AFL Gather Round - now announced for Adelaide through 2026.

[The_Wookie]

Spreading it around that much kind of defeats the whole purpose. Needs to be in the one city.

Syd - Accor/Showgrounds fits it all nicely in one precinct.
Mel - MCG/Docklands
Bris - Gabba and ? Metricon a little too far too go for mine
Per - Optus and WACA?
Adl - Adelaide Oval and ? Id think The Parade would need an upgrade for this.

 

[Coolangatta]

One city for the entire weekend. So visitors can get to all venues from their accomodation without moving.

One stadium per day. So visitors can go to all games in a day. Whilst not over using one playing field and destroying the turf.

Wouldn’t it be better to use three grounds then?

One on a public holiday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday?

5-6 SCG games sounds excessive.

They said Blacktown maybe gets 1 game, why not 3 in a day? And 3 for SCG, 3 Accor?

 

[Coolangatta]

Spreading it around that much kind of defeats the whole purpose. Needs to be in the one city.

Yeah that makes sense, but I still think the host city should use 3 different stadiums to avoid pitch damage.

My WA idea wouldn’t work since as you say it’s spread around too far but Perth has more than just Optus and the WACA.

I still think more than 3 games at the SCG is too much.

 

[The_Wookie]

Yeah that makes sense, but I still think the host city should use 3 different stadiums to avoid pitch damage.

My WA idea wouldn’t work since as you say it’s spread around too far but Perth has more than just Optus and the WACA.

I still think more than 3 games at the SCG is too much.

The problem for mine is that the games will actually bring a crowd well in excess of the capacities of WAFL and SANFL venues, without modern amenities and lacking transport infrastructure.

 

[Coolangatta]

The problem for mine is that the games will actually bring a crowd well in excess of the capacities of WAFL and SANFL venues, without modern amenities and lacking transport infrastructure.

I forget the name but there’s an oval in Perth with 20k capacity. Not sure what the WACA is, then there’s Optus of course. Dunno if 20k will be enough and yeah the infrastructure is probably not good enough.

 

[Recon_29]

I am pumped for this concept but its going to be tricky to pull off in Sydney. If they do it over the proposed NSW school holidays I believe that Giants stadium would be unavailable due to the Royal Easter Show & cleanup. You'd probably want to do it once the show has concluded which leaves about 5-6 days of school holidays. If they were to avoid the Easter show it would have to start around the 19-20th of April which is going to make it hard because of Anzac day 5 days later.

Maybe something like this could work:

Game 1 Thurs 20th April SCG 5.10pm
Game 2 Thurs 20th April SCG 8pm

- Essendon & Collingwood to play here to ensure a 5 break before Anzac day and to help pull a crowd. Melbourne v Collingwood got 16,500 at the SCG during covid when no one could travel so there is potential.

Game 3 Fri 21st April SCG/Accor 5.10pm
Game 4 Fri 21st April SCG/Accor 8pm

- Throw 1 of the remaining big Victorian clubs in this to help build a crowd. (Richmond or Carlton). Could be a double header at either ground if they want to spread the load.

Game 5 Sat Accor 12pm
Game 6 Sat Accor 3.30pm
Game 7 Sat Accord 7pm

- Play the Swans at one of these games to avoid traditional home ground advantage and help bring a crowd. If reports are true club members will get tickets to their own team for free you could suggest the swans will pull 20-25k themselves. Which would be a great starting point.

Game 8 Sun SCG 12.10pm
Game 9 Sun SCG 3.20pm

- Throw the other big Victorian club (Richmond or Carlton) and the Giants on the Sunday.

You'd think the afl will match up teams so it results in another game amongst the ladder section you finished in 2022. (1-6, 7-12, 13-18).

Could look something like this:

Thurs
1. Essendon vs Hawthorn
2. Collingwood vs Geelong

Fri
3. Adelaide vs West Coast
4. Carlton vs St Kilda

Sat
5. Port Adelaide v Gold Coast
6. Brisbane vs Melbourne
7. Fremantle vs Sydney

Sun
8. North v GWS.
9. Richmond vs Bulldogs

With free entry for your clubs game as a member and keep the public tickets very affordable you could get an average 25k for the 3 double headers at the SCG and push towards 50k for the triple header at Accor, which would result in 125k total I think that would be a fantastic achievement. For reference, the NRL gets 130k for their 4 days in an NRL state.

