The top 10 highest-paid Australian sports bosses: Craig Tiley at Tennis Australia leads the pay pack

There’s plenty of money being paid off the courts and playing fields to management, but one sporting body’s executives ace the rest for earnings.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley earns about $3.6m annually. He is seen above at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne before the 2023 Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

Tennis Australia is the best-paying sports organisation in the country, according to a salary information contained in a little-known document the governing body files annually.

And Craig Tiley, the chief executive of tennis, is by far the best-paid Australian sports boss.

Each year Tennis Australia lodges with the Internal Revenue Service in the US what is known as a Form 990; quite literally the federal tax return for a non-profit organisation.

Why Tennis Australia applied for and still has tax-exempt status in the US remains a mystery – a Tennis Australia spokesperson would not respond to inquiries by The Weekend Australian – but the annual report the IRS receives contains far more financial information than required by the Australian corporate regulator.

The salary of at least 15 of the executives and managers at Tennis Australia is disclosed in the Form 990, the latest of which covers the 2023 financial year.

Tiley, who is also the tournament director of the wildly successful Australian Open grand slam each January, leads the way in the salary stakes.

His pay, the report says, adds up to about $US2.4m ($3.62m) including bonuses. It is more than $1.6m ahead of the estimated $2m salary of the next highest-paid Australian sports administrator, AFL boss Andrew Dillon.

One sports leader said: “Tiley is worth it. He’s grown that event (the Australian Open) into a huge event that goes around the world. (His salary) is quite a bit for an Australian sport, though.”

Tiley’s performance is likely benchmarked against his global peers, though given he holds two job titles at Tennis Australia comparisons can be difficult.

A Form 990 lodged with the IRS by the US Tennis Association shows its CEO Lewis Sherr was paid $US1.29m and Stacey Allaster, the US Open tournament director and CEO, Pro Tennis, got about $US958,000.

The boss of the Lawn Tennis Association in the UK, Scott Lloyd, received a £734,000 ($1.43m) package last year.

Other tennis officials on the top-10-paid list include chief tennis officer Tom Larner ($1.1m) and Darren Pearce ($1m), the chief of staff and communications who oversees the organisation’s important broadcast production arm.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon is the second-highest paid sports boss. Picture: Wayne Taylor

The top 15 highest-remunerated Tennis Australia officials were paid a combined $US8m in 2023 ($12.3m). The IRS document details that figure includes the former chief diversity & people officer Anna Livingston ($US519,023).

There are at least five other tennis officials who are paid more than $750,000, including chief commercial officer Cedric Cornelis and chief strategy officer Tim Jolley.

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt is listed as having a $US350,000 ($540,000) package and media ambassador Todd Woodbridge receives $US264,000 ($407,000).

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo is on about $1.6m. Picture: Getty Images

Otherwise, there are no other major sports governing bodies that disclose annual CEO salaries, willingly or otherwise – with the exception of the Australian Olympic Committee.

According to the AOC’s most recent annual report, for 2023 released earlier this year, outgoing CEO Matt Carroll was paid about $646,000 (president Ian Chesterman received $306,000) compared with a pay packet of about $683,000 in 2022.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s annual report tabled this week in the Victorian parliament contains information about the person known as the “accountable officer”, in other words the CEO, who was paid between $680,000 and $689,999 this year, up from $510,000 to $519,000 in 2023.

The Grand Prix CEO is former AFL executive Travis Auld, who was appointed in August last year to take over from Andrew Westacott. Although Auld’s salary is an increase from his predecessor – and is understood to be about $800,000 for a full 12 months – it is still not among Australia’s top 10 highest-paid sports bosses.

The AFL used to disclose CEO pay information, but AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder ended that tradition almost a decade ago when Gillon McLachlan became AFL CEO in 2014.

VRC CEO Kylie Rogers is understood to have a $1m pay packet. Picture: Michael Klein

The last full AFL pay disclosure was for ex-CEO Andrew Demetriou in 2013, when he received $1.8m, including performance bonuses and an additional $2m long-term incentive bonus.

Demetriou’s salary was disclosed annually during his 11-year tenure, and its increase or bonus was a regular, and often spirited, topic of discussion in the football media when it was revealed prior to the beginning of each season.

In Demetriou’s day, his then-deputy Gillon McLachlan’s pay packet reached about $1m some years, depending on his bonus. But it was only the CEO’s salary that was fully disclosed, save for information released about the total pay for key management personnel.

One source said the AFL was worried about the negative reaction in the media and fans about the CEO’s salary, which is usually well above that of the highest-paid players in the competition – though unlike executive pay, the players are subject to a salary cap designed to achieve on-field parity.

Richmond forward Tom Lynch was estimated to be paid between $1.45m to $1.55m earlier this year in Code Sport’s AFL 100 list.

Peter V'landys, right, earns about $1.2m annually as Racing NSW boss. He is seen above before the start of the day’s racing during Royal Ascot 2022 at Ascot Racecourse in England. Picture: Getty Images

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon is understood to be paid about $2.2m annually, including bonuses. The AFL’s 2023 annual report, released before the start of the just-completed 2024 season, disclosed about $13.6m in total pay for its directors and executive officers – which at least includes the CEO, commissioners and at least 10 executives – compared with $11.8m in 2022.

Ironically, McLachlan’s base salary of $1.5m is disclosed in his new job as CEO of wagering giant Tabcorp, given it is listed on the ASX.

The only other listed sporting entity is NRL club Brisbane Broncos.

Its CEO Dave Donaghy received a total statutory remuneration package of $706,134 for 2023, according to the club’s most recent annual report. That figure included a cash bonus, short- and long-term benefits, superannuation and non-monetary benefits.

Former Wallaby Phil Waugh now earns about $800,000 as CEO of Rugby Australia. Picture: Getty Images

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo is understood to be paid at least $1.6m annually, including bonuses, which puts him above his chairman Peter V’landys – who is estimated to receive about $1.2m each year as CEO of Racing NSW.

As ARC chairman, V’landys also shares in the board fees paid by the organisation each year to its board of directors. The eight rugby league commissioners have shared $750,000, but that was set to rise to a combined $1.2m this year.

Other $1m recipients include new Victoria Racing Club CEO Kylie Rogers, who arrived just before the recent spring carnival and has the job of turning around an organisation that lost $24m under current chairman Neil Wilson and predecessor Steve Rosich in 2023.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley, who has announced he is stepping down, is also understood to have a salary package of about $1m, ahead of the roughly $800,000 Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh and James Johnson at Football Australia receive.