By Jon Pierik
The AFL says Thursday night football is here to stay, as the league’s free-to-air broadcaster declared it wanted the most compelling games all season long in the timeslot, which has been dogged by one-sided contests this year.
League chief executive Andrew Dillon on Tuesday defended the key slot but promised he would push for a wider spread of teams playing on Thursday nights next season.
Prime time: AFL chief Andrew Dillon says the Thursday night slot is here to stay.Credit: AFL Photos
Thursday night football was embraced for a full season for the first time this year. Declaring that move a success, Dillon said the timeslot had delivered an average TV audience of 1.06 million viewers – up 1 per cent on last year – and average attendance of 40,000 – 4 per cent lower than last year’s 42,000.
“Thursday nights have averaged above the season average, so that’s a tick. Thursday nights have rated extremely well, but what I think is important is that we have a spread of teams that play through those different slots, so absolutely we will take that on board,” Dillon said from the sidelines of the inaugural AFL industry summit at Marvel Stadium.
“We have evolved the fixture over the last couple of years with the floating fixture, which is not always as popular with all of our fans. But we think that is one important part.
“Maybe this year is a bit of an outlier in terms of the teams that were selected earlier on, some big Victorian teams, who were in pretty solid form at the time the floating fixture was put in. That hasn’t come to fruition.
“Again, the games are still rating pretty well, are still pretty well attended, but we will take on the feedback from fans, broadcasters and our clubs as we look to the 2026 fixture.”
The past two months in the heart of winter and the school year have been a hard sell for the timeslot, broadcasters Seven and Foxtel not helped by the disappointing campaigns of power clubs Carlton (six Thursday night games so far this season) and Essendon (five). The two clubs are also likely to meet on a Thursday night in round 24.
In round 14, the Western Bulldogs smashed St Kilda by 72 points before only 20,508 fans at Marvel Stadium. A week later, Fremantle crushed Essendon by 41 points before 37,570 supporters at Perth Stadium. In round 16, Port Adelaide hammered the Blues by 50 points before 30,381 fans at the Adelaide Oval.
In round 17, the Bulldogs thumped North Melbourne by 49 points before 25,009 supporters at Marvel Stadium, while the Lions smashed the Blues by 37 points before 32,898 fans at the same venue a week later.
Bad year: The disappointing form of the Blues and Bombers has hurt the big sell for Thursday night football.Credit: AFL Photos
GWS thumped the injury-depleted Bombers by 48 points at Marvel Stadium before only 20,347 fans in round 19, while last week Hawthorn, after a dominant first term, had a lopsided 24-point win over the Blues in front of 51,271 fans at the MCG.
Gary O’Keeffe, Seven’s head of AFL, said the network would work closely with the league heading into 2026.
“Thursday-night footy has fast become a staple of the AFL calendar, and we’re proud to play a key role in its success and look forward to it remaining a fixture for years to come,” O’Keeffe said on Tuesday.
“At Seven, our passion for the game – and making it as accessible as possible – is at the forefront of everything we do. Without question, we want to deliver the best matches, between the best teams, in the best timeslots for viewers.
“We will continue to work closely with the AFL to advocate for the most compelling fixtures for Australian viewers, to ensure the most in-form teams can be seen live and free all season long.”
Essendon chief Craig Vozzo said at the weekend his club would request fewer Thursday night games next season.
Foxtel did not wish to comment.
While this Thursday night’s clash between the Bulldogs and Giants at Marvel Stadium has significant finals implications, the small fan bases of those clubs means it could be another tough sell.
America’s NFL has what is called a “flexible scheduling decision”, allowing for games in the key US prime-time slots of Thursday, Sunday and Monday to be switched with as little as six days notice, depending on the time of the season, ensuring in-form teams are shown in prime-time.
However, Dillon said the AFL was constrained by several factors when it came to late scheduling changes.
“It’s always a balance. We like to give our fans certainty to organise themselves. We have a big number of fans who travel, particularly for interstate games. Just getting that balance right is really important for us,” he said.
“We want to put our fans and viewers at the forefront when we are making those calls, but we have to do that within the constraints of a collective agreement [with players], and arrangements we have with the broadcasters. And also the venues – it’s also important for them to have certainty.”
The introduction of Thursday night football on free-to-air and pay television across rounds has come at the expense of live free-to-air games through the first 25 weeks of the season on Saturdays in Victoria, and through the opening 11 weeks on Saturdays in the northern markets.
Speaking on stage earlier in the morning at the industry summit, Dillon admitted he was initially nervous about that change, which gave Foxtel an exclusive “Super Saturday” slate of games as part of the new $4.5 billion media rights deal. But he said the additional Thursday night games now meant the league had “two big nights of the week”.
Fans voiced their consternation when the changes hit, but Dillon said Thursday night football was here to stay.
“Whenever there is change, there is always feedback, the Super Saturday concept, particularly for the first eight to 10 weeks outside of Victoria, was new,” Dillon said.
“But once you explained we have the same number of games on free to air, we have got enhanced coverage on Fox, after eight or 10 weeks, the Swans games are back on free to air in NSW, the Giants games are on free to air in NSW if they are on a Saturday, I think communication is the key.
“I don’t think anyone will be wanting to give back Thursday night footy. I think that’s been the big winner out of this year.”
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