At an average of $230,000, are AFL players underpaid?

Ive been getting into this sport and rugby during the summer. The point is these men are doing things that we wish we could do. Supermen. They deserve as much money as it takes. Blessed beyond belief.

The average AFL wage is $230,000 per season, they play 24 games per year (24 weeks), the average Australian would work many more weeks then them, yet the average full-time earnings in Australia were $64,641 per annum in 2010. (According to the Bureau of Statistics.) Do they think they are greater than the average Australian? if the average Australian can survive of $64,641 i am certain that they would be able to survive off $230,000. NBA players play 82 games a year, this may be why they earn so much more.

"Now – I doubt that even you have the FIFA Handbook at hand when having a social kick around in the local park. Or has FIFA regulated what cotton density t-shirt is appropriate to – when bundled – act as a goal post??" MC, Funny you should say that, as Cameroon turned up wearing AFL style shirts to play a WC game and FIFA decreed that was totally unacceptable to wear that sort of Football attire for Football---so were forced to go back to the sheds and change their strip. It was a stinker of a day as I recall, but the intake of water is well within FIFA's rules as it was OK for a water intake in the 1984 US Football world cup. It was a player safety issue and commonsense prevailed.. Redb, the gals at the CRSL are devastated :)

AF (formerly known as KB without the gum leaves), Good tag team work there on Michael C. I'll distract him, while you mention Marn Grook . . .

They even get points for missing the goals and then get paid for it.

Sam the Koala got stuffed and put on display in near to Phar Lap, sad to see that KB didn't get stuffed, and is far from on display.

there's nothing wrong with local 'house' rules, I doubt we'll see quarter time drinks breaks in a FIFA WC match - but, Perth Glory have been permitted to do so. Because, there's a difference b/w officially sanctioned FIFA matches and local regular league matches under a local jurisdiction. That FIFA and the AFL operate differently is beyond question. btw - the vast majority of Aust Footy outpost nations began life as nothing more then minimally organised 'social' footy. Now - I doubt that even you have the FIFA Handbook at hand when having a social kick around in the local park. Or has FIFA regulated what cotton density t-shirt is appropriate to - when bundled - act as a goal post??

vale KB. He was a feisty little fella. :-)

MC, KB is no longer; he met his early demise in the near by reserve adjacent to the CRSL... Out of respect for the little Fella crush by an AFL armoured truck in its hast to deliver the Nab $20 vouchers to Auskick sign on regos (we suspect) is how he met his premature end to life, RIP KB... We have buried him with full distinction and honours along side Bert his ol’ CRSL comrade in arms (mate)... ;) But back to the discussion you guys simply refuse to compare apples with apples Melb club Ballarat and SA Aussie Rules did not have identical sets of rules either and were different associations like in England... And even now SA Aussie rules are not in full compliant under the AFL body even with Andrew Demetriou’s repeated request to become fully compliant with the AFL national body... The international arm play entirely under a different set of criteria that said, you cannot argue a case of uniformity across the entire AFL and international governing body as the English FA and the FIFA org do... If you want to continue with your misconception go right ahead, but we know better... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AF (formerly KB but the gum leave will remain)

correct to a degree - ground rationalisation was required or very, very expensive re builds across the suburbs. The VFL/AFL had enough issues with State Govt over VFL Park and the MCG and where to host Grand Finals that - it's understandable that when most the grounds were decaying and were deemed fire hazards (grand stands shut down) - that something had to happen - and the VFL/AFL wasn't flush with cash back then. Princes Park is the one that should probably be going - with that little rail line that used to run under Royal Parada opened back up like the Showgrounds spur. Carlton and Essendon (Coll, Haw etc) are too big by far for a 'boutique' stadium. The benefit of ground rationalisation has been that these clubs playing at the MCG instead of Victoria Park can cater for 40K and 50K memberships. Given the actual lack of Govt investment in the Melbourne AFL venues - and given the example of $270 million for the only 100% Govt funded venue in town is for at the time 2 real and 2 imagined teams with total membership of about 30,000 - the AFL and it's 9 Melb teams and 300,000 members of said teams could rightly ask "Where's our Govt funded stadium?". This was perhaps attempted to be put back on the agenda when the FFA mentioned the prospect of E-Gate that seemed to have been parked after the AFL renegotiated deals with Docklands and the MCG last year.

