The AFL has struck a $2.2 billion pay deal with players which includes plans for a mid-season trade period, longer contracts for first-round draftees and massive wage rises for women footballers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In the first joint collective bargaining agreement covering both female and males, the average wage of AFLW players will rise to $82,000 by the end of 2027, up from the current $46,000, while their season will be expanded.
By the end of the agreement in 2027, the average AFL men's salary will be $519,000 from $387,000 last year.
Men's draftees selected inside the top 20 will now sign a three-year contract, up from two seasons.
The AFL also plan to continue discussions about a men's mid-season draft after announcing the CBA alongside the AFL Players Association on Thursday.
"There's still detail to work out around it, but I think it's something that the game could benefit from," Geelong captain and AFLPA president Patrick Dangerfield said.
"There's players that could certainly benefit from it.
"And depending on the situation that each team is in I think there's benefits for both teams that lose players and teams that gain players."
After months of haggling, the CBA was hailed by both parties as a win for the sport.
Increasing the contract length of early draftees should help clubs keep hold of their top talent selected from interstate.
The pay on offer in the third year of the contract would be performance-based.
"Someone like Nick (Daicos) who's obviously had an incredible first couple of years in the system, his payment will scale up based on his performance, the games played, the awards won, all that sort of stuff," AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh said.
"So that's quite an important part of this. It's not restraining them to a base level, it's rewarding performance."
The AFLW season will expand to 12 regular-season rounds by 2025, and potentially 14 during the deal, based on achievement of key audience metrics (average attendance of 6,000 fans, average broadcast viewers of 100,000).
The AFL past players' injury and hardship fund will receive $60 million until the end of the agreement compared to $20m in the last deal.
The CBA also forecasts more five-day breaks between men's games to provide fixturing flexibility and more Thursday night games.
"The new CBA provides certainty to the players for both competitions," AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said in a statement.
"Our AFLW players receive another immediate boost after an historic 94 per cent increase last season.
"And the opportunity is ahead of the competition to continue to grow in length if we can reach some key support metrics that have been achieved before."
Australian Associated Press
