Quick Links

As of 2010 only four AFL players earned more than $900,000, even with the inclusion of AFL-approved club marketing payments. The salaries include club payments for marketing services known as Additional Service Agreements, but not private third-party deals such as Judd's arrangement with cardboard giant Visy. Unlike most of the Big 4 leagues in the USA, AFL (Australian Football League) contracts aren’t released to the public. Therefore a lot of speculation is created as to who is making the big bucks. Fox Sports compiled a rough guide through research in the industry as to who are the highest paid athletes in the game.

$900,000-$1 Million

Jonathan Brown (Brisbane), Chris Judd (Carlton), Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle), Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda).

$800,000-$900,000

Adam Goodes (Sydney), Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle).

$700,000-$800,000

Gary Ablett (Geelong), Luke Hodge (Hawthorn).

$600,000-$700,000

Simon Black (Brisbane), Dean Cox (West Coast), Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), Brendon Goddard (St Kilda), Brent Harvey (North Melbourne), Daniel Kerr (West Coast), Dane Swan (Collingwood), Kurt Tippett (Adelaide).

$500,000-$600,000

Jimmy Bartel (Geelong), Luke Ball (Collingwood), Cameron Bruce (Melbourne), Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs), Nick Dal Santo (St Kilda), Brett Deledio (Richmond), Darren Glass (West Coast), Luke Power (Brisbane), Matthew Scarlett (Geelong).