News The AFL will introduce a 24 round home and away season in 2028

[LordLucifer]

For the record, 21 rounds of 11-games is 231 in total and then there is finals which is a signiifcant increase on the current 24 rounds with a heap of byes.

I'd be scrapping all byes too, if clubs think that was too much of a workload on the players then they have the right to "manage" them accordingly.

The only downside of this proposal is that a player who got a head-knock in the prelim final could be ruled out of the GF but you can't have everything.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Reduce the number of games per team and instantly watch the ticket prices for each match increase. Clubs also won't drop membership prices by one cent despite providing less content. The fans of the game will be the ones to bear the brunt of the financial implications.

 

[maskmcgee]

It would not suprise me if the AFL went through the whole process of allowing Tasmania to join but they never realised there was a problem like this until that article came out.

 

[Dan26]

Crazy how there's 30 NBA teams and each play 82 games each.

Thats 82 games in 6 months or 25 or 26 weeks.

And in a sport where the best teams usually win, making it even more unnecessary. (Teams often win 64-65 games out of 82). You could justify the large number of games in Baseball because of the flukiness of the results, but 82 each in basketball is pure madness. No wonder the NBA's ratings are in the toilet.

 

[Scotland]

Reduce the number of games per team and instantly watch the ticket prices for each match increase. Clubs also won't drop membership prices by one cent despite providing less content. The fans of the game will be the ones to bear the brunt of the financial implications.

The AFL doesn't really care about ticket prices. It's a revenue stream for the league and clubs (GA vs reserved seat etc.) but the main prize is the TV deal. GWS have been in the comp for 15 years and their last home ground was 9000. That's not unusual for a new entity in a relatively niche sport in Sydney. But the TV rights are now worth $643m and the last time we had 16 teams it was worth $156m a year. That increase in value is a combination of 9 games per round, a game in each week in the 5 major markets and having 216 games total compared to 185. When we won our first flag in 1992 it was 165 games + 7 finals. Prior to us joining it was 132 + 6. There are 78 more games played per year than there were in the 80s, and that allows the broadcasters to push for Thurs, Fri and Sat night games, plus weekend games, plus Sunday twilight/evening games etc. It's so much more valuable compared to 6 games on Saturday at 2pm.

Tassie joining in 2028 doesn't offer much on its own. It's a small market with a population that already watches the AFL on TV and attends the few games that are there. The AFL will already have its sights on team 20. WA3, SE Qld, Central/Northern Aust - no one really knows, but they will 100% be targeting 10 games a week and $1b per year within a decade.

 

[Scotland]

And in a sport where the best teams usually win, making it even more unnecessary. (Teams often win 64-65 games out of 82). You could justify the large number of games in Baseball because of the flukiness of the results, but 82 each in basketball is pure madness. No wonder the NBA's ratings are in the toilet.

Modern day players (who are pampered multimillionaire sooks) want the season to be shorter. As a casual fan I'm not rusted to 82 games for any reason other than that's what it was when I first watched the NBA. There have been shortened COVID and lockout seasons and the world didn't end.

Make no mistake though Steph Curry is the highest paid player in the league this year earning $59.6m. That's $48k per total games played in the season. If you want the season to be say 60 games great, but I don't see anyone putting their hand up for a 25% pay cut. It's not realistic to expect that with a shorter season that the revenues will be the same. Every team in the league averages between and 15k and just over 20k per home game over 41 games. No one who owns a team that sells out an area 40 times a year is going to advocate for fewer games.

 

[RCAB]

Isn't the quality going to go down if more players are injured, particularly star players, if we keep adding rounds?

Couldn't that have a negative effect on revenue?

 

[Billy ray]

19 teams
18 games, 9 home and 9 away
top 8 finals

round 1 finals (best of 5 series, top team 3 home games 1, 2,5, lower team games 3 and 4)
1 v 8
2 v 7
3 v 6
4 v 5

round 2 finals, again best of 5

grand final either 1 game or go best of 3

you lose home and away games (flaming heck!), but get more finals

 

[Walshawk]

No, it certainly doesn't work in the scenario I was replying to.

There are going to be 19 games in addition to the standard 209 (19 teams x 22 games). If 9 of them are played during GR, that leaves 10 remaining. The remaining 10 can't simply be fixtured as one home game per non-Vic, given there will only be 9 non-Vic teams.

You are complicating things. There are just 19 extra home games. It doesn’t matter when they are played or who the opponents are.

And you don’t play nine during GR. The Crows and Port games can be their extra home game. So, 7 Vic club play their extra home games at GR. Then 3 clubs play an extra game another time - could be in Cairns, NZ, India, wherever.

 

[deck]

you lose home and away games (flaming heck!), but get more finals

Best of is the best way to have fans lose interest in finals. What makes finals so exciting is it is sudden death for the most part.

 

[Handsuper47]

Can anybody else foresee player burnout being added to the already Immense pressure being placed on players?

not only do I see player burnout, I see players continuing to get worse at basic skills meanwhile the more talented ones leave for other sports/leagues that'll be less stressful to deal with

 

[Teen Wolf]

You are complicating things. There are just 19 extra home games. It doesn’t matter when they are played or who the opponents are.

