Cricket and soccer are Australian sporting giants. How can they be struggling financially? |
Cricket and soccer are two of, if not the biggest national sporting codes in Australia.
Yet the governing bodies of both have recently been in the news for their financial difficulties.
How can it be these two dominant codes are struggling?
Major sports, major problems
Football Australia (FA) recently announced it will cut around 20% of its workforce, following a loss of more than $15 million. This has raised concerns about organisational performance.
But the financial detail suggests something more structural.
In 2025, FA generated record revenue of approximately $139 million, yet reported a net loss of $15.3 million – about 11% of total income.
This follows a deficit of $8.5 million the previous year.
Revenue has been rising but financial stability remains elusive, a pattern also evident in Cricket Australia (CA).
CA reported around $455 million in revenue and an operating surplus of $109.6 million in 2024–25. However, after distributing roughly $120 million to state associations, it recorded a net deficit of about $11 million.
This highlights how large revenues in sport do not necessarily deliver financial strength.
In many governing body models, revenue functions less as retained capital and more as a redistribution mechanism to support leagues, grassroots systems, pathways and national........