A Tale of Two Extremes: K League Expands, A-League Contracts

By Han Bing On December 1st, the Korea Football Association declared that the K1 League will increase its teams from 12 to 14 in 2027. Earlier, in 2026, the K2 League expanded from 14 to 17 teams to set the stage for the K1 League’s enlargement. At the same time, the A-League is caught in an unprecedented predicament of declining club numbers and a comprehensive financial crisis.

Since 2014, the K1 League has maintained a 12-team format. This expansion marks the latest major reform by the Korea Football Association after expanding the K League to seven tiers in 2020. It is also the first expansion of the K1 League in 16 years since 2011.

Twenty-four years ago, leveraging the momentum of the Korea-Japan World Cup, the K League began its expansion strategy. Between 2003 and 2011, the league expanded five times, increasing from 10 to 16 teams. In 2013, the Korea Football Association restructured the league system into four tiers, branding the K League as the Classic League and the Challenge League with promotion and relegation between them. Due to poor club management and generally low attendance, former powerhouses Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Cheonan Pegasus were taken over by Seongnam City FC, while several clubs in the lower division like Goyang KB Kookmin Bank and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard withdrew from the new secondary professional league (Challenge League). This resulted in 14 teams in the Classic League but only 8 in the Challenge League, creating a severe imbalance. In 2014, the Classic League was reduced to 12 teams, while the Challenge League increased to 10 teams to balance the structure. Since then, the K1 League has maintained 12 teams.

The Korea Football Association justifies this expansion because the K2 League has grown steadily, increasing from 11 teams in 2022 to 14 in 2025. Several leading clubs have seen rising season revenues, attendance, and player salaries, approaching the level of lower-ranked K1 League clubs. Expanding the K1 League is a natural progression for the steady development of South Korea’s professional football industry.

In 2026, K3 League champion Gimhae FC, 10th place Pohang Forward, and K5 League club Yongin FC will join the K2 League. The total number of teams in K1 and K2 leagues will rise to 29. In 2027, the K1 League will increase to 14 teams, and the K2 League to 15 teams, maintaining balance between the two leagues. Additionally, as the home ground agreement between Gimcheon City and the military-affiliated Sangmu club expires in 2026, Sangmu will be automatically relegated to the K2 League. The promotion and relegation rules between K1 and K2 will be adjusted based on Sangmu’s 2026 season ranking.

If Sangmu finishes last, the other 11 K1 teams will avoid relegation; the top two K2 teams will be promoted directly, while teams ranked 3rd to 6th will compete in playoffs for one promotion spot. If Sangmu does not finish last, the bottom K1 team will enter a promotion/relegation playoff; the top two K2 teams will be promoted directly; teams ranked 3rd to 6th will contest playoffs, with winners promoted and losers facing the 12th placed K1 team for one promotion spot. If Gimcheon City forms a new club and Sangmu finds a new home city, both will participate in the K2 League in 2027.

While the Korean K League is thriving with expansion, the A-League, also one of East Asia’s big four leagues, is suffering from a reduction in participating clubs and a severe financial crisis.

In 2009, the A-League expanded from 8 to 10 teams. In 2019, the A-League launched a “three-step” expansion plan aiming for 12 teams in 2020/21, 14 in 2022/23, and 16 in 2023/24, even planning to expand to Singapore. However, due to the pandemic and a shrinking football market, only Western United and Macarthur FC joined as scheduled; Auckland FC’s entry was delayed until the 2024/25 season, and Canberra FC’s planned inclusion was postponed indefinitely.

This summer, Western United, a former champion, was disqualified due to financial problems, reducing the A-League to 12 teams—the first time since its 2005/06 inception that the league has seen fewer clubs.

The financial condition of A-League clubs has worsened significantly. Before 2021, North American Pacific Capital purchased a 33.33% stake in the A-League for 140 million AUD, bundling the men’s, women’s, youth, and esports leagues into a new entity called the Australian Professional League (APL). However, by 2024, the investment was depleted. The 5-year broadcasting contract with Paramount+ originally worth 30 million AUD per year dropped sharply to 5 million AUD last season. The funds distributed to participating clubs by the league fell from 3 million AUD per club to just 530,000 AUD last season.

Besides Western United’s disqualification, Newcastle Jets only found a new owner last summer, and Perth Glory, sold symbolically for 1 AUD, only secured a new investor in February last year. Although the A-League announced an overall profit of 1.7 million AUD last season, it had suffered massive losses of 57 million and 30 million AUD in the two prior seasons.

Australian football legend Schwarzer commented that the current A-League season is too short and attendance is too low to attract sufficient commercial interest. Restarting the expansion strategy will require a considerable amount of time, which means A-League clubs’ competitiveness in the AFC Champions League is unlikely to improve in the short term.