 

[czns]

This is a dumb idea. Unless they can get fans to travel most of the games will be empty. If they're going to have a stupid Magic Round in the AFL it should be in a homeland state.

 

[Recon_29]

This is a dumb idea. Unless they can get fans to travel most of the games will be empty. If they're going to have a stupid Magic Round in the AFL it should be in a homeland state.

I reckon AFL fans travel in pretty good numbers generally so they will be hoping for that. This could encourage groups of friends/family who support different teams to travel together.

I think they know it will work in a heartland state so why not try somewhere that needs growth first especially if NSW have bid for it, instead of just taking the safe option like the NRL have done.

 

[Walshawk]

Really, no game in a Sydney without the Swans is going to draw 20k+. This will be a fizzer.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Below is the schedule for 2022 NRL Rd 10 Magic Round. I assume the AFL wants to do a near carbon copy.

If it was in Sydney you would think it makes sense to play 5 or 6 games at the SCG and the same for Adelaide Oval if its in SA.

They could make one day out at Sydney Olympic Park with 2 ovals a few hundred metres apart and put on 3 games on a Saturday or Sunday, 1.10, 4.10 and 7.10 start times and 1 game there on the other day.

Or 4 games there on Saturday or Sunday 1.10 at the showgrounds, 4.10 2 games, 1 at the showgrounds and 1 at Stadium Oz and then 7.10 game at Stadium Oz with GWS the home team, and let people walk between the 2 games in the middle time slot.

In Adelaide it would make sense to play 3 of the games shared between Norwood and Unley Ovals, both are about 3 Kms from the CBD. Even Prospect Oval is only 5km north of Rundle Mall.

2022 Magic Round Schedule​

Friday, 13th May at Suncorp Stadium​

6:00pm — Bulldogs v Knights
8:05pm — Sea Eagles v Broncos

Saturday, 14th May at Suncorp Stadium​

3:00pm — Warriors v Rabbitohs
5:30pm — Titans v Dragons
7:45pm — Storm v Panthers

Sunday, 15th May at Suncorp Stadium​

1:50pm — Sharks v Raiders
4:05pm — Roosters v Eels
6:25pm — Wests Tigers v Cowboys

The crowd figures involve a lot of double ups and triple ups but about 100,000 individuals purchased tickets, be it 3 day passes for $99, 3 day passes in specific supporter bays for $149 and a single day pass for $49.

100,000 to 120,000 is the normal sort of average crowd for an 8 game NRL round. This way they market it as a 306,000 attendance round. They reckon 30,000 fans travelled from country Qld, NSW, Victoria and NZ for the games at Lang Park.

 

[Recon_29]

It is definitely a lot easier for the NRL to do this as the games are considerably shorter, judging by the above you need about 7 hours for an NRL triple header.

You would require approx 9-10 hours for an AFL triple header at one venue, when you take into account changeover, warm ups etc. Interested to see what the AFL come up with. I do like the idea of diving straight into NRL heartland but Sydney is going to be a tricky one to plan with stadiums across the city and poor transport options. Would have to be one venue/complex per day.

10 hours seems like a long time, but having spoke to people who have attended the NRL magic round the crowd comes and goes all day. So while 10 hours seems like a long time, if ticket pricing is cheap enough, people other than footy die hards won't stay the entire day.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Caroline Wilson was on 5AA sports show this arvo and said SA Premier Peter Malinauskas had made a big pitch for Magic Round and has made a significant impact on the AFL's thinking about who hosts the first one.

He has sold to the AFL you don't want the first one to be a dud and only a few thousand people rock up to 4 or 5 of the games in Sydney. She said he was lobbying hard at the AFL GF and every time she saw him he was talking to a different AFL power broker.

Malinauskas played footy for my old footy club Adelaide Uni. He was still playing semi regularly in 2019 when he was opposition leader and was 39 year old, for the bottom of 7 men's Adelaide Uni teams, The Scum. The bottom Uni team in SA ammos is always called The Scum. Covid hit, he retired, but came out of retirement and played a couple of games this year, after he became premier in March this year. It was good PR.

