AFL Power Index: Which clubs reign supreme at the top of the competition?

The numbers have been crunched, and the verdict is in — one club stands head and shoulders above the rest in the AFL Power Index. And it’s not who you would expect.

The numbers have been crunched, and the verdict is in: Richmond is the most powerful club in the land.

Power is subjective, of course, but the Tigers, riding the wave of their triple premiership dynasty, are currently operating the largest business in football.

Richmond’s extraordinary revenue in 2023-24 is what separates the club from the chasing pack – led by West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton – in the AFL Power Index.

An index score has been calculated for each club based on a weighting system attributing varying levels of importance to categories ranging from membership sales and cash on hand to social media followers.

PART 1: ASSET RICH, SOCIAL KINGS: THE AFL’S TRUE POWER CLUBS

The Tigers finished with a score of 95, narrowly shaded by the Eagles with 94 as expansion sides Gold Coast (48) and GWS Giants (52) brought up the rear.

West Coast and Collingwood bring more fans through the gates each week, but with 25 per cent of the index score weighted towards overall revenue, Richmond’s huge off-field success with its subsidiary company Aligned Leisure set it apart.

Throughout 2025, the club expects seven million people to flow through the pools and gyms that help the club’s bottom line.

A massive financial outlay on venues including Caulfield Grammar’s aquatic centre, Manningham Leisure Facilities and even pools in Albury and Wodonga is growing a business which already boasts more than 2000 staff members.

Richmond chief executive Shane Dunne, who oversaw Aligned Leisure before he was appointed to replace Brendon Gale, said the expanded operations were critical for a modern football club.

The fitness and education arm of the club only pulled an annual profit of $63,265, but the revenue alone was more than the balance sheet of rivals Melbourne, North Melbourne and Gold Coast.

“It is critically important to us that we can bring in diversified revenue that allows us to not ride the rollercoaster of on-field performance,” Dunne told this masthead.

“Our fans have been incredibly loyal and supportive. We still sit in the top few of home crowds even where we finished on the ladder, but what this does do is it allows us to continue to invest in things that are important to us so we can remain focused on our ultimate goal of winning while we have the revenue stream behind us.”

The Tigers have steadily built Aligned Leisure, adding on average of one contract a year over the past decade.

“It is a good revenue generator and business model,” Dunne said.

“There will be seven million people that go through the doors of those Aligned Leisure facilities in the next year so for us to have such a positive impact on the community while having a strong revenue stream is really an ideal business for us.”

Richmond is closing in on final plans for a monster $100m Punt Road redevelopment and still draws over $5m from pokies money each year, so Dunne said the club will keep diversifying its money to stay stable and reinvest in football.

“We need to keep investing in the club,” he said.

“Businesses like this and revenues like this will allow us to keep investing We are about to undertake the biggest upgrade at Punt Rd in its history, that is a $100m business. It is businesses like this that will allow us to be a successful club in the long run.”

It is understood Richmond does not currently have plans to exit pokies, with five other clubs (Brisbane, Carlton, Essendon, Port Adelaide and St Kilda) also still drawing a revenue stream from the contentious source.

The Tigers top the AFL Power Index. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Sitting on a goldmine after the redevelopment of Whitten Oval, the Western Bulldogs were the second-most asset-rich club after West Coast and surprisingly beat Port Adelaide (65) and Adelaide (64) in the rankings.

While Adelaide still boasts more members, the Power have benefited from their own redeveloped Alberton facility, but the Crows will be in a stronger position once the works at their new Thebarton Oval headquarters are complete.

Gold Coast trailed the Giants and Kangaroos at the bottom, but there is upside in the club’s foray into childcare centres as well as promising signs on the field, which could draw more members and sponsorship opportunities.

Originally published as AFL Power Index: Which clubs reign supreme at the top of the competition?