Thanks Mid.
I think 12 teams in the A-league is the best number, at least for the near future. To get to 14 clubs I think that’d be at least 10-15 years away. I can actually now see what the FFA could be doing in terms of future expansion, just as its being done in the MLS. Clubs like Orlando City, New York Cosmos and others, are clubs that have been around in their minor leagues for a while. So the idea for the A-league might not be to create any new clubs from scratch, but to elevate clubs from the state leagues which;
a) have the potential to grow their supporter base and grow as a club
b) have their finances in order and ready made sponsors
c) have a home stadium ready to go, or at least a realistic plan of where their home games will be played
d) they’re coming in to add to the competition, not to drag it down or cannibalise it in any way

This second tier could be supported by maybe the next TV deal, and if not then definetely the one after that.
I think this is the path we should go down, which if done properly, promotion and relegation could be introduced within 10 years.
So in essence, by 2025 we could have a 2-tier pyramid with 12 or 14 clubs in each division, with promotion and relegation between those divisions and a smashing FFA Cup competition. You could also look at promoting clubs from the state leagues into the semi-professional 2nd tier, which would be a lot easier to do, with much less costs involved.

And remember the MLS is 20 years old, double that of the A-league. We don’t have the population of the US, not even close, but I think if we keep growing the game here and market it properly, there’s no reason why at least both the Sydney & Melbourne derbies can’t be huge events on the sports calendar. I mean they already are, but if 1 game per year was played at ANZ Stadium for example, I’m sure they’d get over 60k. Give Melbourne City a couple more years to become a force, and I’m sure you could play 1 game per year at the MCG and get over 60k also. I know people are up in arms about losing a home derby, and don’t want these games going to other stadia, but let’s face it, the league is too monotonous as it is, playing each team 3 times is already overkill, why not take that 3rd game to a bigger stadium, particularly if the interest is there! It’s the only way the game will grow, especially when some clubs are hamstrung by smaller capacity stadiums.

The wheels are in motion and the landscape in changing quickly. Within 10 years we could potentially see Football bring in massive $$$ from TV rights. This in turn means we get great foreign players coming to play here, which boosts the overall interest in the league and the entire sport, and also helps develop our best young Aussie talent. If we look at the MLS, which is starting their 20th season over in the US, they now pay some players over there earning $6m-$7m US per year. This season they’ll have this sort of quality playing over there; Lampard, Villa, Gerrard, Keane, Kaka, Giovinco, Altidore, Dempsey etc.
I honestly think that is where football in Oz will be in 10 years, if it’s run properly. The only area I don’t see us progressing as well as in the states is in football infrastructure, most MLS clubs have their own stadium, whereas in Australia with our land and labour costs, I don’t see our clubs buying or building their own stadiums for a very long time, perhaps ever.

I realise we need another 2 teams in the A-league, as it’ll get stale over time.
But while I do agree that we need 2 new teams, I also think we need to get the existing 10 teams right, for numerous issues.
The Nix are a great example, for me they should stay in the A-league, they’re managed well by their new owners, they’ve now got a good coach who knows how to put a decent squad together, but they just need a small boutique home ground to play out of. The Hutt Rec ground where they’ve been playing, although being a temporary structure, looks and sounds a treat on TV. I’m sure the players enjoy playing there. They need to work with government over there to get something like that built in future. The AFC issue I think is overstated and I reckon they’ll be allowed to play in the A-league for years to come.
The Jets are a different issue all together, and while I don’t agree with what Tinkler did with sacking those players, I actually think he can now keep going at the Jets, and he can now help to turn that club around, at least until he finds a buyer. But regardless, with Tinkler or without him, I think the Jets are here to stay both in Newcastle and in the A-league.
The Mariners are the biggest current problem child for me, and they’ve gone downhill massively with Charlesworth at the helm. For me he’s been in the papers way too often, and should stick to talking in the boardroom, where he can actually work on garnering more sponsorship and corporate support, when he’s in Australia that is.
Gosford is the smallest population centre in the league, that’s reality, but I think if they can get crowds of at least 8000-9000 per game, they’ll be fine. If not, and they go belly up, I’m sure the FFA could give a new license to Wollongong, and they’d get at least those crowds if not more from day 1. Which brings me to my realistic expansion options. For me we can’t go back into Queensland until Townsville is ready again, forget the Gold Coast. Which leaves a 3rd club in Sydney and probably a Canberra or a 3rd club in Victoria as the 12th team. If done properly, a 3rd team in Melbourne can be a success if it’s based in either the western suburbs or the South East or even in Geelong. Apart from those options I think a 2nd NZ side in Auckland, once the Nix future is sorted out, is a very good idea. A Wellington v Auckland derby would be a great proposition and a great addition to the league.

