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.

 

[ep12]

Is there any incentive for Freo Members to buy Tickets? Reduced rate? Etc?

Per Freos website they get no special anything

 

[Billy ray]

Per Freos website they get no special anything

Same as that suns game in 2018. No special deals for freo nor the ‘home’ suns members.

 

[Raz Man]

Thursday night footy at the 'Dome and it is the mighty Bulldogs v Hawthorn!

Hoping for a decent attendance tonight, 35,000 plz!

 

[clarkoscluster]

Per Freos website they get no special anything

Get to see their team live for an extra match?

 

[ep12]

Get to see their team live for an extra match?

You know that isn’t what we are talking about.

 

[kranger]

Per Freos website they get no special anything

Each seat category does seem cheaper than compared to a Freo Home game though.

North Melbourne three largest home crowds vs Freo, and only ones larger than 20,000 are:


What crowd size at Perth Stadium, would give this North Melbourne venture a pass mark?

 

[kranger]

Rd 7 WAFL crowds.

And despite the weather over the weekend looking like this, below are the Rd 8 WAFL crowds, including the two WA Day Public Holiday derbies.

 

[ep12]

Kings birthday update: Melbourne Members allocation now has all of our unsold reserved seat areas. I’d say there’s about 750 seats available across all levels and these aren’t going to be sold and they won’t get released to the public or there will be riots at the membership department for allowing Collingwood supporters in to those areas

 

[Rob]

Same as that suns game in 2018. No special deals for freo nor the ‘home’ suns members.

Tickets were cheap for that game though.

What they should have done is open up the entire top deck and charge $25. Who knows, maybe they will in the week leading up to the game.

 

[Rouel_14]

Having a look at tickets tonight I am quite shocked what’s still available.

Surely dogs can pull 25K and hawks 15K?
Thursday night, under the roof. Good game expected.

Dogs average 30K for home games last year and 34K this yeah (mcg outlier)

being a Thursday before the start of a long weekend, I’m not sure the usual Thursday night 10% shaved rule should apply.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

Having a look at tickets tonight I am quite shocked what’s still available.

Surely dogs can pull 25K and hawks 15K?
Thursday night, under the roof. Good game expected.

Dogs average 30K for home games last year and 34K this yeah (mcg outlier)

being a Thursday before the start of a long weekend, I’m not sure the usual Thursday night 10% shaved rule should apply.

Last two at Marvel have been over 40,000 at marvel vs the Hawks

This would have been 45k ish on a better slot

imo

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn = 35,725

 

[Raz Man]

Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn = 35,725

Woo hoo! I picked it..

 

[magpiemaniac44]

Is that a tad underwhelming or am I being harsh?

 

[ep12]

Is that a tad underwhelming or am I being harsh?

Thursday night, not a Hawthorn replacement home game and Hawthorn out of form. I think harsh. Its definitely a pas for a Thursday

 

[Hawkk]

Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn = 35,725

This is a seriously good roll up for a Thursday (which is about 20% lower than any other slot…) Well done Dogs — there was very little hype from the Hawks supporters leading into that game.

Last two at Marvel have been over 40,000 at marvel vs the Hawks

This would have been 45k ish on a better slot

imo

I was hoping for 30,000 on a Thursday. There have been some pretty good Dogs v Hawks crowds at Marvel (we don’t play at the MCG anywhere near enough) but last year was 29,555 in the Sunday night slot. I agree, the Dogs would have got 40,000 plus in any other slot though.

On 2025 attendances, from the HFC website yesterday.

Footy Flashbacks: 100 years on from Hawthorn's first VFL win against the Bulldogs

With both clubs celebrating 100 years in the VFL/AFL, Richard Allsop looks at the role the Bulldogs have played in Hawthorn's history.

www.hawthornfc.com.au

The attendance of 83,706 last Friday night means that Hawthorn has had three 80,000-plus crowds this season, the most it has ever had in a home and away season, beating the previous record of two set last season. Seasons with single crowds above 80,000 were 1981, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Hawthorn has already had seven attendances of 50,000-plus this season, equaling the record for most 50,000-plus crowds for a home and away season. This was set in 2012 and equalled in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

I count another three 50,000-plus crowds (Pies, Blues and Crows) plus hopefully the Dockers and Dees. That would mean 10 to 12 50k-plus attendances and would all but guarantee 1,000,000 for the season (maybe 1,100,000 with good weather and much better form).

Before 2007, Hawthorn had only played 20 or so 50k home and away games in their history so to have half a season of 50k crowds would be huge result. It also means that since round 15 last year, they’ve drawn 80k plus to six games against different opponents (Rd 15 v Rich 92,311, Rd 23 v Carl 84,733, EF v WB 97,898, Rd 1 v Ess 80,735, Rd 7 v Geel 88,746 and Rd 13 v Coll 83,706)

 

[Hawkk]

Thursday night, not a Hawthorn replacement home game and Hawthorn out of form. I think harsh. Its definitely a pas for a Thursday

This game could have easily drawn in the high 20,000’s. Last year the Dogs drew 26,000 to 28,000 against the Saints and Swans in that slot and I don’t think Hawthorn is that much bigger a draw at Marvel than those clubs. Hopefully next week’s Saints v Dogs game will be okay on the Thursday.

Tickets were cheap for that game though.

What they should have done is open up the entire top deck and charge $25. Who knows, maybe they will in the week leading up to the game.

I bet North are regretting their decision to leave Tasmania prematurely (if the stadium doesn’t go ahead and the Devils fall over). Between Sydney, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Hobart and now WA they really shoot a lot of blanks.

