With 11 of the current 12 A-League clubs having licences until 2034 (and Wellington likely to have theirs extended to match), it seems unlikely that promotion and relegation will be introduced before 2034-35.
In light of this, I’ve sought to come up with an incentive-based proposal to deliver an enlarged A-League, with promotion and relegation starting from 2022-2023.
The model is based on the format of some South American leagues, with a separate opening and closing championship played each season. It has an A-League with three divisions, A1, A2 and A3, each division having eight teams.
Each division runs a season as follows; a 14 round home-and-away opening championship run over 16 weeks (first weekend of September to the last weekend before Christmas), to allow for some international breaks, then a six-week break (which includes the January transfer window) followed by a separate 14 round home-and-away closing championship run over 16 weeks (second eeekend of February to the second weekend of May) to allow for international breaks. Lower divisions can, however, play ‘split rounds’ during international dates to provide broadcast content.
This season runs for 38 weeks, includes 32 weekends of match dates and has a six-week break over the hottest period of the year in January, which is also when the Asian Cup is usually played, and has a 14-week break over the coldest period of the year, which is also when the World Cup is usually played.
Every team gets to play 28 matches.
At the end of the second championship, the season is concluded. The two teams in each division with the lowest points won through the two championships are relegated to the division below. The two teams that win the championships are promoted. If one team wins both championships, the team with the next best total points is promoted.
This means divisions A1 and A3 have a 25 per cent turnover per season and division A2 has a 50 per cent turnover of teams.
To incentivise the league, prize money is on a points basis.
Each division has 336 points available (28 games x 3 points x 4 teams).
We now have 38 weeks of broadcast content, with 28-32 match weeks of up to 12 matches (112 matches for each division and 336 in total). We can offer broadcasters the rights either as a whole package, or offer each division up for separate sale.
The total broadcast revenue is however retained by the league as a whole and distributed across all 24 clubs.
Any money received from broadcasters is first reduced to cover administration of league costs and then distributed to clubs is as follows; 50 per cent p.a to A1 division clubs, 25 per cent p.a to A2 division clubs and 25 per cent p.a to A3 division clubs.
But how do we get there?
The A-League seek expressions of interest and tells potential investors that only 12 new club licences (maximum of one in New Zealand) will be sold prior to 2034, and no more than that.
This creates a scarcity and, to some degree, protects the value of the licence. The initial sale period will start at the end of 2019-2020 season and conclude at the end of the 2020-21 season. The A2 and A3 divisions will start play in the 2022-23 season, to give teams 12 months to ready themselves for play and see which four of the 12 existing clubs will be relegated to A2 at the end of the 2021-22 season.
The cost of a licence is set at a floor of $12 million, which guarantees entry into the league at the A3 level. Obviously, most buyers will want to be in the higher division so, once the sale period ends, there will be an auction to determine which four clubs will start in the A2 division. If not all 12 are sold, then the top four bidders at auction will get a licence and the A2 only will start. Any other clubs will have their licence fee returned minus a $100,000 administration fee.
If all 12 licences are sold, the total revenue is at least $144 million. The league distributes $750,000 of each licence fee received to each current club. This means if there is a full uptake of 12 new licences, each current club can be paid $9 million. This upfront payment, along with the opportunity to earn prizemoney and the ongoing lure of broadcast revenue is more than enough to agree to immediately allow promotion and relegation from the 2022-23 season onwards.
This will also allow “The League” organisation to get a start-up capital of $36 million
Criteria to be able to buy a licence
There are only limited criteria for any organisation buying a licence. You must have a ground with a capacity of at least 5000, a playing surface of a minimum standard to limit the chance of injuries and lighting suitable for the broadcast of night-time matches. There must be a head of agreement in place for at least a three-year lease on the ground.
You must employ a squad of at least 23 players on a fulltime professional basis, with all players contracted for at least one whole season, being paid at least the Australian minimum wage.
Maximum of five foreigners per club. There is no requirement for reserve teams, but you can allow players not selected in the team to play for any NPL clubs by arrangement or affiliation.
It’s a radical suggestion, and I’m sure there are a number of things that need much, much more work, but why not try to play a “killer ball” and really jump the league to the next level?
I look forward to all the comments.
