A-League Commissioner Nick Garcia says an Auckland franchise will be a shot in the arm for the competition, with the entry of a second Kiwi club likely to be rubber stamped by the end of the month.
Garcia revealed at the season launch in Sydney on Tuesday that an agreement for a new side was at the pointy end of talks.
The next step will be nominating a preferred consortium to take charge of the licence which comes with a $25 million buy-in fee.
The Auckland club is due to start the 2024-25 season where they will have a ready-made rivalry with the Wellington Phoenix.
“Expansion in Auckland is going particularly well and you can expect an announcement on that in the coming weeks for sure,” Garcia said.
“There was a lot of interest in Auckland. We moved from what was effectively building one consortium into a bidding process is a great position to be in.
“The conversations we’re having have been with really sophisticated global sports investors.
“It’s a really good shot in the arm for confidence in the A-Leagues going forward.”
Wellington Phoenix fans may soon have a New Zealand derby to cheer. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Garcia said progress on creating an A-League Men’s team in Canberra was “further behind” than Auckland’s bid – both start-up outfits set to enter next season – but he said the Australian Professional Leagues were wedded to putting a side in the ACT.
“We are still very confident in getting the right investors in those markets with good owners that those teams will fly,” Garcia said.
The creation of the two additional sides does not change TV rights distributions for existing clubs who are into their third year of a five-year broadcast deal with ViacomCBS, who show games on Network Ten and sister streaming platform Paramount+.
The deal was met with scorn by fans due to technical issues with Paramount+, most notably the absence of a pause-rewind function which sources indicated could be close to resolution this year.
Despite the platform’s flaws, the APL claims in their annual report that over the last 12 months the ALM and ALW have experienced 31 and 63 per cent increase in viewership respectively.
The broadcaster has a three-year contract extension clause in its favour, something the APL expects the rights holder to trigger.
“It’s an option for Paramount and their view is they want to invest in football long-term,” said APL chief executive Danny Townsend.
“I don’t think we’ll be having conversations with them for another year or so.
“We’d expect (them to take the option). They’ve really gotten behind the league in the last couple of years and we’re very grateful for that.”
Meanwhile, Townsend confirmed discussions to sell grand final hosting rights to the NSW government were “ongoing” after AAP reported last month that the APL could ditch that agreement in favour of a Magic Round-style event.
“We’re a way off but the sooner you can make those changes, if you want to make them, the better,” Townsend added.
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