Daisy Pearce says the impact of AFLW can’t simply be measured by a dollar amount as the women’s competition enters a critical juncture of its existence.

The AFLW’s 10th season will begin on August 14 when Carlton face off against Collingwood at Ikon Park and West Coast host Gold Coast in Perth later that night.

But the 10-year celebrations come amidst worrying reports the AFLW is losing $50m a year, with slumping crowd attendances and falling broadcast numbers adding to the concerns.

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Pearce, who captained Melbourne to premiership success and is about to enter her second year as West Coast coach, is one of the AFLW’s trailblazers.

The 37-year-old was quick to point out that while the women’s competition might not be raking in the big bucks itself, it’s playing a vital role in growing the overall AFL pie.

“It doesn’t concern me,” Pearce replied when asked about the $50m figure.

“I mean, as quickly as possible, us involved in it want to do what we can ... to make it commercially viable and to be profitable.

“But in the meantime, I think it adds great value to the AFL landscape.

“If you look at things like the participation numbers in women’s footy since the advent of AFLW — there’s hundreds of thousands more AFL customers that are engaged and going to support the game at every level now that AFLW is here.

“So the number that’s being invested in AFLW is one thing, but if you look more broadly than that ... the value it’s bringing back sometimes gets lost in the equation.

“And that’s not to mention the fact that any startup, if you compare it to that, it’s probably naive to think it’s going to be profitable straight away.”

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon insists the AFLW remains an investment worth making.

Pearce said it was critical for the league to continue investing in the pathways, using the example of West Coast’s first draft pick from last year - pick No.7 Lou Painter - as the perfect example.

“She’d be in the top five for our runners and our strength numbers, just given the exposure she’s had to high performance programs and the mindset of these kids that are now aspiring to play in an elite competition,” Pearce said.

“As opposed to someone like from my generation. I was playing because I loved it and I wanted to be better than my brother, and I wanted to be the best that I could be.

“But there wasn’t really something to chase, whereas they’ve got that now.”

Pearce also called for more investment in coaches, saying she was the only full-time coach in West Coast’s women’s program.