A-League Allegedly toPost Overall Loss This Season

A-League Allegedly toPost Overall Loss This Season

(but MVFC to post profit - Hi HN! :)

ALSO: Note the journo (Ray Gatt) is famous for being negative in the media about the game here, so make of that what you will.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/fury-owner-bows-out-as-a-league-stares-at-20m-debt/story-e6frg7mf-1225836723145

FOOTBALL Federation Australia is staring into a $20 million black hole as concerns grow over the financial viability of the A-League competition.

The sobering news comes on top of reports that North Queensland Fury owner Don Matheson is scaling down his investment with the fledgling club amid suggestions he is bleeding as much as $50,000 a week.

FFA is monitoring the Fury situation and will meet today and tomorrow with Matheson, who is trying to turn the club into a community-based entity.

Matheson, a golf course entrepreneur, has been the heart and soul of the club since it was admitted, along with Gold Coast United, into an expanded 10-team A-League at the start of the season.

Despite financial support from the FFA, believed to be about $1.5m, Matheson has struggled to keep the Fury afloat after disappointing crowd attendances and gate revenue.

North Queensland had budgeted on average home attendances of 8000 but only reached that figure twice in 12 matches at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Matheson struck problems from the start of Fury's existence with an investor walking out in the early stages.

The Fury's plight has only served to cast a worrying shadow on the state of the A-League, which is about to end its fifth season. The eight clubs that made up last season's competition lost a combined $12m, or $1.5m each on average. That figure is expected to balloon with the 10 clubs likely to record a combined loss of about $20m.

While acknowledging there would be a huge loss, an upbeat A-League chief Archie Fraser said the FFA was not overly concerned.

"The figures have to be put into perspective," Fraser said. "Some $16m of that loss comes from just three clubs -- Sydney FC will lose between $5m-$7m and Gold Coast and North Queensland around $5m each.

"Look, there is no doubt we have to get the model right. Some clubs are doing better than others. Melbourne (Victory) will make a small profit and while Adelaide United will lose around $1.3m, we are happy with the progress being made there."

Most clubs are in some sort of financial stress with FFA forced to dig deep into its already limited funds to help keep several afloat.

Last season's beaten grand finalist Adelaide has been without an owner since the FFA took over the licence in May, 2008. The head body is contributing $1.5m to the running of the club.

Brisbane Roar, which had a massive drop in crowds this season, has also received close to $1.5m, while FFA provided $300,000 midway through the season to Gold Coast United and $300,000 to the Central Coast Mariners.

The grim bottom line has been exacerbated by the fact the competition was forced to kick off three weeks earlier than usual last August and fell victim to poor scheduling and having to compete with the NRL and AFL finals. As a result, attendances suffered badly.

However, crowds picked up during the concluding stages of the regular season and have carried over to the finals.

Sunday's minor semi-final between Wellington Phoenix and Newcastle Jets in Wellington and the return leg of the major semi-final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Football Stadium are expected to draw a combined crowd of more than 65,000.

The Phoenix has already sold out the 35,000 capacity Westpac Stadium for its game to go on top of its record attendance (24,728) for the first semi-final win against Perth Glory, while officials are tipping more than 30,000 for a game that will determine whether Melbourne or Sydney goes straight in to the grand final on March 20.

diego's son2010-03-04 12:22:07

Yet they continue to expand?

How can Sydney lose that much?
What do they spend that on?

I think expansion makes sense, in that they need to take a few risks as to where a team might take off. For example Sydney Rovers might pull in a huge crowd, meaning they can ditch the Furries and not worry.

the sydney losses seem ridiculous. other than aloisi, their player costs should be the same as everyone else including us and they must generate heaps more in gate, merchandise and sponsorships than most. SFS must cost a fortune to hire or they have an army of overpaid physios and dieticians

Players salaries aren't the much more then ours. Aloisi is obviously up there though.
Other than supplying each supporter with a gram of crack each game. Losing that amount of money is a disaster.

Well when Melbourne Heart and Sydney Rover start, they should be decent rivalry and it would make up in profits with an overall increase in numbers. Either that or the revenue is halved because the supporters moved across and now there are more expenses and they are all in trouble. We live in interesting time ahead.

Sydney have been bad spenders since day one. That's why I think they had to get rid of Yorke and Littbarski back in the day after they won.

Not sure about rent at the SFS but I'm pretty confident that Sydney has not made money since day 1.

Juninho would have cost them money as well in Season 3 ($1 million from memory).

Ray Gatt is the most negative bastard that writes on football.

I did warn everyone at the top of the first post here about this. But reinforcement's Ok, that's good.