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.
Garry
Roar Rookie
1, 057 was the home crowd for a CCM game in 2022...
NoMates
Roar Rookie
You have to understand that the Football Kingz/Knights had bad management and had no help from NZF they also recruited poorly. As for crowds Wellington have got over 20k playing up their so a Darby would be massive. Times have changed and even if they get 5k turning up thats way better then MU and the Bulls.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
You'll be lucky if those 3 NPL clubs can afford to run professionally in a single league NSD. You're dreaming if you think the Auckland club will do worse than any of those three clubs. You're talking about clubs in Auckland over 2 decades ago. The landscape has changed dramatically since then and the potential owners of the new Auckland club are so much better than those of the massively underfunded previous Auckland clubs.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
I'm looking forward to the NZ Darby!! Wellington have done all the ground work from youth Academy to playing reserve side in the NZPL which the Auckland side will no doubt do the same.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
South Melbourne didnt have two sticks to rub together at the start of the A-league. The 1 million original license fee, which wasn't even collected apart from Sydney fc is looking pretty good and cheap right now. If these clubs have 25 million right now the APl will include them.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The 25 million is the license fee not the setup cost. Auckland and Canberra will lose money each year not make it back. In the unlikely event they are run by sensible management with an emphasis on young players and gaining money back through transfer fees they could only lose a little, or break even or turn in small profits. If they are run like Western United or Macarthur they will be losing millions a year. The lure of the A-league is that to sell it to someone else down the line for more money. That did happen with those who bought into Melbourne Victory early, Melbourne Heart original owners, then Adelaide owner before the current ones. So a few people may have even quadrupled their money but they got in early. Bakries keep losing money but instead of getting out they keep paying up so they can sell it in the future.
Brendan
Roar Pro
I’m all for expansion. However, my question to the A-League is: how does my franchise make $25 million back from the set-up cost?
Kris
Roar Rookie
Has everyone forgotten why the Auckland Football Kingz (a.k.a. Knights) were replaced by the Wellington Phoenix? Dire attendances of 2,000-3,000 inside a 30,000 seat arena. Numerous seasons with less than six wins (including a season with a solitary win). Low television ratings behind a cable TV pay-wall. And based in a city where even the dominant sport (rugby union) is now suffering through disastrous match attendances. Big clubs like South Melbourne, Melbourne Croatia Knights and Wollongong Wolves must be as cross as two sticks. I don't think anyone believes one of those clubs would ever turn in an A-League/NSL home attendance of just 1,057 (v. Northern Spirit, Mt. Smart Stadium, 2003).
Dibbs
Roar Rookie
Auckland and Canberra are good moves, but maybe 10 years too late. The league is dying and we're still stuck with with Sydney #3 and Melbourne #3. Turning the grand final in to a magic round is another one for their long list of dumb ideas aswell.