The business of footy

After a one hundred and sixty day hiatus, the AFL will return to our screens this week. Crowds will stream into stadiums, commentators will put their headsets on once more. we will yell and shout at our TVs as if our voices could alter the trajectory of the football through the air. Many of us know the player names and the coaches history but have no idea about the money behind the league we love. This season alone, the AFL is predicted to make over one billion dollars!

In 2022, the AFL proudly counted a whopping one point one million members across all its clubs. Throughout the season a total of six million seven hundred thousand individual people walked through their gates. Their largest TV audience will come as no surprise to anyone with over one million people tuning in to watch the Anzac Day clash. All of this helped build a sizable revenue of nine hundred and forty four million dollars for the 2022 season. Not bad for a sports franchise on its knees pleading to be saved by the banks only two years prior.

From that almost billion dollar payday, tv revenue made up almost a third of their revenue, with sponsorships making up another third. Surprisingly, coming off the back of COVID disruptions to the game, government grants and handouts made up less than ten percent of their overall revenue.

Of course the AFL as a whole is made up of eighteen teams. Interestingly, of their near billion dollar revenue, they redistributed three hundred and thirty seven million to the clubs. That’s less than thirty percent of their revenue. Not all clubs are as lucky as some others though. The gold coast suns are still being propped up by the AFL with a payment of twenty eight million dollars. The club with the least amount of support? That would be the West Coast Eagles only receiving twelve million seven hundred thousand from the AFL.

On top of their cash handouts the AFL also guaranteed loans for ten clubs totalling thirty five million dollars. Ever wondered who funds the AFL? In this case it was mainly loans issued by Westpac and NAB. Remarkably, Brisbane received the largest loan with a staggering eight million dollars, whilst St Kilda also received six point seven five million dollars in loans.

Along with the AFL earning almost a billion dollars as a league, the clubs also earnt their own revenue through sponsorships, membership/ticket sales and merchandise. For 2022 the statistics were a little skewed. Hawthorn made in excess of a thirty five million dollar profit, however it predominantly came from selling a number of venues that they had previously owned. If we remove the sale of those venues, hawthorn made just over three million dollars. Similarly, Carlton made a profit of seventy odd million dollars however that too mostly came from a strange place. That is to say, Carlton received a ginormous donation from one wealthy member.

Outside of one off circumstances, the club with the highest profit was St Kilda with a staggering nine million dollars in profit. On the flip side, GWS lost over a million dollars and the Sydney Swans scraped through with only a thirty eight thousand dollar profit.

For many clubs, the vast majority of their revenue actually doesn’t come from footy at all. Rather, they own different pubs, restaurants and gambling establishments. It’s worth noting that unlike many clubs North Melbourne Football Club managed to turn a profit of more than six million dollars without any gambling facilities at all. A stance the club has had since at least 2016.

All that money flowing down from the AFL to the clubs doesn’t stop there though. In 2022 there were twelve players on million dollar contracts or better. The current highest paid player is on a whopping two million eight hundred thousand dollars. Max Gawn isn’t alone on mega money however, with over seventy players on contracts above eight hundred thousand dollars or more. The average player you ask? Just slightly above four hundred thousand dollars.

So where does all that money go? An AFL club hasn’t had a private owner in well over twenty five years. That is to say, It doesn’t go straight to some billionaire like other major sports leagues around the world. In fact, The club ownership for the vast majority of AFL clubs is what really makes this sport stand out from the rest of the world. For the vast majority of clubs, the owners are the members, however each year membership is reset and must be repurchased. The members don’t get the money, in fact they pay the club for the privilege of being a member.

Instead of any one group reaping the benefits, the community and football system as a whole receives the benefits. Players get better contracts, clubs run community days and provide outreach programs within their local community. The AFL also runs one of the best juniors programs in the form of AusKick each year as well. A lot of the excess cash clubs have will be burnt through running the club in the coming years. Surprisingly club presidents do not get paid in the AFL.

That my friends, is the business of Football!

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Data for the article provided by the AFL 2022 financial report, available to the public.