Mid, as you mentioned, we must play to our strengths and we must connect to the massive player base.
I’m not sure who works in marketing at FFA HQ. But I’d start by offering some free passes to junior players, which in turn guarantees either mum or dad has to come along, or both, and the clubs/FFA would make money that way.
As we know, FFA can’t tell junior clubs how much to charge young kids to play the game, but they need to tap into this massive player base. Kids can play Auskick (AFL) for $80 per year, yet the cheapest rate for a 10-14 year old to play football is at least $300. Everybody knows these figures, including the FFA. In my opinion, what they could do is add value to that yearly cost.
Give every kid between 10-15 years old, for example, that’s a registered player at local level a 5 game pass for any game played in his or her home state. For example Johny is 11, he plays for Doncaster Rovers u12’s. Johny automatically gets a 5-game A-league pass, where he can choose when he wants to attend, and which team he wants to watch that seson. Make it just 1 ticket for each game, and that means that he must be accompanied by a parent/guardian/adult to every game.
Something small like this for me would be a start. Need to try something…
Also, the natural progression of the A-league will eventually mean that every junior player will want to go along in years to come.

Good read Mid. We’re almost there but not quite there yet.
While I reckon SBS has done all they can for the game, I’m not sure if a commercial station will come calling just yet.
But if they did, they could take 1 live game per week quite easily. That’s all it would take, and it would grow the game massively. And not necessarily on 7,9 or 10 either. If the A-league had live Friday nights on GO, Gem, OneHD, 7TWO or 7mate it’d be much better than on SBS. You only need to look at the ratings of the NBL on OneHD. I think A-league football would flourish on 1 of these HD secondary channels. Let’s see what the next broadcast agreement brings. I’m predicting a decent uplift, maybe even 100% increase in the last 1.

Luis Figo is a legend of world football. It’d be fantastic to see him win the FIFA presidency for many reasons, but we all know that this just can’t happen! Brown paper bags and back room deals and promises will make sure of that.

Hey Chris,
While we get our own backyard in order and build the A-league, the AFC continues to do the same with their Champions League. Sure it isn’t yet a big drawcard for fans here in Oz, but with the Wanderers winning the tournament last year, that’s bound to have at least some small impact on the crowds from this year onwards. The leagues in Asia are also getting bigger and stronger, particularly in Japan and China, where some former European stars are now making astronomical salaries, just like our Timmy who’s reportedly potentially gonna make nearly $10m a year over there. This will now keep happening and it grows the sport in the region overall.
I predict that in 10 years, the growth of the ACL will be huge, and teams will be getting good coin just for qualifying for the competition, which in turn will give it relevance, much more importance and overall interest in the Oz market, and it’d also help our clubs financially. In Europe, all clubs that make the UCL group stages get between $5-$10m. Let alone win bonuses, and if they keep progressing. I’m Asia we could potentially see in 10 years, that all clubs that qualify for the competition be rewarded $1m or something like that, with big win bonuses and more prizemoney for teams that progress. All this cash would come through TV rights, and with Asia having so many eyeballs, you can see this sort of thing happening.

Thanks for your comments guys.
The bit I had in there about the next TV deal is obviously vitally important for the future of the A-league. And while I’m no clairvoyant, I’m pretty confident that we can get a much better TV deal next time around, whether that’s on Fox only or if some commercial FTA stations, either primary or even secondary channels want to show a game or 2 per week. At the moment the FFA gets circa $40m per year, on a 4 year deal, of this money only $6m yearly is coming in from SBS for all the live Friday night games.
There’s been many figures bandied about in recent times, and while nobody knows exactly how much the game can command, as there’s always a number of variables involved, I’ll be very surprised if the next deal isn’t $60m per year at the very least.

