AFL salary cap

The Australian Football League has implemented a salary cap on its clubs since 1987, when Brisbane and West Coast were admitted, as part of its equalization policy.

The cap was set at A$1.25 million for 1987–1989 as per VFL agreement, with the salary floor set at 90% of the cap or $1.125 million; the salary floor was increased to 92.5% of the cap in 2001, and to 95% of the cap for 2013 onwards due to increased revenues.

Both the salary cap and salary floor have increased support for a player in a league where he has a contract extension

substantially since the competition was re-branded as the AFL in 1990.

The AFL Players Association negotiates the CBA, including the Total Player Payments (TPP) figure which determines the salaries for AFL and AFLW players: the current AFL/AFLW CBA expires in 2027.

In June 2017, the AFL and AFL Players Association agreed to a new CBA deal which resulted in a 20% increase in players salary. The six-year deal, which began in 2017, had the average player wage rise from $309,000 to $371,000 and the player salary cap from $10.37m to $12.45m.

Following cuts to playing roster sizes and football department spending made due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these numbers differed to an extent, with the average AFL player wage in 2022 being $372,225.

The salary cap, known officially as Total Player Payments, was A$13,540,000 for the 2022 season, with a salary floor of $12,863,000.

A five-year CBA took effect in 2023 and expires in 2027. Under Schedule 2A of the 2023–2027 CBA, the aggregate Total Player Payment (TPP) figure was set in 2023 at $15,022,778, rising to $18,440,415 in 2027.