Night AFL Grand Final would be next level: Eddie

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has predicted this year’s historic night Grand Final at the Gabba will be a “spectacular success”.

Collingwood President Eddie McGuire and his son on their way to Queensland on Tuesday Picture: Alex Coppel.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has predicted this year’s historic night Grand Final at the Gabba will be a “spectacular success” and says it needs to stay in prime time in the future if the AFL is serious about growing the game.

McGuire said the decider needed to become a fixture in prime time if the league wanted to ensure it could be the “biggest event it can possibly be”.

“I have always said, I have no problems whatsoever with the game being on at 2pm in the afternoon,” McGuire said.

“But if you want to take it in to the next stage of having serious entertainment and making it the biggest event it can possibly be at a time when ratings are everything — as far as the money, we’re seeing for the first time ever the TV rights going backwards in major sports — then you have got to play it in prime time, it’s as simple as that.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Watch every match of every round Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

“It’s not whether it’s daytime or night-time, it’s where you get the most people. People tend to confuse that you’re doing it for ratings, I don’t know what they’re confusing it with. What else would you be doing it for?

“You want to have the most people you possibly can watch your program. That’s why it’s called prime time.

“The world has changed, it has changed massively. Of course, we’re going to miss the Grand Final this year, it breaks our heart that it’s gone, but only 100,000 people can turn up on the day, but we might get five-six million people watching this game because it’s going to be in prime time.”

McGuire predicted this year’s night Grand Final would be a huge success.

“It’s going to be a spectacular success. Like all major television shows and all major events, they don’t put them on Saturday afternoon, they put them on Saturday night, or Sunday night is where it should be.”

He said the game would lose nothing by being staged at night, with the league’s biggest matches throughout the season played at night.

“It’s a night-time product. This is the way consumers want to watch these days.”

Herald Sun