FFA chairman Steven Lowy is wary of holding any hostages to fortune over the single biggest issue confronting Australian soccer – the revenue streams that will be unlocked through the new TV deal.

A League clubs, most of whom have lost money hand-over-fist during the competition's 11-year history, are  desperate for the game's governing body to land a bumper new media rights contract when the new agreement is negotiated.

The current deal, with pay TV operator Fox Sports and free-to-air network SBS, is worth some $40 million a year, and hopes within the game are that this figure could be doubled in a new agreement as the FFA takes advantage of the interest in the game now being shown by commercial free-to-air broadcasters.

Lowy and his boardroom colleagues are also hoping to cash in on the fragmentation of the media market and the opportunity that a number of new media platforms might offer as commercial partners who could boost the game's earning capacity.

But for now Lowy will not be pinned down by even forecasting a likely outcome.

"We have a clear understanding of the changes that have occurred in the market with regards to FTA, subscription and with the newer methods of digital distribution," he told journalists in a briefing after speaking to a Melbourne Victory in Business lunch on Friday afternoon.

"Clearly an objective is to maximise the revenue for the game, but also having a very important eye on how and who can impact and grow the game with us."

But, he added: "we need to dispel any monetary expectations. We have high expectations of ourselves to do the best possible deal in the market. That requires negotiations and discussions with the market. We haven't had that yet.

"I have seen numbers  in the paper of $80 million, so therefore if we get less than that (people will say), 'Oh, they did a terrible deal', or if we get above that, way above expectation. As a businessman I don't work like that.

"I want to say formally here we need to dispel any expectations. I am not saying that to give us an easier or harder task."

He did stress the importance of a free-to-air deal with a network with a broader reach than SBS, the traditional soccer broadcaster, and said if the current deal could be changed early it would be.

"Subscription TV accounts for about a third of the households in the country; that's not enough," Lowy said. "The current penetration of SBS is far too low – it's below everybody's expectations, below SBS's, ours and the A-League clubs.

"That has a year to run. To the extent that can be adjusted in the year it requires the agreement of SBS, Fox Sports and us. If that can be achieved we will work towards that. It's clearly a sub optimal situation right now.

"There is a very strong interest from FTA. You have seen the interest, what Seven did with the Matildas, Seven and Nine have both taken an active interest in international games ... that's very interesting."