Australian Professional Leagues Face Financial TurbulenceAustralian Professional Leagues Face Financial Turbulence The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) have announced a significant reduction in central distribution to clubs for the 2024/25 season. The distribution will be cut by almost 75%, dropping from $2 million to $530,000. This has raised concerns among clubs, which must now find ways to cover the shortfall in player salaries and other expenses. While wealthier clubs like Melbourne City may be able to adjust, smaller clubs face a financial crisis. The APL claims that clubs are aware of the challenges ahead but have not expressed any concerns that would lead to their closure. APL chairman Stephen Conroy assures that clubs will be able to meet the minimum salary requirements despite the cutbacks. However, the APL has faced significant financial setbacks in recent years, including overspending and the loss of funds due to the collapse of broadcast production partner Global Advance. This has made it difficult to support clubs financially. Clubs have requested the Football Australia (FA) to intervene and take a more active role in the governance of the A-Leagues. While a full reunion is unlikely, Conroy suggests that collaboration in areas such as travel and content creation could help reduce costs. The APL aims to secure a new production company and add a Canberra ALM team for the 2025/26 season. However, the financial challenges facing clubs could hinder these ambitions.
The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) are optimistic all A-Leagues clubs will survive a fresh wave of financial turmoil after being told their central distribution will be cut by almost 75 per cent for the 2024/25 season.
Clubs were informed following an APL board meeting on Wednesday that next year’s distribution from the head office will total just $530,000, down from the nearly $2 million handed out last season.
In 2018, before the split from Football Australia, the annual club payout was almost $3.6 million.
The minimum salary amount that clubs must spend in the A-League Men is $2.25 million and the salary cap is $2.6 million.
Wealthier clubs such as Melbourne City may be able to fill the gaps, but the smaller clubs have little financial prospect of covering the nearly $1.5 million shortfall.
Clubs have told AAP that they are bracing themselves for possible cuts in the already limited departments on and off the field.
APL chairman Stephen Conroy said the reduction in central distribution would not come as a shock to clubs, even though they expect to face significant challenges in the coming financial year.
“While clubs are clearly affected by the scale of this reduction, no one at the meeting indicated that they had any problem with it,” Conroy said.
“I can only tell you what they told us.
“They clearly weren’t dancing, but nobody said, ‘This is it, we’re closing the doors.’”
Conroy claimed no club would have any problem meeting the ALM minimum salary despite the benefit cuts coming amid a turbulent year for Australia’s elite football leagues.
APL was forced to make major cuts at its headquarters due to overspending on its digital arm KEEPUP and the burning of $140 million raised from private equity firm Silver Lake.
Conroy would not reveal whether Silver Lake would be able to recover that amount, but did say the American investment firm has a “strong” interest in the direction the A-Leagues take.
Other undertakings, such as keeping Perth Glory afloat, the delay in receiving expansion fees from a Canberra ALM team and the collapse of broadcast production partner Global Advance, have also hampered the A-Leagues’ prosperity since independence from Football Australia in 2020.
The TV deal with Network Ten, which retains the rights to the competition until the end of the 2025-26 season, comes with targets the A-Leagues must meet to secure funding from their broadcast partner.
“The competition was running too fast and spending too much money,” Conroy said.
“There is simply no possibility of using a capital reserve to finance losses.”
As AAP reported last month, clubs have privately asked the FA to take a more active role in the governance of the A-Leagues.
Conroy said there was little appetite for a full reunion, but he did indicate that further alliance could be possible to reduce costs in areas such as travel and content creation.
“We’re in discussions with them about a number of work streams in terms of shared services,” Conroy said.
“They (the FA) want the competition to be successful because they understand that a strong A-League means a strong pipeline for the Matildas and the Socceroos.”
A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia said the APL hoped to strike a deal with a new production company and have a Canberra ALM team join the competition for the 2025/26 season.
