A Melbourne Demons fan enjoys his team's win over Hawthorn on Friday, Sept. 14.GETTY IMAGES
The Australian Football League "is poised to smash its all-time attendance record for a single season by more than quarter of a million people," according to Greg Denham of THE AUSTRALIAN. Following "outstanding attendances over the first six finals games," the league broke its all-time record -- set last season -- "well before the start of play" in Saturday's semifinal win by Collingwood over Greater Western Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Last year's overall attendance record of 7,286,419, which led to a record A$60M profit, "has already been bettered by 54,145." With preliminary final sellout crowds expected for next Friday at the MCG between Richmond and Collingwood, and the following day at Optus Stadium, where West Coast will host Melbourne, "a new attendance benchmark of close to 7.6 million will be established." The league's all-time attendance record "could be bettered by slightly more than 300,000." Next Friday's preliminary final -- the first finals clash between "bitter rivals" the Tigers and Collingwood since the '80 grand final -- "is expected to go close to cramming the ground's capacity of just more than 100,000." The "dream" matchup between the two "high-drawing clubs will also ensure a further boost to television ratings that had dipped early in the season before Collingwood's resurgence" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/17).
