THE AFL achieved record revenue of $446 million and more than doubled its net profit in 2013 despite the shadow cast over last season by the drawn-out Essendon supplements saga.
The AFL's financial results were detailed in its 2013 Annual Report, which was released on Tuesday afternoon.
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The report revealed the AFL recorded a net profit of $16.6 million in 2013, up by $9.9 million on 2012, while its revenue increased by $18 million, or 4 per cent on 2012's $428 million.
AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said the League's 2013 profits would be invested in the AFL's Future Fund.
From an operating surplus of $310 million, the AFL distributed $209.2 million to the clubs (including $20.2 million to expansion teams Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney) - up from $200 million in 2012.
The AFL's expenditure also increased by 3 per cent to $137 million in 2013, which Fitzpatrick said was due to "revenue-related increases and legal fees", the latter no doubt largely incurred during the supplements saga.
Click here to read the full report
Footy fans supported their clubs in record numbers last year, with 756,717 signing up as members, the 13th consecutive year a record membership number has been set.
This represented a 7 per cent increase on the 2012 figure of 707,621 members.
Collingwood achieved a record total of 78,427 members in 2013 and was one of six clubs to exceed 50,000 members, along with Hawthorn, Richmond, West Coast, Essendon and Carlton.
The Giants recorded the biggest membership spike of any club, signing 12,704 members, a 23.8 per cent increase on 2012.
St Kilda and Melbourne were the only clubs to suffer membership drops last season.
Crowd attendances were 2.1 per cent up on 2012, with 6,368,346 flocking through the turnstiles during the premiership season at an average of 32,163 a game.
Ten teams' average home game attendances rose in 2013, six by 10 per cent or more, led by Port Adelaide (35.2 per cent) and Richmond (23.2 per cent).
Melbourne suffered the biggest attendance drop (24.1 per cent), followed by St Kilda (11.4 per cent) and GWS (10.4 per cent).
"The football public continued to support the 18 AFL clubs and maintained their extraordinary enthusiasm for the game despite being annoyed and frustrated by the off-field events of 2013 and the time it took to resolve them," Fitzpatrick said.
Total player earnings (including additional services agreements and employment and marketing arrangements with associates of AFL clubs) rose to $197.5 million in 2013, up from $185.9 million the previous year.
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