Opinion The $Million Dollar Men

[LordLucifer]

We have seen a number of clubs throw out massive contracts to players already with them and to those elsewhere in an attempt to lure them over. Most of them are being offered exorbitant annual salaries as high as 1.5-1.7mill which seems rather crazy overall.


Thing is, I'm really struggling to come up with some players who genuinely are worth that sort of money, in fact, I don't think any are at all.

Which players currently in the competition are woth $1mill per annum in salary and why are they ??

And don't give me the stock standard answer of "because the cap has gone up" or trot out the useless palava of "well everyone else is doing it" either !!

I genuinely want to know what a player is doing in your opinion to justify that sort of money because it seems that the footy world has gone completely nuts when it comes to player payments.

By the way, the salary cap in 2025 is $17.76million when divided by a playing list of 40 players averages out to be just under $450K.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Hayden Young

26

Hayden Young

Age

25

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.4

3star

CL

0.2

2star

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

2star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.4

2star

CL

0.2

2star

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

CL

0.2

2star

. He's our best hbf, best attacking mid, big-bodied contested beast and best medium tall forward. I'd be fine with him getting $1.3+

 

[Sentinel]

We have seen a number of clubs throw out massive contracts to players already with them and to those elsewhere in an attempt to lure them over. Most of them are being offered exorbitant annual salaries as high as 1.5-1.7mill which seems rather crazy overall.


Thing is, I'm really struggling to come up with some players who genuinely are worth that sort of money, in fact, I don't think any are at all.

Which players currently in the competition are woth $1mill per annum in salary and why are they ??

And don't give me the stock standard answer of "because the cap has gone up" or trot out the useless palava of "well everyone else is doing it" either !!

I genuinely want to know what a player is doing in your opinion to justify that sort of money because it seems that the footy world has gone completely nuts when it comes to player payments.

By the way, the salary cap in 2025 is $17.76million when divided by a playing list of 40 players averages out to be just under $450K.

Sam Darcy based on current trajectory. A unique point of difference in style/stature, and the freakish talent to match.

 

[Aura]

I’d pay to see ours, Carlton’s and the 2 Sydney clubs salaries

 

[Sirlemsip]

Million dollar dollar men?

In my mind, no professional sportsperson should be receiving anything more than a normal salary.
$100k-200k, not a problem. Over $1million is just bonkers money for kicking a ball.

Maybe if this much money was spent on doctors, nurses, teachers, etc, society would be a much better place.

I digress...

In the current world of AFL and in the current system there are plenty of players 'worth' over $1million/year.
Every club would have at least one except for Richmond and West Coast.

 

[Sentinel]

Million dollar dollar men?

In my mind, no professional sportsperson should be receiving anything more than a normal salary.
$100k-200k, not a problem. Over $1million is just bonkers money for kicking a ball.

Maybe if this much money was spent on doctors, nurses, teachers, etc, society would be a much better place.

I digress...

In the current world of AFL and in the current system there are plenty of players 'worth' over $1million/year.
Every club would have at least one except for Richmond and West Coast.

It's not so much the absolute dollar figure, but the % of the total cap to go towards an individual that's the main point here.

 

[Sirlemsip]

It's not so much the absolute dollar figure, but the % of the total cap to go towards an individual that's the main point here.

Yes, I'm aware.

Where the average salary is ~$450k, and where you have 1st/2nd year players and rookies on relatively low wages (much lower than $450k), there is obviously money to splash on stars (whether I agree with the overall player payments or not).

For your club for example, Bont definitely deserves it (but is the kind of bloke to take less to have more to spread around the team), Darcy will for his next contract as well. Other than them, there aren't any others worthy of $1mil right now. Libba only because of his age though.

 

[Cleric]

Sam Darcy based on current trajectory. A unique point of difference in style/stature, and the freakish talent to match.

You would hope with him being a father son, who's fathers on the board, you shouldn't have to over pay to keep him.

 

[MF]

It's not crazy to think that there are one or 2 players in each side who contribute 2-3 times more to the success of the club each week than the average player does.

40-50% of your list is going to be developing or fringe players on stuff all (100 - 200k) which leaves around 13-14 mil for the rest.

For us I'd have no real problem paying any of Heeney, Warner or Gulden upwards of 1 million per year. All 3 are top 20 players in the comp.

