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Elite athletes can earn huge money from playing contracts, prize money, sponsorship, endorsements, appearance fees and media work. This is especially the case for Australia's two major football codes - the AFL and NRL, which began last weekend. However, a 2023 report showed 46% of Australia's elite athletes over 18 earn less than $23,000 annually.
NRL and AFL wage growth is off the charts - what about other Australian athletes?
Elite athletes can earn huge money from playing contracts, prize money, sponsorship, endorsements, appearance fees and media work.
This is especially the case for Australia's two major football codes - the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL), which began last weekend.
However, a 2023 report showed 46% of Australia's elite athletes over 18 earn less than $23,000 annually, placing them below the poverty line.
While athletes in major professional leagues benefit from strong revenues and collective bargaining agreements, many outside of these profitable competitions - and most women athletes - can be left earning much less, despite competing at the highest level of their sport.
The AFL
Athletes in Australia's most popular sports often receive sizeable playing contracts influenced by collective bargaining agreements.
Last year, the average AFL player wage was A$505,961 (up 10.2% from 2024). This salary rose as a result of the 2023-2027 collective bargaining agreement, which set players' revenue share at 31.7% and forecasts an average men's salary of about $519,000 in 2027.
There's been a dramatic jump in top-end earnings in recent years. In 2024, 25 players earned at least $1 million but in 2025 that number more than doubled (58).
For the first time, two players were paid more than $1.6 million, and 22 earned beyond $1.2 million.
Those numbers will again increase in 2026 with multiple $2 million-per-season contracts being forecast.
NRL
NRL salaries have also increased, although not as rapidly as the AFL.
In 2027, the league's salary cap will be $12.1 million per club - an increase of more than 5% since 2023.
This equates to an average player salary of about $400,000, while base playing contracts will be $145,000 in 2027.
This year also marks the beginning of the largest contract in NRL history, with Newcastle Knights' Dylan Brown signing a ten-year deal worth more than $13 million.
In 2025, Brown was among 19 players believed to be earning above $1 million.
NRLW and AFLW
Salaries in the women's leagues for the AFL and NRL are much lower in comparison.
NRLW player wages are growing but still sit below those of the AFLW.
The NRLW annual salary cap has grown by 68% from 2023 ($900,000) to 2027 ($1.518 million). Across the same period, the AFLW's total player payments will increase from $1.79 million to $2.46 million.
The NRLW average salary will be more than $60,000 in 2027, while the AFLW average salary is expected to increase to $82,000 in the same year.
NRLW and AFLW wages have long been criticised for being too low, leaving most players seeking alternative sources of income.
Under the current collective bargaining agreements, part-time employment has now become the most common work status across the league.
Aside from the major football codes, salaries for many Australian domestic sports leagues are rising.
Cricket
Elite cricketers can earn millions of dollars each year to play for their country and various teams in short Twenty 20 (T20) tournaments.
The team salary cap in the T20 Big Bash League (BBL) last summer was $3.12 million.
Top players earned up to $420,000 for the six-week tournament, with the minimum salary set at $52,000.
Cricketers can also play in other competitions during the year, such as in India, Pakistan, the West Indies and the United States.
Salaries for these competitions can range from the tens of thousands up to millions.
Additionally, cricketers can hold contracts to play matches for their state and/or country. The average men's Cricket Australia contract is nearly $1 million a year, plus match payments.
Top Australian women cricketers can also earn up to $1 million a year when their national contracts are combined with their earnings from T20 tournaments overseas.
Basketball
Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) has a team salary cap of just more than $2 million. However the current marquee system allows for a proportion of top players' salaries not to be included in the cap.
This means some of the league's star players can earn more than $1 million a season. The minimum salary is around $80,000.
NBL players also regularly play in countries such as China, South Korea, Turkey and Spain where they can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per season. Top players can earn more than a $1 million.
Netball
Netball Australia and the code's players' association reached a landmark deal in 2025 involving a revenue share model and around a 40% pay increase over three years.
Netball Australia also agreed to a new three-year collective player agreement that would see Super Netball's average player salary jump to close to $90,000, with a minimum salary of $46,000 in 2026.
The enhanced financial security and investment in players' welfare are likely to underpin Australia's potential success at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney.
Tennis
Australia's highest ranked male tennis player Alex De Minaur has been professional since 2015. In this time, he has amassed almost $24 million in prize money, with $1.4 million coming in the first two months of 2026 alone.
Australia's highest ranked female player Maya Joint has collected almost $1.7 million since turning professional at the end of 2024.
While the top tennis players in the world can rank among sports' highest earners, many players struggle financially if they're not in the top 50-100 rankings.
Golf
Golf is defined by substantial prize money.
Australia's top-ranked male golfer, Min Woo Lee, currently sitting 30th in the world, has already amassed almost US$3 million (A$4.3 million) in 2026.
Australia's current top female golfer - his sister, Minjee Lee, ranked fourth in the world - has earned US$18.8 million in prize money (A$26.53 million) since joining the LPGA Tour in 2015.
Similar to tennis, golfers ranked outside the top tier may face significant financial pressure due to inconsistent prize money.
TheConversation.com
Author:
- Tom Hartley - Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania
- Vaughan Cruickshank - Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania
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