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Player Salaries and Revenues in the Australian Football League 2001–2009: Theory and Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Ross Booth ,
Robert Brooks  and
Neil Diamond
Ross Booth
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Robert Brooks
Affiliation:
Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Neil Diamond
Affiliation:
Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
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Abstract

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In this article we consider the Australian Football League Players’ Association (AFLPA) initial fixed percentage of revenue pay request for the 2012–2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Australian Football League (AFL) in the context of theoretical predictions of models of player salaries in both settings of profit-maximising and win-maximising clubs. We then explore the AFL data from 2001–2009 and show that the declining share of player salaries as a proportion of revenue is consistent with the predictions from these theoretical models. This poses the question of what the league and the clubs do with the additional revenue if they are not paying it to the players. We explore alternative talent investments (better coaching, improved facilities) as a club strategy and the changing spending on game development as a league strategy.

Keywords

L83AFLAustralian Football Leaguebroadcast revenuesplayer salariesrevenue sharingsalary caps
Type
Symposium
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 23 , Issue 2: Sport Economics , June 2012 , pp. 39 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

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