Eamon Stocker
Roar Rookie
"until we get some of those 4 points implemented (in particular Pt 4), I won’t be watching or attending A-League again" well if we're gonna talk about the 'real' problem....
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
I’ve also had a go at the broadcast partner requirements: Any company buying the rights to broadcast the 3 division league must comply with the following requirements: – A minimum payment of at least $55 million per annum for rights to broadcast/stream on any platform all matches of the 3 divisions. The buyer of the rights can ‘on-sell/offload’ separately the A1, A2 or A3 matches to a different broadcaster, subject to the minimum broadcast requirements below being met. Production costs must be guaranteed by the the winning rights bidder, but they may recoup those costs from whomever they ‘on-sell’ the rights to. – Obligation to either broadcast/stream in HD all A1 division matches, with at least 3 matches live per round (one of which must be in Saturday night prime time) and a weekly highlights package of at least 1 hour per round containing content from all A1 matches. Each live broadcast match must be covered by at least 4 cameras, 2 commentators and 1 pitch side interviewer at the ground. – Obligation to either broadcast/stream in HD all A2 division matches, with at least 1 match live per round and a weekly highlights package of at least 1 hour per round containing content from all A2 matches. Each live broadcast match must be covered by at least 4 cameras, 1 commentator and 1 pitch side interviewer at the ground. -Obligation to either broadcast/stream either in SD or HD all A3 division matches, with at least 1 match live per round and a weekly highlights package of at least 1 hour per round containing content from all A3 matches. Each live broadcast match must be covered by at least 2 cameras and 1 commentator. Obviously, the goal is for all matches to have full coverage, and these are only the minimum standards. TV/Stream requirements. Matches shown live must be broadcast in full. Banner ads may be shown across the bottom of the screen taking up no more than 20% of the total area of the screen and generally not obscure the ball in play. 5 banner ads per half are allowed for a maximum of 35 seconds per banner ad. Cut aways to full screen advertisements may occur at specified events, which are : scoring of a goal; any injury break where a player requires treatment on pitch; scheduled drinks breaks in play. The half time break must include at least 3 minutes of football content by way of commentators/pundits discussing the match being shown in A1 broadcasts, or in A2 and A3, 3 minutes of discussion on any match in the league (eg. an A3 might show highlights of a match the night before).
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
I'm glad you agree Maximus. Don't ever forget that you are always welcome to join us. There are plenty of seats on this train.
Maximus Insight
Guest
I agree with you Roberto Football fans have been crying out for a full pyramid structure that aligns with the innate higher levels of cognitive complexity and cultural sophistication that they possess that attracts them to the World Game in the first place. This pseudo pyramid insults their above-average intelligence and fails to fully replicate the culture etched in stone in the old dart. These people need to remember - They Are Football. They need to rediscover the smells of fear in their enlightened nostrils before it's too late.
Nemesis
Guest
You mean a closed shop like the English Football League was a closed shop for 100 years until the mid 1990s? That's why there was no promotion from non-league English division below the 4th tier into the 4th tier. This is because every football pyramid has off-field criteria, not just on-field merit. The higher up you go, there will be financial criteria, governance criteria, facilities criteria, etc. Hence, the four Division in the English Football League became a closed shop until the mid 1990s.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Yeh...nah. If you think that represents a true football pyramid, then maybe you aren't the football fan you make out you are. This is just another closed shop proposal. It's basically a continuation of the current policy of selling licenses to join the closed shop. What kind of football fan would believe this is a legitimate football structure??
Nemesis
Guest
What are you on about? There is Pro/Rel in this system. There will be 2 teams going up each year, 2 teams going down. The only lack of Relegation is at the bottom of Div3. So, you are ignoring the Pro/Rel in the other instances just because there is no Relegation from Div3? The English Football League didn't have automatic relegation from Div4 until the mid 1990s. Not 1890s .. but 1990s. So there's no problem if there's no automatic relegation from Div3 for the next 12 years. Having said that, even if the pyramid were completely opened up and we had possible Relegation from Div3, the financial & non-merit criteria to enter the ALeague (3 divisions) would likely prevent anyone but 24 clubs from entering for the next 12 years. As I said. Then English football pyramid didn't have automatic relegation from Div4 until the mid 1990s because the non-league teams who were in line for promotion based on merit, couldn't fulfil the non-merit criteria required to get entry into the English Football League system. .
