The impact of Socceroos and Matildas performances on FFA’s bottom-line

FFA's financial bottom-line will benefit if the Matildas do well at the World Cup but it dipped-out with the Socceroos at the Asian Cup

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If dwindling numbers watching the A-League on TV are not enough of a headache as the stakeholders on the New Leagues Working Group (NLWG) get on with the argy-bargy of divvying up the money, FFA has other possible financial storms ahead too.

According to a Men’s Asian Cup Sensitivity Analysis, the only scenario under which there was net revenue for the governing body was if the Socceroos reached the final. The analysis shows that the FFA bean-counters warned that the “worst case scenario” was elimination at the quarter-finals stage – which is precisely how it turned out, losing to hosts UAE 1-0.

While the Socceroos attracted a $100,000 sponsor bonus and prize money of $267,000 for making the quarter-finals, the costs of getting to that point of $2.25m far outweighed the revenue, which meant FFA lost $1.9m over the Asian Cup campaign.

Socceroos players received $1.3 million for the Asian Cup, or almost $58,000 each.

By contrast, if the Matildas make the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, FFA will benefit to the tune of approximately $550,000 thanks to the increased prize money and other revenue for governing bodies and clubs announced by FIFA last year for the Women’s World Cup.

If the Matildas go all the way and win the final, FFA’s net revenue from the women’s World Cup will be $3.3 million.

If the Matidas dip out at the group stage, it will be close to a break-even situation for the Matildas.

Gender gap

The total prize money for the Women’s World Cup is less than 10% of what the men received in 2018, yet this year’s edition is a 100% increase on the previous women’s World Cup in 2015.

FIFA has been criticised by players’ unions in particular for the amount allocated for women, particularly in light of the USD$2.7 billion FIFA holds in reserves and its USD$1.75 billion profit in 2017-18.

Closer to home, if the Matildas reach the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, they will receive $429,000 between them (approximately $18,600 each), or just under one-third (32.2%) of what the Socceroos received for the Asian Cup. In terms of what that means for the individual player, that’s $39,400 each less for the Matildas than for the Socceroos.

Of course, the relationship between revenue and costs of the men's and women's games are relevant.

In addition to the prize money made available to teams, bonuses kicked-in for the Socceroos at the quarter-final stage of the Asian Cup. However, the FFA Sensitivity Analysis shows that there is no bonus payable for the Matildas unless they win the final, when they would receive a $250,000 bonus.

If the Socceroos had made the final of the Asian Cup, they would have received a $600,000 bonus for being runners-up and a $1.25 million bonus for being named champions.

Last month, adidas announced that it would give the same bonus if one of their teams wins the women’s World Cup as they did for France winning the men’s tournament last year.

In terms of player payments, if the Matildas win the World Cup, the total player payments would increase to a little over $1 million or around $43,500 each. The Socceroos would have received $4.5 million if they had won the Asian Cup.

FIFA’s increased prize money for women’s World Cup participation must be a relief for FFA. The net revenue they are tipped to realise from the Matildas' participation will help meet their legal and payout costs for the sacking of Alen Stajcic in January.

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Note: Unless otherwise denoted, all dollar amounts are AUD. Prize money is based on an exchange rate of approximately AUD$1-USD0.71.