2025 Attendances

[The_Wookie]

11.12.2024

Gather Round tickets snapped up in record time


The AFL is pleased to announce that more than 195,000 Gather Round…Festival of Footy tickets have sold… with five of the nine games sold out, 20,000 more than this time last year.

Member on sale on Tuesday saw a significant uplift in demand for tickets this year, selling more than 100,000 tickets in the first four hours, in comparison to the same amount in 24 hours last year.

This year there are an extra 47,000 tickets on offer for fans with the two Saturday matches being ticketed separately.

Tickets still remain for Collingwood vs Sydney Swans on Friday night, Carlton vs West Coast on Saturday afternoon, Melbourne vs Essendon on Saturday night and a very limited number of restricted view tickets and tickets for the Pepsi Collective for Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn on Sunday evening.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said it was clear Gather Round momentum was not slowly down.

“The demand for tickets this year was significantly higher than the first two Gather Rounds, with more than 195,000 tickets being purchased in the first two days,” said Mr Dillon.

“A ticket to the matches at the Barossa Park was always going to be one of the hottest tickets in town and the fans have certainly illustrated that by selling out both matches so quickly.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said: “Gather Round continues to exceed all expectations.

“We are honoured that so many footy fans from around the country are making the commitment to travel to our beautiful state to experience this event like no other.

“They’ll be truly welcome.

“If you haven’t got a ticket already – get in quick!”

Tickets for the remaining matches can be found here.

 

[Rouel_14]

[emoji6][emoji6]" data-quote="Hawkk" data-source="post: 0" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

Surely this is a record for a Hawks MCG home game - at least it’s the first time the HFC members reserve is actually full.

Have they done anything different in ticketing etc or just on field improvements?



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[Raz Man]

Hawthorn v Essendon = 80,735

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Third biggest Hawthorn home crowd in their history.

Only behind 1981 vs Collingwood (92,935) and 2008 vs Geelong (86,179).

 

[dave10]

I said 80-81K

 

[Hawkk]

Only the second time in 18 years that a round 1 game has outdrawn Richmond v Carlton (80,735 v 80,007). The other was Hawthorn v Collingwood, on a Friday Night in 2012 - which drew 78,466 v 78,285.

Good chance to lock in this fixture for the next few years too. Finally the AFL is giving this fixture the billing it deserves - no more Saturday Night games in mid-June at Marvel.

 

[Cmarsh]

Only the second time in 18 years that a round 1 game has outdrawn Richmond v Carlton (80,735 v 80,007). The other was Hawthorn v Collingwood, on a Friday Night in 2012 - which drew 78,466 v 78,285.

Good chance to lock in this fixture for the next few years too. Finally the AFL is giving this fixture the billing it deserves - no more Saturday Night games in mid-June at Marvel.

They are capable of getting some things right.

 

[wagstaff]

Good chance to lock in this fixture for the next few years too. Finally the AFL is giving this fixture the billing it deserves - no more Saturday Night games in mid-June at Marvel.

Yep. With benefit of hindsight seems so obvious to play this round 1 @ the MCG considering their long-standing rivalry.

 

[manicmagpie]

Hawthorn/Essendon is the 19th matchup to exceed 80k, and the 4th new combination in the past 12 months.

It's the 5th different team for Hawthorn and the 6th for Essendon.

 

[Tassieboy]

Essendon-Hawthorn is a strange fixture. Despite the rivalry it’s never really took off as a marquee fixture. Essendon being so poor since 2000 and it being played at Docklands on 12 occasions hasn’t helped.

I guess from 2007 it’s averaged 64,985 at the MCG.

 

[Rouel_14]

An interesting by product of crowds this year will be Saturday night attendances now they are moved behind a paywall in Victoria and if this equates to any change to the gate for teams.

Had to quantify as games to at would usually be in this time slot like Dreamtime have been moved but reminds me of the early [emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]s where FTA was on delay and you’d go out to the car to see if it was close before deciding if you would go to bed or not.






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[Hawkk]

Yep. With benefit of hindsight seems so obvious to play this round 1 @ the MCG considering their long-standing rivalry.

Very similar to Carlton v Richmond - which really took off after it was given round 1 billing in 2007. Hard to imagine that the fixture was relegated to a Marvel fixture in 2004 (46,614), 2005 (34,925) and 2006 (37,088). It’s now the second biggest fixture after ANZAC Day.

The AFL and TV networks drive which fixtures take off - that’s why you have this massive gulf between high drawing and the remaining fixtures. It’s the main reason why the AFL needs equalisation for Vic and non Vic clubs who don’t get the marquee fixtures that Coll, Carl, Ess, Rich, Haw and Melb enjoy from all being MCG co-tenants.

Essendon-Hawthorn is a strange fixture. Despite the rivalry it’s never really took off as a marquee fixture. Essendon being so poor since 2000 and it being played at Docklands on 12 occasions hasn’t helped.

I guess from 2007 it’s averaged 64,985 at the MCG.

And of that, it has really built up since the round 1 2017 game - 70,614 across the six MCG games. That’s when the AFL and media started pumping up the rivalry.

