A-League clubs "should soon be able to start budgeting for next season," with Football Federation Australia to "finally provide annual grants from the broadcast deal," according to Dominic Bossi of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. A "high-profile" meeting between club owners and FFA will take place at 11am on Tuesday when the governing body is set to provide its "biggest indication yet on what the clubs should receive from the new broadcast deal." Until now, owners "have been kept in the dark" as to what their share of the A$56M ($42.2M)-a-year new TV deal with Fox Sports will be. For the first time in the competition's history, FFA will "provide clubs with a greater windfall than the value of the salary cap" but it still is not likely to be "enough of a grant to appease many owners." With the A-League salary cap set to rise from A$2.6M ($1.96M) a season to about A$2.92M ($2.2M), sources suggest clubs are "likely to receive a figure" of about A$3.3M ($2.5M). However, such a value "would fall short of the clubs' demands," which are understood to be a minimum of A$1M ($750,000) on top of the value of the A-League salary cap. FFA is "reportedly in talks with ABC to sell the free-to-air component of the deal," after major networks declined to purchase the rights and contribute to the production costs of covering the competition. FFA is "also in the process of selling the A-League digital rights and the overseas broadcast rights" (SMH, 5/1).
