Why our players must lead the way to help save AFL from its ‘biggest financial crisis in history’

AFL football is facing its greatest financial crisis in its illustrious history, and its players must help lead the way to ensure it makes it out the other side, writes Warren Tredrea.

AFL – 23/03/19 – ROUND 1 – Adelaide Crows v Hawthorn at the Adelaide Oval. Eddie Betts in the background with Taylor Walker with his hands on his knees as they go to 3 quarter time. Picture SARAH REED

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AFL football is on its knees, and our players must lead the way to save it.

When CEO Gillon McLachlan fronted the media last Sunday to announce he was postponing the season until May 31 at the earliest, thoughts quickly turned to how can the game keeps its head above water.

Sure, there’s a lot to play out, but after only nine matches in front of empty stadiums, the gravity of the financial situation facing the country’s biggest sport are being laid bare for all to see.

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Clubs have already been briefed – lose between $5-7 million dollars off your bottom line. And while the game has invested in a future fund to help combat challenges like this, the clubs will only get access to a share of that money if they able show drastic cost cutting measures to save the game.

And that means massive job losses.

The game is in trouble and as McLachlan revealed in his press conference: “it’s the biggest financial crisis in AFL history.”

He’s right, but it’s nothing like the pain being felt all over the world as people have had their lives turned upside down in the face of the coronavirus epidemic.

Health problems, including many deaths, isolation, financial loss and fears we’re on the verge of a worldwide recession.

Sign on the door of the Adelaide Football Club. Picture: Sarah Reed.

With Australia’s borders shut off to the rest of the world and South Australian state borders to follow suit today, drastic times call for drastic measures.

Under the current broadcast TV rights deal, 18 teams play 22 matches plus a finals series – the AFL nets approximately $400 million.

But with the league reducing the season to 17 rounds, we have already seen $40 million shaved off the annual fees.

And should we fail to get the season restarted, the ramifications will be catastrophic.

With fans already locked out, the AFL’s 2019 record attendance of 7.5 million paying spectators is a thing of the past, throw in potential sponsorship losses, we could be facing a very different football landscape in 2021.

Late last week the games 18 senior coaches volunteered to take a 20 per cent pay cut, so too the AFL’s 12 member executive, reducing their payroll by over $2 million.

The AFL has a great opportunity to lead the way through arguably football’s toughest time.

If the game goes under, so too will thousands of Australian jobs, that includes anyone who makes a living out of being associated with the game.

And the game’s biggest assets, the players, while contracted are also at risk of following suit.

The players last night offered to take a 50 per cent cut until May 31 - but mostly likely that will run to the end season - and have put pressure on other big earners in the game – coaches, CEOs, CFOs, fitness staff and others – to do the same and put the long-term future of the code ahead of themselves.

GWS Giants players take gym equipment from the club as the AFL has called a postponement of their season due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The game has been run too fat for far too long, over paid executive teams, CEO’s and coaches earning in many cases in excess of a $1 million per annum – irresponsible spending has set in and the excess must be shed.

With football department caps currently $10 million dollars per annum per club, we must see a financial reset take place and it cut to $5 million or $6 million per club to make the game viable again.

We must ask ourselves how is it clubs turning over approximately $40 million to $50 million per annum with 50,000 members fail to make money?

The players put on the game and deserve to be well paid, but the reality of this situation is the average AFL player salary is nearing $400,000 per year, while many others who work in the industry will lose their livelihoods earning far less.

A groundsmen still works on the grass with the club headquarters in the background at Alberton Oval. Picture: Sarah Reed.

If the season goes up in smoke and the players don’t return to the field, the government will have to step in to financially underwrite the game. With that comes financial accountability and full disclosure.

No one knows what the future holds, and how long until this epidemic will come under control.

But the football season is nothing on what billions of people are experiencing around the world with the coronavirus crisis taking over the world, thousands have died, more have fallen sick and the world appears set for a catastrophic financial re-set and recession.

But when it finally passes, which it will, life will go on.

Let’s hope we have all sacrificed enough to ensure the greatest game in the world is ready to reboot again, no matter what it looks like.

And to get through this, we need unity and people willing to put the game ahead of itself.

Originally published as Why our players must lead the way to help save AFL from its ‘biggest financial crisis in history’