Show Them The Money
Jul. 2nd, 2011 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
passionpop I was brought believing that regardless of what a boss does, they should never mess with the workers money, nothing brings out more passion in a contract negotiation than pay. The AFL is currently learning this the hard way, and this lesson will only get harder as more teams means more players. In the end though, this is the age old argument between the workers and the bosses and as a rabid lefty, I am on the workers side with this one
It is hard to be on the bosses side. Andrew Demetriou is on about $2.2 million a year. He and the AFL hierarchy believe that this amount of money is justified because it is at the rate that most other CEOs get. But not many CEOs can also work on developing their other business interests in South America for 5 months of the year. Last year he even took a holiday during the AFL season, which is the only time he is really needed to work,. Not many players and coaches can afford to do that.
He has been the highest paid person in the AFL for quite some time, and no one can catch him. He receives roughly 60% more for his role than he did in 2008, but apparently this is because of how much he has done for the game. Really, because everything he does for the game would amount to nothing if there were no players.
His PR team is working in overdrive though, claiming that Auskick, AFL development for kids, is in danger if players get an increased salary. How so when the whole reason for community development of the game only exists as a tax dodge.
The players are not asking for anywhere near the 60% Mr Demetriou has received. They want a 10% increase and a guarantee that 25% of the income generated by the AFL will go into the players. I mean that isn’t much, the AFL is a multi-million dollar industry and the people that are bringing in the customers should get a share of that.
Then, like a slap in the face, the AFL spends $600 000 to bring Meatloaf out from the US to sing 4 measly songs at the AFL grand final. So the AFL is not just a cash cow for Demetriou, it is his way to get all his idols autographs too. I mean seriously, who wants to see the old hack anyways and what’s wrong with putting an Australian band on the stage.
This is our bloody game and it should feature out bloody talent. They would be cheaper than old Meatloaf. Heck, if I was offered two-for-one tickets to the AFL grand final, I would perform for free! I would even pay my own airfares! My accommodation can be in the club rooms, preferably in the rooms of whichever team has the most 30ish players because I don’t want to shack up with boys. Though if the team with the most 30ish players is Collingwood, then put me with the boys. I would rather shack up with a ‘ranga than with a Collingwood boy.
Lets make a group to perform at the AFL grand final, the Perth Karaoke Queens. Give us free tickets and we will put on a little show for you, sing a little song, do a little dance and we will do it for fun and footy. Why, because we love the game.
In the end though, most Australian artists would do it cheap just for the international exposure and now that Australian Idol doesn’t exist, the artists they get might not be that bad, unless when 7 takes over the telecast they end up being X factor or Australia’s Got Talent contestants. Yes, 7 can put half time entertainment on for free all in the name of cross promotion.
People argue that the players don’t need more money, some players are on million dollar contracts as it is. These are only the top players and they get their million dollars over the x amount of years of their contract and beyond playing the game, their contract will include other obligations like club endorsements that they have to do to earn their pay.
The apprentices don’t get anywhere near that. Players in their first few years will be working another job part time to make ends meet. Even good first and second year players would be lucky to get $40 000 a year. I earn more than that and my future isn’t at risk by going to work.
This is a massive thing for the players. What they earn has got to set them up for life. In one game their career can be over and very few players get high paying jobs in commentary. Many go out of the game and have to start from scratch in the real world.
What is more real though than Graham Polack’s life. During His 5 year career with Fremantle, he suffered a number of injuries, however one bone crushing on field collision left him severely concussed. He was then traded to Richmond where, in an off field incident, he suffered concussion again. He eventually made it back on the AFL field, but spent much of his remaining time with Richmond playing in the VFA where he received another head injury, causing him to retire from AFL. He came back to Perth and played WAFL and received another concussion causing him to quit the game he loved altogether.
Polack’s life is an example of why players should get more money. Money is the only real way a boss can show you respect, the more money they give you, the more they respect what you do. There are few workplaces where one day you could go to work and be injured so severely that it could end your career. With a career ending injury, no amount of workers compensation or rehabilitation can give a player back the game he loves.
