Sydney FC CEO backs APL’s brutal funding cuts and says big growth will follow
Sydney FC CEO Mark Aubrey has revealed the impact of the APL’s brutal funding cuts and what the future looks like.
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Sydney FC CEO Mark Aubrey says his club, like most in the A-League, is in for a rough 12 months following the APL’s drastic cost cutting but “tremendous growth” is on the cards when the Sky Blues have battled through it.
“There is broad acknowledgment that the strategy the APL took wasn’t working,” Aubrey said.
“So at some point you have to bite the bullet and instead of putting good money after bad, pivot on the strategy. That is what they’ve done now.”
The drastic funding cut is the latest in a growing list of APL cost-cutting measures.
In January, it made half its workforce redundant, axed its digital arm KeepUP and cancelled the lavish end-of-season awards night.
Aubrey said they were all steps in the right direction.
“It is the right strategy,” he said. “They need to focus on football, on fan engagement opportunities and the growth of the women’s game, which is a huge opportunity.
“Having those things at the centre of the growth strategy is the right thing to do.
“If you are driving additional people to stadiums, driving additional eyeballs on to TV, then you’re increasing the broadcast revenues and you start the process of growth around the game.”
Aubrey said the APL had given clubs a heads that cuts were coming.
“The key for us was there was a fair bit of transparency from the APL that we were probably going to be looking at something like this,” he said.
“This is probably at the lower end of what we were expecting but we were given a range so, while not ideal, it is the strategic pivot that the code and the league needed.”
Aubrey said the loss of funds, which now cover just a quarter of the men’s salary cap, would lead to some belt tightening but being forewarned meant plans had been made in the budget.
“It’s tough short term,’’ he said. “It’s tough short term for the APL and it is certainly tough short term for the clubs.
“But there is such a strong opportunity ahead for football. The growth of the women’s game is enormous, the Matildas are selling out stadiums within minutes. It’s awesome.
“As a code we need to be aligned right up and down the football pyramid from FA through the APL, through the clubs and even community football to really maximise the opportunity.
“Putting football in the centre of the strategy is the way to go about that and I think that is what the APL is doing.”
THE FUTURE
Aubrey said big growth was possible.
APL dramas aside, the league is not dwindling.
Memberships have hit records, while crowd numbers and viewership are also on the rise.
“The numbers are great,” Aubrey said. “Our women’s crowds and memberships are up, there are a lot of green shoots there that we can focus on.”
Football transfer fees from both the men’s and women’s leagues have also broken records.
Aubrey said transfers and the influx of youth academy players would provide clubs with a way to claw back some funds during the next 12 to 18 months.
“That is one of the benefits of football being the world game,” Aubrey said.
“Innovative clubs, particularly like ours, we’ve got strong academies across our men’s and women’s.
“We had a record transfer this year with Jake Girdwood-Reich going to the MLS in America.
“So that is an additional revenue stream.
“I think this will force clubs to be innovative around these types of things, not just in terms of transfers but other areas off the pitch as well in terms of fan engagement and holiday clinics and community outreach and other opportunities to generate additional revenue for the club.”
SOLUTION
There is no quick fix. It is going to take 12 to 18 months for the APL to complete its reset and the clubs to benefit.
Aubrey said one element that needed to be addressed was the broadcast deal.
It is part of the reason the APL had a much smaller pot of cash to dish out through its central distribution fund.
The APL is locked into a deal with Network 10/Paramount until the end of the 2025-26 season.
“I think in any sport the success of it is underpinned by a strong broadcast deal,” Aubrey said.
“It’s not the be all and end all. There are other areas in terms of your match-day experience and fan engagement but the financial viability of any sport is underpinned by a strong broadcast deal, so that will be crucial for us.”
The fact just two matches are on free to air, often on a secondary channel and the women’s matches only available via 10Play, doesn’t give the A-Leagues a great deal of visibility.
“The key for us is that there is this visibility problem that we need to fix,” Aubrey said.
“The financial models underwriting the clubs are super difficult. This is something that we need to solve together That will be the clubs, that will be the APL and that will be the FA.”
THE WOMEN’S GAME
Sydney FC had record crowds at its women’s games this season – bolstered by the presence of Matildas hero Cortnee Vine.
Aubrey said the women’s game was a hugely untapped market in Australia.
“We are barely scratching the surface,” he said.
He said the increase in crowd numbers, viewerships and memberships “were huge”.
Aubrey said with the right strategy and ambition there was no reason Australia couldn’t produce a domestic league to rival the WSL or NWSL competitions.
“When we look at the women’s game, Australia is producing world-class footballers that are playing in the best leagues in the world,” he said.
“We could bring more of the Matildas home. There is an enormous opportunity for us here.”
FA’S INVOLVEMENT
There have been rumours that club owners are calling for Football Australia to take back control of the A-Leagues from the APL.
The APL took charge at the end of 2020. Football Australia maintains a share of the business.
Aubrey said the light at the end of the 12-month long tunnel would be a lot brighter if the APL and Football Australia were closer aligned.
“There is tremendous growth ahead of us and the key is alignment,” Aubrey said.
“The way football in this country operates at times can be fractured and I think to maximise this opportunity we need to be operating in lock step.
“I don’t see any environment where a closer alignment and working relationship between the APL and the FA is not a good thing.
“I don’t know what that looks like, whether it is the FA being formally involved again or whether it is just a closer working relationship.”
Aubrey said the future Socceroos and Matildas would be built in the A-Leagues and it was in Football Australia’s interests for there to be a strong professional pathway.
“There is a lot of positive sentiment and language being used by both sides and I just think we need to make it happen,” Aubrey said.
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