Lack of prizemoney at home and in Asian Champions League still holding back A-League clubs

The financial rewards for success in the A-League and Asian Champions League are small to non-existent, which is a major concern for Australian clubs.

• Squad overhaul critical to Mariners’ revival
• Sydney cop Brosque blow for ACL clash

Their season is fast approaching the moment of truth, with pride and prestige on the line for Sydney FC … and not a lot else.

Assured of finishing second on the A-League ladder, the Sky Blues are one game from the grand final — and before then, are chasing a win in Shanghai on Tuesday night to reignite their Asian Champions League campaign.

But direct tangible rewards will be small to non-existent, highlighting a major part of the resource issue facing Australian clubs.

There never has been prizemoney in the A-League.

Each club gets an equal central grant, though it’s believed some owners want to canvas the idea of introducing some success-based criteria when the independent A-League gets greater resources from next season.

Milos Ninkovic has been a key cog in Sydney FC’s attack this season. Picture: AAP

Competing in the ACL isn’t quite as reward-free but only just, unless you make it through to the semi-finals. Despite a substantial increase in prizemoney from last year in the Asian Champions League, it remains massively weighted towards the business end of the competition.

The Asian Football Confederation likes to claim the ACL is the second most lucrative competition after the UEFA Champions League, but there is daylight between them.

Clubs in Europe that qualify for the lowest round in the Champions League, the first play-offs, but lose, get $8 million. Teams that reach the group stage get $24m.

Compare that with the “rewards” on offer in the ACL for a team like Sydney, which qualified directly for the group stage by winning the Premiers’ Plate. Having earned two points so far, Sydney have accrued $28,000 from three games.

Had they held on to a 3-2 lead against Shanghai SIPG a fortnight ago, one of those draws would have been worth $70,000 as a win.

Sydney take their ACL roadshow to China this week.

Should Sydney win two of their remaining three games, realistically the minimum they would need to reach the last 16, their prizemoney would be about $308,000, including $140,000 for qualifying from the group. That overall figure is about the cost of one above-average player in the salary cap.

The quarter-finals are worth another $210,000 and the semi-finals a further $350,000, plus the same match bonuses as the group stage — still meagre sums in the financial context of Asian football.

That’s all quite apart from the costs of participating, which have gone up in recent years. Sydney FC estimate it costs them some $100,000 to host a game in the ACL. There are such tight controls on marketing from the AFC that recouping any substantial amount from ticket sales is a forlorn hope.

Teams do get a $84,000 contribution towards their travel costs for away fixtures, but that effectively covers economy class flights for the squad and officials.

Some teams upgrade their players — Sydney send their squad to away ACL games in premium economy where possible, and the starting XI usually return in business class, all of which adds some $120,000 to their group-stage travel bill.

The hope for the future is the up to $5.6 billion commercial deal signed by the AFC with marketing giant DDMC Fortis from 2021. With it will come the promise of greater ACL prizemoney. Clubs will hope that just participating will become a more attractive proposition.

SLIM PICKINGS

A-LEAGUE

Champion: $0

Premier: $0

ACL

Qualifying for group stage: $0

Group stage win/draw: $50k/$10k

Reaching last 16: $100k

Reaching last 8: $150k

Reaching semi-finals: $250k

Runner-up: $2m

Winner: $4m

*All figures US$

Originally published as Lack of prizemoney at home and in Asian Champions League still holding back A-League clubs