AFL to retain status quo on length of halftime break for 2020
The AFL had backing from players for a plan to cut the halftime break to as short as 10 minutes, but fans worried about having time to buy food and drink. Which side won out?
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The AFL has decided against shortening its halftime break to as few as 10 minutes to ensure its fans retain the best possible match-day experience.
The Herald Sun can reveal the league will retain the current 20-minute break for the 2020 season after strongly considering 10 or 15-minute breaks.
The AFL kept the status quo despite its concerns about losing second-half TV audiences, with as many as 20 per cent of viewers turning off at halftime.
But the league decided positives, including allowing Auskick players enough time to play a game on the arena and patrons time to buy a drink or food at halftime, outweighed the negatives.
A 15-minute break had also been canvassed by the league as a compromise solution,.
The AFL wanted to keep change to a minimum over the off-season and will make no on-field rule changes in the hope it beds down 2019’s raft of rule tweaks.
Auskick games would have to be moved to the pre-match with a 10-minute halftime break but could have been squeezed into halftime if it was 15 minutes.
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett was an ardent critic of a shorter break, saying “a football game should be an experience that caters for all who attend”.
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The league had strong support from clubs and players, who were happy to return for a third quarter without having to warm down then complete another warm-up.
But with record membership and attendances as well as strong ratings in 2019 there was not a compelling case for change.
How that factors into the annual decision on the potential twilight Grand Final pushed by AFL Commission boss Richard Goyder remains to be seen.
The league could have had a scenario where it had a 15-minute halftime break during home-and-away games and as long as 29 minutes for a twilight Grand Final to accommodate halftime entertainment.
The league will continue to assess the halftime break in coming years after first raising the issue at its competition committee late last year.
It will also continue to stress the importance of player access to broadcasters to allow them to provide compelling content during halftime breaks.
Kennett argued a 10-minute break would rob fans of the chance to go to the toilet or buy food.
“To purchase a drink or any of the other foods on sale which children see as part of the experience is already a tight fit given the demand. A 10-minute break will make this near impossible to achieve unless, again, they miss some of the game for which they have paid to see,” he said.
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