With A-League club owners winning the war of independence, it is over to the players to ensure one of the most important seasons in the competition's history delivers.
A slick promotional campaign launched last week portrays the A-League players as comic-book superheroes, and club owners are banking on their on-field talent to ensure they can turn around a competition that has been beset by flagging interest in recent years.
Now the masters of their own destiny, club owners know they have no more excuses to make the A-League a sellable asset when negotiations for a new broadcast deal begin in two years' time.
The current arrangement with Foxtel runs until 2023 but the pay-TV operator's own financial woes have led to off-season questions over their ongoing commitment to the game.
A free-to-air arrangement which will feature 29 Saturday evening games broadcast live on ABC as well as W-League, Socceroos and Matildas fixtures is being viewed as a huge boost to allowing more people to access the product.
But with Western United coming into the competition this season and Macarthur FC the season after, AAP understands the league would need to up its current deal by at least $20 million a year just to maintain the status quo.
"It's very important because like many businesses - whether it be sport or another business - that if you continue to grow your product, you can continue to build your value," FFA head of leagues Greg O'Rourke told AAP.
"Then when things change and you come off-contract, whether that's a broadcast agreement, whether that be sponsorships or whatever, that you've actually got an improved value or a path to an improved value that people can continue to invest in the business, in our case our league. That's really important."
For all the executive discussions, it's what happens on the field from this weekend which will be a big part of the A-League's future success.
The season kicks off with champions Sydney FC taking on Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Friday.
Sydney, along with premiers Perth, have opted for evolution not revolution after their successful campaigns last season.
Adelaide have a new coach in Gertjan Verbeek but have also kept a lid on their squad transformations with Riley McGree and James Troisi the big recruits.
Understandably those who struggled last year have taken a different approach.
Brisbane and Western Sydney both did squad overhauls in the off-season, with the Roar also landing Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler in his first full-time head coaching role.
For all the change at the Wanderers in Markus Babbel's second season, it's the return to their home at the newly built Bankwest Stadium which will be Western Sydney's biggest plus this season.
Victoria's A-League landscape has also received a shake-up with the arrival of expansion team Western United, the end of the Kevin Muscat-era at Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City jettisoning Warren Joyce for well-travelled French mentor Erick Mombaerts.
Mark Rudan's move to Western United has left Wellington in a pickle, with rookie coach Ufuk Talay facing an uphill battle to replicate last season's finals appearance in a squad shorn of almost all of last year's key players.
North of Sydney, Newcastle's loss of Irish import Wes Hoolahan to an ankle injury until the new year is a massive blow to Ernie Merrick's plans while Central Coast will be eager to prove they are progressing under ex-Matildas coach Alan Stajcic following their third wooden spoon in four years.