Like many competitions around the world, the A-League will look a little different when the doors re-open for the16th season in December – and not just thanks to COVID-19.
Naming rights sponsor, Hyundai, will not be its prefix for the first time since the league kicked off in 2005. The South Korean company, which contributed an estimated $6 million per year, pulled out on the back of waning interest in the national competition. At the time of writing, there is no replacement.
Broadcast rights holders, Fox Sports, threatened to do the same, before last-ditch negotiations kept them on board, albeit for a vastly reduced rights fee ($32m, down from $57m), and for just one additional season, down from the previous three.
With vastly reduced income, the clubs and the players…
