2026 Attendances

[PonsfordMagpie]

The Big 2 at the top

This is going to provoke a response

 

[AstuteTiger]

This is going to provoke a response

Nah, I take that with a grain of salt , my good ol mate trying to stir the pot.

 

[AstuteTiger]

What else we can do

Thoughts on the crowd this week for Carl V Geel
Before the blues resurgence, I reckon, around 50ish but with back2back wins can see it being high 50's/early 60's

 

[What else we can do]

This is going to provoke a response

What's good for the goose is good for the gander

 

[What else we can do]

What else we can do

Thoughts on the crowd this week for Carl V Geel
Before the blues resurgence, I reckon, around 50ish but with back2back wins can see it being high 50's/early 60's

I think early 60's, going by last year they got 68,000 under similer circumstances.

 

[BuffDog]

Essendon's crowds are holding up ok and should get decent numbers in the next three games v WC, Carl and Melb but very likely to significantly drop off after that.

Recent fixture release is a (deservedly) commercial nightmare with three sunday twilight slots.

 

[Fletched]

Essendon's crowds are holding up ok and should get decent numbers in the next three games v WC, Carl and Melb but very likely to significantly drop off after that.

Recent fixture release is a (deservedly) commercial nightmare with three sunday twilight slots.

The carlton one is before a public holiday

 

[ep12]

Been a big spike in ticket sales for the Kings Birthday in all of the AFL/MCC/Public tonight, no doubt people wanting to pay their respects to Neale.

 

[dave10]

I assume the week after when Melbourne play Essendon there will be some sort of joint initiative to honour him by the two clubs he loved.

 

[Cmarsh]

I assume the week after when Melbourne play Essendon there will be some sort of joint initiative to honour him by the two clubs he loved.

Its a little surprising that the big freeze initiative wasnt the Melbourne/Essendon fixture to begin with given his association with the two clubs.

 

[Raz Man]

Its a little surprising that the big freeze initiative wasnt the Melbourne/Essendon fixture to begin with given his association with the two clubs.

Agreed, how good would it have been if Melbourne and Essendon had some sort of marquee fixture like this. Would give the Big Freeze some real value with the connection for both clubs to Neale. However, the week after, I hope both clubs make it a big one to honour Neale and I am sure going forward the winner of these games in the future will be awarded a 'Neale Daniher Medal'...that would be a nice touch and can give this fixture some sort of meaning...

 

[Underarm]

Its a little surprising that the big freeze initiative wasnt the Melbourne/Essendon fixture to begin with given his association with the two clubs.

1. Essendon had a bit going on in 2013/14. Weren't exactly the brand you wanted to get into bed with.
2. Dees were worried about losing QBD due to mediocre crowds.
3. Big freeze needed a public holiday blockbuster if it was ever going to work.

 

[kranger]

So far Gold Coast have had two large crowds of 19,000 against Cats and Bombers, but two low crowds of 13,000 against Eagles and GWS.

Hopefully we see two big Gold Coast crowds against Lions and Hawks.



There is a lot of talk about GWS being absent from western Sydney when they play in Canberra, and it hurting their crowd attendances. But Gold Coast have two stints of being absent for a month, due to games in Darwin. Hopefully that deal ends soon, with Gold Coast average crowds growing.

 

[manicmagpie]

We're roughly halfway through the year and about to head into the bye rounds so taking stock of attendances so far:

Overall, the league is down slightly on the same time last year - 3,832,758 this year against 3,899,909 in 2025. It is however above every other year at the same time.

The average crowd is down from 39,393 at the same time last year to 38,715. Compared to the average at the end of last year it is up by 1,700 per game and would be the largest average ever if maintained to the end of the season.

We've had:

• 27 instances of a record crowd between the competing clubs at that venue
• 18 instances of a record crowd between specifically the home club & away club
• 11 instances of a record crowd in all games between the competing clubs
• 8 instances of a club recording a crowd in their all time top 10, including 2 number 1s

The record crowds for competing clubs:




The clubs achieving a top 10 all time crowd:




It's only the third time ever that there's been 2 crowds of over 90k in the same season (2018 & 2024 the others) and the first time 1 club has gotten 2 of them.

