Fixture Gather Round - SA announced as host for next 3 years 2024-2026

[Festerz]

16.04.23

GATHER ROUND SOUTH AUSTRALIA
AFL LOCKS IN SA FOR NEXT THREE SEASONS

The AFL in partnership with the SA Government is pleased to announce ‘Gather Round…. A Festival of Footy’ will be hosted in South Australia for the next three seasons.

The inaugural ‘Gather Round’ has been an overwhelming success, with all nine games sold out, more than 220,000 fans attending matches across the Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval and Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills and tens of thousands of fans attending the footy festival on the banks of Torrens.

More than 60,000 fans purchased tickets from interstate.

Across 2024, 2025 and 2026, Gather Round …. A festival of footy will be hosted exclusively in South Australia, with Adelaide Oval to be the central venue, with the intent from both the AFL and the SA Government to take regional matches in 2024 to the Barossa / McClaren Vale region.

As part of the three-year term, both the AFL and SA Government have also committed to establishing a community football legacy fund, that will benefit local footy clubs in the state beyond the weekend of matches.

The AFL will lock in the fixture dates of the round in the coming weeks to give fans as much lead time as possible to book travel and accommodation.

Ticketing information will be release later in the year.

“South Australia really turned it on. Gather Round and all the activity across the state, the nine matches, the footy festival and the community football engagement has been some of the best days and events the AFL has ever delivered,” AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said.

“It has been a success because everyone in football got behind the idea, clubs, players, corporate partners and most importantly our fans, to deliver an extraordinary few days,

“While the concept has real momentum, and we plan on taking it to other states around the country, we also feel in order for it to be as successful in the other states we need to continue to build out the concept in South Australia,

“The reality is we only had a few months to pull this together, and we hope by locking it in now we are giving everyone a longer runway to put together a bigger and even better event, and our fans certainty around booking travel and accommodation.

“The match at Mount Barker was a special afternoon on Saturday and an important part of recommitting to South Australia was to establish the community legacy fund, ensuring local footy clubs’ benefit from bringing the Gather Round to town.”

During the round the AFL has facilitated dozens of community club and school visits, held seminars for community club volunteers and delivered more than 10,000 footballs to regional community clubs.

Details on the Community legacy fund will be communicated at a later date.

“On behalf of the AFL I want to thank to Premier Malinauskas and his team in the SA Government who in partnership, delivered an unbelievable few days for footy and the state of South Australia.”

The AFL will also work with the AFLPA on the commitments to the players.

“The players have been strong partners in the Gather Round concept and have embraced wholeheartedly the round. We will now work with the AFLPA on the commitments to the players in the coming years.”

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said “The inaugural Gather Round has been a stunning success, in no small part thanks to the willingness of South Australians, and our interstate visitors, to show up.
“We know that this has delivered huge benefits for our state, and that is why I’m so pleased to see it return for the next three years.”

“With more time to plan, we know we can make Gather Round even bigger and better than what it has already become.”

“I want to thank Gillon McLachlan, the AFL, wider footballing community, public servants, councils and others who’ve all worked so hard to deliver such an amazing event in just a few months.”

“But most of all, I want to thank each and every person who showed up.”

“This agreement is because of you.”

-ends-

 

[Romeoh1]

I'm not going to argue with you about the grand final, clearly the likes of Collingwood, Hawthorn and Melbourne have a big leg up in that regard.

The fixture does have a lot of quirks but beside the GF it is otherwise not lopsided in favour of one team over another. Financially it is obvious why the AFL want to do it but my argument is solely in favour of the integrity of the competition (again, like the GF there are other situations where that's not always number 1 priority). To pretend there isn't an advantage for SA sides, like some above are doing, is disingenuous.

Maybe- but it’s a great concept and is ideally suited to Adelaide- am happy to just enjoy it.

 

[Sentinel]

Maybe- but it’s a great concept and is ideally suited to Adelaide- am happy to just enjoy it.

Fully agree with that. All of my posts above are simply about evening up the fixture somehow if it's a long term setup, but I'm completely for the concept and it's in a great city for it.

 

[Teen Wolf]

It should be in either Sydney and/or Brisbane in my view. Areas where they need to grow the game. At least they should share it around in a four year cycle between Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Nothing against Adelaide, but where is the logic in them having it every year to themselves? And before I get attacked, I also think that some regular blockbuster games (which are normally played in Vic) should be played interstate form time to time. Why not Collingwood vs Essendon in Perth one ANZAC day,? You telling me it wouldn't sell out?

"Before I get attacked... let me add a second suggestion that is 10x more inflammatory than my first suggestion"? Lol.

It seems the narrative from only 12-18 months ago (about how footy in SA was being neglected by the AFL) has already been forgotten! The multi-year deal allows the state government to be more aggressive in their funding of community footy and facilities.