Demetriou and the AFL think they have the upper hand, and in a way they do. This guys wouldn’t have an income if the AFL didn’t exist in a professional form. Once upon a time VFL (as it was then) players were mainly weekend warriors working real jobs during the week and training after work. The dawn of the professional era was great for the players because they can live off the game. It has also helped the AFL though in creating a marketable product. The AFL enterprise now means few people wear home made scarfs and people pay excessive amounts to stand the games, where many pay to see the games on TV, where the AFL makes billions selling broadcast rights to a game and why, because the players are that damn good. We want to see these players play.
Would as many people watch if the top 50 players didn’t play next season?
Oh yeah there would be legal action and what would the players do?
Well, everyone knows that the NFL in the US loves AFL players because our boys can kick. Why doesn’t channels 9 or ten (or both) ‘buy’ a second tier NFL team. Fill up the team with our boys and which ever network pays for the team can then also get broadcast rights for the NFL here. They can show all our best players playing on a global scale, something the AFL has been trying to do for years.
This would hurt the AFL though because so many of the AFL players would likely be offered contracts in the US and NFL players get paid gazillions more than AFL players.
Any good boss knows that if you want to keep your good workers, you will counter offer and beat any other pay offer they get elsewhere. How would the AFL deal with the realisation that they would have to pay AFL players on an American level?
This is all a pipe dream and an extreme way to end the pay debate. I would hope that before we have to investigate fanciful ideas like this, that the AFL would get real.
This is not just an argument for the current players, this is an argument for grass roots. There are many kids out there who are brilliant athletes and they will choose the sport that brings them the most money. West Indian Cricket has complained for years about the loss of good cricketers to NBA in the US. Why get paid Chump change when you are talented enough to earn real money. Regardless of how much money goes into Auskick, this pay dispute is essentially a fight for future talent and if the AFLPA lose, the AFL may lose. Kids may suck recourses from Auskick only to play NFL, or they will play soccer or something they don’t have to fight against salary cap to earn a living in. So for the future of the game I love to watch, I hope the AFLPA wins.
It is hard to be on the bosses side. Andrew Demetriou is on about $2.2 million a year. He and the AFL hierarchy believe that this amount of money is justified because it is at the rate that most other CEOs get. But not many CEOs can also work on developing their other business interests in South America for 5 months of the year. Last year he even took a holiday during the AFL season, which is the only time he is really needed to work,. Not many players and coaches can afford to do that.
He has been the highest paid person in the AFL for quite some time, and no one can catch him. He receives roughly 60% more for his role than he did in 2008, but apparently this is because of how much he has done for the game. Really, because everything he does for the game would amount to nothing if there were no players.
His PR team is working in overdrive though, claiming that Auskick, AFL development for kids, is in danger if players get an increased salary. How so when the whole reason for community development of the game only exists as a tax dodge.
The players are not asking for anywhere near the 60% Mr Demetriou has received. They want a 10% increase and a guarantee that 25% of the income generated by the AFL will go into the players. I mean that isn’t much, the AFL is a multi-million dollar industry and the people that are bringing in the customers should get a share of that.
Then, like a slap in the face, the AFL spends $600 000 to bring Meatloaf out from the US to sing 4 measly songs at the AFL grand final. So the AFL is not just a cash cow for Demetriou, it is his way to get all his idols autographs too. I mean seriously, who wants to see the old hack anyways and what’s wrong with putting an Australian band on the stage.
This is our bloody game and it should feature out bloody talent. They would be cheaper than old Meatloaf. Heck, if I was offered two-for-one tickets to the AFL grand final, I would perform for free! I would even pay my own airfares! My accommodation can be in the club rooms, preferably in the rooms of whichever team has the most 30ish players because I don’t want to shack up with boys. Though if the team with the most 30ish players is Collingwood, then put me with the boys. I would rather shack up with a ‘ranga than with a Collingwood boy.
