Sunday night footy

[emuboy]

They will not like Sunday night either unless Monday has a holiday

That's already proven to be the case. Unless there's a public holiday Monday or a rare case of a Tuesday public holiday, attendance and ratings for games on Sunday and Monday night games proved disappointing even for games like Carlton vs. Collingwood all through the 2000s and into the early 2010s, so much so they were largely discontinued by 2015.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Sunday works in the US because so many nuffs don't work, and demand is so high it doesn't matter.

 

[Underarm]

If it was acceptable for the AFL to do the "12:45pm - 3:20pm - 6:10pm" format for the final round, why not do it for every round? It only requires starting the first game about 20 minutes earlier, and moving the twilight game to 6:10p10pm

no reason why they can't, it's whether they should or not.

For the fans attending, No one likes the sunday twighlight timeslot, and it's even worse the late the game starts. It's a timeslot purely for tv audiences.

Why is that something to enjoy? You "enjoy" not being able to watch all the games, and instead have to choose which game to watch even though there might be 2 or 3 really good games on??? That makes zero sense.

More often than not it's the opposite. More likely the game is a dud by half time and I have to wait 2 hrs for a new one to start.

 

[btdg]

Sunday works in the US because so many nuffs don't work, and demand is so high it doesn't matter.

Sunday works in the US because football has such an established tradition where:
- Friday Night = High School

• Saturday = College
• Sunday = professional

Sunday is thus higher rating because so maby die hard fans are attending and participating in games at other times.

There is also a pretty much 50/50 population split between East and West coast which means that the central and West heartlands are playing and watching Sunday afternoon (so not all Sunday evening and night). And a much bigger overall market.

In contrast, most junior and local football is played here on Saturday (all day) and Sunday morning. There is no Friday/Saturday night and little sunday afternoon competition thus those are the biggest time slots. We also have the vast majority of the population within 1hr of Eastern time which means no afternoon audience for Sunday evening games... making that yhe graveyard sloy

 

[JackOutback]

Does anyone actually watch all nine games? I watch my team, then maybe a Friday night or Saturday night if I’m home. I don’t care if some games on Sunday overlap, I’m not watching nine hours of footy.

 

[ioppolo]

Sunday works in the US because so many nuffs don't work, and demand is so high it doesn't matter.

Don't they? American work culture seems to be one of the worst in the 1st world from afar

 

[deck]

But why stagger games when you don't have to?

If it was acceptable for the AFL to do the "12:45pm - 3:20pm - 6:10pm" format for the final round, why not do it for every round? It only requires starting the first game about 20 minutes earlier, and moving the twilight game to 6:10pm.

The NFL is not a good example because they have 32 teams and 15 matches per week. They are not allowed to play Fridays (which is when high school games are on) or Saturdays (which is College football), so they have no choice but to jam a heap of games on Sunday. I'm not sure why you "love" having matches on at the same time (meaning you can't watch them.) Why is that something to enjoy? You "enjoy" not being able to watch all the games, and instead have to choose which game to watch even though there might be 2 or 3 really good games on??? That makes zero sense.

No one wants to attend games at 6.10pm on a Sunday. People hate 4.40pm and most dislike the 3.20pm games as it is.

It's very rare when 2 games are on that it is a hard decision to decide which game I'll watch as usually 1 is a complete dud.

 

[MrBeefSeven]

Does anyone actually watch all nine games? I watch my team, then maybe a Friday night or Saturday night if I’m home. I don’t care if some games on Sunday overlap, I’m not watching nine hours of footy.

Exactly, I don't have the time to watch every game. Even Thursdays I don't like much for that reason.
It's better if some games overlap, because I can watch the game I want and follow along with the other scores.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Outside of Lions games I never watched Thursdays. Sat and Sunday early I'd watch most weeks. Never watched Sunday Twilight. Having the WA teams play it often helped because the care factor for either is low.

 

[Dan26]

No one wants to attend games at 6.10pm on a Sunday. People hate 4.40pm and most dislike the 3.20pm games as it is.

It's very rare when 2 games are on that it is a hard decision to decide which game I'll watch as usually 1 is a complete dud.

Yeah but TV is important. Very important. Also, virtually all the other games are in family friendly timeslots for attendance. Friday night is not a work/school night. There are 5 games on Saturdays and this not a work/school day. There are two early games on Sunday, which is not a work day.

It's fine to have a TV game, and, if expected, the AFL copies the final round timeslots, then the Sunday game would be at 6:10, which would mean it would be all over by 8:45pm. Still an early finish for a night game

Now you might not like this in terms of attending, but I'll tell you who WILL like it - everyone who is not at the game who gets to watch on television in the prime time 6pm-8:30pm timeslot, which is when pretty much everybody prefers to watch TV. That's why they call it prime time. More people like to watch TV in the evenings. That's a fact.

