AFL Players Payments : 19 Players earned over $1m in 2023

The AFL has reported that 19 players earned over $1m (€606k / £518k) in 2023 with 8 of those earning over $1.2m (€727k / £622k), while the average salary of an AFL-listed player was $442k (€268k / £229k).

These figures are an increase on 2022 reflecting the 5 year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed last year which provided players with a 10% backdated pay increase for 2023.

This agreement has led to every single AFL player earning over $100k (€61k / £52k)  in 2023 with the average salary expected to rise to over $500k (€303k / £259k) by 2027. 

Although the AFL hasn’t revealed the names of players in each bracket the top earners are believed to have been previous Brownlow Medalists Richmond’s Dustin Martin and Fremantle's Nat Fyfe along with 4 time All-Australian Jeremy McGovern of the West Coast Eagles. 

Rounding out the Top 8 earners is likely Key Forwards Jeremy Cameron of Geelong and Richmond’s Tom Lynch, ball-magnet midfielders Marcus Bontempelli of the Western Bulldogs and West Coast's Tim Kelly along with Key Defender and new Collingwood captain Darcy Moore.

The AFLW players also received a significant pay increase of 29% up from an average of $46k (€28k / £24k) in 2022 to $60k (€36k / £31k) in 2023 across their 10 game season. 

The AFL earnings are well above average annual earnings in Australia of around $75k (€45k / £39k) but pale in comparison to the highest earning athlete in the world Christiano Ronaldo who earns $315m (€200k / £163k) per year.