Lets make a group to perform at the AFL grand final, the Perth Karaoke Queens. Give us free tickets and we will put on a little show for you, sing a little song, do a little dance and we will do it for fun and footy. Why, because we love the game.
In the end though, most Australian artists would do it cheap just for the international exposure and now that Australian Idol doesn’t exist, the artists they get might not be that bad, unless when 7 takes over the telecast they end up being X factor or Australia’s Got Talent contestants. Yes, 7 can put half time entertainment on for free all in the name of cross promotion.
People argue that the players don’t need more money, some players are on million dollar contracts as it is. These are only the top players and they get their million dollars over the x amount of years of their contract and beyond playing the game, their contract will include other obligations like club endorsements that they have to do to earn their pay.
The apprentices don’t get anywhere near that. Players in their first few years will be working another job part time to make ends meet. Even good first and second year players would be lucky to get $40 000 a year. I earn more than that and my future isn’t at risk by going to work.
This is a massive thing for the players. What they earn has got to set them up for life. In one game their career can be over and very few players get high paying jobs in commentary. Many go out of the game and have to start from scratch in the real world.
What is more real though than Graham Polack’s life. During His 5 year career with Fremantle, he suffered a number of injuries, however one bone crushing on field collision left him severely concussed. He was then traded to Richmond where, in an off field incident, he suffered concussion again. He eventually made it back on the AFL field, but spent much of his remaining time with Richmond playing in the VFA where he received another head injury, causing him to retire from AFL. He came back to Perth and played WAFL and received another concussion causing him to quit the game he loved altogether.
Polack’s life is an example of why players should get more money. Money is the only real way a boss can show you respect, the more money they give you, the more they respect what you do. There are few workplaces where one day you could go to work and be injured so severely that it could end your career. With a career ending injury, no amount of workers compensation or rehabilitation can give a player back the game he loves.
Demetriou and the AFL think they have the upper hand, and in a way they do. This guys wouldn’t have an income if the AFL didn’t exist in a professional form. Once upon a time VFL (as it was then) players were mainly weekend warriors working real jobs during the week and training after work. The dawn of the professional era was great for the players because they can live off the game. It has also helped the AFL though in creating a marketable product. The AFL enterprise now means few people wear home made scarfs and people pay excessive amounts to stand the games, where many pay to see the games on TV, where the AFL makes billions selling broadcast rights to a game and why, because the players are that damn good. We want to see these players play.
Would as many people watch if the top 50 players didn’t play next season?
Oh yeah there would be legal action and what would the players do?
Well, everyone knows that the NFL in the US loves AFL players because our boys can kick. Why doesn’t channels 9 or ten (or both) ‘buy’ a second tier NFL team. Fill up the team with our boys and which ever network pays for the team can then also get broadcast rights for the NFL here. They can show all our best players playing on a global scale, something the AFL has been trying to do for years.
This would hurt the AFL though because so many of the AFL players would likely be offered contracts in the US and NFL players get paid gazillions more than AFL players.
Any good boss knows that if you want to keep your good workers, you will counter offer and beat any other pay offer they get elsewhere. How would the AFL deal with the realisation that they would have to pay AFL players on an American level?
This is all a pipe dream and an extreme way to end the pay debate. I would hope that before we have to investigate fanciful ideas like this, that the AFL would get real.
This is not just an argument for the current players, this is an argument for grass roots. There are many kids out there who are brilliant athletes and they will choose the sport that brings them the most money. West Indian Cricket has complained for years about the loss of good cricketers to NBA in the US. Why get paid Chump change when you are talented enough to earn real money. Regardless of how much money goes into Auskick, this pay dispute is essentially a fight for future talent and if the AFLPA lose, the AFL may lose. Kids may suck recourses from Auskick only to play NFL, or they will play soccer or something they don’t have to fight against salary cap to earn a living in. So for the future of the game I love to watch, I hope the AFLPA wins.