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North Melbourne will overtake St Kilda as the AFL’s most heavily funded Victorian club this year in the AFL’s latest distribution of variable funding to the 18 clubs.


And the same four power clubs – Collingwood, Richmond, West Coast and Hawthorn – again will not receive any additional dollars this year, besides the base distribution of between $10.5 million to $11 million.

Brisbane Lions, who have the competition’s largest debt, will retain a similar level of funding to 2022, a total of more than $18 million, and will rank third on the funding table, narrowly ahead of North Melbourne. The Kangaroos have had variable funding increased this year to more than $18 million after several years in which they were well behind St Kilda and even the Western Bulldogs financially.


St Kilda also will exceed $18 million, a figure that has been reduced from more than $20 million in 2017, 2018 and 2019, when they were easily the most-funded Victorian club. AFL boss Gillon McLachlan challenged the Saints to improve their financial performance nearly five years ago.

The extent of their extra funding has incensed some rival clubs, particularly in comparison to the smaller teams, the Kangaroos, Bulldogs and Melbourne. St Kilda have paid off a major chunk of a debt that peaked at nearly $14 million a few years ago during COVID-19, but have more than halved it to a little more than $6 million.

As The Age revealed last year, the Saints had received about $17 million more than the next Victorian club, the Western Bulldogs, in the decade from 2012 until the end of 2021.

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AFL FUNDING 2023

Figures are approximate

Team Amount
Gold Coast $25m
GWS $25m
Brisbane Lions $18-19m
North Melbourne $18-19m
St Kilda $18-19m
Melbourne $16m
Western Bulldogs $16m
Port Adelaide $16m
Sydney $16m
Fremantle $11.5m-12.5m
Carlton $11.5m-12.5m
Adelaide $11.5m-12.5m
Geelong $11.5m-12.5m
Essendon $11m-11.5m
Richmond $10.5m-11m
Hawthorn $10.5m-11m
Collingwood $10.5m-11m
West Coast $10.5m-11m



Amounts include base of $10.5m-$11m