THE HIGHEST paid AFLW players will begin to have their earnings capped from next season, as clubs start to look ahead to the change in the Additional Services Agreement (ASA) rules for next year and beyond.
In addition to the AFLW's tiered payment structure, club list managers have been able to provide their two best players with uncapped ASA payments to attract and retain the competition's most talented footballers.
ASA payments include financial income from promotional and marketing contracts separate from the player's football contract.
Players on 'Tier 1' contracts in season 2024 earned a base payment of $95,331, though could also earn additional payments through financial measures that enabled two footballers on each list to earn uncapped ASA payments.
Industry sources suggested Adelaide's League best and fairest Ebony Marinoff was subsequently the AFLW's highest paid player last season, tipped to be earning in excess of $260,000 across her 'Tier 1' contract and ASA payments.
Greater Western Sydney youngster Alyce Parker was thought to be marginally behind Marinoff, while Hawthorn's Emily Bates, Richmond's Monique Conti, Essendon's Maddy Prespakis and Geelong's Georgie Prespakis were also predicted to have racked up football earnings around the $200-250,000 mark last season.
Sydney's Chloe Molloy, Collingwood's Brianna Davey and West Coast's Ella Roberts were the other players believed to be in the highest paid bracket of AFLW players during the last season of uncapped ASA payments.
However, several clubs indicated that a series of players beginning long-term contracts from this season had front-ended deals to maximise the final year of uncapped ASA payments.
While the base 'Tier 1' contract will rise to $109,760 for next season under the recently signed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), ASA payments will now be capped among all players.
Clubs will be working under an ASA cap of $127,693 to be shared among all listed players, up from $100,000 across the last two seasons, but the two highest paid players will now be brought under the cap.
It's set to complicate future contract negotiations for clubs as they battle to sign up and attract star talent. For example, Marinoff and Parker's ASA payments were tipped to have exceeded $150,000 last season, far more than the entire collective limit that is set to be imposed among clubs from next year.
However, in some respite for club list bosses, the League will enable teams to honour the existing ASA agreements entered into prior to the CBA being signed for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The AFL enables a maximum of three players to be on 'Tier 1' contracts across any given season, though the overwhelming majority of clubs use a 2-6-6-16 tiered payment system.
From next season that structure would see two players on 'Tier 1' contracts worth $109,760, six players on 'Tier 2' contracts worth $89,559, six players on 'Tier 3' contracts worth $76,091, and 16 players on 'Tier 4' contracts worth $67,337.
The entire 30-player squad would then share in the capped ASA payments of $127,693.