Ergo, he is a footy head and has banged a few heads together, and if you know SA footy politics you understand how hard that can be, and he has lined up the SMA who manages Adelaide Oval, which the government invested over $500mil into, the 2 AFL clubs, the SANFL - to have a bye round for all its comps if SA host the Magic Round, The ammos - to also have a bye during Magic Round and I believe the other suburban leagues to have a bye, and got everybody backing the pitch.

So he has ensured there is no metro footy to compete with Magic Round and so everyone who wants to, can attend because they have no other footy commitment. I suspect he has probably done something similar with the country leagues as well, especially those a relatively short drive to Adelaide.

Apparently they have planned for a game in the Barossa Valley at Angaston Oval which is about a 90km drive from Adelaide Oval and a whole lot of tourism events for that game in particular and in general tourism initiatives for the weekend. So Tourism SA have thrown there weight in behind it as well.

Caro said they are looking at 6 games at AO to maximise crowds and its use. She said there is Commission meeting next Tuesday to try and get the concept approved, more so than the city/state it will be played in approved.

Ok the podcast has just been put up. Listen between 3.25 and 7.50 for Magic Round discussion,

 

[Walshawk]

Caroline Wilson was on 5AA sports show this arvo and said SA Premier Peter Malinauskas had made a big pitch for Magic Round and has made a significant impact on the AFL's thinking about who hosts the first one.

He has sold to the AFL you don't want the first one to be a dud and only a few thousand people rock up to 4 or 5 of the games in Sydney. She said he was lobbying hard at the AFL GF and every time she saw him he was talking to a different AFL power broker.

Malinauskas played footy for my old footy club Adelaide Uni. He was still playing semi regularly in 2019 when he was opposition leader and was 39 year old, for the bottom of 7 men's Adelaide Uni teams, The Scum. The bottom Uni team in SA ammos is always called The Scum. Covid hit, he retired, but came out of retirement and played a couple of games this year, after he became premier in March this year. It was good PR.

Ergo, he is a footy head and has banged a few heads together, and if you know SA footy politics you understand how hard that can be, and he has lined up the SMA who manages Adelaide Oval, which the government invested over $500mil into, the 2 AFL clubs, the SANFL - to have a bye round for all its comps if SA host the Magic Round, The ammos - to also have a bye during Magic Round and I believe the other suburban leagues to have a bye, and got everybody backing the pitch.

So he has ensured there is no metro footy to compete with Magic Round and so everyone who wants to, can attend because they have no other footy commitment. I suspect he has probably done something similar with the country leagues as well, especially those a relatively short drive to Adelaide.

Apparently they have planned for a game in the Barossa Valley at Angaston Oval which is about a 90km drive from Adelaide Oval and a whole lot of tourism events for that game in particular and in general tourism initiatives for the weekend. So Tourism SA have thrown there weight in behind it as well.

Caro said they are looking at 6 games at AO to maximise crowds and its use. She said there is Commission meeting next Tuesday to try and get the concept approved, more so than the city/state it will be played in approved.

Ok the podcast has just been put up. Listen between 3.25 and 7.50 for Magic Round discussion,

Interesting. Angaston seats around 200. It has terracing for maybe 500, then just standing around the fence so capacity might be 3K - 5K. Fundraising | Angaston Football Club
It is a shame that the Thebarton redevelopment for the Crows is not approved and won't be ready. Norwood Oval would be the only other option. If the AO turf can handle it, better to have most of the games there. Little point in having crowds of 12K. Could this work?
Thurs - 7pm Ess v Rich - Dreamtime @ the AO 25K
Fri - 5.30pm Blues v Cats + 8.30pm Pies v Hawks @ AO 35K
Sat - 1pm Bris v Dees @ Norwood 15K, 4pm Saints v GC + 7pm Port v Swans @ AO 50K
Sun - 12pm North v WC @ Angaston 5K, 3pm Dogs v Freo + 6pm Crows v GWS 50K
I have given the SA teams games v NSW teams so the home ground advantage can be reversed if the next magic round is in Sydney

Also, this whole thing only works if thousands of fans travel, particularly from Melbourne. I reckon the only place I would travel to for something like this would be Sydney, or maybe Hobart.

 

[____]

Just play all the games at one venue, playing all over the place defeats the purpose of magic round.

 

[Walshawk]

Syd - Accor/Showgrounds fits it all nicely in one precinct.
Mel - MCG/Docklands
Bris - Gabba and ? Metricon a little too far too go for mine
Per - Optus and WACA?
Adl - Adelaide Oval and ? Id think The Parade would need an upgrade for this.

