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.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Fremantle vs Sydney = 43,882

 

[Hawkk]

30012 ar Gabba for Brisbane v WC

Obviously the Gabba has capacity constraints but this is a pretty good crowd in the largely unpopular (for SEQ) early Sunday game (which is actually a midday game given daylight savings)

The last three times the Lions celebrated a flag at the Gabba:

Rd 2 2002 Brisbane v Hawthorn - 25,660 (Sunday afternoon)
Rd 1 2003 Brisbane v Essendon - 36,197 (Saturday Night)
Rd 1 2004 Brisbane v Sydney - 34,028 (Saturday Night)

The Gabba is basically falling apart, but the Lions could go through the whole year with a 30,000-plus every week (something I don’t think they’ve ever done). Which is pretty impressive given the Gabba is basically Football Park in 2008/09.

Once Victoria Park opens, the Lions could and should aim for a 40,000 plus average at the new stadium

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

After Round 2.

HOME CROWDS
Club (# of home games played) = Total (Average)

• Hawthorn (1) = 80,735 (80,735)
• Richmond (1) = 80,009 (80,009)
• Collingwood (1) = 63,282 (63,282)
• Carlton (1) = 62,735 (62,735)
• Western Bulldogs (2) = 112,433 (56,217)
• Essendon (1) = 46,688 (46,688)
• West Coast (1) = 46,532 (46,532)
• Fremantle (1) = 43,882 (43,882)
• Adelaide (1) = 42,985 (42,985)
• Sydney (2) = 75,216 (37,608)
• Port Adelaide (1) = 37,342 (37,342)
• St Kilda (1) = 36,663 (36,663)
• Brisbane Lions (1) = 30,012 (30,012)
• North Melbourne (1) = 28,768 (28,768)
• Geelong (1) = 25,372 (25,372)
• Melbourne (1) = 23,278 (23,278)
• GWS (1) = 19,248 (19,248)

HOME AND AWAY CROWDS
Club (# of games played) = Total (Average)

• Carlton (2) = 142,744 (71,372)
• Essendon (2) = 127,423 (63,712)
• Hawthorn (3) = 183,780 (61,260)
• Richmond (2) = 117,351 (58,676)
• Western Bulldogs (2) = 112,433 (56,217)
• Collingwood (3) = 160,557 (53,519)
• Port Adelaide (2) = 100,624 (50,312)
• Gold Coast (1) = 46,532 (46,532)
• Adelaide (2) = 89,673 (44,837)
• St Kilda (2) = 79,648 (39,824)
• Sydney (3) = 119,098 (39,699)
• West Coast (2) = 76,544 (38,272)
• Fremantle (2) = 69,254 (34,627)
• Brisbane Lions (2) = 64,918 (32,459)
• North Melbourne (2) = 63,174 (31,587)
• Geelong (2) = 62,035 (31,018)
• Melbourne (2) = 52,046 (26,023)
• GWS (2) = 42,526 (21,263)

 

[GenericUsername202]

Melbourne v Gold Coast next week is going to be almost empty. You would probably get more people at metricon this rate, and no one will believe if the number is anywhere near the fudged number they gave against GWS. There were seagulls at that game than those in the crowd.

 

[Cmarsh]

Melbourne v Gold Coast next week is going to be almost empty. You would probably get more people at metricon this rate, and no one will believe if the number is anywhere near the fudged number they gave against GWS. There were seagulls at that game than those in the crowd.

Haven't we been through this already?

Majority of the Demons crowd sit in the MCC. You know, the side the camera isn't facing. Just to claim "fudged" is erroneous.

 

[Raz Man]

Melbourne v Gold Coast next week is going to be almost empty. You would probably get more people at metricon this rate, and no one will believe if the number is anywhere near the fudged number they gave against GWS. There were seagulls at that game than those in the crowd.

You can’t help but feel sorry for Melbourne. You have GWS, North & GC Suns in your first three games of the season, it was always going to be like this. A slow start to their attendance record for 2025.

 

[GenericUsername202]

Haven't we been through this already?

