Fixture 2028 fixture, 19 teams

[Dan26]

There is a way to keep it at 23 matches each with one team playing 22 that kinda works.

• Bottom team from previous season doesn’t compete in Gather Round.
• Bottom team after second-last Round has BYE and only plays 22 games

After everyone has played 22 matches, nine teams will have played 10 home games, and ten teams (including the team who didn’t compete in Gather Round) will have played 11 home games.

• For FINAL-ROUND fixture, all teams who have played 10 home games (group A) host the teams who have played 11 home games (group B). If a team from Group A is last on the ladder at the end of the second-last round, the team who didn’t compete in Gather Round is in Group A. If a team from Group B is last on the ladder at the end of the second-last round, the team who didn’t compete in Gather Round is in Group B.
• Round 23 fixture is as follows:

Highest group A team vs highest group B team that they havn't already played twice.

2nd highest Group A team vs next highest group B team that they havnt already played twice

3rd highest Group A team vs next highest group B team that they havnt already played twice

Etc etc

Would make for an exciting last round as the better teams would all be playing each other.

 

[glengowan]

I don't think it's just matches offered for "content".

Members have a reasonable expectation for 11 home games they buy access too. In fact, the a large part of the cultural fabric of the clubs (not to mention its revenue) is on the basis of this fact, that you sell memberships this way. It also generates revenue.

How exactly can you sell the idea to the membership base that they might cease playing games you can watch after 8 or 9 home games?

What if Tasmania win the wooden spoon in their first season and the whole basis of spending $1 billion on the Hobart stadium in the first place was that the AFL would guarantee a minimum number of Tasmania home games to be played there?

Whatever system you come up with for content and relevancy, it can't really be anything other than guaranteeing clubs 11 home games (that they might sell, but it's their option to do so).

Yes, there'd have to be a shift in the model, but originally it was 11 home and 11 away games because of the 12 team competition. It was a fair fixture and has been compromised more and more as time goes on.

9 home games would be the minimum and worse case scenario for the bottom 5 teams. I'd suggest a season where you're bottom 5, you've probably had enough as a supporter after 9 games anyway.

For those teams more successful, they could end up having more than 11 home games. With more on the line, that final 10 weeks may be more financially beneficial than the existing final 10 weeks of the season, and revenue could be distributed as necessary.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Yes, there'd have to be a shift in the model, but originally it was 11 home and 11 away games because of the 12 team competition. It was a fair fixture and has been compromised more and more as time goes on.

9 home games would be the minimum and worse case scenario for the bottom 5 teams. I'd suggest a season where you're bottom 5, you've probably had enough as a supporter after 9 games anyway.

For those teams more successful, they could end up having more than 11 home games. With more on the line, that final 10 weeks may be more financially beneficial than the existing final 10 weeks of the season, and revenue could be distributed as necessary.

I disagree that a system that necessitates some teams only playing 9 home games is a good one at all. If such a system existed, I believe there would have been no taxpayer funding for the Hobart stadium, or for the York Park redevelopment, for example.

 

[Dan26]

It's weird how we always think that more content is better and worth more to broadcasters, and the AFL falls into this trap with the prospect of now expanding to a ridiculous 24 games in 2028.

In the U.S, the three major sporting leagues are the NFL, MLB and NBA.

MLB broadcast deal (each team plays 162 games) is worth $2 Billion per year ($800,000 per match)
NBA broadcast deal (each team plays 82 games) is worth $7 billion per year ($5.6 Million per match)
NFL broadcast deal (each team plays 17 games) is worth $10 Billion per year ($36.7 Million per match)

Obviously, if the AFL reverted to an 18-game per team fixture (which they won't) each game would be more valuable, because each game would be more important. The product would be less diluted, there would be less dead-rubbers. You could even then run a knockout Cup comeptition along-side it on spare weekends to space the season out to roughly the same length and have a much-needed (in my opinion) secondary trophy.

I've always been curious to know if the season was shortened, by how much increased value would each game then be worth? And is there an inverse relationship between season length and broadcast rights? I know Channel 7 were not happy with what they got last year, as the long, diluted season petered out with dead-rubber after dead-rubber. Would they have preferred less games, but more valuable games? Or more games, but less valuable games?

I'm firmly in the "less is more" camp, NFL style.

