By Squidley - 28 Dec 2022 9:48 PM
Clearly the A-league in its current state is not sustainable. With the news over the last 24 hours that the biggest club in the league, MVFC owes the APLS in excess of $2 million, the main question is what do the balance sheets of the other clubs look like. Off field is an absolute mess.
Crowds are dead set laughable. Of the 17 completed games since the post world cup restart, only 6 have attracted a crowd of over 5000.
The league just hasn't been able to sustain its market. It has been comfortably overtaken by the NBL in the summer timeslot, and the Big bash has also attracted bigger crowds this season.
My suggestion is to take stock of the league at seasons end. What does this mean? It means the following:
- Fast track the second division
- Fast track promotion/relegation to begin in season 2024/2025
- Assess all options to get out of the Paramount Plus deal - It is comfortably the worst in Australia Sport. Go back to Foxtel hat in hand if need be.
- Fast track suitable stadiums for all teams. Melbourne City, Brisbane Roar, Wellington Phoenix, Newcastle Jets and clearly Western United (about to be rectified) all need new stadiums. One of the greatest attractions to the MLS at the moment is that each new franchise must have a brand new stadium. People wan to go to those stadiums. Playing in old dilapidated stadiums is not attractive.
- All teams must have a viable ownership structure heading into 2023/2024 - If not, they drop out of the competition
- Remove salary cap. This is imperative to attract talent to the league. No marquees will be looking at the league as a potential destination at the moment. $ talks
- Only play at night in December/January. This assists with the quality of the games throughout the hotter months, as well as assisting with crowds
If some or all of these items are not implemented throughout 2023 then the next season will be the last of the A-league as we know it. I cant see how it can possibly survive.
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By Davide82 - 12 Jan 2023 9:47 AM
+x+x+xSpeaking of investment, we've now had cumulative losses of around $400 million across 18 years of the A-League's existence. That's some serious investment, and completely unsustainable. The one thing we've learned across those 18 years? Yet investors are still there. Some leave, some come in but the league and teams are still there. Any time a new license is for sale it gets sold (to unworthy entities, sure) Newcastle Jets say hello.
I meant for a new team ie. a new license
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