The Australian Football League is "guaranteed another record attendance" this season following an "outstanding turnout" in the first four games of the finals played in three states, according to Greg Denham of THE AUSTRALIAN. Despite a "ticketing fiasco" 13 days ago that affected three of the first four games of the series, a total of 283,148 attended the first week of the finals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sydney Cricket Ground and Optus Stadium in Perth, "easily beating last year's figure" of 235,328. The figure for the first week of the finals series set a record. Following a record home-and-away season attendance of 6,894,770, a total of 7,177,918 people have "clicked through the turnstiles this year" -- 209,989 more than at the corresponding time last year. With five remaining finals, including four more to be played at the MCG, last year’s record overall annual figure of 7,286,419 "will be smashed" during this weekend’s two semifinals played in Melbourne. The MCG is having its "most popular" home-and-away season since '11. The biggest sporting venue in the country has attracted 2,597,707 AFL fans so far this season to 47 games, which equates to an average crowd of 55,270 (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/10).
