It was formed in 1985 as the VFL Commission, and gained its current name in 1990 in conjunction with the renaming of the VFL competition to the Australian Football League.
The Commission organises the highest level of representative competition in Australia, being responsible for senior State of Origin competition from 1991 to its cessation in 1999.[1] Since 1998, it has also overseen Australia's involvement in the International Rules Series.
History
An independent governing body for the competition was first moved in December 1984 during the fallout of VFL president Allen Aylett's resignation following the South Melbourne Football Club's financially disastrous move to Sydney.[2][3] The club, managed from Melbourne but playing in Sydney,[4] had lost large amounts of money in Sydney and large loans had been written out by the league to keep them viable which was impacting the finances of the competition.[5]
Under Jack Hamilton, the first Chief Commissioner, the VFL began a restructuring toward a franchise model whereby member clubs operate licenses owned by the league.[6] The model helped make private ownership of the Swans possible in 1985,[5][7] as well as selling new licenses (resulting in the Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles in 1987). Under the new model, many Melbourne clubs struggling for financial viability such as St Kilda, Fitzroy and North Melbourne could be kept afloat by a combination of private ownership and league subsidies from the sale of new franchises and television rights.[8][9][10][11] The restructuring paved the way for the VFL's expansion into a national competition.[12] Despite continuing financial troubles at many clubs including the Swans and Footscray, the Commission was able to turn the competition's finances around by 1989, aided by increased television rights and the sale of $4 million licenses to interstate expansion clubs.[13] Under the VFL Commission, all players became fully professional for the first time in its history.[14]
Scope of governance
The AFL Commission has been responsible for the administration of the AFL competition since 1993, when the AFL Board of Directors voted itself out of existence after 96 years of operation. Its constitution self-proclaims the Commission to be the "keeper of the code" responsible for the sport of Australian football.
Leagues affiliated with or owned by the AFL Commission have names beginning with AFL, and incorporate the AFL logo, and now owns the governing body for Australia's most populous eastern region through the AFL NSW/ACT and has strong affiliations with all other states. The AFL also promotes and brands the sport under its own name instead of the official name of Australian Football, especially in developing areas where the sport is not well known and the AFL has a major stake in the local governing bodies.
The ten commissioners are elected by the 18 AFL clubs, with each of the 18 clubs entitled to make nominations, but other Australian Football leagues, associations and clubs do not have any control or representation.
The AFL Commission's primary role is to oversee the profitability of its competitions, its primary competitions being the AFL and AFL Women's. As such, it has a direct stake in many of its member clubs.
It also approves the administration of new club licenses, and has been involved in the expansion of the national competition since 1987, being instrumental in the merger that created the Brisbane Lions. The Commission also fully owns the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Other clubs to have an AFL Commission appointed board include the Sydney Swans, the Gold Coast Suns, Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club. The Commission operates a Competitive Balance Fund, which redistributes profits to the clubs most in need to help ensure that all of its member clubs are financially sustainable in the long-term.[15]
Financially, the Commission is highly co-dependent on the success of the AFL and the majority of its funding comes from AFL competition broadcasting rights. The 2025-2031 rights will earn $4.5 billion, the most lucrative in Australian sporting history. The Commission distributes some of the profit from these rights into development of the game.
However, the majority is invested in ensuring that the AFL continues to sustain its future revenues, such as protecting the primacy of the competition, as well as growing its broadcast audience, talent pathways and professionalism to attract the best available players (from junior development programs and high performance athletes from around the world).
Role in national and international game development
The Commission was formed to set policy, and has directed the VFL/AFL (known then as the VFL) as the game's most professional league since December 1985.
In 1993, the AFL Commission assumed control of the league's administration from the AFL Board of Directors (in effect, the 15 AFL clubs at that time). Subsequently, the board of directors voted itself out of existence, and a new Memorandum and Articles of Association were adopted for the AFL. It also assumed national governance of the sport (see Principle 2 below) after the ANFC ceased operations in 1995.
This was a significant change of power: between 1985 and 1993, the Commission had required explicit approval by a 75% vote of the League (the teams) for major items such as further expansion, mergers, relocations, and major capital works.
In its role as national and international governing body, the AFL Commission also controls and delegates development funding for Australian state and international bodies and leagues. As most of this funding is sourced the revenue and activities associated with the AFL competition, much of the funding is directed to the competition's developing markets. Semi-professional state competitions are generally self-sufficient, and receive a much lower percentage of the AFL's funding. The Commission has established a pathway that features junior Academies and scholarships from representational level up to its member clubs. The highest level is the AFL Academy, with academies for each state being managed by their respective AFL clubs and affiliated governing bodies.
