A mooted 50 per cent cut from $2 million last season to just $1 million in 2024-2025 has already been publicly aired.

However, FTBL understands the final figure - due to be announced by the APL board sometime in June - could, in the worst case scenario, plummet to just half a million dollars, a 75 per cent drop which could throw into severe financial hardship clubs like the Mariners, Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets, Macarthur FC and Western United.

A figure of zero was even considered by the APL board, such are the liquidity pressures bearing down on the competition.

Only the big four - Melbourne Victory and City and Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers - would be insulated from the fallout should the final sum be settled at $500,000.

Fears of the big squeeze are understood to be one reason the takeover of the Newcastle Jets by a group of Melbourne and Sydney-based business identities has yet to be ratified, the skittish investors seeking clarification on the how much the club will receive in disbursements before signing off on the deal. 

Likewise clubs have been shedding players en masse, and reluctant to jump into signing too many others until the picture becomes clearer, the lure of the low-budget model pioneered by the Mariners more seductive than ever.

Poor ratings have effectively scuttled any prospect of the APL leveraging an increase on its $40m-per-year TV deal with Network Ten, up for renewal at the end of the 2025-2026 campaign.

Meanwhile, the APL has effectively burned though most of the $140m cash infusion it received from private equity firm Silver Lake in December 2021, removing any safety blanket for clubs more dependent than ever on central distribution payments which once peaked at over $3 million.

Professional Footballers Australia has been been keeping tabs on the situation, with player welfare and the honouring of contacts uppermost in mind. 

Duel CEO Kate Gill told FTBL: “The players, with their unwavering dedication to the leagues, have demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout the past A-League seasons, as they continue to excel on the pitch despite distractions off it.

 “Saturday's Grand Final, alongside the A-League Women’s decider, were great examples of the quality and theatre our game can produce.

 “Regardless of what's playing out in the APL board room, the protections and guarantees provided to the players through the Collective Bargaining Agreement safeguard player payments."