The legends on Australia‘s stellar AFL Women‘s teams have already scored a big one, and season two hasn’t even started yet. The AFL have agreed to a new deal that sees almost all players cop a 23% pay rise for the next season of the competition.
Despite a two-year pay deal being agreed to before the first season of the AFLW, a new deal was struck after players ended up spending way more than their contracted nine hours per week at training and on the field.
Tier 1 players will score a 17.6% pay rise, up to $20,000 from $17,000 for the season. Tier 2 players cop a 20% bump, from $12,000 to $14,500, and the base wage for AFLW players will rise from $8,500 to $10,500 – a 23% increase.
In total, the payment pool for AFLW players will score a full $500,000 extra, and players will now be training 13-15 hours per week during pre-season and 10 hours during the season, with match hours on top.
Clubs’ most marketable players will also have the opportunity to nab a share of a $40,000 per team marquee budget, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per player.
The women of the AFL have signed 24-week contracts, which include two weeks of annual leave – so basically, playing for the AFLW is starting to look almost like a real job. Not bad for only the second season of the wildly popular series.
Frankly we can’t wait for the next season – and the next pay rise, and the next, until we’re paying everyone who plays pro sport on par, regardless of gender.