There's no doubt Sydney and Perth will get a shot eventually.

 

[Altum Volantes]

The whole AFL PR machine constantly mentioning how amazing gather round is and it’s so exciting.. give me a spell..

Nothing against Adelaide it’s a nice city, but this is all just a little bit meh.

From what I can tell, those who are continually banging on about how good it is are getting paid to attend a long weekend of footy, corporate lunches, sundowners and free dinners…and also Tom Morris, but he appears to have paid his own way.

It’s a national comp, the game doesn’t need to be ‘localised’ for a round every year.

But hey, I’m in Perth, 8/9 games every round are not in Perth, this round just goes one step further.

 

[ibd77]

A difficult concept for some, it seems.

Not at all, I think you are overplaying your hand when it comes to your so called home ground advantage at AO.

 

[powerrrrrrrrrrrr]

What a ridiculous concept. 3 Gather Rounds just completely kills any vibe for it if it is held every 8 weeks.

 

[Rich]

What a ridiculous concept. 3 Gather Rounds just completely kills any vibe for it if it is held every 8 weeks.

He’s just made that up.

The Easter Show in Sydney takes Giants Stafium out of action and the NRL will ensure that Accor is set aside for them with so many in the vicinity because of the show - they had relatively good crowds there last weekend.

So 9 games at the SCG?

Possibly the worst weekend of the year to have it in Sydney.

 

[pattymalone00]

What a ridiculous concept. 3 Gather Rounds just completely kills any vibe for it if it is held every 8 weeks.

I wouldnt be against them having a second one and turning the opening round NSW/QLD concept into having the 9 games between the 2 states to try and grow the game up there and keeping the SA one as the main one that everyone makes the trip for, but 3 seems a bit much surely

 

[Teen Wolf]

He’s just made that up.

The Easter Show in Sydney takes Giants Stafium out of action and the NRL will ensure that Accor is set aside for them with so many in the vicinity because of the show - they had relatively good crowds there last weekend.

So 9 games at the SCG?

Possibly the worst weekend of the year to have it in Sydney.

6-7 games per round in that proposal. The SCG would host most games (including GWS), but Showring Oval right next door is getting done up to hold ~10k so that could host one or two smaller drawing games.

The fact that the Giants have always been invisible in their home town during Easter, because of ground availability, is probably something being addressed with this idea. Just look at the 2024 fixture: 1 AFL game in NSW (Syd v GC) between March 23 and May 4.

 

[Billy ray]

Do these leaked documents reveal the future of Gather Round?
View attachment 1947019 View attachment 1947020

Tom morris just went with this i think

 

[Bjo187]

It seems the leaked document may have been correct after all.

I don't mind the idea, the season hits a lull midyear, a gather round then would be perfect. I would like to see them use Henson park and Blacktown if doing one in Sydney.

The other small issue I see is, 6 or 7 games compared to 9, dunno if it would have the same bang as it currently does.

Interesting to see Brisbane left out, the AFL obviously shitty about being completely dudded by the rugby league hit job on a new oval stadium up there. With good reason.

 

[Coolangatta]

Why pair up Vic with Tassie? Just give Tassie the full round, 6 games in Hobart and 3 in Launceston.

Alternate WA/SA and alternate NSW/QLD, there’s your three GR.

How hard is that?

 

[CarterS]

One of the Fox articles in the last few days said basically 'there has been an extremely negative reaction to the suggestion that there should be a showdown in the Gather Round so the SA teams don't get an extra home game' - why? NSW and QLD teams are at a clear disadvantage.

 

[Coolangatta]

It should be everyone plays 10 home and 10 away games + 3 Gather Rounds.

Have Gather Round in Tasmania every year, Tassie can get 7 home games in Hobart that way and the stadium can get extra games from the GR itself.

Alternate WA/SA and alternate NSW/QLD.

Or if it’s a 24 game season, combine NSW/QLD into an opening round where all sides play and then WA and SA can have a GR every year along with Tassie.

God forbid the interstate teams get an extra home game.

 

[Cuzz09]

What about 100% neutral territory round.

Games are played in the exact middle of the 2 competing sides

WCE v Bris at Ayers Rock

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Teen Wolf]

Why pair up Vic with Tassie? Just give Tassie the full round, 6 games in Hobart and 3 in Launceston.

Alternate WA/SA and alternate NSW/QLD, there’s your three GR.

How hard is that?

The proposal had the whole opening round in Tassie, except for the first game in Geelong. The Cats and Devils would get HGA against the Swans and Giants, and then have return fixtures in the Sydney round to balance it out.

 

[Teen Wolf]

What about 100% neutral territory round.