This concept is about tourism for the host state. If it is in Sydney most games need to be @ SCG. The train trip to Homebush is horrible.

 

[The_Wookie]

This concept is about tourism for the host state. If it is in Sydney most games need to be @ SCG. The train trip to Homebush is horrible.

The Sydney proposal isnt even close to that.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Interesting. Angaston seats around 200. It has terracing for maybe 500, then just standing around the fence so capacity might be 3K - 5K. Fundraising | Angaston Football Club
It is a shame that the Thebarton redevelopment for the Crows is not approved and won't be ready. Norwood Oval would be the only other option. If the AO turf can handle it, better to have most of the games there. Little point in having crowds of 12K. Could this work?
Thurs - 7pm Ess v Rich - Dreamtime @ the AO 25K
Fri - 5.30pm Blues v Cats + 8.30pm Pies v Hawks @ AO 35K
Sat - 1pm Bris v Dees @ Norwood 15K, 4pm Saints v GC + 7pm Port v Swans @ AO 50K
Sun - 12pm North v WC @ Angaston 5K, 3pm Dogs v Freo + 6pm Crows v GWS 50K
I have given the SA teams games v NSW teams so the home ground advantage can be reversed if the next magic round is in Sydney

Also, this whole thing only works if thousands of fans travel, particularly from Melbourne. I reckon the only place I would travel to for something like this would be Sydney, or maybe Hobart.

Its not uncommon that for games in SA that the bigger Vic clubs and WCE have 2k to 3k of their fans attend the game. Sydney seems to get decent crowds, a bit less than 2k to AO games.

How many have travelled for those games, I don't think anyone really knows, but if SA tourism want 25k to 30k travelling to watch games, given 30k travel to Brisbane, mainly from NSW, then its not an unreasonable goal, given most would travel from Victoria.

If there are 1.1mil club members, yes some are mickey mouse ones counted, then aiming to get 2.5% to 3% of them to travel isn't that unrealistic. I guess it depends on when, and what else is packaged up to do and cost will all be a factor.

 

[RedV3x]

IMO an international round would have far bigger impact and be much more rewarding than a "magic" round.

 

[Recon_29]

IMO an international round would have far bigger impact and be much more rewarding than a "magic" round.

I reckon this might be the long term goal if they can turn it into a popular domestic weekend first, which I think they will.

 

[Bjo187]

IMO an international round would have far bigger impact and be much more rewarding than a "magic" round.

What's an international round, how would it work?

 

[Aussie in exile]

What's an international round, how would it work?

That's a good question

 

[RedV3x]

What's an international round, how would it work?

Stage one round of 9 games oversees at the start of the season.

 

[Bjo187]

Stage one round of 9 games oversees at the start of the season.

I don't mind the idea but it comes with a number of complications:

• no fields in non cricket playing countries
• too expensive for Aussie fans to travel
• if there is no atmosphere at games they can be boring and it doesn't advertise the product well

I would prefer Craig Hutchison's suggestion of actually paying international broadcasters to put the two best matches of the week on tv replayed. I would only bother doing this into the u.s, u.k and India. I actually think India is the most untapped market, not for the game ever taking off there, but for garnering the interest of Indians living in Australia.

I would be doing scouting camps there like they did in the U.S and Ireland. The first winter sport to capture the attention of the Indian expat community in Australia, will explode.

 

[kranger]

Wouldn’t it be better to use three grounds then?

One on a public holiday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday?

I said 1 stadium per day. Not 1 stadium for the round. So yes. 3 grounds would be ideal. As you can settle into your seat for the day and attend all games on that day. And then just head to a different venue for the other days.

I forget the name but there’s an oval in Perth with 20k capacity. Not sure what the WACA is, then there’s Optus of course. Dunno if 20k will be enough and yeah the infrastructure is probably not good enough.

Both Bassendean Oval and Joondalup Arena are suggested to have capacities over 20,000 with their large grass outer banks.

The WACA is being downgraded at the moment to a capacity of under 14,000.

 

[kranger]

Perhaps the magic round, and rotating it between the states that aren’t Victoria, is a sneaky way by the AFL to get the states to bid for a big AFL tourist event, and to quell the complaints every year about the grand final being contracted to Victoria.