 

[demonandy]

Here's my crack at the fixture - 24 rounds with Gather round played after Anzac Day weekend, and Grand Final day on Sept30. There are three equally spaced multiple bye rounds (6 games on the weekend after Gather Rd and 7 games in Rounds 14 and 20). No team plays any more than 12 consecutive games before their bye.

Anzac Day Tuesday will fall before Gather road. So I fixtured a "Gather round preview" Tuesday night marquee game (Adelaide v Dogs), which will be followed by a day off before "real" Gather Round begins. But that's OK because more tourism dollars and fans can spend more time in the state. The Dogs would then have a bye and miss "normal" gather round. Adelaide would then play the round finale on Sunday night against Collingwood (both on a 5 day break).

In this fixture 14 teams will play 1 neutral game, and either 11 or 10 "home games" and vice versa away. So that means 7 teams are disadvantaged in this way. I suggest if they're Melbourne teams, the AFL helps set up up a revenue share game (this could also work for local derbys). In the situations this can't work out, that team will be rewarded with either a late season bye or an "easier" fixture. Note I just put in teams to see how it could potentially work.

1 (18March) - Bye Carlton

2 Bye GWS

3 Bye Port Adelaide

4 Bye Geelong

5 (Easter) Gold Coast

6 (Anzac Tues, Anzac Eve gather round preview - Adelaide v Bulldogs). Bye Hawthorn

7 (Gather) Adelaide v Collingwood Sunday night marquee. Bye - Bulldogs

8 Multiple byes - Collingwood, Essendon, Adelaide, Tasmania, Sydney, Brisbane, West Coast

9 Bye - Melbourne

10 Bye -Richmond

11 (Sir Doug Nicholls), Bye North Melbourne

12 Bye - Fremantle

13 (Kings Bday) Bye St Kilda

14 Multiple Byes - Carlton, GWS, Port, Geelong, Gold Coast

15 Bye Hawthorn

16 Bye Bulldogs

17 Bye Adelaide

18 Bye Collingwood

19 Bye Tasmania

20 Multiple byes - Essendon, Richmond, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney

21 West Coast

22 North

23 Fremantle

24 St Kilda

Wildcard round

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The way I think it should work

Each club will play 24 games (228 games total)

• 11 home (that's not being reduced, the clubs need them to make money)
• 11 away (fairness)
• 1 Gather Round (they're not getting rid of it)
• 1 Grassroots Round (the other "neutral" round)

26 weeks

• 20 x 9 games (18 clubs playing, 1 club with a bye) = 180 games, 20 byes
• 6 x 8 games (16 clubs playing, 3 clubs with a bye) = 48 games, 18 byes
• Total = 228 games, 38 byes (2 each)

Gather Round

• One game from the prior week, an Adelaide or Port home game, will played on the preceding Tuesday night as the Gather Round opener.
• Whoever that home club is (Adelaide or Port) will play again on Sunday night to close Gather Round. So all 19 clubs can take part.
• Five day break for the that SA club. They just have to suck it up as a trade-off for effectively getting an extra home game
• The Gather Round opener (and playing twice that week) can rotate between Adelaide and Port each year
• On the Wednesday night perhaps all SANFL clubs could play a nationally-televised round while the AFL has a day off
• Thursday - Sunday = 9 AFL games

Grassroots Round (the other "neutral" round)

• 18 clubs to take part - 9 games
• 1 club has the bye and doesn't take part (rotate each year)
• 9 games at grassroots clubs around Australia
• Think 9x the Barossa game, or how they've done regional pre-season games
• Any club in Australia (below state league level) can put in a bid for a Grassroots Round game
• The host clubs have a number of things they have to tick off
  • Surface quality
  • Changeroom / facility quality
  • Lighting quality for night games
  • The ability to hold a crowd of at least 8,000 with existing and temporary facilities
  • Able to temporarily host media and broadcast requirements
• The host grassroots club plays the curtain raiser, then the AFL game is on
• At each Grassroots Round, the nine host clubs for the next year are announced - giving 12 months lead time to prepare

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Here's my crack at the fixture - 24 rounds with Gather round played after Anzac Day weekend, and Grand Final day on Sept30. There are three equally spaced multiple bye rounds (6 games on the weekend after Gather Rd and 7 games in Rounds 14 and 20). No team plays any more than 12 consecutive games before their bye.