And you don’t play nine during GR. The Crows and Port games can be their extra home game. So, 7 Vic club play their extra home games at GR. Then 3 clubs play an extra game another time - could be in Cairns, NZ, India, wherever.

It does matter who the opponents are. The suggestion I was replying to implied all the extra games, beyond GR, could be home games for non-Vic teams. They can't all be. And your suggestion tacitly acknowledges it.

 

[Walshawk]

It does matter who the opponents are. The suggestion I was replying to implied all the extra games, beyond GR, could be home games for non-Vic teams. They can't all be. And your suggestion tacitly acknowledges it.

Fair enough. Obviously there are nine non Vic clubs and 10 games if 9 @ GR. So one Vic club would also need to play an extra home game somewhere.

 

[BigVic]

2014 saw Round 1 played over two weeks

The first week of 2028 could see a showdown and Western Derby back-to-back on the second Sunday in March with Labor Day that year in WA now moved to the second Monday in March

Victorian school holidays for term 3 can be pushed back by 7 days to accommodate the mid-October Grand Final

 

[Freomaniac]

I'd prefer :

22 teams

21 round season (i.e. play each other once)

April - September

5-week final series

Final 12

Bottom 10 (i.e. non finalists) all get an "equalisation" pick prior to the first round of the draft

That would look..... Interesting.

I don't mind 22 teams.

But 21 games? Nah. 24 or 26 games would be fine.

Early March to September would be good.

Top 10...

5 week finals series

 

[BigVic]

Go for the 1993 season format which had 20 games with 15 teams.

1993 is forever known as the greatest season of all before the AFL tinkered with the fixture and finals format the following season in 1994 introducing the flawed McIntyre 8 format

22 games with 19 teams will work

 

[LordLucifer]

That would look..... Interesting.

I don't mind 22 teams.

But 21 games? Nah. 24 or 26 games would be fine.

Early March to September would be good.

Top 10...

5 week finals series

21 games means you play everyone once, can't get any fairer than that.

 

[Hoops]

Just **** off gather round and play 22 games.

 

[Dan26]

Just **** off gather round and play 22 games.

Gather Round is the biggest load of shit, and one of the most overrated things the AFL has implemented. Everyone says they like it, but in 4 years I've never heard a serious argument as to why it exists. You and I seem to be the only voices of common sense. Please tell me there are some others on Bigfooty that hate Gather Round too.

And on top of the fact that it's a bad idea anyway, it totally stuffs up the fixture in a 19 team comp.

 

[Scotland]

Isn't the quality going to go down if more players are injured, particularly star players, if we keep adding rounds?

Couldn't that have a negative effect on revenue?

Will have an effect on quality but the deals are signed based on number of games not number of good games.

There's a drop off in talent between the good and bad teams and also between the upper echelon of player and the rest. You look at the Bulldogs team last night and respectfully at least half that team would be fringe players at every club. That's what Darcy, English, Libba, Weightman, Lobb etc. all being out does. They're good enough to be in the mix for a "wildcard" spot without half a dozen of their stars but not much more than that. The depth of talent isn't there on their list or anyone else's. The teams that are flying don't have 20 or 30 stars just like the Dogs didn't 3 weeks ago.

I reckon before too long the AFL will move to a full reserves comp which will relegate the WAFL and SANFL to development leagues and the half a dozen teams left in the VFL will have to come up with the 200th different version of that league. Not sure it will improve the overall standard but each team having 60 or 70 players would allow more flexibility to have depth as well as youth on the list. Both of our established rucks are pretty ordinary but they are at least adults. It's a pretty unusual setup in the AFL that you have 5-10 players under 20 on your main list and your reserves team is made up of up to 50% or more players that aren't eligible for selection.

 

[Freomaniac]

Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the betting agencies rather than the racing authorities sticking their beaks in and influencing the fixture. Might be both.

Yep sad but true

 

[Run n Spread]

OP has the maths part way. Also
Its the games. In a 19 team comp they can't play an odd number of games. Its game number as well as rounds. (Given the bye issue only odd no of teams can have a bye so you need an even no of rounds)
Currently it's each team = 11home 11 away 1 gr.=23.
So the AFL has to add in or take a game away.
Say they move to 24 games.
They need to fit at least 1 bye in for each team. So season will need to be 25-26 rounds.
GR further complicates it. Instead of just saying 12 home and 12 away games you have to factor in neutrals.
So now it becomes say 11 home 11 away 2 neutral games.
But you need at least 3 gather rounds with each team playing 2. Given odd number of teams have the bye to fit an even number of games you can't fit all the byes into the gather rounds. As each round at least one team has the bye.
19 being a prime number complicates it more

 

[Run n Spread]

To my post above way I see it is 24 games 11 home 11 away 2 gr. Two teams who have a bye in gr say Melbourne v Collingwood would play their match at a neutral venue in a standard round.
Given again 1 side a bye a round doesn't work in 24 rounds (some rounds 3 or 5 teams will need a bye) the season will end up needing to be 26 or 28 rounds.

 

[BigVic]

If the AFL Grand Final was at night, or twilight where it should be, it wouldn't conflict with racing either. (the Caulfield Guineas)

Plus The Everest is scheduled to run on October 14 in 2028