Netball’s future Down Under looks bright after a landmark pay deal secured a bumper pay rise for players in the inaugural All-Australian netball competition.
Slated for a February 2017 start, the new competition has set a total wage pool of $5.4m to allow each of its eight clubs, which includes three new franchises, to spend up to $675,000 on 10 contracted players.
Players are assured a minimum salary of $27,000, more than double the figure in the now-defunct trans-Tasman league. They will also be handed 12-month part-time contracts, with training and league schedules allowing for additional work and study.The pay spike aside, income insurance in the event of injury or pregnancy and private health insurance funding have also been secured.The Netball Players’ Association are chuffed with the landmark agreement.
The pay spike aside, income insurance in the event of injury or pregnancy and private health insurance funding have also been secured.
The Netball Players’ Association are chuffed with the landmark agreement.
“This has been a journey over many years between the athletes and the sport,” Bianca Chatfield, of the Australian Netball Players’ Association, said at the announcement.
“This has been a journey over many years between the athletes and the sport. Our ambition throughout this whole process has been to achieve that perfect balance between semi-professionalism, with the best possible conditions for our athletes.
“The athletes are excited that netball has committed to invest a greater proportion of its revenue than any other sport – male or female – into its athletes, truly recognising their contribution to growing the game.”
In May, Netball Australia also announced a five-year broadcast agreement with Channel Nine and Telstra, ensuring matches will be televised in prime time.
Netball Australia is also in negotiations to sell the new league’s naming rights and replace banking giants ANZ, chief sponsor of the previous competition, while AFL clubs Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney, along with NRL outfit Melbourne Storm, have been announced as the preferred bidders for the three new teams.
All of this good news combined represents a major step towards netball achieving full-time professionalism in Australia, which the sport’s executives are hoping to secure by the end of the new broadcast deal.
The sport has consolidated its place as the leading female sports code in Australia, with the minimum wage figure higher than both cricket and the newly created women’s AFL league.
The sporting landscape for female athletes in Australia has shifted dramatically in recent times with the new AFL league to start in 2017, while women’s cricket has also strengthened with the growing popularity of the Twenty20 competition.