Games are played in the exact middle of the 2 competing sides

WCE v Bris at Ayers Rock

I suggested something like this on here several years ago:

I have a solution to the problem. Let's all take our clothes off, roll around in glitter and then drive out into the middle of the desert where we set up our own tents as far as the eye can see around an impromptu football field on which the game can be played. Oh sure, there will be dirty corporates camping among us with their own custom handcrafted specialised gourmet marquees, and it will still cost everybody exorbitant amounts of money to attend, but what matters most is that we FEEL like we're sticking it to the man, maaaan. Added bonus: dune buggies!

 

[Spirit Level]

So in summary:

• SA gets gather round for eternity and both teams get a guaranteed extra home game every year
• Vic teams get most of their games in their home state and a guaranteed grand final in their state no matter where they finish
• Northern teams get very generous academy allowances
• WA teams get...... an extra week of travel per year on top of the travel they currently have (most in the league)

What a ****en joke

 

[offtherails9]

It won’t be anywhere near as successful in winter lol. Dumb ass shit from the AFL.
People won’t have the money to travel all the way to Perth for it.
Loses it’s excitement without all 18(19) teams
So much wrong with all of that

 

[Coolangatta]

It won’t be anywhere near as successful in winter lol. Dumb ass s**t from the AFL.
People won’t have the money to travel all the way to Perth for it.
Loses it’s excitement without all 18(19) teams
So much wrong with all of that

If we’re going to 24 games, then in hindsight it’s probably better to have a Gather Round as the opener, shared by NSW and QLD, then another in April like we have now, rotating SA/WA//TAS.

So 24 games, 11 home, 11 away, 2 GR.

25-26: SA
27: WA (shit idea to give it to Tassie because Bellerive sucks)
28: SA
29: TAS (first year of the new stadium, make it the opening round just for their first year and move NSW/QLD to April just for that year)
30: WA

And so on.

 

[Bjo187]

It won’t be anywhere near as successful in winter lol. Dumb ass s**t from the AFL.
People won’t have the money to travel all the way to Perth for it.
Loses it’s excitement without all 18(19) teams
So much wrong with all of that

Really? I think it would work perfectly in winter. Gives the season something in the winter grind and southerners want a holiday to a warmer climate during the heart of winter. Everybody I know that has kids goes to QLD or somewhere during the school holidays in July.

 

[Teen Wolf]

No doubt Brisbane with a brand new stadium would be perfect for the winter slot. I don't think you have to be a political scientist to understand the play by the AFL here.

The other small issue I see is, 6 or 7 games compared to 9, dunno if it would have the same bang as it currently does.

I'm not sure what impact that would have on so-called bang, but it would be less of a headache in terms of scheduling, which is something rugby league doesn't have to dance around as much with their concept: 6 AFL games equals 960 minutes, 8 NRL games equals 960 minutes.

 

[Bjo187]

No doubt Brisbane with a brand new stadium would be perfect for the winter slot. I don't think you have to be a political scientist to understand the play by the AFL here.

I hope so, I worry the afl are very timid these days, which is what you want inside the league with the clubs, but dealing with outside parties they aren't respected like they once were.

I'm not sure what impact that would have on so-called bang, but it would be less of a headache in terms of scheduling, which is something rugby league doesn't have to dance around as much with their concept: 6 AFL games equals 960 minutes, 8 NRL games equals 960 minutes.

Well you'd effectively be leaving 7 travelling supporter bases at home, plus if I'm going to go with my mate that's a pies fan and they have the bye, I'm probably not gonna go anymore.

 

[TommyD13]

Clearly demonstrates the AFL has no brain cells.

Logically, irrespective of the merits of the proposal, the three times gather round thing goes ahead - each team is said to be playing 22 regular games + 2 gather round games, totalling 24. This is not possible without 27 match rounds, and each team having 3 byes, thereby extending the season on top of what it is already, by another 3 weeks. In 2028, this will see the season, if starting on a Thursday, commence on 24 February, which is just outright ridiculous.

So your team will get a regular bye, in one of the 19 “1-bye” rounds. Then there will need to be 5 extra bye rounds, probably 3x 8 game rounds, and 2x 7 game rounds to accommodate. Then you will need another bye in one of the two gather rounds.

Mathematically speaking you cannot have 4 multiple bye rounds as that cannot be done to accomodate 19 teams, 3 will enable only 21 regular season games so that’s out. Leaves only option being 5, which leaves only option of commencing season in ****ing February.

Kind of a ‘solution’ is binning the pre-finals bye, which given each side has 3 byes per season anyway is not the worst idea. Still brings us to a first week of March kick-off each season.

 

[ibd77]

Kind of a ‘solution’ is binning the pre-finals bye, which given each side has 3 byes per season anyway is not the worst idea. Still brings us to a first week of March kick-off each seseason

Are they looking to introduce a top 10 finals system? It is likely that the top 2 sides will get the bye and the remaining 8 teams play off to meet the top 2 in a semi-final.