 

[Falcon27]

You would hope with him being a father son, who's fathers on the board, you shouldn't have to over pay to keep him.

Why should someone not get full market value for that reason?

 

[Cleric]

Why should someone not get full market value for that reason?

Plenty of players choose the club over money.

 

[Sentinel]

You would hope with him being a father son, who's fathers on the board, you shouldn't have to over pay to keep him.

Yes there's likely significantly less risk of the usual attraction to a big club playing under lights at a packed MCG, so hopefully don't need to pay him overs to hold him, but he won't (and shouldn't) be signing for cheap.

 

[iameviljez]

Million dollar dollar men?

In my mind, no professional sportsperson should be receiving anything more than a normal salary.
$100k-200k, not a problem. Over $1million is just bonkers money for kicking a ball.

Maybe if this much money was spent on doctors, nurses, teachers, etc, society would be a much better place.

While I agree that people in caring professions should be vastly better paid (especially teachers), it's worth bearing in mind that the career of a footballer is very short. A teacher will be earning for 40+ years, a doctor for 30+. A footballer will be earning for 1-2 years (rookie/late draft pick) through to 17 years (Dangerfield, Pendlebury). The median is probably four to five.

 

[Sirlemsip]

While I agree that people in caring professions should be vastly better paid (especially teachers), it's worth bearing in mind that the career of a footballer is very short. A teacher will be earning for 40+ years, a doctor for 30+. A footballer will be earning for 1-2 years (rookie/late draft pick) through to 17 years (Dangerfield, Pendlebury). The median is probably four to five.

I've seen this argument many times before, and it is just bad.

Footballers don't die or become otherwise unable to ever work again when they retire from playing. They can get a variety of jobs within the industry (coaching, development, AFL house, media) or in basically ANY other industry if they use some of their vast spare time to study during their playing years.

 

[iameviljez]

I've seen this argument many times before, and it is just bad.

Footballers don't die or become otherwise unable to ever work again when they retire from playing. They can get a variety of jobs within the industry (coaching, development, AFL house, media) or in basically ANY other industry if they use some of their vast spare time to study during their playing years.

There are only so many jobs in footy to go around, and while footballers do get enough time to do part-time study through their careers, they are straight out into entry-level jobs again at an age where their same-age peers will be more senior and experienced.

 

[Sirlemsip]

There are only so many jobs in footy to go around, and while footballers do get enough time to do part-time study through their careers, they are straight out into entry-level jobs again at an age where their same-age peers will be more senior and experienced.

So?

It is their choice to play football and try to make it a career. Nobody is forcing them.

It's no different to a person taking a 'gap' year, or someone doing a university degree that doesn't actually assist them in getting a job after graduation.

 

[Taylor]

So?

It is their choice to play football and try to make it a career. Nobody is forcing them.

It's no different to a person taking a 'gap' year, or someone doing a university degree that doesn't actually assist them in getting a job after graduation.

They also choose to have to live full time, as in 24 hours a day, as an athlete or they'll lose their job because the physical demands are so high that by the end of the season they can't walk up the stairs at home for a few days after a game or sit for long enough to watch a movie.

It's really hard. If you're playing, you're playing with a niggle or a full blown injury and if you don't run into the other guy at full speed to compete for the ball you also lose your job.

Meanwhile teachers are struggling to pass literacy and numeracy tests after 12 years in school being taught by teachers from the previous generation.

 

[faible]

We have seen a number of clubs throw out massive contracts to players already with them and to those elsewhere in an attempt to lure them over. Most of them are being offered exorbitant annual salaries as high as 1.5-1.7mill which seems rather crazy overall.


Thing is, I'm really struggling to come up with some players who genuinely are worth that sort of money, in fact, I don't think any are at all.

Which players currently in the competition are woth $1mill per annum in salary and why are they ??

And don't give me the stock standard answer of "because the cap has gone up" or trot out the useless palava of "well everyone else is doing it" either !!

I genuinely want to know what a player is doing in your opinion to justify that sort of money because it seems that the footy world has gone completely nuts when it comes to player payments.

By the way, the salary cap in 2025 is $17.76million when divided by a playing list of 40 players averages out to be just under $450K.