Good article Tony.
But Football has many issues that many people on the outside don’t know about. While the recent successes have been awesome, the internal politics of the code are still massive and need to be sorted out sooner rather than later. There’s many people still involved in the game at state and grassroots levels that are only in it for themselves and to push their own agendas.
If we’re to truly prosper as a sport in Oz we need to sort out where the money from the large fees for kids to play is going. Majority of this money pays for the seniors and this isn’t right. Sometimes some of that money at junior clubs goes into the wrong hands.
Some hard calls need to be made on this by the administration.
Our game has over 1 million registered players, and if you consider that each player pays on average $400-$500 per year, plus with the current TV rights deals in place, all the sponsorship money coming in at all levels of the game, then Football is almost a billion dollar business. Not bad for a sport which is still supposedly the 3rd or 4th biggest football code in the country.
The FFA Cup is growing in stature nicely, and the national NPL comp is a good step forward.
But we still need to connect the top tier of the game to the rest, with maybe a 2nd division set up nationally.

Good article Mid.

I agree that SBS hasn’t done the best job, but they can still improve it. We shouldn’t leave them just yet. Give em a chance!
But I do understand all sides of the coin though, on SBS we could become a stale product, not growing the ratings, and with SBS only chipping in $6m a year. I don’t think they can afford much more than Basheer and co! As the old saying goes… You pay bananas, you get monkeys! All they need to do is scrap half the panel on the coverage, get some fresh blood in, and just take the Fox match commentary feed to save money. The panel needs to be very knowledgeable, but also fun, much like the Fox crew.

As many people have already mentioned, the big 3 FTA channels already have their own high rating summer sports. At best we could get on GO, GEM, 7mate, 7TWO or OneHD. But there’s also a couple of other points that haven’t been discussed on here which will alter all our future TV rights, on any channel.
1. The FFA should get all Socceroos games on the anti-siphoning list, both WCQ and friendlies. The Socceroos do rate well, and would do well on one of the big FTA channels, and this would also build the profile and credibility of the whole sport on FTA. And competitions like the Asian Cup and our new FFA Cup final should also be on this list and played on FTA TV.
2. Expansion, if done correctly in the next 2-3 seasons, should get more coin out of Fox Sports alone, giving the competition 1 more game per week. This would surely increase the value of the next TV rights deal.
3. Higher salary caps and big marquee players – just like we’ve seen in the MLS, investment in top level talent does pay off. The scouting of these players must be spot on, but in the states players like Henry, Keane, Dempsie, Di Vaio, Defoe and many others have worked really well for the league. The better and higher profile of players coming in, the more eyeballs on the product. $$$$
4.Divide the product up to maximise TV revenue. The 1st FFA Cup on Fox was a huge success, this would do well, particularly on SBS, with all the old NSL clubs being involved. We could have A-league and ACL on Fox, the FFA Cup on SBS, and the Socceroos on a commercial FTA station.

I also get the people that still complain about ch7’s history with Football. But if they bid for our game today, I don’t think they could afford to hide it, as they’d have to pay good move for it, not the annual $1m they paid to then Soccer Australia to play games after midnight. We’ve actually now got a product which is worth good money.

I can’t wait for this! Media hasn’t been huge on this, as it’s not on mainstream TV, apart from some delayed games on ABC who’s broke. Once again, it’s not in the mainstream media’s interests to spruik something involving our code, as it doesn’t benefit them!
But that’s life… Self interest and media go hand-in-hand. But I actually think this tournament will do well enough on its own!

The geographical proximity of Australia to the rest of Asia helps, and all the migrants that live here from all those Asian countries will come out in force, regardless if they follow football or not. And they will travel around the country to follow their countymen. It’s exactly how it should be for our Socceroos, it’s not about the sport, it’s about national pride, they should be well-backed and followed by all Aussies, particularly in big tournaments, particularly at this Asian Cup, as it’s being played on our soil.

