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angelopetraglia
11-09-2023, 08:42 PM
The AFL and the AFLPA are nearing an agreement on a new CBA, which the players in both the AFL and AFLW set to cash in big on the landmark deal.

Jon Ralph and Scott Gullan September 11, 2023 - 8:14PM

The AFL?s male players are set for a $200,000 pay rise within five seasons under a new pay deal that is close to being finalised.

After months of high-level talks, the AFL?s male and female players are set to vote on the landmark deal which is worth $2.2 billion over five years.

The league is currently paying the male players an average wage of $406,000 but with pay rises set to hit over 30 per cent by 2027 they would take home nearly $600,000.

After three days of talks at AFL House last week the AFLPA held a board meeting on Monday where they decided to send the deal to their players for a vote.

The minimum wage for AFLW players is set to rise to $70,000, up from nearly $40,000.

Clubs believe the salary cap could go up as much as 12 per cent for the 2023 season under a backdated deal then another significant amount for the 2024 season.

By the time those pay rises compounded the new deals would be remarkable, and allow untold wealth into the game.

Last year there were 12 players who earned $1 million, with 51 players paid $800,000 or more.

Under the new pay rise by the end of 2027 there would be at least 50 players earning at least $1 million a season.

Players would also be handed double the amount for their past players and welfare programs.

The AFL has been seeking to put in place a concussion fund that could hit $10 million a season, but in early discussions had asked the players to fund that program for current and past players.

The AFL has already committed to a longer AFLW season ? up from 10 games ? in the next AFLW season from August next year.

The league has secured permission from the AFLW players to set the length of its women?s fixture given certain growth measurements.

Industry sources said the league was confident of a breakthrough on Monday night but still aware there were details that had to be brokered to finalise a deal.

The league has felt it was close before talks broke down last month so it is only cautiously optimistic.

But the fundamentals of the deal are in place which would allow players to secure massive pay rises.

The new pay deal will allow the league to hand clubs a significant rise in their football department cap which will help pave the way for much-needed increase in the wages of coaches who have been the hardest hit in recent times.

angelopetraglia
11-09-2023, 08:45 PM
Does anyone have any clarity on what % of contracts have clauses to index with the CBA? I have no idea if they do or if they don't. But when the cap is going to grow by 30% out to 2027, that is going to have a material impact on the salary cap and contracts.

bulldogtragic
11-09-2023, 08:48 PM
From memory, most of our have the CBA built into them.

azabob
12-09-2023, 08:34 AM
Does anyone have any clarity on what % of contracts have clauses to index with the CBA? I have no idea if they do or if they don't. But when the cap is going to grow by 30% out to 2027, that is going to have a material impact on the salary cap and contracts.

It probably comes down to the player also.

Some clubs like Essendon and West Coast (historically) do not put that clause in player contracts.

azabob
12-09-2023, 08:35 AM
Hopefully that means we can now sign Naughton, Marra and Smith.

bornadog
12-09-2023, 08:52 AM
Hopefully that means we can now sign Naughton, Marra and Smith.

and English :)

Rocket Science
12-09-2023, 01:03 PM
And Duryea :)

bulldogtragic
20-09-2023, 04:19 PM
Ralphy reckons close to 30% bump in pay. Specifically, if English wanted to leave he could command $1.3M a season!

I don’t mind Tim for my frustrations from time to time. But $1.3M for any ruckman is insane.

GVGjr
20-09-2023, 04:22 PM
Ralphy reckons close to 30% bump in pay. Specifically, if English wanted to leave he could command $1.3M a season!

I don’t mind Tim for my frustrations from time to time. But $1.3M for any ruckman is insane.

That's a massive increase and clubs would have a lot of flexibility now to target the right players and get them signed to lucrative deals.

Axe Man
20-09-2023, 04:39 PM
Ralphy reckons close to 30% bump in pay. Specifically, if English wanted to leave he could command $1.3M a season!

I don’t mind Tim for my frustrations from time to time. But $1.3M for any ruckman is insane.

