A yearly report from Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) has revealed the average A-League salary is lower than what is being offered in India and South Korea.
The PFA study involved 200 players from the 2020-21 A-League season with the average wage determined to be $136,791.
While a salary most everyday Australians can only dream of, the figure fails to stack up when compared to other professional football leagues in Asia.
The average wage in the India Super League stands at $150,407 and the K-League is offering an average salary of $233,465.
COVID-19 has likely seen a player's yearly earnings drop with a survey from 2018 suggesting annual wages in the A-League back then were just over $180,000.
Australian players in the A-League were also found to earn less than foreigners in every age bracket with overseas players aged between 26-30 earning around $90,000 more than their local counterparts.
Also of key concern was the fact 68 per cent of players in the competition were coming off-contract at the end of the 2020-21 season.
In better news for both A-League and W-League players, the PFA recently secured ongoing minimum wage increases as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement struck with the Australian Professional Leagues (APL).
That, coupled with salary cap floors also being raised, should mean the average wages in both competitions will increase moving forward.
The PFA noted the game is heading in a new direction after a challenging period with a new broadcast deal looming as a promising platform to build from.
"The change in governance from Football Australia to the Australian Professional Leagues provides an intriguing crossroad for the A-League’s future," the report read.
"The players and football’s stakeholders will be interested to see how the club owners steer the competition forward after a period of great uncertainty.
"One important outcome has already been delivered by the APL that has steadied the ship. Following the renegotiation of the Fox Sports agreement, a new era of broadcast under ViacomCBS and Network 10 will commence from next season. That five-year broadcast agreement provides a level of assurance for players not experienced in recent seasons.
"While reduced in value in comparison to previous broadcast deals, it secures an opportunity for revenues to flow into the game in the short term and into the future, and establishes platforms through which the game will be promoted to new and existing audiences."
The new A-League season is currently scheduled to kick off on October 30 but a delay due to closed state borders has been raised as a possibility.