Majority of the Demons crowd sit in the MCC. You know, the side the camera isn't facing. Just to claim "fudged" is erroneous.

You're not convincing anyone. Fox Footy was legit piping in covid era fake crowd noises during that game. No one who watched that game thought there was anywhere near that number, and you're not faking crowd noises if the stadium isn't almost empty.

 

[Cmarsh]

You're not convincing anyone. Fox Footy was legit piping in covid era fake crowd noises during that game. No one who watched that game thought there was anywhere near that number, and you're not faking crowd noises if the stadium isn't almost empty.

Believe what you want mate. But if you going to blow in here and make comments, you should stay away from conspiracy theories like the one's you seem to spout.

 

[ep12]

Melbourne v Gold Coast next week is going to be almost empty. You would probably get more people at metricon this rate, and no one will believe if the number is anywhere near the fudged number they gave against GWS. There were seagulls at that game than those in the crowd.

The Melbourne Giants game was very clearly above 20K you just don't see the northern side of the ground which is where the majority of our supporters will sit (in the MCC or the Olympic). It was also one of the better atmospheres we have had a at a game against an interstate side.

There will be 20k next week easily because its going to be a good day and its a good timeslot.
I am always happy to say when the crowds are poor (you can look in the last 3 years of threads for that), but the crowd was good in round 1

 

[ep12]

You can’t help but feel sorry for Melbourne. You have GWS, North & GC Suns in your first three games of the season, it was always going to be like this. A slow start to their attendance record for 2025.

And then Geelong in Geelong, gather round and Fremantle as our next true home game. Commerically terrible start before Anzac eve which may struggle to get to 60k huge the two teams form

 

[Hawkk]

The Melbourne Giants game was very clearly above 20K you just don't see the northern side of the ground which is where the majority of our supporters will sit (in the MCC or the Olympic). It was also one of the better atmospheres we have had a at a game against an interstate side.

There will be 20k next week easily because its going to be a good day and its a good timeslot.
I am always happy to say when the crowds are poor (you can look in the last 3 years of threads for that), but the crowd was good in round 1

I reckon the Dees v Suns will surprise a lot of people. If Melbourne can draw 24,000 to a Sunday afternoon fixture in driving rain to a fixture against GWS head to head with F1 I think this will draw much better - perhaps close to 30,000.

The Saturday and Sunday early game is perfect for the MCG (see Essendon v Crows) and the Dees showed a lot against the Giants - arguably the flag favourites. They won't be the last team to be outshone by North at Docklands.

On a related note the AFL have absolutely shafted the Dees in this years fixture. The Giants, North (at Docklands), the Suns and then the Cats (in Geelong), Essendon (in Adelaide) and Dockers is brutal. After ANZAC round they then to go West Coast in round 8. And it has me absolutely beat why they are playing the Saints in Alice Springs. At least they get ANZAC eve and Kings Birthday as home games

Interestingly, the AFL used to always schedule Melbourne and Essendon at the MCG - this is the second time they have played in Gather Round

 

[Bjo187]

That is actually a very good crowd, North fans could smell blood.

Was only a matter of time when you are one of two teams in a state like WA.

How is less than 30k between 2 Melbourne clubs, on a nice day in round 2, possibly a good crowd?

 

[ep12]

How is less than 30k between 2 Melbourne clubs on a nice day in round 2, possibly a good crowd?

Such a simplistic thing to say, when it’s the smallest Melbourne club who have had 5 bottom 2 finishes in a row against the club who hates marvel more than Anyone else it is a good crowd. Trains were also down in the north.

The last time we played north at marvel in 2022 there were 13k there.

reckon the split was about 18-10k today, far more of us than I’ve seen recently and a Sunday 3:20 is no good for crowds.

 

[Bjo187]

Such a simplistic thing to say, when it’s the smallest Melbourne club who have had 5 bottom 2 finishes in a row against the club who hates marvel more than Anyone else it is a good crowd. Trains were also down in the north.

The last time we played north at marvel in 2022 there were 13k there.

reckon the split was about 18-10k today, far more of us than I’ve seen recently and a Sunday 3:20 is no good for crowds.