Between 2010 and 2021, the AFL spent between $6–38 million per annum (under 5% of total revenue) on game development grants globally (excluding a one-off COVID-19 Pandemic community football recovery package). With a new TV rights deal in 2022 and to help the game at the grassroots continue its recovery post COVID-19 Pandemic, the Commission increased its community grants to $67 million.[17]
Management of Official Player Recognition for the Sport
The AFL Commission has a simple structure. There are formal corporate titles for members which currently consists of a chairman, whose role is to oversee meetings, and a chief executive officer, who typically also oversees the operations of the Australian Football League.
Commissioners are elected by the 18 AFL clubs, who each are entitled to make nominations. Should an election be necessary, then the membership is decided by a vote of the AFL clubs. Under the current constitution, the member clubs have the power to veto commission decisions with a two-thirds majority vote.
The AFL Commission has also become involved in Australian Football League matters on occasion, both on and off-field. Sometimes these interventions have been in controversial circumstances.
On the field
The "Line in the Sand" match in 2004 in which 18 players were reported on 26 charges arising from a third-quarter brawl. Four Hawthorn players were suspended for a total of 15 matches while Essendon's Justin Murphy was suspended for one match.[18][19][20]
2006 Aurora Stadium Siren Controversy – investigated the disputed finish to the St. Kilda vs. Fremantle match played at Aurora Stadium on 30 April 2006. The result was that the AFL commission overturned the drawn result to award Fremantle four premiership points instead of two.
The sacking of Richmond player Daniel Connors over repeated off-field infringements during his playing career with the club, including a drunken rampage in Sydney in 2010[33] and "failing to meet club expectations on a number of occasions" in 2012.[34]
The club-imposed five-match suspension handed to Greater Western Sydney player Toby Greene for intentionally assaulting a security guard at a Melbourne nightclub during the club's bye week in 2014, in between which the Giants suffered two defeats in excess of more than 100 points.[42]
The six-month suspension handed to Greater Western Sydney player Lachie Whitfield for attempting to invade a random drug test during the 2016–17 off-season, which took in missing the first eight matches of the 2017 AFL season. Ex-GWS employees Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert were both suspended for twelve months each, while the club was also stripped of its first-round draft pick in the 2017 AFL draft.[43][44]
The three-match suspension handed to Richmond player Nathan Broad for leaking a photo of a topless woman wearing his premiership medallion without her consent in the weeks following the club's 2017 AFL Grand Final victory.[45]
The season-ending suspension handed to Sydney Swans player Elijah Taylor for a major breach of Western Australia's strict quarantine rules while the club was in the state during the 2020 season[46] and his subsequent dismissal from the club at the end of the season for assaulting his ex-partner.[47]
the investigation into the Greater Western Sydney Giants' 2024 post-season function in which several players behaved inappropriately in a private setting, including the use of distasteful costumes and inappropriate skits. Captain Toby Greene was fined $5,000 for his lack of leadership, Josh Fahey was suspended for four matches, and five other players were suspended for two matches each for their roles in the scandal.[51]
Expansion
The AFL Commission has a role in undertaking assessments of expansion clubs and awarding new licences including:
The Commission owns a stake in the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney clubs.
Member club viability
The AFL Commission manages a special fund called the Competitive Balance Fund (CBF) since 2004 as a grant of up to $5 million per club to ensure that member clubs remain financially viable.
The system was later changed to the Annual Special Distribution (ASD) of $6.3 million shared among all clubs,[52] as well as allowing for grants and special concessions, such as payments, to ensure that the AFL member clubs remain viable in the short term. In 2006, the Commission approved a $2.1 million special financial assistance package for Carlton.
In response to clubs increasingly relying on and applying for special funding, in 2008, the Commission recommended removing the fund altogether,[52] but after considerable club protests led by three struggling clubs, the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and North Melbourne, CEO Andrew Demetriou announced that the ASD would remain.
In early 2009, it increased Melbourne's assistance from $250,000 to $1 million and made a $1 million grant to Port Adelaide.[53]
References
^"Salmon and Brans ruled out". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 487. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 May 1991. p. 28. Retrieved 20 June 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"VFL talks on offer for Swans". The Canberra Times. Vol. 59, no. 18, 031. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 9 February 1985. p. 51. Retrieved 9 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Share float planned by Roos". The Canberra Times. Vol. 60, no. 18, 587. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 August 1986. p. 23. Retrieved 9 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"VFL income all-time high". The Canberra Times. Vol. 63, no. 19, 496. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 February 1989. p. 45. Retrieved 9 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Salmon and Brans ruled out". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 487. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 16 May 1991. p. 28. Retrieved 20 June 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
