one or two teams can win big trophies each season, so the desire to spend to improve has generally meant clubs run up unsustainable losses and eventually go bust. Long-term Australian followers of football know this only too well.
If there was a second salary cap the focus for clubs would be on development of Australian players, and young players at that. Clubs would have to work their socks off to come up with inventive and creative ways of producing competitive teams using mainly home-grown talent.
With a two-cap model in place, surely a two-tier league becomes a possibility down the track. But under the current model getting to 12 profitable teams is the biggest model even Frank ‘ever the optimist’ Lowy can dream of.
David Gallop says we should fish where the fish are, and no one is really going to argue with that model in the short term. But if we really want to get the code moving we need to be looking at innovative ways of including regional Australia.
The FFA Cup is nice, but midweek crowds of over 5,000 in Wollongong and Canberra suggest there is room for something bigger.
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