King Birthday ticketing update:

Public: 200 seats available at the very top of the Ponsford and Restricted view on sale
AFL: Standing room only
MCC: Selling to row EE on level 4 all the way around. Suspect half of level 4 will sell to the very back but this is the first time post-covid that the MCC wont be sold out.

Kings Birthday eve: Q1 & Q2 have just gone on sale for the back two thirds of bays and all of M7 went on sale. Not sure why they held back M7. Still a few left at the top of the Ponsford
AFL Reserve: Just started selling level 4 back. Currently at Q15 and Q16.
MCC: Selling Q38-Q48 up to row X. Q37 hasnt gone on sale.

Expecting 80k on KB and 75k for the night before, with 2-3k knocked off due to weather.

Even with the weather I really think Kings Birthday will draw 85,000 plus (similar to Easter Monday). We really underestimate how powerful afternoon games are for drawing power - mostly because pretty much every high drawing fixture is now in a night slot.

I’m less confident of Kings Birthday Eve - which like ANZAC Eve will always be in the shadow of the bigger game.

 

[Rabman]

Unfortunately the weather is horrible in Adelaide today, if it’s over 45k tonight, that will be solid.

 

[manicmagpie]

I count another three 50,000-plus crowds (Pies, Blues and Crows) plus hopefully the Dockers and Dees. That would mean 10 to 12 50k-plus attendances and would all but guarantee 1,000,000 for the season (maybe 1,100,000 with good weather and much better form).

Don't think you can rely on a 50k+ crowd against the Crows. It might happen but it's difficult to get over 50k at Adelaide Oval when it's not a Showdown. There's only been 15 in total and just two in the last 8 seasons (but one of those was Hawthorn in 2019).

 

[ep12]

Carlton Essendon is now selling the back of the AFL reserve to the general public (Q26-Q28). Q21-Q25 rows U-DD will be GA and likely empty on the night. MCC they are selling all the way around to row Z on level 4. Reckon 77k for mine.

Melbourne Collingwood, General public is now sold out, AFL reserve is up to the last two bays of standing room. MCC will sell to the very back to about Q42 I reckon and Q37-Q41 will be to row EE. Melbourne unused members allocation is about 700. Reckon 81k. Weather is very unfortunate for both.

 

[Raz Man]

Carlton Essendon is now selling the back of the AFL reserve to the general public (Q26-Q28). Q21-Q25 rows U-DD will be GA and likely empty on the night. MCC they are selling all the way around to row Z on level 4. Reckon 77k for mine.

Melbourne Collingwood, General public is now sold out, AFL reserve is up to the last two bays of standing room. MCC will sell to the very back to about Q42 I reckon and Q37-Q41 will be to row EE. Melbourne unused members allocation is about 700. Reckon 81k. Weather is very unfortunate for both.

The thing with Carl/Essendon is that no matter how bad they both are, the mere fact this fixture has some sort of status now as a marquee game will draw well going forward. Both sets of fans know even if they don't make finals as long as we win this game, that will be enough to satisfy us for the year.

For 20 or so years (Between 2001-2022) this game was very average mainly bc both clubs were rubbish, getting non-primetime timeslots, weather I always noticed was not great most of the time when they plated, no meaning to their games. The average attendance figure to games was between 44-55 k around that period.

Last couple seasons we have finally seen some solid crowds and that is mainly due to Carlton participating/winning finals, so their fans are really engaged most weeks.

Hoping we can get the magical 80,000 figure Sunday night but it may be tough with the weather.

 

[dave10]

The thing with Carl/Essendon is that no matter how bad they both are, the mere fact this fixture has some sort of status now as a marquee game will draw well going forward. Both sets of fans know even if they don't make finals as long as we win this game, that will be enough to satisfy us for the year.

For 20 or so years (Between 2001-2022) this game was very average mainly bc both clubs were rubbish, getting non-primetime timeslots, weather I always noticed was not great most of the time when they plated, no meaning to their games. The average attendance figure to games was between 44-55 k around that period.

Last couple seasons we have finally seen some solid crowds and that is mainly due to Carlton participating/winning finals, so their fans are really engaged most weeks.

Hoping we can get the magical 80,000 figure Sunday night but it may be tough with the weather.

Good post. We’re not a good team yet so beating Carlton is my only wish for 2025. Happy to lose every other game to ensure a strong draft hand thanks

 

[ep12]

The thing with Carl/Essendon is that no matter how bad they both are, the mere fact this fixture has some sort of status now as a marquee game will draw well going forward. Both sets of fans know even if they don't make finals as long as we win this game, that will be enough to satisfy us for the year.

For 20 or so years (Between 2001-2022) this game was very average mainly bc both clubs were rubbish, getting non-primetime timeslots, weather I always noticed was not great most of the time when they plated, no meaning to their games. The average attendance figure to games was between 44-55 k around that period.

Last couple seasons we have finally seen some solid crowds and that is mainly due to Carlton participating/winning finals, so their fans are really engaged most weeks.

Hoping we can get the magical 80,000 figure Sunday night but it may be tough with the weather.

The Sunday before a public holiday is a great slot and both sets of supporters have done well to make it an occasion.

I have a feeling that neither game will get to 80k if both are relying on heavy MCC walk-ups on the day. I know Melbourne wants 85k on Monday but that is wishful thinking given the weather.

 

[Rabman]

Adelaide oval 42,921

 

[ep12]

Adelaide oval 42,921

shame about the weather, deserved 50k this.