The AFL has unveiled its plan to retain its lofty title as Australia's premier football code by ensuring it has 16 financially healthy clubs and more than just a toehold in its northern markets within the next decade.

Players can also expect to be rewarded more handsomely than ever given a slice of the new broadcast rights money will come their way.

The AFL plans to act quickly to build on a series of outstanding 2005 results, which included Sydney's drought-breaking premiership, and rises in the league's revenue, attendances, television viewership, club membership and grassroots participation.

Australian rules has rarely been as popular as it was last year, with a record aggregate of 6.28 million people attending home and away games, four million viewers watching games on television every week, 1.1 million listeners tuning in on radio per week, and 539,000 people playing at club level.

Off field, the AFL's revenue broke through the $200 million barrier, clubs received $92 million and half a million people bought club memberships.

The AFL's wealth is only set to increase as networks Seven and Ten will next year pay $780 million for the right to televise games from 2007-11.

Speaking at the release of its 2005 annual report, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the league had already begun forecasting towards how the competition would look in 2015.

Among the aims are to have all 16 clubs making decent profits (12 did so last year, totalling $14 million), expand the game into New South Wales and Queensland and reward players with a share of the Seven and Ten cash influx.

Demetriou said the league wanted games played every weekend in the northern states, at venues such as Carrara on the Gold Coast and in western Sydney to capitalise on the growth the game has enjoyed.

Although the league is yet to determine the best way to have more games in northern markets, it appears certain Victorian clubs will be encouraged to "migrate" home games.

"I keep hearing `does that mean we're going to relocate?'. There's no plans to relocate clubs, I don't know in 10 years whether it will be a new club - a 17th, 18th - (or) whether it's a relocated club or a merger. (There are) no plans," Demetriou said.

"All I know is that there will be more football being played because there has to be.

"We would be remiss in our jobs if we weren't thinking long-term about the growth of the game and we didn't have desires on playing more games and providing more content for those markets.

"We would miss out on a huge opportunity, and we could expect the public in NSW and Queensland to be disappointed in the AFL if we weren't thinking that way."

Demetriou hoped clubs could continue posting encouraging financial returns, but was adamant there was still "a way to go" before every one was profitable.

In the meantime, players look like benefiting most from the broadcast rights money.

Listed AFL players earned an average $187,251 last year and have been granted a three per cent increase in 2006, and could expect more under a new player deal in 2007-08.

"I am not going to hypothesise on the percentage increase the players might get, but they are entitled to an increase," Demetriou said.

Demetriou said the AFL had changed significantly since 1995, when Port Adelaide had not entered the competition, Telstra Dome did not exist and national expansion had not taken effect.

But now all mainland states boast premierships, and given the AFL's financial strong-hold, the next decade could be even more decisive.

"It is a marvellous opportunity the AFL has with its clubs and players to establish this code as the leading code for a long, long time and that's what we intend doing," Demetriou said.

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