AFL player salaries surge with 25 superstars taking home seven-figure salaries in 2024

The number of millionaires in the AFL has surged with more superstars than ever taking home seven-figure salaries last season – see the full breakdown here.

The number of million-dollar men in the AFL has surged with 25 superstars taking home seven-figure salaries last season.

There are six more players earning in excess of $1m after 19 held seven-figure contracts in 2023.

Only two million-dollar men took to the field a decade ago, but big rises in the salary cap since 2015 have rewarded the game’s biggest names.

The AFL’s highest-earning bracket of players gained two new members last season, with 10 players pocketing more than $1.2 million, after eight players reached the bracket in 2023.

Those names are not publicly identified by the AFL, but the Herald Sun’s 2024 Rich List revealed Richmond’s Tom Lynch, Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton and Essendon’s Ben McKay all received bumper pay packets worth more than $1.2 million a season, although McKay’s contract is heavily front-ended.

The Bombers defender’s six-year deal is worth about $850,000 a season on average after he crossed from North Melbourne at the end of 2023.

Ben McKay at Essendon football training. Saturday, January 11. 2025. Picture: David Crosling

Lynch is entering the final season of his heavily back-ended seven-year deal, which helped yield the Tigers back-to-back flags in 2019-2020.

The injury-hit spearhead is expected to be the highest-paid player in the game again in 2025 after taking home a figure in the vicinity of $1.5m last season.

Industry figures believe West Coast prodigy Harley Reid could be among the first to reach the next frontier of earning $2m per season when his mandatory three-year deal ends ahead of 2027.

Melbourne superstars Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca are also two of the highest-paid players in the competition on more than $1m per season.

Other members of the million-dollar club are understood to include club captains Patrick Cripps (Carlton) and Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs), along with Sydney superstar Isaac Heeney.

There were 19 players in the $900,000-$1m bracket and 20 more earning $800,000 to $900,000.

The most significant rise was in players who earnt between $700,000 to $800,000, with 58 taking home a pay packet in that range – up from 42 in 2023.

Three players who earnt more than $700,000 for the year did not play a senior game last season.

For the second year in a row, no primary-listed AFL players were paid a salary of less than $100,000.

The AFL confirmed the average wage also rose to $459,173 (up from $441,464 in 2023).

The average payment for a player with at least one game was $493,592 (up from $476,215 in 2023).

Originally published as AFL player salaries surge with 25 superstars taking home seven-figure salaries in 2024