There are about 600 professionals in the EPL and in 2006 the average salary was about 676,000 pounds which equates to about $AUD1.2 million at today's exchange rate. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/163676000-the-average-salary-of-a-premiership-footballer-in-2006-473659.html That figure typically rises by between 60 and 100 per cent when performance-related bonuses, including scoring and match payments for actually playing, are added. That would equate to nearly $2 Million per year for the average EPL footballer when bonuses and match payments are added. At the rate wages are growing the average EPL earnings would be about $2.5 million or more this season. That would mean a total EPL salary and bonuses bill of around $1.5 Billion. Compare that to the total A-League salary capped bill of about $20 million. Or an average A-League salary of about $108K. The average English Championship salary with bonuses and match payments is about 250K pounds = about $430K The average English League 1 salary with bonuses and match payments is about 110K pounds = about $180K The average English League 2 salary with bonuses and match payments is about 80K pounds = about $130K

KB - from the time of the London FA being established 1863 to 1877, the London FA and Sheffield FA played by different rules and were separate and independant associations. They played each othe 16 times by either Sheffield Rules, London Rules and Mixed rules, and finally by 1877 they came together in agreement on a common set of rules. The Sheffield lads, along with Hallam and others - are recognised as playing "Sheffield Rules". But, that hasn't stopped FIFA proclaiming them. Whereas Melbourne Football Club has participated at the highest level of its code longer than any other club. It's original set of rules are what evolved from 1859. ;-)

Brendon Gale has gone back to PUnt Rd as CEO. Matt Finnis is the CEO of the AFLPA.

FYI - the GAbba: From theGabba.org : From November 1974 until early 1993, there were very few improvements at the Gabba. The 1993 Master Plan set out a 15 year plan to completely redevelop the Gabba. Stage 1 saw the removal of the greyhound track and reconfiguration of the playing field to the same dimensions as the MCG. Stage 2 (construction of the temporary Western Stand, installation of terrace seating and provision of corporate suites and boxes) was completed by Easter 1993, when the Brisbane Bears played their first match at the Gabba as permanent tenants. Stage 3 (Northern Stand, lights for night sport and new scoreboards) was completed by the end of 1995. Stage 4 consists of Eastern Stand and 5 bays of the Western Stand. The Eastern Stand opened on 27 March 1999 bringing capacity to 23,000 and the 5 bay Western Stand opened on 1 May 1999, bringing capacity to over 26,000. Stage 5 (the 15 bay Southern Stand) was completed in December 1999, bringing ground capacity to 37,600. The playing field was totally replaced with a USGA sand profile stabilised turf field in a 12 week period after the One Day International cricket matches in January 2000. Stage 6 has seen the replacement of the Brisbane Lions Social Club with a new $40 million fully seated grandstand increasing The Gabba's capacity to 42,000. Stage 6 'the final link' was opened by Premier Peter Beattie on 25 September 2005. It was all mapped out - the Soccer was able to fit in nicely and Lang Park wasn't in a position to carry it off at the time. get over it - but, remember, Cockerill's assertion of a burning desire for a real 'soccer' legacy : "On this point, Lowy is intransigent. No legacy, no World Cup." And we all sit back and are gob smacked to see the FFA reject the option of a 50,000 capacity Swan St 'legacy' stadium and prefer to go argy bargy with the AFL over Docklands..........flabbergasted mate, just prooves that Cockerill mustn't have the contacts that he'd like to think he does!!!!

