Crowds for the first round of season eight of the AFLW have returned to levels seen in the early years of the competition, and the league has attributed it to the phenomenal interest in the Matildas. But incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon believes the success of the women’s league will be determined by the quality of the product.
The average attendance of the matches held over the weekend was 4,819. Average attendances in the first four seasons ranged from 4,875 (in 2019) to 6,405 in the AFLW’s first year in 2017. Average crowds dropped to between 2,000 and 3,000 in the most recent three seasons as the league expanded to 18 teams.
The AFL’s head of women’s football, Nicole Livingstone, said the turnout in round one was boosted by an increased interest in women’s sport prompted by the recent Women’s World Cup. “Australia has been awoken that they love women’s sport and the green and gold tsunami that was the Matildas has helped us with that,” she said. “We’re happy to grab that as a platform and keep running with it.”
The AFLW launched in 2017 offering fans mostly free, un-ticketed matches. It has moved to a model in the past four seasons largely of $10 tickets with complimentary access for children. Some matches, such as the weekend’s clash between North Melbourne and St Kilda remain un-ticketed, while superior seats attract higher costs at some venues.
The incoming AFL chief executive, Andrew Dillon, said the first-round crowds were pleasing and the “quality was really good”. But after the customary early-season peak in interest subsides, he said the AFLW needed to continue to entertain. “Ultimately, the product is the thing that will talk for itself,” he said, citing an increase in scoring and an even, competitive competition as goals for the AFLW.
The game has introduced an interchange cap and lengthened the quarters this season in a bid to create more fatigue and increase scoring. At the Sydney derby between the Swans and GWS Giants at North Sydney Oval on Sunday, Dillon said the early signs were encouraging. “We just saw a goal in the last minute, and I know there were a couple yesterday, so maybe we’re getting the desired results.” The league will review data and video from the first round on Monday to assess the game’s progress.
Ella (who asked for her surname not to be published) took her two sons Vincent and Darcy to watch their first Swans game – men’s or women’s – on Sunday. She said she has traditionally been reluctant to attend sport. “It’s not that I don’t like sport, it’s that I didn’t like men’s sport and I think women’s sport for me has been great to see people that look like you playing professional sports.”
The Swans joined the competition last year but went winless in their first campaign. They came back in the second half to defeat their crosstown rivals 51-46 in the second-highest scoring match in the opening round.
Ella believes women’s sport will benefit from an increase in interest from men and boys in coming years. “The big moment for me in our household was when Vinnie said that he wanted a Sam Kerr jersey and I never considered there was a moment where all these little boys in a primary school would be kicking around in Sam Kerr jerseys,” she said. “As a mum with two little boys, that was really lovely for me.”
