AFLW 2023: Nicole Livingstone happy with Victorian finals clash

AFLW boss Nicole Livingstone has defended the lack of a Friday night game to mark the first week of the finals series.

Melbourne and North Melbourne will face off in a qualifying final on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Michael Willson / Getty Images

AFLW boss Nicole Livingstone says an unconventional Saturday afternoon start to the AFLW finals series will help maximise attendance and television viewership despite leaving hardcore Victorian fans underwhelmed.

Minor premier Adelaide will open the finals series against Brisbane on Saturday rather than Friday night as the four Victorian finalists do battle in back-to-back clashes on Sunday afternoon.

Geelong will host Essendon at 1.05pm in their elimination final at GMHBA Stadium before the Melbourne and North Melbourne qualifying final begins at Ikon Park at 3.05pm.

Fans have expressed frustration online at being unable to attend both fixtures, but Livingstone said the schedule was based on club preferences and would suit families with young kids.

AFLW general manager Nicole Livingstone says the first week of finals being held entirely on Saturday and Sunday was the best combination for clubs and fans. Picture: Dylan Burns / Getty Images

“There’s plenty of people who can’t get to Victoria who would like to be able to watch the matches as well,” she said.

“We like actually having those double-headers, we think it’s a great opportunity for people to be able to tune in match after match.

“We take the feedback, but we think it’s the right window to be able to have both games back to back.”

It is understood a WBBL double-header on Friday night would have kept an AFLW final off broadcaster Channel 7’s main channel, which would have affected viewer numbers.

Livingstone said the fixture also gave clubs equal days’ rest before the semi-finals.

“There’s many things that we balance when we’re looking at the fixturing. Match-day attendance is obviously one of them, broadcast windows are also another as we build our audience,” she said.

Livingstone with retired AFLW champion Erin Phillips, who was announced on Wednesday as the presenter of the best on ground medal at the grand final. Picture: Dylan Burns / Getty Images

“It’s balanced for both teams, so that’s an important aspect for us as well.

“If we had have put it on a Friday night, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who would have said that it’s not good for kids, or there would have been other reasons that people wouldn’t have been happy with Friday.”

The league confirmed the 2023 season had broken the home-and-away attendance record, with 234,525 attending games across the 10 rounds.

It fell well short of the 315,000 required to trigger an additional 12th round being added to the 2024 home-and-away season (which will be 11 rounds long) under the new collective bargaining agreement, but the AFL said it was pleased with the figure.

“The quality of football this season is some of the best women’s footy we have ever seen, and we have an incredible finals series shaping up, all culminating with what we hope will be another record-breaking NAB AFLW grand final on Sunday, December 3,” Livingstone said.

Ticket prices for the first three weeks of finals will remain the same as the home-and-away season, with adult and concession tickets available for $10 and free entry for children under 18.

Originally published as AFLW 2023: Nicole Livingstone happy with Victorian finals clash