Player salaries are driven by the market though. If Saint Kilda want to offer TDK $1.7m / year then he's 'worth' it and Carlton will have to pay a reasonable offer to retain him.

You've got a list size of 37 - 44 which means close to half the list won't be regular AFL players and will earn below what the 'average' would be based on the cap / list size estimate.

Average for a genuine best-18 player is likely more like the $600k region I'd guess. How many 'average' players is a prime Dangerfield worth? He'd easily have gotten > $1m on the open market. I'd say guys like that are worth 2 - 3 'average' players.

 

[faible]

I don't think there's much point comparing athletes to teachers, they're not paid on the same basis. Sports stars are entertainment, paid for the same way actors or musicians would be. Superstars are worth significantly more bums on seats.

 

[Sirlemsip]

They also choose to have to live full time, as in 24 hours a day, as an athlete or they'll lose their job because the physical demands are so high that by the end of the season they can't walk up the stairs at home for a few days after a game or sit for long enough to watch a movie.

It's really hard. If you're playing, you're playing with a niggle or a full blown injury and if you don't run into the other guy at full speed to compete for the ball you also lose your job.

Meanwhile teachers are struggling to pass literacy and numeracy tests after 12 years in school being taught by teachers from the previous generation.

I never said football 'wasn't hard'. The minimum wage for a player on an AFL list is well above actual government prescribed 'minimum wage', despite them 'working' less hours than a regular full time worker (and getting more time off each year during the off season).

Don't give me that 80's crap about playing with injuries either. These days the AFLPA would destroy any club that forced a player to play with an injury or is not fully cleared by the medical team to play.

Maybe if teachers were paid more, the education industry would actually attract more intelligent people to work there.

I don't think there's much point comparing athletes to teachers, they're not paid on the same basis. Sports stars are entertainment, paid for the same way actors or musicians would be. Superstars are worth significantly more bums on seats.

Yes, I agree with the comparison. To be clear, I think that the top earning actors and musicians also get paid far too much.

I understand that Sport and Entertainment industries are based on how much money is earned. So, if an episode of Breaking Bad is going to earn AMC $20million, then it might be reasonable to pay Bryan Cranston $1million of that as the main star.

It is more just frustration at how much money is spent on something insignificant (sport/entertainment) when if the same amount of money was spent on medical research, or education, or health care, or climate change, the whole of society would be much better off.

/rant

Will Day is worth $1million/year.

 

[Taylor]

I don't think there's much point comparing athletes to teachers, they're not paid on the same basis. Sports stars are entertainment, paid for the same way actors or musicians would be. Superstars are worth significantly more bums on seats.

And believing that with enough interest and effort anyone could be a professional athlete is childish, participation trophy level understanding of the world. We are not all the same. We are not of equal value to our communities. I personally know of a handful of current (and recently) AFL players who would be in prison and or broke with nothing to offer for a crust if they weren't gifted in sports.

I find it hard to rationalise how we have such a pervasive attitude of "I could do that if you paid me enough" while also having so many people struggling to be in anything close to a healthy shape while free of the hurdles of disease.

 

[faible]

And believing that with enough interest and effort anyone could be a professional athlete is childish, participation trophy level understanding of the world.

Pretty sure no one is arguing this.

We are not of equal value to our communities.

Or this.

I find it hard to rationalise how we have such a pervasive attitude of "I could do that if you paid me enough" while also having so many people struggling to be in anything close to a healthy shape while free of the hurdles of disease.

Or this.

 

[faible]

Yes, I agree with the comparison. To be clear, I think that the top earning actors and musicians also get paid far too much.

I understand that Sport and Entertainment industries are based on how much money is earned. So, if an episode of Breaking Bad is going to earn AMC $20million, then it might be reasonable to pay Bryan Cranston $1million of that as the main star.

It is more just frustration at how much money is spent on something insignificant (sport/entertainment) when if the same amount of money was spent on medical research, or education, or health care, or climate change, the whole of society would be much better off.

Oh I fully agree with the premise of what you're saying, there's more than enough money to pay people far better for far more meaningful things in society than kicking a football.

 

[Taylor]

What if you're both failing to identify the social/societal/political value of entertainment?

 

[faible]

What if you're both failing to identify the social/societal/political value of entertainment?

Nurses are pretty life and death, not sure Patrick Dangerfield is.