AFL Magic Round: All the details as Gillon McLachlan and Peter Malinauskas officially announce SA’s festival of footy

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan joked on Friday that SA Premier Peter Malinauskas wants a 10-year ‘Magic Round’ deal. But if the concept works, will the show hit the road?

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and SA Premier Peter Malinauskas at Adelaide Oval on Friday NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The AFL hopes to take its extra round on the road after next year, believing the inaugural version in South Australia can help create an asset for the game.

League chief executive Gillon McLachlan said other states would get a chance to host the football festival, which was scheduled to kick off on Thursday night, April 13 at Adelaide Oval and finish with a double-header at the same venue three days later.

“We’ve got to prove the concept here, I feel we’re in the right hands to do that,” McLachlan said.

“Despite the Premier’s (Peter Malinauskas) urging to have a 10-year arrangement here … we also want to go on the road with this.

“I think South Australia by being so determined to win this bid, led by the Premier, is in the position over the next couple of years to be coming back here.

“But I’m also strong that there’s huge benefits for our game and football supporters in New South Wales and Western Australia, and Queensland.”

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and SA Premier Peter Malinauskas at Adelaide Oval on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The extra matches are scheduled for round 5 and will reduce the number of pre-season clashes from two to one.

AFL clubs will receive $500,000 each and can spend $200,000 in their soft caps,

Each team’s players will get $200,000 between them.

Club and AFL members will get free entry to matches featuring the team they support during the extra round, which will be held during the school holidays.

McLachlan said the idea to extend the season stemmed from clubs treating the last pre-season games like home-and-away matches.

“Instead of bearing all the costs, can we create an asset that has a huge benefit for our supporters, for our game, for a state and a city?,” he said.

“We’ve taken what was happening to empty venues in a practice game and transformed into what I’m optimistic will be a huge initiative for people in South Australia and our game.”

Collingwood or another big Victorian club is tipped to open the round at Adelaide Oval.

The two SA sides will not face off in a Showdown but may instead receive the prime time Friday and Saturday night slots.

McLachlan says other states would get a chance to host the football festival in the future. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Mariuz

McLachlan stressed the concept needed a name and would not be called “Magic Round” – the moniker of the NRL equivalent.

“I’ve got the best team in the world, certainly in any form of sport, and they get most things right … however, all of their suggestions are terrible,” he said.

“So it’s an open invitation to all South Australians but frankly all football supporters nationally … because this thing I feel is going to be huge and needs to have its own life, its own identity and character, and actually has got to reflect the game.”

Malinauskas said he “didn’t want anyone else’s sloppy seconds, particularly Sydney’s”.

“I hope that South Australia puts on such a good show … that it makes it almost impossible for the AFL not to want to continue the 24th round in the future and that South Australia is always going to be considered a leading contender,” Malinauskas said.

AFL Players Association chief executive Paul Marsh said his organisation proposed something similar to the extra round in 2020 to help reinvigorate growth in the industry.

Marsh said the players were supportive of the concept.

“The players will receive their agreed normal share of revenue from the extra round, which is aligned with the partnership model ingrained in the CBA,” Marsh said.


Tickets will go on sale after the fixture is released, likely to be in early December.