A lot of detail in the following Herald Sun article with dates for the expansion.. well past what has been talked about ... one and a half years away..
The following article sits behind a paywall so I have copied
it in part…
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-expansion-plans-revealed-with-two-new-teams-to-join-in-201819/news-story/bc654d06b2b6e24ea013dfd84878073f
A-League expansion plans
revealed with two new teams to join in 2018-19
DAVID DAVUTOVIC, Herald Sun
December 5, 2016 9:00pm
Subscriber only
AT least two new
teams are set to join the A-League in 2018-19, with league chief Greg O’Rourke
confirming that the expansion blueprint will be unveiled in February.
Meanwhile a new
A-League broadcast deal is edging closer with Thursday the deadline for
broadcasters to submit their tender documents.
FFA has spent the
past two months negotiating and it’s understood that most Free-to-Air networks
along with Optus and Bein Sports have expressed interest in broadcasting
A-League from next season.
Fox Sports has last
rights under the terms of the current $40m-a-year deal, with FFA hopeful the
new deal will hit the $80m mark
Expansion
is intertwined with TV negotiations, with FFA advising network executives to
submit an additional figure for a 12-team competition in addition to a bid for
the current 10-team rights.
FFA
refused to comment on TV negotiations, but O’Rourke said FFA was investigating
how and when the A-League could house 14-18 teams.
“The
FFA have got a shortlist of consultants that we are talking to regarding the
project scope which will help us build the framework,’’ O’Rourke said.
“We
expect that that framework will be ready to put to board in February and if
that’s approved it will form the guidelines to add an A-League team to an
expanded competition with a view to this coming in the second year of the deal
of broadcast, 2018-19.
“Our
primary focus will be on the expansion of the A-League over the next 5-7 years
and primarily focused on what is the right number of teams and what are the
right geographies.
“That’s
not to suggest that inter-dependencies of future promotion and relegation or a
second division will be ignored but it won’t be primary focus.’’
No less
than 10 clubs/consortiums want to join the A-League, with TV executives prefer
expansion into bigger markets.
South
Melbourne officials met with FFA last week while a joint Sutherland-St George-Illawarra
bid is likely to be submitted, with further bids from Victoria, Brisbane and
Tasmania set to be formally submitted.
O’Rourke
said no bids would be rushed through before the strategy was revealed.
“Any
meetings prior to the framework being finalized and the board approving it are
more about being respectful and wanting to listen to interested parties who
want to ask questions. It’s not about having detailed discussions,’’ he said.
“The
FFA doesn’t want potential aspirants to spend time and money putting together a
proposal and talking to government in a formal way, until they have a clarity
of what is required.
“We
have been saying for sometime that any new team in the A-League will need to
add value for all existing stakeholders.’’