With new sporting leagues come new challenges, especially when women’s sport is on a steep upward trajectory and something bursts onto the scene as quickly as AFLW.
The current challenge facing AFLW is how to get a consensus when there are 400 players – who are effectively new to a high-performance sporting environment in a semi-professional league – with completely differing opinions.
Last week, 70% of the AFLW playing group were hoping to get another 5% on board to ratify the collective bargaining agreement the players’ union has been working on for six months. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and there is still no date set for the start of pre-season.
There has been a lot heard from the 30% who voted against the deal on the table, but I am one of the 70% who is happy with where we are at. Here’s why.
AFLW is just three years old and, despite how long women’s football has been played, this competition is in its infancy. Other sports have had to grow on their own, but the AFL has given its women’s competition a leg up by investing in it. A lot can be said for its growth, but it is fair to say leagues don’t go overnight from eight teams to 14, and then likely 18, without growing pains. And we are currently experiencing some big ones.
When the AFLPA first came to us with a proposed CBA, which included eight games in 2020 and nine games for 2021 and 2022, the playing group got together and said we would like to see year-on-year growth in the competition. The AFLPA, after further negotiations with the AFL, came back to say they had increased year three from nine to 10 games to provide this continued growth. At this point the majority of the playing group was happy.
Last week there was accusations the AFLPA has not listened to the players. This is absolutely not the case. The AFLPA started the CBA process by talking to players about their priorities so they could negotiate outcomes on our behalf. Since then there have been various meetings, emails and calls. Players have received comprehensive details of the proposed deal and the AFLPA has been responsive to every request that my colleagues and I have had.
A competition expansion relies on many things: the amount of money poured in by the AFL; the pressure that puts on clubs themselves; the amount of work staff are currently doing; club costs. There is no certainty broadcasters can televise any extra games and there is a real risk that if a 13-game season were to be played, but not all games were televised, a dangerous precedent would be set. Broadcasting 100% of games every season is hugely important when it comes to the future financial sustainability of AFLW.
I supported this current CBA and so did 70% of the players in our great league. I hope we can get a resolution SOON so we can all focus on what we love and that's to PLAY FOOTY!!! #AFLW @aflwomens @AFLPlayers
— Erin Phillips (@erinphillips131) October 6, 2019
Former Diamonds captain Liz Ellis, the biggest role model in my career, used to be paid $100 a game. She fought for better conditions for all players, but always with the sport’s reputation in front of her mind, as without the sport there is no where to go (or grow).
After leading Australia to victory at the 2007 Netball World Cup, Ellis retired but the following year the ANZ Championship was born. Netball rookies were paid a minimum of $10,000, much more than what Australia’s best received the year before. And now, 12 years later, players are on a minimum wage of $30,000 with a few earning more (between $60,000 and $100,000 including Diamonds payments).
What helped netball grow? Attendances rose with the advent of the new competition, a broadcast deal increased presence on TV, more sponsors started investing and the players, myself included, were rewarded with sponsorships due to the increased exposure.
Growth takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. There are things we can do, but we need to work harder together – the playing group, the AFLPA, the AFL and our clubs. Without money coming in, I don’t think it’s fair to make such demands. At the moment, there is no risk in signing a CBA that shows growth year-on-year and continues to build AFLW. The risk in not signing is that pre-season does not start on time, with the possibility of not playing at all. I can’t see that is a risk worth taking.
Players can continue to build the sport’s reputation by training hard and playing good footy, by getting people to come to games or to watch on TV at home and in the pub. Interacting with fans, saying hello, thank you, signing autographs and taking photos, is also part of it. Hopefully, the next generation will be inspired to believe tht they can be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do.
When we as players do this, the rewards come – but it’s not always about personal financial reward. They come in the form of commercial sponsorships for clubs and the league memberships and revenue via gate receipts. Eventually, more games and longer seasons follow.
And that is the biggest reward of all: building a legacy and a league that will last for generations to come.
