AFL Rich 100: Players’ COVID-19 salary cuts revealed

Footy players have made a whopping $20 million sacrifice to keep the AFL season alive amid the global pandemic, some handing back hundreds of thousands of dollars. See how much the top 100 earners have given back

The Sunday Herald Sun’s list of footy’s top 100 paid players in 2020 is, unsurprisingly, brimming with elite talent at the pointy end of the scale.

But it’s not just a case of the biggest names in the game banking the biggest salaries.

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Front-end loaded contracts and deals that are built to ward off potential poaching raids from cashed-up rival clubs help to skew the picture.

Then came COVID-19, and the resulting wage sacrifices — more than $20 million handed back among the game’s top 100 paid players alone.

HOW IT WORKS

SALARY FIGURE

* Player’s contracted salary for 2020 to the best of our information. A number of players are in the same wage band. Salaries can alter depending on bonuses.

COVID SALARY

* Each AFL player is losing around 28 per cent of his 2020 contract salary because of COVID-19.

MORE RICH LIST:

AFL Rich 100: Who are the AFL’s highest-earning stars? See the players ranked 1-100

AFL Rich 100: GWS free agent Jeremy Cameron footy’s biggest earner in 2020

AFL player manager lifts lid on secrets of the trade, how to get best deal for his players

AFL Rich List: One thing footy’s million-dollar earners have in common