The football economy unpacked: What the highest and lowest paying jobs in the AFL earn

Every dreamed of working in the AFL industry? From entry-level to positions to the top-dog executives, find out what all the key jobs in footy really pay.

The coaches and football staff on the front lines developing the game remain at the bottom of footy’s wage totem pole.

Coaches at AFL clubs welcomed a boost to the soft cap next year that will mean football departments have more cash to spend, senior coaches can earn more outside of normal duties and coaching directors or senior assistants have 20 per cent of their salary outside the cap.

But that funding boost will not help those toiling away at Coates League or state league clubs, where hours a pored into developing the next footballers that will carry the game forward.

It’s understood to Coates League coaches can work up to 60 hours a week for a yearly salary of $75-90,000, below the ABS’s Australian average for a full time worker, of just over $100,000.

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Tasmania Devils Coates Talent League head coach Jeromey Webberley. Picture: Linda Higginson

That can include multiple nights a week on the grind through various programs such as national championship sides and Coates League clubs.

The coaches at that level are out laying down cones for training after school or work hours for their players, sometimes in the rain on soggy winter nights.

These coaches are willing to put in those long hours to bring the future stars of the game as close to an elite environment as possible but due to the pay, coaches often cycle out of Coates League clubs quickly.

“Working with the kids is awesome, it’s a tough job but a rewarding job,” an insider with knowledge of the system said.

“If you want to have a career in footy, it is a stepping stone but it is probably a bit short of a career, what we get paid. You don’t often see people hanging around too long.”

Those running state league clubs are in a similar boat, with one stand-alone club coach earning about $120,000.

“The talent pathway is severely underfunded,” the coach said.

Likely the lowest total renumeration in the business comes for AFLW assistant coaches, who are almost all part time, and generally earn between $20-25,000,

A result of the professionalism of the players, training at AFLW clubs has steadily moved further inside normal work hours, with players training during the daytime.

But that means assistant coaches face a tough task getting to training themselves, given they have to hold other jobs.

While those in the industry love the job as an AFLW assistant, turnover is high.

The average wage for an AFL men’s assistant last year was $183,000.

In a survey conducted by the AFL Coaches Association last year, just under 90 per cent of coaches said they love their job, but only 7 per cent felt they were paid enough to cover the time and stress they outlay.

While an esteemed retired player can bring in valuable experience when stepping into coaching, it is well noted in the industry some assistants who have been in the job for years can earn the same as a retired player just stepping into the profession.

The average senior AFL coach was paid $750,000 last year, while an AFLW senior coach wage sits between $100-120,000.

A senior AFLW coach job is a full-time role in 2025, but one recent former part-time head coach was paid $65,000.

Lions’ AFLW head coach Craig Starcevich. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

The AFLCA will keep an eye on clubs under the soft cap boost, beginning with an extra $750,000 next year, in hope much of that money is passed on to the coaches.

The soft cap, which is up to $11.5 million per club including both AFL and AFLW programs, covers the entire football department, from coaches to recruiting to strength and conditioning and generally any part of the club that impacts the on-field team.

Even while the coaches have had to fight a public battle for more pay, others in football departments put in similar hours for tough pay.

The top pay for an AFLW list manager is $110,000, while some clubs advertised that position for about $70,000.

Those in AFLW football departments often wear other hats, for example Hawthorn list boss Keegan Brooksby also coached the midfield group last season.

Like the Coates League example, one W football department insider said: “You wouldn’t do it if you didn’t love the game, you would think about finding another industry to go in to”.

Sitting outside the football department cap, club media teams have exploded in the past decade, with most containing at least three media officers – who deal with journalists and the like – and a collection of social media producers.

A media co-ordinator job generally pays up to $100,000, with those in those roles usually on call seven days a week waiting for a journalist to bother them with a big story.

Those media teams now also look after AFL and AFLW teams at the same time, with the seasons now overlapping.

A head of media, a position above a co-ordinator, often pays $120-150,000.

Generally in club land, the big star players on over $1m are highest paid, then the club CEO and senior coach can duke it out for second place in wages.

A list boss can earn over $300,000, and some clubs split that role differently.

That can allow clubs to squeeze an extra body into recruiting or elsewhere, if a senior figure tackles two jobs, creating a slice of more room under the soft cap.

Geelong’s Andrew Mackie officially wears both hats as list and football boss and GWS’s Jason McCartney is similar.

Some clubs invest into recruiting in different ways.

Essendon has greatly deepened its staff around Matt Rosa (GM of list and recruiting) and Rob Forster-Knight (national recruiting manager) in recent years.

Matt Rosa replaced Adrian Dodoro at the Bombers. Picture: Michael Klein

Fitness bosses can earn good money, given it was reported at the time that Darren Burgess signed a four-year deal in 2014 that paid him $2 million.

The soft cap, introduced a year later, slowed the rapid growth in those salaries and fitness bosses now earn in the mid-$200,000 range.

The soft cap, introduced a year later, slowed the rapid growth in those payments.

Umpires are still not full time employees and with good match payments can bump over $150,000 a year.

On the other side of the microphone, the media talent can really earn the big bucks.

The top media stars, Garry Lyon at Fox Footy and SEN and Kane Cornes across Channel 7, SEN and AFL media, can straddle seven figures.

A median wage for a TV commentator in football is understood to be about $500,000.

The take-home pay of footy’s boss Andrew Dillon is murkier now the AFL doesn’t disclose the CEO salary, a practice that ended in 2017.

Ex-CEO Andrew Demetriou called on the league to go back to a public wage for the job.

The last time it was made public was in 2016, when Gillon McLachlan’s wage was listed as $1.74m, although that is believed to have almost doubled in his time in the job.

That was McLachlan’s third year in the job, much like Dillon, and industry figures point to Dillon’s wage in the range of $1.8-2 million.

The AFL executive team was paid $10.8m last year across nine positions.

Removing Dillon’s wage would leave the other eight positions with an average of just over $1m.

Originally published as The football economy unpacked: What the highest and lowest paying jobs in the AFL earn