Both teams played well in round 1 though, would have gone into today's game with optimism. Again early in the season, nice weather. I'm of the opinion two Melbourne clubs playing should never dip below 30k.

 

[Fire]

Both teams played well in round 1 though, would have gone into today's game with optimism. Again early in the season, nice weather. I'm of the opinion two Melbourne clubs playing should never dip below 30k.

k, that has never been the case though.

 

[Macca180]

You would probably get more people at metricon this rate, and no one will believe if the number is anywhere near the fudged number they gave against GWS. There were seagulls at that game than those in the crowd.

You're not convincing anyone. Fox Footy was legit piping in covid era fake crowd noises during that game. No one who watched that game thought there was anywhere near that number, and you're not faking crowd noises if the stadium isn't almost empty.

You are a ****ing idiot.

 

[What else we can do]

I reckon the Dees v Suns will surprise a lot of people. If Melbourne can draw 24,000 to a Sunday afternoon fixture in driving rain to a fixture against GWS head to head with F1 I think this will draw much better - perhaps close to 30,000.

The Saturday and Sunday early game is perfect for the MCG (see Essendon v Crows) and the Dees showed a lot against the Giants - arguably the flag favourites. They won't be the last team to be outshone by North at Docklands.

On a related note the AFL have absolutely shafted the Dees in this years fixture. The Giants, North (at Docklands), the Suns and then the Cats (in Geelong), Essendon (in Adelaide) and Dockers is brutal. After ANZAC round they then to go West Coast in round 8. And it has me absolutely beat why they are playing the Saints in Alice Springs. At least they get ANZAC eve and Kings Birthday as home games

Interestingly, the AFL used to always schedule Melbourne and Essendon at the MCG - this is the second time they have played in Gather Round

Hope it hits 30K but I think a couple of thousand more than the Giants 26k 27k would be a pass. Maybe a few neutrals like me go to bump up the crowd, want to see how the Suns go at MCG.

 

[CarnTheScray]

How is less than 30k between 2 Melbourne clubs, on a nice day in round 2, possibly a good crowd?

Not all crowds are created equal. North, a side that has been bottom 4 for 4-5 seasons up against a side whose fans never attend Marvel in decent away numbers.

I actually think Norths crowds have been okay during this down period, the only times they’ve dropped below 20k were against interstate sides.

 

[manicmagpie]

Round 2 totalled 364,117 - this is the 3rd highest total for an 8 game round in history and less than 4k from the highest.

The average of 45,515 is the 6th highest ever.

 

[Consolaçao]

I find it very hard to believe, what's this off membership numbers? Up until the 90s teams played at their own suburban stadium and people on the other side of town got minimal exposure to them. It was only with ground rationalisation and pay tv in the late 90s and early 2000s that supporters began to come from all areas across a city, due to accessibility of product. Now if you look at Essendon, we have been terrible for over 20 years, so wouldn't have banked many eastern suburbs supporters in that time, a time when this accessibility became better.

Also find it hard to believe this.
I would've thought that of the people living in the triangle between Moonee Ponds, Caroline Springs and Craigieburn that follow football, at least 40% would be Essendon supporters.
And there are a sh*tload of people out in that part of Melbourne.
Would be fascinating to see the data anyway... surely someone's looked into this?

 

[Consolaçao]

Haven't we been through this already?

Majority of the Demons crowd sit in the MCC. You know, the side the camera isn't facing. Just to claim "fudged" is erroneous.

Everything's a conspiracy these days.

 

[The Educator]

I’m not making it up. They have more members in the east / south east than the west / north west.

Whether or not that is true, what is certainly the case is that Essendon's fan concentration would be easily greatest in the SA4 region called "Melbourne - North West". 5



Note that this only makes up 9% of the population. 50% of the population live in the Inner East, Inner south, Outer East, outer south and mornington peninsular (I.e. parts of Melbourne usually included in "south east" aggregates).

Don't know when you were working at Essendon, but North West and West have actually increased their shares at the south easts expense. in 2013 NW was 9% and west was 16%.

The point is though that Essendon, along with the dogs and north, would have a much higher relative share of their support living on the train lines that run through north melbourne / southern cross.