Lazza - Gabba redevelopment -- a 15 year multi phased project mapped out in 1993 for completion by 2008. Back then, they had no idea it would be nominated to host Olympic soccer in 2000 for Sydney. You tell me how important half a dozen soccer games in 2000 were to the completed project in 2008? Just like the MCG being ready in time for the 2006 C'wealth games - it's a nice deadline to set and a nice ribbon cutting excuse. They simply accelerated the plan to ensure a completed stage 5 in time for the Olympics. This is the problem - the soccer media - Cockerill - launched this crusade of lies back in October (well before Demetriou went public in December). the 2000 Olympic Games - the game got stitched up by rival administrators, in bed with a compliant government. Stadiums in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney got significant public-funded upgrades because of football, And Lazza - you still seem unable to accept that Cockerill was outright lying to include Melbourne in there - I've pointed out before, zero Govt funds - the 2 major redevelopments were the 1992 Great Southern Stand and the 2006 new Ponsford/Northern/Olympic. Nothing whatsoever to do with Olympic Soccer.

Jimbo - I've acknowledged the cricket ovals of QLD and NSW (although the comment seems not to've been published??). The MCG has very much been built with AFL in mind. It's the AFL who drove the Great Southern Stand in the early '90s - that was after the State Govt had denied the AFL the 'extensions' at VFL Park. The MCC were only willing to undertake the project on the condition at that point that the AFL commit for 40 years - 1992-2032. I've kept my comments around the 3 biggest AFL stadia - MCG, Docklands and AAMI stadium. Over 200,000 seating, and over a billion dollars of non-govt funds that either relates directly to Aust Footy current ownership,future ownership and/or super long term contractual obligation. btw - of course the AFL benefits indirectly from local council/state/fed monies - - however, not directly to the AFL bank accounts. Such that when someone like Cockerill whinges about a $28 million dollar improvement in Geelong that he claims is all Federal funds.....when the Geelong FC and AFL combined had chipped in $6 mill of it, and the venue is a multi-purpose facility owned by the City of Geelong.....then Cockerill is the one being disengenuous. At the end of the day - there's one simple reason that test cricket is played in Melbourne at 100K capacity MCG - whislt test cricket is played in Sydney on a 40K capacity SCG. Football. Many a cricket fan (incl. off season footy fans!!) in Melbourne have lamented that over the years - when live against the gate only occurred for sell out matches - such that Sydney would get live FTA coverage for a 40K gate and Melb wouldn't even with 65K in for the cricket!!!!!! Ruddy damn footy!!!!! ;-)

It because of the AFL we have so few stadiums left in Melbourne. A club with foresight some years ago like a Carlton or Essendon should have tried to create a boutique stadium out of their existing home like Geelong have. They kill it with every home match they play. The AFL only has the G and Etihad in Melbourne now. How many have the really been instrumental in building? I would say many of the existing ones would have been redeveloped anyway.

TT, what about the magnificent stadia in Qld, NSW and Canberra, where AFL has no significance whatsoever in the development of those facilities. In fact in these states the AFL are mere tennants too. I think you give too much credit to the AFL, the MCG was built with cricket in mind and was often filled with cricket fans especially for those WI and Ashes games. Its absolutely ludicrous to imagine the AFL does not benefit from Local Council, State and Federal government money. You usually make a sensible contribution to the topic, but I'm surprised at your comments and the implication that we all owe AFL our gratitude for having anywhere at all to play sport.

There are many attractions to playing football TT including being able to work professionally in just about any country in the world, but as you say the kids are free to play whatever sport they wish in our wonderful country.

I assume you're a Wednesday fan so it's good to have a sense of humour. I've always respected English Football fans who stick with their club even though they fall down through the divisions. I can't imagine too many AFL/NRL fans here who would do the same if their team were suddenly playing in a lower league. Leeds and even Leciester were getting over 30K last season for some games in the 3rd tier? The moral of Manu and Liverpool is don't ever, ever allow Yanks to buy your club. Russians and Arabs are a safer bet.