2025 will mark the AFL's first year under its fresh $4.5 billion TV rights deal. Among the major changes there will be Thursday night matches for the first 15 rounds, while Fox Footy has won the rights to broadcast its own commentary for each match.
In 2016, broadcasters paid a then-record $2.5 billion for the TV rights. The most recent $4.5 billion deal represents an 80 per cent growth in broadcasting value since 2016.
In the same time frame, player wages have increased by a comparatively smaller 52 per cent, with the salary cap moving from $10.4 million in 2016 to $15.8 million in 2024.
There are growing calls from players for the AFL to consider more significant increases to the current salary cap.
Former Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury claimed in 2023 that the AFL's biggest and best players need to be paid more to reflect the disruptions their careers cause to their personal lives.
โI still think the players and coaching staff in our game are heavily underpaid,โ he said on the Ball Magnets podcast.
โEveryone will go, โYou get paid so much as players.' Nick Daicos, Dusty Martin โ they cannot live normal lives in Melbourne. They can't go anywhere.
โI feel like if you're a good player in the AFL for a long period of time, you've got to reward these guys because we don't want rugby, cricket, or all these other sports to overtake how much they're paying their best players. If that happens, we'll lose kids to those sports.โ
No AFL player ranks among the highest-paid Australian athletes, despite the AFL being the most-attended and most-watched sport in the country.
The AFL is relatively unique in its salary structure, with league executives among the highest earners.
โI think the executive team in the AFL are the highest-paid people in the game,โ Pendlebury said.
โWhich is fine, but there's no other league in the world where the executive team is paid more than the players.โ
In 2023, the total salaries for the AFL's 10 executives were reported at $13.6 million โ the equivalent of almost 90 per cent of the total salary cap for an AFL team.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, while AFL clubs took a 50 per cent pay cut, CEO Gillon McLachlan reportedly took a 20 per cent pay cut.
Although the AFL has not disclosed the CEO's salary since 2016, reports suggested McLachlan was paid more than $4 million in his final year.
In contrast, wages for the highest-paid players haven't budged dramatically since the turn of the century. In 2001, Wayne Carey earned an estimated $1.5 million, the equivalent of the highest earner in 2024, Tom Lynch ($1.45 million to $1.55 million).
Compared to other major sports, AFL players receive a smaller share of league revenue.
โIn the NBA, you guys have 51 per cent of the revenue from what you bring in. We're 28 per cent of revenue,โ Pendlebury said, speaking to Australian NBA player Josh Giddey.
Currently, players receive 32 per cent of the industry's assessable revenue. Comparatively, NRL players hold a larger 41 per cent share, while NBA players have a 51 per cent share, and NFL players receive 48 per cent.
Although highly unlikely, discussions surrounding a potential โNBA-styleโ lockout remain in play as the current deal nears its end in 2027. Pendlebury has previously expressed support for such a strike.
โAs the game grows, key stakeholders need to grow with it, so it's something we are going to fight for,โ Pendlebury said during CBA negotiations in 2017.
Japan โ๏ธ MCG
Great to have @joshgiddey celebrate the win with us โซ๏ธโช๏ธ pic.twitter.com/sPprJ3USmU
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) September 7, 2023
Certainly, the future looks increasingly more lucrative for footballers.
Since the 2020 lockdown, when the salary cap plummeted to just over $9 million per team, it will more than double by 2027, where it's expected to reach over $18.4 million.
As a result, the average salary for an AFL player will increase from $387,000 in 2022 to $519,000 in 2027, with the number of millionaire salaries also expected to rise.
AFL clubs are also increasingly using longer-term contracts as a strategy to combat salary cap increases. By enticing players with the security of a set, long-term deal, clubs can better manage the cap raises.
For instance, in 1994, Alastair Lynch signed a 10-year contract for a total of $1 million. While he was among the highest-paid players early in the contract, by the 2000s, his salary was significantly lower than some others.
Gold Coast's Mac Andrew could find himself in a similar situation to Lynch, having recently agreed to a deal until 2030 on a reported $1 million per year. However, with the salary cap increasing by a forecasted 16 per cent, a $1 million contract could become a considerable underpayment toward the backend of his deal.
Certainly, though, with the 2024 AFL Grand Final being the most-watched television event of the year, and total membership figures reaching record highs, players are starting to truly reap the benefits.
Between 2010 and 2023, the average player salary rose from $225,165 to $441,464. Remarkably, for the first time in league history, every primary-listed player is earning above the $100,000 threshold.
With the salary cap expected to flourish throughout the rest of the decade, players will remain one of the key beneficiaries of the league's success. As they should be.
