The A-League Men is set to implement a stricter salary cap to prevent excessive spending on players and ensure the competition's long-term financial stability. Australian Professional Leagues (APL), the operator of the competition, anticipates breaking even this year, which would maintain current distributions to clubs, many of which have faced financial difficulties in recent years. The reforms include introducing a hard salary cap of $3 million for each club's player wages, effective from the 2026/27 season, which marks the beginning of the next broadcast cycle. Clubs will be allowed one marquee player whose salary is exempt from the cap. While transitional arrangements will be in place next season, penalties for breaches will not be enforced until 2026/27. APL chair Stephen Conroy stated that the changes would affect all clubs. "What we’re seeing is what we frankly think is an unsustainable trend in terms of their performance, their profitability, their losses," Conroy said. While most clubs' financial reports are not public, Melbourne Victory's accounts from last year revealed a loss of nearly $10 million for the 2023-24 season. The club has since received investment from Brighton and Hove Albion owner and chairman Tony Bloom, who has acquired a 19.1% stake. The $3 million hard cap will replace the existing $2.55 million "soft cap," which includes six concessional categories. The current system has fostered a competitive league but has not stopped clubs from overspending. "It’s one of the reasons why we look at the player-spend arms race, and we just scratch our heads and go, ‘Okay, so the Swiss cheese we’ve currently got, we need to change’," Conroy said. According to Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the average payments per club totaled $4.8 million in 2023-24. A new broadcast agreement and collective bargaining agreement are scheduled for the 2026/27 season, with negotiations expected to intensify in the coming months. Conroy clarified that the organization is not considering a reduction in the salary floor, which has remained at $2.25 million per club for several years. "I would imagine the PFA have got a view, but that will be subject to negotiations over the next six months going forward, but there’s no secret plan to sneak in a floor reduction on our side," he said. Following the introduction of the hard cap in 2026/27, Conroy said a new model would be introduced in 2027/28 that would limit club spending based on revenues, following consultation with the clubs and PFA. Conroy expressed optimism that APL is on track to break even this year and maintain the current level of distributions to clubs, but noted that the final outcome will depend on factors such as ticket sales for the finals series. "We have stabilised APL centrally, what we’ve got to do is work with the clubs through these measures to ensure that every club is stable," he said. Conroy has assumed a more active role, following Nick Garcia's transition to a new position at APL as chief expansion and investment officer. Garcia will be "working directly with the board on key projects to support the growth of the game,” Conroy said. “Nick is still part of the team." The former Labor senator also confirmed that Canberra United will continue to participate in the A-League Women competition next season, with a formal announcement expected soon. However, a deal for a new owner of a combined men’s and women’s club in the capital has not yet materialized. "We’re currently in discussions with two different consortiums in Canberra, and unfortunately, a lot of good promises, a lot of good discussions have come to nothing," he said. Currently, there are no planned changes for the A-League Women competition, although APL is collaborating with Auckland on their potential entry as early as next season. Macarthur remains the only A-League Men club without a women's team. "It’s a requirement to have two clubs as part of the licence, but we’ve also got to make sure that we’re keeping the clubs afloat at the same time," Conroy said.