Collingwood's mid season tally of 729,282 is the highest ever recorded after 11 games, beating their 2008 tally by about 45k. Will need to remain in contention to have any shot at beating their own season record. This might be a test as to whether fans consider fighting for a 10th place wildcard spot as being 'in contention' and sufficiently exciting to turn out in large numbers.

 

[Cmarsh]

We're roughly halfway through the year and about to head into the bye rounds so taking stock of attendances so far:

Overall, the league is down slightly on the same time last year - 3,832,758 this year against 3,899,909 in 2025. It is however above every other year at the same time.

The average crowd is down from 39,393 at the same time last year to 38,715. Compared to the average at the end of last year it is up by 1,700 per game and would be the largest average ever if maintained to the end of the season.

We've had:

• 27 instances of a record crowd between the competing clubs at that venue
• 18 instances of a record crowd between specifically the home club & away club
• 11 instances of a record crowd in all games between the competing clubs
• 8 instances of a club recording a crowd in their all time top 10, including 2 number 1s

The record crowds for competing clubs:

View attachment 2620483


The clubs achieving a top 10 all time crowd:

View attachment 2620484


It's only the third time ever that there's been 2 crowds of over 90k in the same season (2018 & 2024 the others) and the first time 1 club has gotten 2 of them.

Collingwood's mid season tally of 729,282 is the highest ever recorded after 11 games, beating their 2008 tally by about 45k. Will need to remain in contention to have any shot at beating their own season record. This might be a test as to whether fans consider fighting for a 10th place wildcard spot as being 'in contention' and sufficiently exciting to turn out in large numbers.

Considering 4 of the 5 clubs with the largest supporter bases are at the bottom of the ladder, an average of what it is is pretty darn good.

 

[Rouel_14]

We're roughly halfway through the year and about to head into the bye rounds so taking stock of attendances so far:

Overall, the league is down slightly on the same time last year - 3,832,758 this year against 3,899,909 in 2025. It is however above every other year at the same time.

The average crowd is down from 39,393 at the same time last year to 38,715. Compared to the average at the end of last year it is up by 1,700 per game and would be the largest average ever if maintained to the end of the season.

We've had:

• 27 instances of a record crowd between the competing clubs at that venue
• 18 instances of a record crowd between specifically the home club & away club
• 11 instances of a record crowd in all games between the competing clubs
• 8 instances of a club recording a crowd in their all time top 10, including 2 number 1s

The record crowds for competing clubs:

View attachment 2620483


The clubs achieving a top 10 all time crowd:

View attachment 2620484


It's only the third time ever that there's been 2 crowds of over 90k in the same season (2018 & 2024 the others) and the first time 1 club has gotten 2 of them.

Collingwood's mid season tally of 729,282 is the highest ever recorded after 11 games, beating their 2008 tally by about 45k. Will need to remain in contention to have any shot at beating their own season record. This might be a test as to whether fans consider fighting for a 10th place wildcard spot as being 'in contention' and sufficiently exciting to turn out in large numbers.

Should KBD hit 90K now? Collingwood home game probably makes it harder with reserved seat no shows than if it was a Dees home game with less.

If be great to see AFL open additional standing room utilised in Finals and celebrate a true icon of our game in the best way possible.

 

[ep12]

Should KBD hit 90K now? Collingwood home game probably makes it harder with reserved seat no shows than if it was a Dees home game with less.

If be great to see AFL open additional standing room utilised in Finals and celebrate a true icon of our game in the best way possible.

This one isn’t fully ticketed when it probably should be. All of Q1-Q5 and the back few rows of Q31-Q36 havebeen held back which is what they did in 2023 and those areas were half full. They stoped selling GA tickets on Ticketek yesterday but I’m also not sure whether they plan on allowing GA members to scan in on the day.

