CAPPING long-term contracts in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement was discussed at the AFL's CEOs conference this week as clubs push back on player power in big deals.

There are now 35 players in the competition signed to the end of 2030 or beyond, with Kysaiah Pickett's recent mega nine-year deal seeing him contracted to Melbourne until the end of 2034 as the longest signed player in the AFL. 

That deal will likely cross three different CBAs, with the current players pay deal ending in 2027. Club chief executives gathered with the AFL's top brass on the Gold Coast between Monday and Wednesday this week, with the potential for the next CBA to include tighter regulations or caps on the length of contracts being discussed among clubs.

Clubs are almost unanimous in the view that the long-term deals carry risks they would prefer not to take, but that the long-term plays will continue as long as the players wield leverage in contract negotiations and they see it as the best way to lock in their stars. 

The National Hockey League in the US last month finalised a new CBA with its players, which included a shortened contract length, with a maximum of seven years for a player re-signing with their own club and six years leaving as a free agent, and the AFL is expected to be open to discussions on it. 

It came among a broader discussion this week on the next broadcast deal for the League and the future of sports rights. The AFL has locked in its $4.5 billion TV deal with the Seven Network and Foxtel until the end of 2031 and clubs were taken through presentations on forecasts on broadcasting deals, how they could look in the next iteration and what it would mean for the game's finances, player deals and more. 

The conference also included a robust 90-minute discussion on the Next Generation and Northern Academies future. The AFL's review and reallocation of clubs' NGA zonings is set to be tabled to the Commission in August, with an update to club bosses this week, before the clubs were stepped through the new points system for 2025 and how it would be more difficult for clubs to match Academy selections, particularly if they have more than one top-end player. 

St Kilda has voiced its views on the Academies – it has pushed for the Northern Academy concessions to be removed or reduced before this year's draft – but it was reaffirmed this week by the League that they remained a strong part of its push to build the game in the northern markets. 

There remains multiple clubs pushing for the 10 per cent points discount – which was reduced from 20 per cent last year – to be wiped out completely, but any change for this 2025 is considered unlikely given the new system will have its first test at this year's draft. 

After announcing the significant bidding system changes last August to give clubs enough time to prepare for gathering future picks for this year's draft, the League has been keen to see its new system in action.

Gold Coast pair Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson and Brisbane's Daniel Annable are considered top-10 locks at this year's draft, with Sydney's Max King also a chance to be in that range.