The HUGE bust that led A-League to make a $10 million deal to sell its grand final to Sydney

A lack of A-League fan registrations for Paramount+ is why grand finals will be played in Sydney for the next three years, it has been reported.

Last season, a five-year, $200 million broadcast deal was signed with Network 10 and Paramount+ – but a key clause in the contract revealed that a certain number of subscriptions for A-League coverage on Paramount+ was integral.

Once those targets were not met, the flow-through effect reduced the money going to the A-League and its clubs, forcing Australian Professional Leagues CEO Danny Townsend to chase after a deal of at least $10 million with Destination NSW, the The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

When Townsend announced the deal on Monday, many football fans, players and clubs were stunned.

The reaction was fierce, with Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory supporters planning to leave this weekend’s derby at AAMI Park in protest.

Adelaide United skipper Craig Goodwin appeared in a video promoting the Destination NSW deal in the wake of the decision, but did not support the outcome

Sydney FC’s main supporters group, The Cove, have announced they will not be attending this Saturday’s game against the Central Coast Mariners, while their fans in Gosford on NSW’s central coast will boycott finals series matches for the next three seasons .

Brisbane fans have also pledged to protest on December 23 when they host the Wanderers at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe – and Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro stepped down as director of the APL this week following Sydney’s grand final announcement.

However, not all clubs opposed the Destination NSW deal.

Western Sydney Wanderers chairman Paul Lederer, who also heads the board of the APL, admitted that the commercial realities for football in Australia are confronting and praised Townsend for thinking outside the square.

“We have just experienced two of the worst years in football history due to the impact of the global pandemic,” Lederer said in a statement this week.

“This unprecedented global event (Covid-19) has affected our community as a whole and decimated the livelihoods of professional football clubs.

“This major final agreement creates a necessary step to ensure our game has a sustainable future.

Broadcaster Lucy Zelic has blasted the A-League, stating that they have ‘sold their souls’ by taking $10 million from the NSW government so that Sydney will hold the league’s men’s and women’s grand finals until 2025

Fans from Adelaide United and Brisbane (both teams pictured) will have to find flights and accommodation to watch the grand final in Sydney for at least the next three years if their teams are in the deciding position

“The decision of the APL board is in favor of every club in the league.”

Adelaide United skipper Craig Goodwin appeared in a video promoting the three-year deal with Destination NSW in the wake of the decision, but did not support the outcome.

“When they were filming there were two questions I was asked and one of them I refused to answer,” the Socceroos star in Qatar told Channel 10.

“The other question was about what grand finals can do for Australian players.

“The question (which I refused to answer) was ‘why do you support this initiative by the APL and the DNSW?’ and I didn’t want to answer that question because I didn’t support it.

“I believe it is not in the interest of the fans.”

Socceroos star Craig Goodwin lashed out at the decision to hold the Grand Final in Sydney until at least 2025

An A-League grand final in all of Sydney (both teams pictured) would be a promoter’s dream – but selling a decider in the Harbor City between two interstate teams won’t be easy for a league already struggling with little audience

Fans worry about rows of empty seats at the grand finals if no Sydney teams take part (pictured, the crowd at last Saturday’s clash between Western Sydney Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix in Wollongong)

For many football fans across the country, their complaint about the APL has been the lack of consultation.

Since the start of the A-League in 2005, clubs had to earn the right to host the Grand Final based on how they performed in the Finals series.

By essentially mimicking the NRL (Sydney) and AFL (Melbourne) grand final models, one of the competition’s most attractive selling points has been stripped away.

The proof is that many capital cities have played host to the A-League Grand Finals, including Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane.

Newcastle, north of Sydney, was the venue for the 2018 decider, with an attendance of nearly 30,000 fans, which was almost full.