I'm as concerned as anyone that, unless things turn around dramatically in the next three years (and the GF decision isn't helping), the next TV deal is going to be a massive cold shower for the APL.

But I would say that international ownership groups aren't focussed so much on broadcast income. They'd more be looking to harvest players and on-sell them to overseas clubs. Which to be frank A-League clubs could get a lot better at doing. Our players have tended to be criminally under-valued, for a variety of reasons, including the absence of domestic transfers, prevalence of short-term contracts, a short season in the summer heat with relatively few games and the absence of relegation meaning the stakes of games are low. But it's also down to clubs not understanding well how the international transfer market works, and so they're just leaving money on the table.

Fortunately this seems to be changing of late, e.g. Melbourne City getting $2m for Bos. If more internationally-owned clubs invest in academies, sell players to Europe for decent coin and then invest the proceeds back into the game, then that is a good thing for the league. It's an income stream the other codes don't have and can enable the A-League to close the gap with them financially.

MLS, incidentally, was in the same boat but they're starting to learn how to work the transfer market. Almiron sold from Atlanta to Newcastle for £20m, and Castellanos looks like he will be going for €15m to Benfica (from New York City). We might not be able to command those kinds of fees but if clubs can start selling players for millions rather than hundreds of thousands that can make a big difference to their bottom line.

What's going on with Canberra?

What's going on with Canberra?

Told everyone already, ACT Gov doesn't want anything here but AFL, so they're dragging their feet on any government support, and the Canberra team ain't happening without a bit of input from them.