Concern growing over bids to FFA

CONCERNS are growing among some A-League expansion bidders that Football Federation Australia will opt for the consortiums that pledge the most money upfront, after several were advised to offer higher bids by FFA’s corporate advisers.

But A-League bosses insist that all bids which are deemed financially viable will be assessed on their merits when the final decision is made next month.

With the governing body’s new board poised to rubberstamp the addition of two new teams for next season at its first meeting on December 12, FFA management will recommend two of six bids whose offers are understood to span a broad range in value from $10m to $20m.

All bidders have been told that the licence fees they pay will have to cover all of the running costs of the new teams for the four years until a new broadcast deal is signed, though FFA will receive a small amount more from its current TV deal in two years’ time if the league has expanded.

For the bidders, that amounts to some $12m for the salary cap plus extra for flights and other running costs, as well as an extra margin as contingency funding in case the new clubs run into trouble.

Some expansion bidders are believed to have offered an added premium in the hope of securing a licence, while others have been asked if they can raise their bids.

A-League boss Greg O’Rourke said that FFA and expansion bid adviser Deloitte would take all of the criteria set for the bidders into account when making their decision, though he was unapologetic that each would have to be financially self-sustaining.