I’m going on Friday night to the first game, and I’ll probably go and watch Japan at AAMI Park as well, as they’re a quality side and I want to watch them live. I think you’ll obviously see all the Aussie games be well attended, but also all the Japan, China, Korea Republic, Iran & Iraq games have decent attendances as well. Imagine if we had India, Malaysia and the Phillipines in this competition? The crowds would be awesome!

FFA chipped in financially to help the ABC make this happen!
I think they’re fed up of SBS, and want to try something new.
Let’s see how the ratings go…

Waz,
Not many sporting teams in the world make money solely from competing. Not even your EPL giants of Man United or Chelsea make a profit. And every owner in the world knows that, the business of owning a club is not a profitable business, it never has been and it never will be. As to your point about the level of the A-league, I never wrote in my article that I think the A-league is at EPL level. But is it at a much better level today than when it first started? Yes. Is it constantly improving? Yes. Is it a watchable and competitive competition? Yes. And I think those yes answers are good enough for most people, I know they’re good enough for me.
As for depth, the law of numbers suggest that we do have the depth. Football has over 700k registered players nationwide, and out of those I’m sure we can find good young players for the top level. It’s the coaching and scouting that needs an overhaul IMO.

Spot on Stevo, it’ll take 2-3 seasons to completely change over their squad, as sacking players counts against the salary cap for that year, so it’ll take time. On JVS, he is without doubt the most overrated coach in the league, a great player in his time, in a great era for Dutch football, but he’s never done anything as a coach. They really need to get a better coach and change over another 8-10 players. But with their new owners, you know this will happen. And this is a big reason why IMO they will improve and they will attract more fans.

Mid, I think the FFA Cup has shown that there’s plenty of players, particularly good young players, at least enough good depth for 2 more teams in the short term. But I actually think it’s the recruiting and scouting which is really lacking in Oz, at all levels. And we’ve always got good pros that are A-league standard not get a go because of the small number of professional teams. People like Jon McKain, the Griffiths brothers and the like play in Malaysia perhaps not just because of the money, but for the lack of opportunities.
Onto SBS, honestly not fussed if we lose them next time round, business is business. Even if they revert back to bagging the game, their ratings have shown so far that they can’t grow the pie anymore. We’re better off trying a secondary channel, if none of 7, 9 or 10 come calling. But you never know, one of them just might…

I’d agree about this pre the new ownership. But things have changed.
City now has 10,000 members and has mega rich new owners, and by the looks it these owners are willing to pump money.
With a new coach a half a new squad, if they can have some success they will attract more people to their games.
They now finally are bringing something to the A-league and to Football in Melbourne.

They could take the FFA Cup Final to Canberra every year, at Bruce Stadium.
There’s nothing in November/December at Bruce Stadium, it’d work well. Get the government involved.
Work with the airlines to offer cheap flights for the game, and it could be something special.

Thanks for your comments Gareth.
There’s been plenty of talk about ACL spots, and the only reason the A-league hasn’t got anymore spots than the current 2+1 is because there’s only 10 teams in the competition. Once it expands to become a 12-team league, we will be able to get at least the 2 current direct spots plus possibly 2 playoff spots or a 3+1 scenario. And if the FFA Cup finishes in November next year, there’s no reason that the winner can’t go straight into the next ACL which starts in February 2016.

In regards to the TV deal, I think part of the reason the commercial stations have stayed away from Football is because it is a continuous sport with no in-game breaks. And there’s no way they can tamper with that, otherwise they’ll damage the spectacle. Our game is not made for breaks. You’re spot on about increased sponsorship though, that’s what it would do for the A-league, even if it was put on the secondary mainstream channels. In my opinion, as soon as we get a bigger TV deal, squad sizes should increase from 23 to 30 to cope with more games, and the salary cap should increase another $500k or $1m to reflect that. And, if the FFA can get a great next deal of $80m annually or more, it should look at offering an extra $1m per team as a Marquee Salary bonus. This way all clubs can have well paid, overseas marquee players. And if a club wants to pay a star $2m-$3m per season, they can put in the difference.

