A-League club owners launch ‘100 days’ blueprint to kickstart competition’s renewal
Player transfers between clubs, a brand new Community Shield-style season opener and a 16-team expansion pathway is all part of an A-League ‘reboot’ to revitalise the competition.
A-League club owners have begun a “first 100 days” blitz to revolutionise the way the competition is marketed and run, with widespread investment promised to combat sliding ratings and attendances.
After years spent wresting control of their own competition from Football Federation Australia, owners revealed plans to hitting the ground running with transfers between clubs, prize money for successful teams, a 16-team expansion plan and — most immediately — a digital-led campaign to drive awareness among sports fans.
The plans were presented to CEOs, coaches and staff of the clubs at a two-day summit in Double Bay.
Officials described the owners’ presentation as “evangelical” in underlining the urgent need to combat the sense of inertia that has gripped the competition for the past two years.
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The 100 days appears to spring from the August 1 date that the clubs effectively began running the league through to the early rounds of the new season, with promises from the owners of immediate spending on higher quality digital engagement, and mimicking ticketing strategies used in other codes successfully via social media campaigns.
Club officials said the presentation, led by Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow and Melbourne City vice chairman Simon Pearce, plotted a pathway into the future to include a 16-team competition via a regionally targeted expansion plan and an international “roadshow” seeking fresh investment.
The competition has had 10 teams since 2012 but welcomes an 11th club, Western United, this coming season, with Macarthur United joining the season after.
All footballing elements of the A-League are up for discussion in the new model, the owners said, with the salary cap under review and consideration of prize money being awarded based on performance.
The minor premiers would get a share of that, while a season opener inspired by England’s Community Shield would pit the minor premiers against the champions. A “sinking fund” would be established to support clubs struggling financially.
Much of the presentation compared the A-League with leagues overseas in benchmarks from attendances to squad value, with the owners making clear they expect their plans to quickly reverse Australia’s decline compared with other countries.
The new strategy was presented as a reboot of the competition, with coaches and football staff told that the league will try to innovate with both its broadcast access and its rules, aiming to be a competition that allows FIFA to trial initiatives — as it did with VAR.
Under the agreement reached in June between the clubs and the member federations that run the game at grassroots level, the clubs will pay a percentage of their broadcast revenue to FFA each year to be allowed to run their own competition, though not for the first four seasons.
Much of the blueprint echoes the establishment of the English Premier League, including the competition’s referees being spun off into a separate body independent of the clubs and FFA.
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