AFL soft cap to rise by $350,000 in 2027 after push from clubs, coaches

More coaches will be able to negotiate deals which mirror Chris Scott’s Morris Finance role under changes to the AFL’s soft cap.

The AFL Coaches Association will continue driving for longer payout clauses for assistant coaches and an AFL vision for all coaches after their lobbying for a bigger soft cap paid off on Tuesday.

The league on Tuesday told coaches as part of a soft cap lift the league would now allow senior coaches to earn as much as $100,000 in marketing funds from club sponsors.

Coaches were told that instead of the AFL lifting the football department cap by $250,000 next year the rise would be $750,000 in total.

The 2027 soft cap will also rise $350,000 instead of $250,000, so the cap will be $9.275 million in 2027, much closer to pre-Covid levels.

It will allow football clubs to better reward their coaches across the board from senior coaches to assistants to development coaches.

Twenty per cent of the most assistant or coaching director’s salary cap will sit outside of the cap, while the senior coach can have marketing service agreements of up to $100,000 outside the cap.

They can also have 20 per cent of their current wage outside of the salary cap.

It means coaches like Chris Scott can broker agreements with organisations like Morris Finance that can sit outside of the soft cap.

Chris Scott after being announced as chief of leadership and performance at Morris. Picture: Morris

The Herald Sun revealed in Gather Round that the clubs were pushing for that arrangement given so much demand from club sponsors who wanted to market senior coaches or use their intellectual property.

There will also be increased capacity for finals bonuses for coaches and football staff.

The league estimates the changes will allow clubs to spend $1.4 million extra in those two years on their football caps than they might even under the scheduled soft cap increase.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the AFL had listened to clubs and coaches, including premiership coach Chris Fagan who mounted an impassioned plea to the AFL for more support.

“Coaches are key leaders who play a pivotal role in our game and at their clubs. This additional soft cap space, earning capacity and support, recognises this importance. The meetings we have had across the year allowed me to see first-hand their passion for the game and pressures associated with being a coach in such a high-profile role,” he said.

AFLCA boss Al Nicholson welcomed a rise in the soft cap but said the coaches union was also looking for great protections for assistant coaches often subjected to three-month termination clauses.

Andrew Dillon says the league has listened to the concerns of clubs and coaches.

Some clubs who are not on the AFL drip are forced into those contracts while the AFL’s heavyweights guarantee longer payouts, which leads to competitive disadvantage.

He said the strong lobbying from the AFL’s coaches for a soft cap lift had won out.

“The senior coaches are as united as I have seen on this issue. They have been very vocal about it. We have done a lot of work to make sure they are not ignored.

“The change in the soft cap is a move in the right direction.

“We have also talked a lot about an industry strategy for the AFL as an elite coaching professional. One with a vision with six pillars that the soft cap sits under. Then other support services, diversity, job design and some of those things which are not as sexy but still important.

“We want real change where pay can increase but also termination clauses have full payouts which can mitigate mental health stress and strain. Some clubs are open to (full payouts) and say if I am going to get the best out of a coach and take away that tension it can only help.

“They use it as an attraction mechanism but some clubs have restrictions on their AFL funding and would like to have more autonomy than powerful clubs.

“We would like it to be as consistent as possible.”

GRAND FINAL TIME SLOT LOCKED IN

The AFL Grand Final will again start in its traditional 2.30pm start time this year after the AFL Commission rebuffed strong lobbying from free to air broadcaster Channel 7.

As reported by the Herald Sun on Monday, the Commission ratified the decision to keep the game in its afternoon slot despite a strong push for a layer start time.

Channel 7 believes the league could cash in on a massive audience with a twilight or even night Grand Final, with all of the league’s eight finals played away from the afternoon slot.

But the league has again kept with tradition as part of a push to keep the game stable with few rule changes in recent years.

The AFL’s 18 presidents were on board with the Commission, which was firm in its view that the league will continue to support the Tasmania Devils licence despite government instability.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff is likely to ask for a new election that would postpone any passing of legislation for a new stadium until August at the earliest.

A new election would be held at July 19 at the earliest and then it could take weeks for a new government to be formed given the state’s electoral system.

Originally published as AFL soft cap to rise by $350,000 in 2027 after push from clubs, coaches