Possibly explains their strong MCC ranking and possibly its comparatively weaker AFL reserve ranking.

Why?

Religion and class as well as MCG move time and period of success would explain MCC ranking in 2019.

Or are you suggesting Collingwood and Richmond supporters are less likely to live accessibly to the MCG than Essendon fans?

 

[dave10]

Whether or not that is true, what is certainly the case is that Essendon's fan concentration would be easily greatest in the SA4 region called "Melbourne - North West". 5

View attachment 2260092

Note that this only makes up 9% of the population. 0% of the population live in the Inner East, Inner south, Outer East, outer south and mornington peninsular (I.e. parts of Melbourne usually included in "south east" aggregates).

Don't know when you were working at Essendon, but North West and West have actually increased their shares at the south easts expense. in 2013 NW was 9% and west was 16%.

The point is though that Essendon, along with the dogs and north, would have a much higher relative share of their support living on the train lines that run through north melbourne / southern cross.

Tigers / Pies fans locations, I can’t speak with any knowledge about their fans demographics. Others can speak with more authority than me.

I don’t have any intel on their fans demographics so I won’t pretend and give a guess.

I worked at Essendon about 20 years ago but one of my friends was until recently very senior in the commercial team, across this area as well. I was talking about total numbers of members, not share of. Clearly their share of total AFL fans is higher in the NW region.

 

[The Educator]

I don’t have any intel on their fans demographics so I won’t pretend and give a guess.

Here you go as a snap shot.....scroll down for top 5 by club

The Victorian suburbs where all 18 AFL clubs have their most members

https://archive.md/HgGKu The Victorian suburbs where all 18 AFL clubs have their most members The heartlands of Victoria’s AFL fans have been revealed, as more than 9 per cent of the state signed up as members this year ... and there are a few surprises. Athos Sirianos and Oscar Jaeger November...

www.bigfooty.com

Unsurprisingly, every club's membership is dominated by regions that were traditional heartland and recruiting areas branching out from those heartlands.....obviously suburb population does some heavy lifting such as why Reservoir shows up for Collingwoood, Carlton and Brisbane, and Werribee for Dogs, North, bombers and the crows

Cranbourne get's a look in for the bombers...... all the others heartland heartland and migratory extensions of those heartlands (eg Sunbury particularly, but also Ballarat and Werribee / point cook)

I worked at Essendon about 20 years ago but one of my friends was until recently very senior in the commercial team, across this area as well. I was talking about total numbers of members, not share of. Clearly their share of total AFL fans is higher in the NW region.

And the last point is THE point. Marvel is disproportionately convenient to Essendon than it is to MCG tenant clubs

 

[gopies1981]

That is an unbelievable crowd. For context, Richmond v Adelaide drew 54,934 to the Grand Final replay in 2018, Hawthorn ‘just’ 45,781 in 2016, Carlton 44,711 in 2013 (but drew 46,283 to Marvel last year), Melbourne 33,125 in 2023 and Collingwood 65,930 last year. That's no knock on Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton or Melbourne, its just that Adelaide crowds historically have not been huge at the MCG - roughly equal with West Coast and slightly ahead of Port Adelaide.

This shows two things:

1) Early season Saturday afternoon games at the MCG draw massive walk up crowds, 2) Essendon is the AFL’s sleeping giant and needs to play 5-6 home games (like Carlton) at the MCG ASAP.

This should all get addressed when the Devils come into the AFL

Agree with what you said. Out of the interstate clubs who play at the mcg you would see a break down something like this;

Sydney - 15,000 (due to old south Melbourne fans)
Brisbane - 10,000 (due to old Fitzroy fans)
West coast - 3,000
Adelaide- 3,000
Port Adelaide - 1,000
Freo - 1,000
GWS - 200
Gold Coast - 200

So looking at the Essendon v Adelaide game there was probably 43,000 Essendon fans to 3,000 Adelaide fans

When the pies played Sydney last year in from of 79,000 there were probably 15,000 Sydney fans and in round 23 when we played the lions there was 10,000 Brisbane fans out of the 61,000