AFL Players Won't Back Down On Push For Fixed Percentage Pay Model

The Australian Football League’s 800 players declared that "they will not back down on a push for a fixed percentage of the league’s rising revenues" according to Warner & Baker of the HERALD SUN. In a move "that sets the scene for an ugly pay stoush," league elder statesmen Matthew Pavlich and Drew Petrie warned that "the AFL Players’ Association had no intention of retreating." The AFL "is refusing to consider a percentage proposal." Parties sympathetic to the AFL "have raised the spectre of a player strike if a deal cannot be reached." AFLPA President Pavlich said, "What we’re looking to legitimately achieve is to have players entrenched as genuine partners with the AFL, clubs and fans to grow the game. The average player wage hit A$270,000 last season with clubs each spending up to A$11.4M on salaries "including marketing agreements." Players get about 22% of the AFL industry’s revenues and will push for 25-30% under the proposed “true partnership” model (HERALD SUN, 5/19).