Going to the MCG is now like being trapped in a nightclub

The secular religion that is Australian rules football, known to devotees as footy and improperly called AFL by the league that believes it owns our game, is in need of its own Reformation. Fans’ devotion has been played upon by those who control the once people’s game for too long. It’s beyond time this rot was stopped.

The reason I’m speaking out is not because of one earth-shattering event ruining the experience of attending a game, but a slow desecration. There’s the increasing annoyance of screaming announcers trying to whip up excitement, the deafening intrusive music and the inability to talk among ourselves during the breaks; the incessant kiss-cam, karaoke-cam and oblivious-cam spectacles. We don’t need to be revved up like a TV studio audience. The footy is the excitement.

Digital advertising has taken over the MCG and it’s ruining the experience of attending a game.

But one thing has pushed me over the edge. Last Friday night I sat with my daughters in the Members’ Reserve at the MCG at the match between Collingwood and Carlton. It was a marvellous game, Collingwood played beautifully and won by 56 points. What could go wrong?

Watching the footy was marred by the incredibly bright, repetitive flashing of LED advertising signs along all four levels of the Shane Warne Stand on the opposite side of the ground. These appalling signs were distracting and annoying and constantly interfered with the enjoyment of watching the game. It was reminiscent of being at a strobe-lit nightclub.

Last year, the AFL entered into a partnership with a media outfit called TGI Sport and formed an organisation called Lumen8 Media to manage match-day digital LED signage. Lumen8 Media oversees the commercial rights and sales for signage at the MCG and Marvel Stadium. At the MCG, LED signage has been added to levels 2A and 4 of the Shane Warne Stand, in addition to the previous levels 1 and 2, meaning these signs are now on all four levels of the stand.

In a story published in July 2024, before the changes were introduced in the current season, it was announced that the new business would “enhance digital signage opportunities at [the MCG] by upgrading and expanding LED signage”.

The assault of swirling, flashing LED panels is distracting from the play.

In a disgraceful abandonment of the MCC members, the chief executive of the Melbourne Cricket Club, Stuart Fox, said: “We strive to deliver greatness for our members and fans on match days and are looking forward to working together with Lumen8 Media to enhance that experience even further.

“Our future scope will include the digitalisation of signage on all four levels of the MCG and several other initiatives to make sure the MCG remains truly world-class.”

This is gaslighting of MCC members and any footy fans who can’t stand the light show. Raising advertising revenue while lowering the enjoyment of the game is being sold as a boon for fans.

Apparently the AFL and the MCC believe “greatness, enhancing the experience and keeping the MCG world-class” involves inflicting people with a form of advertising that detracts from the ability to enjoy the game those people come to watch.

The greatness of the MCG is due to the extraordinary sporting feats that are performed there. The experience is being able to enjoy watching our sporting heroes without objectionable distractions.

Only in a world where the real point of the exercise has been forgotten would world-class be measured by the lumens of advertising signs. Not every means of turning an extra dollar should be blithely agreed to.

It’s beyond time that some genuine controls were put in place to stop the administrators of this great game from sacrificing it on the altar of endless commercial gain.

Tony Lupton is a former Labor MP and barrister.

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