Anzac Day Tuesday will fall before Gather road. So I fixtured a "Gather round preview" Tuesday night marquee game (Adelaide v Dogs), which will be followed by a day off before "real" Gather Round begins. But that's OK because more tourism dollars and fans can spend more time in the state. The Dogs would then have a bye and miss "normal" gather round. Adelaide would then play the round finale on Sunday night against Collingwood (both on a 5 day break).

In this fixture 14 teams will play 1 neutral game, and either 11 or 10 "home games" and vice versa away. So that means 7 teams are disadvantaged in this way. I suggest if they're Melbourne teams, the AFL helps set up up a revenue share game (this could also work for local derbys). In the situations this can't work out, that team will be rewarded with either a late season bye or an "easier" fixture. Note I just put in teams to see how it could potentially work.

1 (18March) - Bye Carlton

2 Bye GWS

3 Bye Port Adelaide

4 Bye Geelong

5 (Easter) Gold Coast

6 (Anzac Tues, Anzac Eve gather round preview - Adelaide v Bulldogs). Bye Hawthorn

7 (Gather) Adelaide v Collingwood Sunday night marquee. Bye - Bulldogs

8 Multiple byes - Collingwood, Essendon, Adelaide, Tasmania, Sydney, Brisbane, West Coast

9 Bye - Melbourne

10 Bye -Richmond

11 (Sir Doug Nicholls), Bye North Melbourne

12 Bye - Fremantle

13 (Kings Bday) Bye St Kilda

14 Multiple Byes - Carlton, GWS, Port, Geelong, Gold Coast

15 Bye Hawthorn

16 Bye Bulldogs

17 Bye Adelaide

18 Bye Collingwood

19 Bye Tasmania

20 Multiple byes - Essendon, Richmond, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney

21 West Coast

22 North

23 Fremantle

24 St Kilda

Wildcard round

THIS!

In 2011, there wasn't an order of which the byes were put in.

Just a mishmash of parts.

This order wouldn't let me keep scratching my head as to where byes were allocated.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

It's funny when Andrew Dillon said yesterday that as from next year, ALL teams will play in the first round of the season. How can this happen from 2028 when there are 19 teams? I think Dillon's making it up as he goes along

 

[glengowan]

I disagree that a system that necessitates some teams only playing 9 home games is a good one at all. If such a system existed, I believe there would have been no taxpayer funding for the Hobart stadium, or for the York Park redevelopment, for example.

Fair enough. I'll rejig the original idea, which is basically replacing the current system of 5 double up games, with a 5 Round Qualifying/Elimination system and/or a Challengers Cup which gives the opportunity for any of the bottom 13 teams to play the curtain raiser on Grand Final day and provides a minimum 11 home and 11 away games for each team (each team would play between 22-27 games per season inc Finals).

Minor Round - 19 Rounds, 18 games each, 1 bye, 9 home and 9 away, home team one year becomes away team the next. After everyone has played each other once, the ladder positions teams 1-19, team 19 is eliminated from premiership race and enters "Challengers Cup".

Qualifiers/Eliminators (QE) - 5 Rounds (Gather Round First Round)
1st vs 2nd (Match ranking 1), 3rd vs 4th (Match ranking 2) and so on down to 15th vs 18th (Match ranking 8) and 16th vs 17th (Match ranking 9).
Start with 9 games and each week the losers of the two lowest ranked games are eliminated. Winners from other games rise a match ranking and losers go down a match ranking for the next round.
Besides the highest ranked game, where the winner of game 1 hosts the winner of game 2, all losing sides are otherwise the home team.
Round 1 - 9 games, Round 2 - 8 games, Round 3 - 7 games, Round 4 - 6 games, Round 5 - 5 games.

After Round 5, rankings 1-8 are determined and go into a regular Final 8 series as we have now, to determine the Premiership winner.

"Challengers Cup"
Pathway A - Consists of team ranked 19 after minor round and 4 teams eliminated from Rounds 1 & 2 of QE. They play 4 games (2 home, 2 away) over 5 weeks, beginning when Round 3 of QE is taking place.
Pathway B - Consists of 4 teams that are eliminated in Rounds 3 & 4 of QE, playing against other 3 teams, beginning when Round 5 of QE is taking place.
Pathway C - 2 losers in Round 5 of QE play the 2 losers of Elimination Finals in knockout in Week 2 of Finals.

Preliminary Final weekend, 2 winners from Pathway C play 2 top teams from Pathway A & B.

Grand Final weekend - winners play off in curtain raiser on Grand Final day to win "Challengers Cup".