Incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has stressed the importance of attracting top female athletes to AFLW ahead of other codes in the wake of the Matildas' stellar Women's World Cup.
Australia's incredible run to the semi-finals on home soil attracted record TV ratings and sellout crowds and was a massive shot in the arm for the round-ball game.
AFL bosses kept an eye on the Matildas' efforts as they attempt to grow their own 18-team women's competition.
"What I took out of it was if you get really good athletes playing in good stadiums then people come and watch and people get behind it," Dillon said at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's grand final lunch.
"And I think it was a great time for Australian sport but it was great to see the whole country get behind the Matildas and women's sport.
"But for us, it's just we want to continue to attract the best athletes to play our game at the men's and women's level. That was the learning."
Current chief executive Gillon McLachlan added: "they were incredibly successful and Australians felt like they owned them and were connected to them.
"It's a reminder that actually for our athletes, be it male or female, that if you can connect with your audience and they feel a connection with you ... then they'll come in their masses."
The AFL recently signed a new joint collective bargaining agreement that for the first time covers both men's and women's players.
The average AFLW player's pay will immediately increase from $46,000 to $60,000 in 2023, then up to $82,000 by 2027.
The AFLW season will expand to 12 regular-season rounds by 2025, and potentially to 14 during the five-year deal.
"We've now had eight seasons - it's just grown year-on-year but because it's been growing the whole way we haven't really had a chance to fully plan, it's sort of been a year-by-year proposition," Dillon said.
"So having an agreement now with our players that sets us up for the next four or five years we can properly plan how we grow it and how we make it commercially sustainable.
"But (the best thing) now is the players are going to be really well paid - 540 contracted athletes, so (it is) the biggest sport for women at a professional level by a mile in Australia.
"It's a great game. So we think we're going to be really attractive and continue to get more and more first-choice athletes playing the game."