It’s very difficult to look at crowds before 2008 - as Hawthorn’s MCG crowds receive a huge bump from the Buddy years. Add to that the 2004 and 2009 melees, the 2010 Buddy goals and the 2017 game, plus the romanticism of the 1980s and it has really elevated a rivalry which was all but dead before 2004.

 

[dave10]

Very similar to Carlton v Richmond - which really took off after it was given round 1 billing in 2007. Hard to imagine that the fixture was relegated to a Marvel fixture in 2004 (46,614), 2005 (34,925) and 2006 (37,088). It’s now the second biggest fixture after ANZAC Day.

The AFL and TV networks drive which fixtures take off - that’s why you have this massive gulf between high drawing and the remaining fixtures. It’s the main reason why the AFL needs equalisation for Vic and non Vic clubs who don’t get the marquee fixtures that Coll, Carl, Ess, Rich, Haw and Melb enjoy from all being MCG co-tenants.


And of that, it has really built up since the round 1 2017 game - 70,614 across the six MCG games. That’s when the AFL and media started pumping up the rivalry.

It’s very difficult to look at crowds before 2008 - as Hawthorn’s MCG crowds receive a huge bump from the Buddy years. Add to that the 2004 and 2009 melees, the 2010 Buddy goals and the 2017 game, plus the romanticism of the 1980s and it has really elevated a rivalry which was all but dead before 2004.

Risk to the crowd in 2026 is if Essendon or Hawthorn play Opening Round next year and lose… Then the air comes out to a degree. That's no issue if this fixture is the Victorian game of Opening Round next year. I sense the Pies will be chasing the right to be host though.

 

[Hawkk]

Risk to the crowd in 2026 is if Essendon or Hawthorn play Opening Round next year and lose… Then the air comes out to a degree. That's no issue if this fixture is the Victorian game of Opening Round next year. I sense the Pies will be chasing the right to be host though.

I don’t think Melbourne should get an Opening Round fixture - that makes the whole round meaningless and takes the sting out of Carl v Rich and Ess v Haw.

If they do an opening round it really should be a Labour Day game featuring the Dogs, North or Saints - the Dogs and Saints are only two who don’t have a marquee game. That would be perfect for Marvel, and would sell out - probably bigger than Good Friday - and give the stadium ‘blockbuster status.’

Even when the Hawks and Dons were rubbish (2023 and 2024) this game still drew 68,000 and 74,000. I think it will stand on its own now, no matter the on-field performance (maybe not 80k plus but it should get 70k)

 

[ep12]

GMHBA very sparse, given the heat and their aging fan base down there its understandable but they are still struggling to get to the 40k mark down there.

 

[Sammoll]

GMHBA very sparse, given the heat and their aging fan base down there its understandable but they are still struggling to get to the 40k mark down there.

25,372 at Kardinia Park.
Probably about par given the heat etc., but I agree they will certainly want to start seeing crowds a bit closer to 35k down there for most games going forward.

 

[Cmarsh]

25,372 at Kardinia Park.
Probably about par given the heat etc., but I agree they will certainly want to start seeing crowds a bit closer to 35k down there for most games going forward.

Schedualing Freo there isn't going to get them there at the best of times.

 

[Sammoll]

Schedualing Freo there isn't going to get them there at the best of times.

Sure but their next game, a Friday night vs Melbourne really should

 

[magic_johnson!]

Could be a good chance of a record round if games get even close to expectations:

Rich/Carl - 80k
Haw/Ess - 80k
Geel/Freo - 25k
Syd/Bris - 35k
WB/Nth - 30k
Coll/Port - 60k
Adl/Stk - 45k
Mel/GWS - 20k
WC/GC - 45k

Totals 420k and beats the current record by 5k. The above estimates are reasonably conservative as well.

Saturday's games in Vic might suffer a little due to the ridiculous heat forecast - 37 degrees is not conducive to getting people to go out and be part of a large crowd.

Three from three on the nose. The scg probably just shy of 35,000 though.

 

[Rouel_14]

I give the pies very little, but god they can pull a crowd..


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[Cmarsh]

34906 for swans vs Brisbane at SCG

Good crowd in that heat.

 

[Raz Man]

Collingwood v Port Adelaide = 63,282

Terrific crowd

 

[BallaratBulldog]

Bigger than expected.

 

[manicmagpie]

Could be a good chance of a record round if games get even close to expectations:

Rich/Carl - 80k
Haw/Ess - 80k
Geel/Freo - 25k
Syd/Bris - 35k
WB/Nth - 30k
Coll/Port - 60k
Adl/Stk - 45k
Mel/GWS - 20k
WC/GC - 45k

Totals 420k and beats the current record by 5k. The above estimates are reasonably conservative as well.

We’re probably about 7k ahead of my estimate so the three games tomorrow can be 10k under and still break the record.

 

[dave10]

We’re probably about 7k ahead of my estimate so the three games tomorrow can be 10k under and still break the record.

A great round of crowds. Both crowds last night terrific.

 

[Sammoll]

Worried about the Dees vs GWS crowd today. Was already likely to have a low base + the F1 GP down the road at the same time and now it’s been heavily raining all morning so far