The AFL is going to be down to standing room by the end of this week and the MCC probably will probably have no walk up on level 4 but that will only sell out in the days before the game.

They have also sold a lot more seats in the front 20 rows of level 4 of the Ponsford than they normally do so I wonder if Collingwood has finally done something about all the empty seats that are usually there.

IMO it will hopefully get above 85k which it has always struggled to do but 90k may be a stretch.

 

[Hawkk]

Considering 4 of the 5 clubs with the largest supporter bases are at the bottom of the ladder, an average of what it is is pretty darn good.

West Coast is the outlier but Carlton, Essendon and Richmond’s fixtures are all stacked in the first half the year to maximise attendance (and interest) at the MCG.

Take out the odd poor attendance (ie Essendon v Fremantle and Richmond v Adelaide on Mother’s Day) and they’ve all had 70,000 plus event games in round 1, ANZAC / Carl v Coll and Dreamtime at the G etc to keep success starved supporters engaged during the first half of the season. That could drop off big time after Kings Birthday Eve during the winter months.

More and more the AFL are using these ‘event’ games to buffer attendance and interest against form. With the introduction of the wildcard round you might see a Carlton go on a run and keep their fans interested late in the season if they can string a few more wins in a row too.

 

[Hawkk]

This one isn’t fully ticketed when it probably should be. All of Q1-Q5 and the back few rows of Q31-Q36 havebeen held back which is what they did in 2023 and those areas were half full. They stoped selling GA tickets on Ticketek yesterday but I’m also not sure whether they plan on allowing GA members to scan in on the day.

The AFL is going to be down to standing room by the end of this week and the MCC probably will probably have no walk up on level 4 but that will only sell out in the days before the game.

They have also sold a lot more seats in the front 20 rows of level 4 of the Ponsford than they normally do so I wonder if Collingwood has finally done something about all the empty seats that are usually there.

IMO it will hopefully get above 85k which it has always struggled to do but 90k may be a stretch.

I know it’s rare for Kings Birthday to draw mid 80,000’s but with decent weather this is shaping up to be the year. It seems that these blockbuster games now by and large draw 10,000 more than they did in past years.

 

[ep12]

I know it’s rare for Kings Birthday to draw mid 80,000’s but with decent weather this is shaping up to be the year. It seems that these blockbuster games now by and large draw 10,000 more than they did in past years.

2 of the last three were mid eighties and last year was a sellout that got less than 80. They have really struggled getting ticketing right for this game mainly for to it being category 1 in the members and the Collingwood reserved bays have been empty in the ponsford.

We have already had the 10k spike by your logic where from 2005-2017 it would draw 60-75 and from 2018 onwards it draws 74-84. The reason it gets to 90 is because people want to respect Neale not because of the football.

 

[Hawkk]

2 of the last three were mid eighties and last year was a sellout that got less than 80. They have really struggled getting ticketing right for this game mainly for to it being category 1 in the members and the Collingwood reserved bays have been empty in the ponsford.

We have already had the 10k spike by your logic where from 2005-2017 it would draw 60-75 and from 2018 onwards it draws 74-84. The reason it gets to 90 is because people want to respect Neale not because of the football.

I suspect Melbourne v Essendon will get a large bump the week after too given the massive impact and love for Neale at both clubs.

 

[ep12]

I suspect Melbourne v Essendon will get a large bump the week after too given the massive impact and love for Neale at both clubs.

Depends if the clubs do something for it. We have a five day break so it may be a little close to KB but shall see

 

[Fambam84]

Should KBD hit 90K now? Collingwood home game probably makes it harder with reserved seat no shows than if it was a Dees home game with less.

If be great to see AFL open additional standing room utilised in Finals and celebrate a true icon of our game in the best way possible.

I'd be shocked if they don't get above 90k if the weather is good.

 

[parano1a]

you don’t have the games record being broken at the MCG against a non Victorian team often.

It could happen again in Round 15 when Collingwood plays Port Adelaide.