By Jake Niall
For the first time since the expansion of the competition to 18 teams, Carlton will receive no additional funding from the AFL next year, on the back of a massive profit.
Like power clubs Collingwood, West Coast, Hawthorn and Richmond, the Blues will receive only the minimum base funding – it was about $12 million in 2024 – in what is a reflection of their growing financial clout and restoration to off-field powerhouse.
Carlton president Luke Sayers, senior coach Michael Voss and chief executive officer Brian Cook.Credit: Carlton Football Club
The Blues will soon announce an anticipated cash profit of about $8 million – earnings before depreciation and amortisation – which will be reduced to $3 million once the depreciation and amortisation of nearly $5 million (such as capital works) are deducted, according to a club source speaking off the record before the figures are official.
Carlton and competition sources have confirmed the massive turnaround in Carlton’s financial position will make it one of five AFL clubs that receive zero in what is called “variable funding.”
The Blues received about $750,000 in variable funding this year, their extra funding having reduced over recent years in line with their growing revenue and huge crowds since 2022. Essendon, which would be similar to the Blues given similar on-field results, received about $800,000 in variable funding this year.
Carlton was previously bracketed alongside Essendon, Geelong, Adelaide and Fremantle in the second tier of club funding. But that was before the AFL’s decision to strip the Blues of variable funding next year, a scenario that will likely extend into the coming years.
Collingwood, West Coast, Richmond and Hawthorn have been the same four clubs to receive zero in variable funding for several years, while expansion teams Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast receive easily the largest share of additional funding, with a total each of more than $25 million, including the base funds, in 2023.
Carlton’s revenue, counting the club’s foundation, gaming operations and Carlton In Business network, will be close to $100 million. Carlton’s four gaming venues, which are controlled by long-time benefactor Bruce Mathieson and his son, will contribute about $2 million of the profit.
Richmond, despite a dismal season on the field and taking a hit to match returns and membership revenue, is unlikely to receive variable funding next year. The Tigers have had zero in variable funding for the seven years from 2018 until this year, a reflection of their massive transformation on and off field.
The $12 million in base funding does not cover the salary cap for AFL (men) – which was $15.788 million per club this year – let alone the football budgets of clubs, plus the AFLW costs. Collingwood president Jeff Browne has pushed for the gap between base funding and the salary cap (total player payments) to be closed. The salary cap will rise to $18,440,415 in 2027.
The Brisbane Lions have been the third-highest recipient of variable funding since 2012 (when GWS entered the competition), ahead of St Kilda, which was clearly the most heavily funded Victorian club for the 11 years until 2023, when they were overtaken on the funding ladder by North Melbourne.
Collingwood, Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong received at least $100 million less than expansion teams GWS and Gold Coast over the decade from 2012 to 2021, while the Saints received $17 million more than the next Victorian club, the Western Bulldogs, over those 10 years. But the Saints have had a reduction in variable funding since 2022, having wiped off most of a massive debt that was incurred in the years after their disastrous move to Seaford and then return to Moorabbin, which required major funding.
The Lions still have the highest debt in the competition, close to $10 million, a large share of that is owed to the AFL. Their debt peaked at $18 million in 2018 and they and the league have made debt reduction their priority, maintaining a high funding level despite on-field success under Chris Fagan.
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