Football is one of the most accessible and inclusive sports on the planet. This is one of the reasons for its insane popularity. Despite this, barriers to entry that prevent people from playing football do exist in certain areas. One such area is Australia. The most prominent barrier to entry for many people in Australia, particularly the youth, is money.
Football clubs demand very high registration and ongoing fees which are unfortunately pricing many families out of the sport. With that being said; why is football so expensive in Australia?
In summary, football is expensive in Australia because there is little third-party funding for football related infrastructure. This means that funds to maintain and operate football clubs must be provided by individuals rather than from governing institutions. There are several reasons for why there is a lack of funding from these sources. Among these reasons is the declining popularity in the sport, which may be discouraging external investors.
For the remainder of this article, I’ll be referring to football as “soccer”, as it is more commonly known in Australia. Apologies to any football purists out there.
Table of Contents
Brief background of soccer in Australia
High participation rate
Soccer in Australia has a strong following, with almost 2 million Australians playing the game. In addition, soccer has a very high participation rate at grassroots level. This is reflected in a 48.7% participation rate for children aged 6-13. This is helped by the fact that soccer is seen a safer sport than rugby and Australian rules football.
Naturally, there is a clear desire to keep people on the field, playing soccer. This is evident by the fact that several people commit to unpaid volunteer work to keep soccer clubs in operation.
State of the national teams
The lack of funds in Australian soccer becomes confusing when looking at the recent successes of the Australian national teams.
the men’s national team (“The Socceroos”) qualified for 4 FIFA World Cups in a row between 2006 and 2018. They even scored some incredible goals, such as an absolute beauty by Tim Cahill in 2014. After this, it seemed as though Australian soccer was finally about to get the recognition that many believed it deserved. This time period also included further success when the Socceroos hosted and won the Asian Cup in 2015.
In addition, the Australian women’s national team (“The Matildas”) has arguably had even greater success in recent history. The Matilda’s have made it to the quarter finals of the World Cup on 3 separate occasions since 2007. They have also been runners up in the Asian cup twice since then and even won the competition in 2010.
Why is soccer so expensive in Australia?
Soccer seems to be so expensive in Australia for two main reasons:
- The viewership of top level Australian soccer (the A-League) has been in decline for some time.
- The operation costs for soccer clubs is high.
The A-League is declining in popularity
The A- league has unfortunately been declining in popularity since 2014.
2006 was arguably the peak of the popularity of soccer in Australia. This is largely because of the Socceroos performances during the 2006 World Cup, where they made it to the round of 16. They were unfortunately knocked out by Italy (the eventual winners), after a questionable penalty in the last minutes.
Following this, foreign players such as Robbie Fowler and Allessandro Del Piero transferred to the A-league, expanding its popularity. In addition, high profile Australian players who were playing abroad, such as Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, returned to Australia. The prospect of these players returning to the league was a positive one. This was especially the case with regards to how their presence could help develop the youth. Over time, the sport gained a large following and televised matches received more and more attention.
However, that would not always be the case. Several issues caused the stagnation of the league including an inability to retain the top players developed in the country. This is evident in the fact there are very few national team players that still play in the A-League. Player like Aaron Mooy, Matthew Ryan and Mile Jedinak have all moved to the English Premier League in recent years.
Comparisons with other sports
A comparison of the popularity of the A-league, the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL), between 2006 and 2019, is shown below. Attendance data for this graphic was sourced from Ultimate A-League Statistics and AFL Tables.
It’s hard to argue that high profile players leaving the country has not been noticed by supporters. Furthermore, it’s hard to imagine that this has had a positive impact on the perception of the A-League by the youth.
In addition, the fact that the sport is so expensive has likely prevented several talented young people from participating. This, coupled with local viewership declining, has resulted in little interest from third party investors to inject funds into the sport.
So now that we are caught up, why are registration costs so high?
Soccer clubs require high operation costs
There has been little in terms of external funding for soccer from external soccer governing bodies. In fact, the Football Federation Australia (FFA) has previously called upon the Australian Government to provide assistance.
As a result of this, there has been a rise in private soccer establishments. Therefore, the costs to produce a high-quality experience for children in particular is carried entirely by their families. It has been reported that the registration fees for some clubs are as high as AUD$2,000 per player. Some families have even had to volunteer or opt for a payment plan just so their children can play. This is a stark contrast to some of the subsidized AFL programs that cost as little as AUD$80 per child per season.
In addition, there has long been suspicion that clubs use money generated from junior team registration fees to pay and support senior teams. However, there is little evidence to substantiate this.
Closing Thoughts
The reasoning for the inflated costs associated with soccer in Australia come down to external funding. Little funding is being pushed towards the development of not only the youth, but the sport itself. The fact that interest in the sport at the highest level is declining has not helped the situation.