AFL Salary Cap Explained

AFL Salary Cap Explained:

• The 2026 AFL salary cap is $18,293,194 per club, rising to $18,440,415 in 2027.
• Clubs must spend at least 95 per cent of their player payment limits each year.
• The average listed player was paid $505,961 in 2026.

Imagine getting paid $150,000 to play a game with all your mates that is based around kicking a footy around.

Sure, the stakes are high, the training is hard and job security is dependent on performance. But $150K is the minimum wage for the players in the AFL.

Money talks in sport and in a sport with as much attention as the AFL, the only thing stopping clubs from splashing cash like Eddie McGuire on hotseat is the salary cap.

Officially called Total Player Payments (TPP), the cap sits at $18,293,194 per club in 2026 and $18,440,415 in 2027.

Here's how it works, who gets what, and what it all means for the AFL Premiership 2027 odds.

What Is the AFL Salary Cap?

The AFL salary cap is the most a club can pay the players on its list in a season. It's set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the AFL and the AFL Players' Association.

It's there to keep the competition even. The richest clubs can't just open the chequebook and buy a premiership, so drafting, development and smart list management have to do the heavy lifting.

Ever wondered why your club can't sign the best 23 in the land? This is why.

How Much Is the AFL Salary Cap?

2026 season: 18,295,194

2027 season: 18,440,415 

That one pot has to cover the whole list and clubs can carry up to 44 players: 36 to 38 on the senior list, with the rest of the spots filled by rookies.

2027 is the last year of the current CBA, so the cap from 2028 onwards will be set by the next deal. Expect plenty of hard bargaining.

Split evenly across a full list of 44, the 2026 cap works out to about $415,754 a player.

Do AFL Clubs Have to Spend the Whole Cap?

Pretty much. Clubs must spend at least 95 per cent of their player payment limits every year, so there's no pocketing the change.

A club that underspends can bank that space and go over the limit in a later season, up to a maximum of 105 per cent. Think of it as footy's version of a rainy day fund.

What Is the AFL Minimum Wage?

This is where it gets eye-watering.

In 2026, a senior-listed player who isn't on the rookie list or in his first three years must be paid at least $150,000, plus $5,000 for every senior game he plays. Rookie-listed players start at $105,000, plus $4,000 per senior game.

That's the floor. Most punters would happily take the minimum for a job where the dress code is a pair of footy boots.

And it climbs quickly from there. The average listed player was paid $505,961 in 2025, and 58 players cracked the $1 million mark, up from 25 the year before. The millionaires' club more than doubled in 12 months.

Not bad for chasing a Sherrin around a paddock.

What Sits Outside the AFL Salary Cap?

Not every dollar a player earns counts toward the cap.

Marketing deals: Approved marketing agreements between a player and his club sit outside the cap, with their own limit of $1,267,304 per club.

Rookies: Part of each rookie-listed player's pay sits outside the cap.

The old veterans' allowance and the cost of living allowance once paid to Sydney and GWS have both been scrapped. So no, your club's 33-year-old ruckman doesn't come at a discount anymore.

What Is the AFL Soft Cap?

The soft cap limits what clubs spend on their football department, including coaches. It has nothing to do with player pay, so don't mix the two up.

It was set at $7.675 million in 2025, and rises by $750,000 in 2026 and a further $350,000 in 2027.

What Happens If a Club Breaches the Salary Cap?

The AFL can hit a club in two places: the bank account and the draft board.

Just ask Carlton. In 2002, the Blues were stripped of draft picks, including picks one and two, and fined almost $1 million for salary cap breaches. That's one way to find out the rules aren't optional.

Why Does the AFL Salary Cap Matter for Punters?

Cap space decides who a club can chase in trade and free agency, who it can keep, and how deep its list runs when injuries hit.

Knowing where each club is sitting can be super helpful when it comes to futures markets.  A club with room to move can land a big name. A club pushed up against the cap might have to let a good player walk.

None of it guarantees anything on the field, but it's worth knowing when you're sizing up a club's chances of pushing for the flag, or not.

Got your head around the numbers? Head to the AFL futures markets and see how every club stacks up for 2027.

Odds are subject to change.*