As we approach the fourth season of the AFLW, the future of the competition seems secure. The competition, which wildly outperformed expectations from its very first game, has been a boon for the AFL. The gains for the clubs involved and the organising body have been significant, yet gains for the players have lagged behind — at least in material terms.
The AFL's recent announcement that the AFLX competition would be scrapped after two seasons, despite heavy media coverage, was a strong indication of the league's commitment to women's football. Steve Hocking, AFL football operations manager, said upon the announcement that the 'AFL's on-field priority next year is to ensure the right emphasis and resources are in place to ensure the women's competition continues to build on the success of the first three seasons'.
After two seasons of AFLX, a fast, gimmicky, eight-a-side take on football, directly competing with the AFLW for attendees, ground access and media coverage, the AFLW will be the league's dominant February and early March football product for the first time since its inaugural season.
It's a positive decision from the league, but one that needs to be followed up with commitments to women's football that reflect the increasing scale and importance of the competition to the league. To borrow from Jerry Maguire, it's time to show the players the money. As the league has rapidly expanded the competition, from just eight teams in its inaugural season to 14 in 2020, players continue to be considered part-time employees, even during the season, and the average wage of an AFLW player remains a small fraction of the average male player's wage.
But while the league has grown rapidly in terms of number of teams, the growth of the season length has lagged behind. The total number of games played is increasing by adding more players into the existing competition, rather than allowing the existing players to play more games. This approach is great for clubs looking to add a women's team. It's not so great for the quality of the league or the capacity for existing players to play and earn more.
Exhortations for the players to be patient and wait for the competition to be firmly established before requesting a higher salary highlight the two-track approach to growth: it's quick and dramatic when in the benefit of the league, such as with the addition of new teams, but slow going when