I think APL will go to broadcasters with a plan of something like the promise of expansion in the second and/or third year of the deal, into Canberra, Gold Coast, Tasmania, and maybe throw in Geelong now WU are gone, or Christchurch.
I know it goes against what some want, either merit based or plucking the richest clubs of the NPL. But now the league is on its knees, they're kinda begging for a decent broadcast deal. And the broadcasters will want more markets covered. Having those areas covered at the top level is probably a good thing for the sport anyway. Expansion without compromising existing markets. Completely different from the WU scenario. And no "trust me bro" statements about building stadiums.
That's with my finance and growth hat on. Until we have a league format NST to connect with, then the APL need to get cracking with expansion for broadcast dollars. Auckland's been a massive win, they need to keep it up now with the next clubs.
Losing more clubs and shrinking the league would be an absolute disaster and not the way forward. Some say stabilise the league at 12 clubs for years to come, and I get it. But if the broadcast dollar are there and it's worth it, expansion into the areas listed above would be beneficial.
Just my take, as it stands.
*oh and no asking for astronomical licence fees. Just enough to cover costs. Boosting the broadcast deal is the priority. If the APL clubs are healthy then there won't be as much resistance from everyone to pro/rel.
