Opinion: Ashley Browne

What I’m thinking

with Ashley Browne

Any given Sunday OK with fans

After two years of little or no live football, fans seem open to change when it comes to fixturing.

It didn’t garner much immediate attention, given that the gripping game commanded everyone’s attention, but when word of the attendance for the round three Carlton-Hawthorn game became known, it is fair to say the football industry took notice.

The 66,317 crowd figure at the MCG was the second highest for the season, second highest for the Blues and Hawks during a home and away season and, most significantly, the second largest in history for a 1.10pm Sunday game.

It sparked discussion in club circles about whether the early Sunday timeslot might be more popular among supporters than has long been believed.

There were some contributing factors. After years in the doldrums, the Blues had won their opening two games, their fans were pouring out of the woodwork and it was their home game.

The Hawks had also made a bright start to the season and it was a replacement game for members because of the club’s Tasmanian arrangement, which meant they were admitted for free.

Add the fine weather and it was a perfect day to go to the footy.

After two years during which the pandemic cast a giant shadow and made attending AFL games an ordeal at best and impossible at other times, there was an air of excitement and triumph as the grand old game was back to its throaty best.

Sunday footy has always been problematic for clubs. Start games too early and it clashes with junior sport. Start later in the day and it becomes difficult to get the kids home in time to get fed, showered and ready for school the next day.

It is also a difficult day from a corporate perspective.

Not a lot of business gets done on a Sunday, compared with Thursday and Friday nights when corporate types often come to the footy straight from the office and are still in deal-making mode.

There is a 20 per cent discount on the sale of corporate boxes at the MCG for an early Sunday game, compared with Friday nights, and they go even cheaper later in the day.

But while the maths don’t always stack up for the clubs, there is no getting around the need to play footy on Sundays.

There are nine games a week to get through and the days of playing most or all of them on a Saturday afternoon are long gone.

And the Sunday 3.20pm games, while sometimes problematic for crowds, are terrific for TV, especially during the depths of winter when after a day of sporting and family activities, settling in for one last live game is a great way to finish the weekend.

The AFL fixture suits most of the people most of the time.

The AFL Fans Association uses its annual survey to collate gripes about the fixture and the preponderance of night games, and the inability of families, those who live in the regions and those who start work early the next day, to attend these

SUNDAY FUN DAY: More than 66,000 fans enjoyed the early Sunday start in round three as Carlton and Hawthorn played out a thriller. games – which are often blockbusters – fills page after page.

And to its credit, the AFL at least listens to these concerns.

The fans association admits that the number of people who respond to the survey is heavily skewed towards those who attend games regularly rather than those whose consumption of the game is mainly via TV.

The one remaining change that might be coming to the AFL fixture is Thursday nights.

The AFL has one toe dipped into the water when it comes to Thursday night football. The TV ratings are invariably huge for the eight or so such games each year, even if the clubs are more lukewarm in their support, given they don’t draw quite the same numbers through the gates as Friday night and Saturday games.

The League probably needs to bring a fresh broadcast partner along for the Thursday night ride and will be watching with interest as the National Football League begins a new partnership this year with Amazon Prime now holding exclusive rights to Thursday night games.

Telling fans they’ll need enough bandwidth to watch games exclusively through a streaming service will require some of the AFL’s finest spin.

But the fans aren’t entirely resistant to change. Some 66,000 of them at the MCG early on a Sunday afternoon only a fortnight ago is proof of that.

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