Good article Deb.
I’m also convinced that the Wanderers will come home with a wet sail. Their depth is fantastic this season.
Brisbane however on the other hand, are done and dusted as far as I’m concerned. Not the worst team in the comp, but without a goal scorer that gets you 10-15 goals per season, they’ll be touch and go to make the top 6 for me.
IMO the top 6 teams in this comp are Victory, Adelaide, Sydney FC, Perth, the Wanderers and Wellington. The Newcastle Jets and Central Coast will finish bottom 2, and both their coaches will get the chop by seasons end. City will come home strong, probably too late, as they have no depth, 1 injury to one of their better players and they’re struggling. And Brisbane will finish just out of the 6.

I think Gallop has been the best to date for Football.

We must remember, that CEO’s are basically sales people. Their job is to sell the game to broadcasters, sponsors, the government and to the general public. To all those people, what they need to sell is both hype and hope. On all these sales ‘measures’ DG has delivered like nobody else ever has. Sure the TV deal was probably 3/4 done by the time he stepped in, but the fact that Ben Buckley had to go, just as he was about to get us a good TV deal, shows that he wasn’t up to the top job, good TV deal or not. From a business perspective, its actually a poor reflection on him more than anything else IMO.
He was a terrible public speaker, and as I alluded, he might’ve done some great things for the code behind the scenes, but back then the sport needed to be sold more than ever. It’s still does today to keep growing, but it’s on a much surer footing these days.
DG still has some massive challenges, people mention the Socceroos major sponsor, and it’s a valid point. But I think that’s more a case of the FFA not wanting to undersell the Socceroos brand rather than not having any offers/interest. They held out for a certain price, and they didn’t get what they wanted. Should they have negotiated and got a lesser figure? Perhaps.
Promotion/relegation will come one day, but that’s at least a decade away if not 2.

IMO our game still has much to do, but more in the background rather than the top level. I think the A-league will keep growing naturally, and expansion, if done well should help with growth at the top level. The FFA Cup will also keep growing, it’s done brilliantly already, but it’ll become massive in time.

It’s at grassroots and with member/state federations where the majority of the issues lie. IMO the state and member federations are a hinderance to the FFA, and their own agendas have always got in the way of the game’s best interests.
The next step is for the FFA to abolish the state federations so that all future changes they need to make are implemented quickly, with minimal fuss and without people getting in the way of the development of the game. These changes could be the new curriculums, coaching etc.
FFA is better off running the game with a top-down approach, where they have full control of the sport, not through intermediaries like the states.

Let’s waste $30m from taxpayers money to get 3 games played up there per year! What a disgrace!
There’s plenty of better and more important things they can spend that money on in Ballarat.

The AFL did not build the stadium, nor does it own it, not until 2025. It’s owned by a management fund group at the moment, which probably has many AFL links. If the AFL owned the ground today, we wouldn’t be having these discussions, nor would it have made all the headlines in the media.

The state government has signed a deal with Etihad, that no stadium can be built in the City with over 35k capacity, so Etihad can’t lose certain games, and guarantee their games and events.
However, once the AFL take over the stadium in 2025 or if they buy it out earlier, surely any existing contracts in place to do with the stadium become null and void. But still, the roof at AAMI is apparently ridiculously expensive to remove, and it was a genius idea to put that on. It now starts to stifle the game’s growth, especially with Victory with 23,500 members.

There’s a few myths flying around here about this, so here are the facts;

– the AFL has first right to Etihad to book in their dates
– the AFL doesn’t own the stadium, it’s run by to mixture of government and private ownership
– the A-league GF was supposed to be played on the 10th May
– because of the Wanderers playing and winning the ACL Final, the season had to be to extended, meaning a 17th May GF
– AFL says they were told about the date changes in the last month, and too late to change their fixture
– FFA says they informed the stadium 2 months ago, as soon as they found out
– the AFL says it had already accommodated their draw to give the A-league stadium availability on the 10th May, the original date
– but looking at the 2015 AFL draw, they’ve booked a game at Etihad on Sunday 10th May

Not sure what will happen here, but if a Melbourne side gets to host the game, surely the VIC state government wants the GF in Melbourne if they get it. The AFL game at Etihad on Sunday the 17th May is Western Bulldogs v Fremantle, an absolute blockbuster of a game that’ll get 20k or so. Surely common sense will prevail here.