No-one is more staggered by just how far the AFL has come in the past 20 years than Michael Voss - and he measures it in sausage rolls.

The league's new $1.253 billion broadcasting rights deal - set to increase the average annual player's contract to about $300,000 - had the Lions coach shaking his head on Friday.

Voss made his debut as a 16-year-old for the battling Brisbane Bears in 1992 when he was guaranteed a mere $500 a game.

"It's incredible isn't it - this game is growing pretty fast," the 1996 Brownlow Medallist said.

"To think a (broadcast) deal that was $780 million five years ago would go up another $500 million is extraordinary.

"My first contract that I received was $500 for a loss and $1500 for a win.

"And I thought when I went to school and bought a Big M and a sausage roll for lunch time every single day and shout my mates a sausage roll too was pretty significant.

"The fact that these guys can enjoy a few more sausage rolls is quite extraordinary."

With the AFL Players Association looking to earn a bigger cut of the pie as they renegotiate the league's collective bargaining agreement, Voss said it was only fair players received a big pay rise.

"So they should, they're the entertainers, they're the product and if it means they get a reward out of it then so be it," he said.

Voss also hailed the new television arrangement for rugby league states Queensland and NSW to receive live free-to-air coverage of their local AFL teams.

"As Queenslanders we probably always felt we were the ones who missed out, I don't think we can claim that now," he said.

"If that means we get extra people playing the game then that means it's a fantastic broadcast rights deal."

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