PLAYERS won't have first dibs on the spoils of the AFL's new $2.5 billion broadcast rights agreement, with the League set to simultaneously weigh up the financial needs of clubs, fans and community football, CEO Gillon McLachlan says.
The AFL announced it had reached a six-year deal with Channel Seven, Foxtel and Telstra on Tuesday, an arrangement that will take effect from 2017, when the existing $1.2 billion, five-year contract expires.
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The League's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the AFL Players Association is also set to expire at the end of 2016, and AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh has already signalled the players are prepared to fight for a greater slice of revenue.
Marsh said in June the players would seek a fixed percentage of AFL revenue in the next CBA, something the League has previously resisted.
McLachlan did not address the issue of a fixed percentage for the players when he spoke with Melbourne radio 3AW on Wednesday morning, but he was adamant the players would not have first claim on the funds of the broadcast rights deal.
"What we'll be doing – and I don't think we've done this yet – is do all of our funding deals going forward simultaneously," McLachlan said.
"The players' deal has been done in a discreet way separate from the rest (in the past) but we're doing a review at the moment of community football, (which) nationally, and particularly in Victoria, needs a greater investment.
"We have a number of clubs who are financially challenged at the moment, our supporters are finding cost an issue, so all of those three (stakeholders) as well as the players will be considered.
"We'll do a deal that puts all of their needs together and time it simultaneously."
The AFL boss also said he hadn't spoken to James Hird after his resignation as Essendon coach on Tuesday, following a tumultuous two-and-a-half year period for the club since the supplements saga broke.
"I will be brutally honest, I thought about it last night," McLachlan said.
"I was conscious of how it might look.
"He has had a very tough period, I imagine it was a very sad day for him.
"I thought it could have been misinterpreted ... but I certainly knew it would be a tough day for him."