Brian
Guest
Giving Western Utd a license over Team 11 made me wonder if anyone of them had even lived in Melbourne
chris
Guest
Mark leagues in Europe reward clubs that finish higher up in the table. The higher you finish, the bigger share of the prize money pool here. That would work here.
c
Roar Rookie
well we have the greatest participation and a national footprint with international interest in the game so why not
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Believe it or not, Western Sydney’s crowds this season are on track to be their 2nd highest average home attendance. Macarthur should average around 9-10k in their first year I think.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
If anything Macarthur should have been granted before Wunited. But Western Sydney’s like, “nah let us get used to Bankwest first.” Yet it hasnt helped them at all. They still have play like garbage and still have underwhelming attendances. As for Wunited, their crowds are the ultimate nightmare. Poor decision making from the A-League once again.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
From where I sit, you appear to be the one contradicting yourself. I gave you the four fundamentals demanded by Australian football fans: – no salary cap – transfer fees – football in Winter – a football pyramid with promotion and relegation You said you agree with these. And then you turn around and express your full support behind this proposal, when in fact it's the complete antithesis of point four above. You did pick up on that, right?? This proposal is about pretending to put something in place which looks a little bit like what football fans are looking for, but in fact, its primary aim is to ensure Australian football does NOT establish a proper football structure. As Towser said: its mere window dressing Aussie style. He gets it.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
They remain pretty confident they'll get this thing started in the next 6 months. However I believe they should've been given a year just as Macarthur FC have to get everything ready and organised so they can start their A-League campaigns with a bang.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
@Samuel Power. The application for planning permission has not even been lodged yet. This is another 'nothing but puff piece' article. In fact, technically, they are probably less advanced than the Team 11 stadium proposal, and that Team 11 bid didn't even get a licence. Actually, technically they are less advanced in the process than the Melbourne victory Footscray Park project, which can still run through the appeals and legal process. Now, I want the Tarneit stadium to get built, but I know the system and I know where they are at in the process, and I know that it is not even at the starting gate. The proposal will require planning approval. Technically the planning approval at a bare minimum will require a minimum of a 2 week public consultation period before the application is being reported to a Council meeting for a decision, at least a month after the consultation period ends. Given that a crappy little two unit proposal ordinarily takes longer than those timeframes, I don't see this taking any less than 3 months in the best case scenario. That is of course if everyone in the public agrees and no-one objects. Once the approval is granted, they will need to start tendering and programming the construction timetable. Put it this way, i will be amazed if they get this stadium approved and start construction before the end of this year.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
@ Roberto, The ‘basics, fundamentals and non-negotiables’ as you put them are not basics, fundamentals or non-negotiable. They are things you want. However, the proposal I have outlined is compatible with all of them, except that the season avoids the winter when grounds are worst and most used by other codes, and the pyramid is split between this league and any lower leagues. Those matters are in fact not unusual in the world of football.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
A bit off-topic but construction on Western United’s new stadium in Tarneit is set to commence in winter: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/construction-of-new-western-united-ground-scheduled-20200217-p541nu.html
Nemesis
Guest
"The key point is that these fundamentals are NOT radical (many in Australia appear do view them as radical" And that perfectly captures the contradictions in your post. I'm not sure you even know what you're arguing for, or against. The proposal is radical based on what we've had for 15 years. Is it an improvement? I think it is. End of story. You evidently prefer to remain with what we've done so successfully for the past 15 years... and at the same time, you also argue for major change.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
The article's title is a "radical proposal for a revised A-League", inherent in that title is the fact that it is a subtle move away from these core principles. In fact, if you are starting from the viewpoint that the above four points are fundamental and non-negotiables, you cannot be supporting this "radical proposal". The key point is that these fundamentals are NOT radical (many in Australia appear do view them as radical, but they are not radical), they are basic, they are fundamental to a proper football structure. As Towser says, if you look carefully at this proposal, it's: " mere window dressing Aussie style. " Part of the problem we have is that far too many Australian football fans do view these basics as radical or too hard for Australia.
Nemesis
Guest
I've no idea what you're on about. I fully support all those 4 points. In fact, until we get some of those 4 points implemented (in particular Pt 4), I won't be watching or attending A-League again.