That does seem like crazy money, however a few on here feel strongly that we shouldn't pay a ruckman even $1 million. With just the 30% pay increase Tim will likely be on around $1 million anyway. We will all need to re-assess contract values as all of a sudden it's going to seem like everybody will be getting paid too much.

bornadog
20-09-2023, 04:43 PM
That does seem like crazy money, however a few on here feel strongly that we shouldn't pay a ruckman even $1 million. With just the 30% pay increase Tim will likely be on around $1 million anyway. We will all need to re-assess contract values as all of a sudden it's going to seem like everybody will be getting paid too much.

Estimated in a few years 50 players will be on $1 million

mjp
21-09-2023, 10:02 AM
Estimated in a few years 50 players will be on $1 million

Like every pay increase mate, it really will be a case of the 'rich getting richer'.

You watch - the average pay will go up driven by the $ given to the superstars...but those players on the border of a list - well, don't come out of contract at the 'wrong' time, 'cos if you do, your $400K will quickly be a new draftee on $200k and the other $200K will go to the top 5 on the list...

Is that how it should be? Who knows really, but the gap between the haves and the have nots in footy (and in society in general) continues to grow.

I like the fact they are much more heavily investing in the funding for retired/delisted players and player welfare.

What I really want to hear is significant increase in the soft cap so some of the people doing work as trainers, massage therapists etc actually start getting looked after...it's been pretty bleak in recent times at a few clubs around the place.

GVGjr
21-09-2023, 10:09 AM
Like every pay increase mate, it really will be a case of the 'rich getting richer'.

You watch - the average pay will go up driven by the $ given to the superstars...but those players on the border of a list - well, don't come out of contract at the 'wrong' time, 'cos if you do, your $400K will quickly be a new draftee on $200k and the other $200K will go to the top 5 on the list...
.

I think you're right when ideally it should be spread across the whole playing group.
I thought COLA was a decent idea as it should have focused more on the players on the lower contracts to help them cover the cost of renting places in Sydney. Unfortunately the Swans used it to attract top end players and stuffed it right up.

azabob
23-09-2023, 08:11 AM
What do we make of the mid season trade period? Of course no context given on how it will operate.

Gut feel I don’t really like it.

Hotdog60
23-09-2023, 08:27 AM
To avoid all this players being payed too much the AFL should have made player payment wages based a century ago so everyone gets the same pay regardless of your stature in the game.
Pay increments go up each year and get capped may be after 5 or 6 years and players get a bonus for finals but not just those that played but the whole team.
If this was the case I wonder how many star players would get poached of course you would have to watch the endorsement type paper bag jobs and relatives getting executive wages for being the tea lady.

GVGjr
23-09-2023, 09:13 AM
What do we make of the mid season trade period? Of course no context given on how it will operate.

Gut feel I don’t really like it.

Well, the AFL have had an uncanny ability to implement changes that can get exploited so unless this is one of the rare times they get it right then it will be exploited and not used in the spirit of what it's designed for.

To me this is all designed to keep dominating the sporting news landscape which is why we get so many things wrong.

Lets go back to the reintroduction of the mid season draft.
The vision
If a club lost a ruck or key position player or two then there was was plenty of good players in the state leagues that could be brought in. That sounded logical
The reality
Clubs use it to get a jump start on 19yo state or talent league players overlooked at the last draft who have performed well enough to get on the draft radars. Of course they will also bring in mid-fielders rather than the ruck man they lost. Who could have seen that coming?

Lets go back to live trading on draft night.
The vision
If a player a club really rates is available a lot later in the draft than originally projected it will allow clubs to trade back into the draft and snare the highly sort after player. That sounded logical
The reality
In the 2018 Sydney and West Coast exploited a poorly implemented option so that the Swans could draft Nick Blakey on the cheap and surprise surprise the AFL signed off on it. Who could have seen that coming?

The mid-season trading will all sound good because they are great at selling the vision but some teams will exploit this and it won't be used in the manner that it's being designed. Still it will help the AFL create news stories and dominate the sporting media and it appears that is the real bigger picture with these changes.