By scott21 - 19 Dec 2016 7:33 PM
A-League clubs want bigger slice of new broadcast deal, with free-to-air component yet to be finalised
AUSTRALIAN football’s new $65 million-a-year broadcast deal is likely to spark an arm-wrestle over how the new cash is spent, with clubs and players jostling for an improved share of the TV money.
As the players union warned that the competition’s salary cap couldn’t be taken for granted, negotiations to find a new home for the A-League on free-to-air TV are likely to go to the wire, with TV networks and Football Federation Australia waiting to see the outcome of the Big Bash TV deal early next year.
A separate deal to confirm Fox Sports as the A-League’s major broadcast partner, believed to be worth some $50 million a year, could be announced as early as Tuesday, as A-League bosses try to give their club owners surety about a rise in income next season.
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FFA CEO David Gallop is expected to announce the new deal soon. (Christopher Pearce/Getty Images)
FFA CEO David Gallop is expected to announce the new deal soon. (Christopher Pearce/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images
In what will be seen as a game of brinkmanship, the free-to-air component of the new broadcast deal will be held off until the new year, with Football Federation Australia hoping that the networks that miss out on the T20 cricket deal will then spend their warchests on football.
FFA hopes that FTA deal, plus digital rights, will add some $15m a year, giving the game an increase of nearly two-thirds on the current $40 million a year — though short of the doubling that former FFA chairman Frank Lowy had previously targeted.
A-League clubs have already made clear their expectations that the distribution of money they get from FFA must rise by more than the salary cap, to give them more financial support.
But players union boss John Didulica warned that his members could not be expected to sign up to one of the world’s few salary-capped competitions indefinitely, with the current pay deal due to be renegotiated in 2018.
“An agreement to a salary cap in football is never an absolute and cannot be taken for granted,’’ Didulica said.
“Consent to wage restraint is always dependent on a number of factors. It works hand-in-hand with having sustainable clubs that are exceptionally well managed, having some measure of job security for players, an assurance that agreed entitlements will be paid, suitable funds being set aside to support players who are transitioning out of the sport.
“Beyond that, we are part of a global sport. If we want to attract and retain the best players to drive the sport forward, we need to be ambitious with our thinking.”
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PFA boss John Didulica believes the salary cap is not set in stone.
PFA boss John Didulica believes the salary cap is not set in stone.Source:News Limited
The union will have a far bigger say in how the game is being run when it has a presence on the Football Federation Australia general assembly, which votes in the FFA board. FIFA is likely to force FFA to lift the assembly number from 10 to 18 in March.
The A-League’s $2.65 million-dollar cap is already something of a nominal figure as most clubs take advantage of exemption clauses and marquee opportunities.
Melbourne City spends more than $9 million on its 23-26 man squad, Sydney FC almost $6 million and Melbourne Victory more than $5 million.
Major League Soccer in the US is the only other notable soccer league to have a salary cap. Cup year — have resulted in soccer wages surging past those in the AFL.
Originally published as A-League clubs want more of TV cash
http://www.news.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-clubs-want-bigger-slice-of-new-broadcast-deal-with-freetoair-component-yet-to-be-finalised/news-story/afd489ca8cb90ec94676e51490211ff6
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By stryker - 20 Dec 2016 4:59 AM
If some of these tv executives still have an ounce of a brain in there heads they would get in now while the game is still relatively cheap to invest . Its the game with the potential to grow more than any other sport and in ten years time they might regret the decision they didnt make ten years before!
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