As cricket's pay crisis nears tipping point, the wages of an AFL player will skyrocket $60,000 this year in a bumper six-year deal.
After months of negotiations, the AFL and players association declared the pay deal a win-win.
"The players have had a win and got what they want ... that is fair and ties them in a partnership sense to the success of our game," AFL chief Gillon McLachlan told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday.
"And we have got we what we want, which is industry protection and flexibility, and ensures that our game goes ahead over the next 100 years."
For the first time, AFL players' wages will be tied to industry revenue.
The change, and lack of rancour from both sides of the bargaining table, is not a good look for Cricket Australia.
CA is in the midst of heated pay talks with players, who are desperate to maintain the revenue-sharing model that has shaped their salaries for 20 years.
The current CA deal expires on June 30 and both parties have declared they won't back down.
Vice-captain David Warner has warned the Ashes could be in doubt.
"This model is very different to cricket's and in important respects is much closer to the modified model that CA has proposed," a CA spokesperson said of the AFL agreement.
"First, it only contemplates a share of revenue above budget forecast, rather than a fixed percentage of defined revenue streams.
"Second, it takes the costs of generating that revenue into account, whereas the current cricket model does not."
AFL Players Association president Matthew Pavlich said Tuesday's announcement was "a fantastic outcome and something that we were steadfast on achieving".
A key feature of the $1.84 billion agreement is this year's whopping 20 per cent pay increase.
It means that excluding rookies, the average AFL player wage jumps from $309,000 last year to $371,000.
The salary cap increases from $10.37 million a club to $12.4 million.
"This wasn't an easy negotiation in many respects," players association chief Paul Marsh told reporters.
"But the thing is that we both kept listening to each other and we kept moving forward.
"It hasn't been easy but we have had good visibility over the AFL's finances.
"And that has been one of the key things here, that they have shared the information with us, allowing to get to a point where we're comfortable."
The AFL deal ensures some higher-paid players become instant millionaires by cashing in on the pay rise.
It will also give clubs more room in the salary cap and boost war chests for bidding for big-name recruits.
The pay increase is heavily front-loaded, dropping sharply to 1.2 per cent next year, 1.3 per cent in 2019 and two per cent per year for the last three years of the deal.
That takes the club salary cap to $13.54 million by 2022.
The pay deal is about 28 per cent of total industry revenue but can be even more if club and AFL earnings go above what is forecast.
The AFL commission met on Tuesday morning in Adelaide and agreed to the deal with the players association.
