More please
By Dan Oakes
The Age
March 15, 2005
Former Richmond captain Wayne Campbell has called for players to be given a greater slice of the AFL financial pie.
Campbell, a delegate to the AFL Players Association, said yesterday the vast sums of money flowing into the game were not reflected in the amount that made its way to the players.
The 15-year veteran of top-level football was anxious to point out he believed footballers were overpaid for what they actually did, but if the money was there, it should be doled out fairly.
The association estimates players receive about 26 per cent of the money generated by the clubs, whereas in the English Premier League, the figure is 62 per cent and in the American National Football League, 64 per cent.
AFL players this year officially will earn a combined total of $93.75 million, with an estimated extra $1.6 million paid to veteran players.
"I have an absolute theory that players are underpaid in terms of the amount of money they get from the money that they generate because the percentages are a lot lower than in any other sport," Campbell said.
"If we don't get the money that we do now, who does it go to? Who do you want to pay? Do you want to pay the AFL some more wages? A fair proportion (of the money) should go to the players.
"I think in terms of what we actually do day-to-day, we're overpaid, but the money that's generated by the game, surely that goes to the people who actually put on the game."
It was announced last week St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt had become the youngest millionaire in the AFL after signing an upgraded, three-year deal worth more than $600,000 a season. Endorsements and bonuses will take his salary into seven figures.
The deal catapulted Riewoldt into the stratosphere inhabited now or in the past by superstars such as Wayne Carey, James Hird, Anthony Koutoufides and Nathan Buckley.
Campbell said while he was not angling for public sympathy over the issue, the public should be made aware of what he said were the inequities in revenue sharing.
"That's something that should have been out in the public eye a lot longer ago," he said.
"I can understand that people who watch the game see all these people earning all this money, but if they understood how much money went into the game from media broadcasters and the gate revenue and everything like that, surely the players who actually play the game deserve a fair whack.
"I don't want sympathy, I'm just telling the facts."
The broadcasting rights to the AFL are worth $100 million a year to the game's governing body, a deal that was criticised early in its life as being too generous on the part of the broadcasters. The current agreement expires at the end of next year and negotiations are being held on a new contract.
All of the media organisations currently holding the rights - among them Telstra, Channel Nine, Channel Ten and Foxtel - are in the running, as is former holder Channel Seven. The new deal is expected to be even more lucrative for the AFL, which Campbell said should be mirrored in the players' slice.
"They were saying they paid too much for them. Well, now they're coming back and they're all pretty keen to bid again," he said. "They're not doing that because they love the game, are they?"
2004 PLAYER EARNINGS
Earnings ('000s)
No. of players:
$0-$60 35
$60-$100 111
$100-$200 188
$200-$300 107
$300-$400 57
$400-$500 24
$500-$600 12
$600-$700 4
$700-$800 -
$800 + 4
PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE PAID TO PLAYERS
75% National Hockey League (US)
64% National Football League (US)
63% Major League Baseball (US)
62% Premier League soccer (UK)
52% National Basketball Association (US)
26% Australian Football League (Aust)
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