Think of it this way - Of the 100% of people watching a game, about 90% are watching on TV and about 10% at the game. Roughly a 400,000 to 40,000 split. The Sunday 6pm game, ironically, is BETTER for families because the 400,000 watching on TV get to watch in bigger numbers at a time when the TV is on. In terms of TV, it is the ideal timeslot. Do you prioritize the 40,000 at the game, or do you prioritize the 400,000 who prefer to watch on TV? I think the answer is obvious. It's a family friendly television timeslot, and has been for decades.

 

[hawkman]

As others have said, it depends on the start time. I doubt starting games at 7:40pm like on Friday nights would work on Sunday nights. If Sunday night footy is going to return, 6:20pm should be the latest the game should start to ensure a finish at about 9pm.

A 9pm finish to a Sunday game will really entice families and people who need to travel over an hour to get to the game

 

[JohnZ]

US stadiums have similar capacities to AUS stadiums, but have 10x the demand (population) meaning they can always fill supply. US also has a much stronger re-sale market which means that season tickets get used no matter what.

The reality is, the MCG is too big for non finals/marquee games, and looks terrible when the crowd is 50k or less. Marvel needs to be used more if they're gonna have Thursday and Sunday night be a more regular fixture (because whilst those games are for the TV audience, the ground needs to be somewhat full to give legitamacy to the product). I'd love to see 1pm/4pm/7pm on a Sunday every week.

To share the load, every club should get one Sunday 7pm home game per year excluding those which fall on a PH eve, which would make up the difference. Any remaining would go to the WA clubs given the timezone difference being 4pm or 5pm depending on the time of year.

I would also love the AFL to play the occasional 9pm (Melbourne Time) Perth game (2-3 for each team). That would remove a game from Saturday and reduce overlap even more.

 

[Seattle Mariners]

In 2000 the CEO Wayne Jackson made a formal apology to the AFL public for fixturing early season Sunday night games.

Now 25 years later we're going back to the well.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

In 2000 the CEO Wayne Jackson made a formal apology to the AFL public for fixturing early season Sunday night games.

Now 25 years later we're going back to the well.

The push for Sunday night football always seems to happen every 10-15 years.

I remember the backlash it received in 2014 when they experimented with it and no one turned up in the middle of winter.

 

[Underarm]

A 9pm finish to a Sunday game will really entice families and people who need to travel over an hour to get to the game

Great for travelling fans as well. Get an extra night in the hotel and 6am flight the next morning to ensure you're at work by 9.

 

[JPetro83]

Not a chance in hell id go to a Sunday night home game. game would start at 7pm local time, finish by 9.45ish, time i get back to my car would be 10.15, get home by 11.00pm, shower etc and prob be in bed by 12 and then i would have to be up by 6am to face a day in hell (work)
I rarely go to Thursday night games, if i do i plan a leave day for the Friday.
Thurs night sucks, Sunday twilight sucks and Sunday night would suck.
give me Fri nights, Saturday games and early Sunday games thanks.

I understand Thurs nights are here to stay and that dreaded Sunday twilight. i do think they should move the Sunday middle game from 3.20pm local to 2.10pm local

AFL should go with these slots.. i know i would

Thursday night: 7.10pm local
Friday night: 7.20PM local
Saturday: 2.10pm local
Saturday Twilight: 4:10pm local
Saturday Night: 7.20pm local
Saturday Night: 7.20pm local
Sunday early: 1.10pm local
Sunday (channel 7 game): 2.10pm local
Sunday Twilight: 4.10pm local.

(Any public holiday arvo game to start at 2.10pm local)

 

[Clark G]

In 2000 the CEO Wayne Jackson made a formal apology to the AFL public for fixturing early season Sunday night games.

Now 25 years later we're going back to the well.

From memory, the apology was for scheduling mid week night matches.

 

[parano1a]

i do think they should move the Sunday middle game from 3.20pm local to 2.10pm local

Seven pay the bills and want Sunday and public holiday afternoon games to start at 3.20pm so they finish as close as possible to the start of the 6pm News. This isn't going to change anytime soon.

 

[Freomaniac]

Sunday works in the US because so many nuffs don't work, and demand is so high it doesn't matter.

there is over 300 million Americans and only 27 million Australians

 

[GenericUsername202]

I don't see how Sunday night games are any more difficult than Thursday night games. In fact, it would be easier given it's still the weekend. Regardless, this seems perfect for WA clubs and if i was running one of those clubs, I would be jumping all over this.

 

[boncer34]

I'm confused at why people are upset here.

The Sunday games are either planned for public holidays or in Perth where they can start 4.10 and still be the 6.10 time slot over east.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I'm confused at why people are upset here.

The Sunday games are either planned for public holidays or in Perth where they can start 4.10 and still be the 6.10 time slot over east.

Because 4:10 starts, like 4:40 for Sunday twilight, are utter shit to attend for anyone with kids or living outside inner suburbs.

 

[boncer34]

Because 4:10 starts, like 4:40 for Sunday twilight, are utter shit to attend for anyone with kids or living outside inner suburbs.

Perth getting shafted with shit time zones isnt exclusive to Sunday arvo footy.