It paints a bleak financial picture for the round-ball game, which also faces uncertainty on the broadcast front, with no guarantees that Fox Sports will renew the current $58m per annum deal due to end in 2023. But key figures within the sport remain bullish about the challenge of replacing departed sponsors, and while far from satisfied with continued downward trends in A-League TV ratings and attendances, they are not panicking about its future. What the FFA's got to do a better job of is selling the value of its product, and helping sponsors tap into the power of the sport. RMIT associate professor Con Stavros Con Stavros, associate professor of marketing at RMIT University, said he would not be overly "stressed" if he was FFA because a degree of sponsor churn is natural in Australia - so long as the game can learn to promote a coherent vision for the future which sponsors could buy into. "There's plenty of sponsors out there for them. What the FFA's got to do a better job of is selling the value of its product, what it actually means, and helping sponsors tap into the power of the sport," Stavros told the Herald.

Loading "Often it's not one reason [why a sponsor quits]. Sponsors do look at what other sponsors are doing. If you get a couple ending their sponsorship, there could be a bit of herd mentality that comes with it. "Most Australian sports have not struggled to get sponsors. If you look at Australian cricket, for example - run me through all the people who have sponsored all the different products and I'd struggle because there's been so many. It's become more unusual to actually have a sponsor for more than 10 years." Stavros said while the A-League was clearly struggling, the broader outlook for the sport was more positive than negative, making it an appealing proposition for sponsors. "It's been a long relationship by most relative factors in sport and that's a good sign in itself," Stavros said of the Hyundai deal.

"If I was going to be a sponsor, I'd say, the A-League could be better, but the participation, the Matildas, the Olyroos qualifying for the Olympic games ... there's good stuff there, I'd be excited by the sport in general." FFA's bid to gain new sponsors will be groundbreaking on a number of levels. Firstly, previous partners like NAB and Caltex have been procured not through a traditional process but because executives from those companies have either sat on FFA's board, or were closely aligned with Sir Frank Lowy or his son and successor as chairman, Steven. Hyundai is preparing to walk away from its long association with Australian soccer. Credit:AAP Secondly, this will be the first time Australian soccer has tested the marketplace since the separation of the A-League from FFA - which won't occur legally until 2023 but has been operationally finalised. Existing sponsorships will need to be "unpicked", according to one source, to determine if partners wish to attach themselves to the A-League, national teams, grassroots programs or a combination. Sources close to FFA and clubs remain hopeful that Hyundai will stay on board with the game - if not as the A-League's naming rights holder then perhaps as a lower-tier motoring sponsor or through the Socceroos or Matildas.