AFL boss Andrew Dillon on the future of footy in Queensland

The AFL sees Queensland as the key battleground state to grow the game — so much so the league’s 20th team could be in Brisbane. Read the full interview with Andrew Dillon here.

The AFL is ready to go chips-in on Queensland as the key battleground in its bold pursuit of 10 million fans and one million participants by 2033, with a blueprint that could include a third team to rival the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns.

In an exclusive interview with the Courier-Mail, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the league’s vision was to transform Brisbane’s “major events into mega events” and would not rule out bringing another team to the state’s capital to help make it happen.

The NRL struck gold with the introduction of the Redcliffe Dolphins in 2023, forming an immediate intercity rivalry with the Brisbane Broncos, which attracted more than 50,000 fans in the first-ever Battle of Brisbane.

And it is a blueprint the AFL could one day follow, with a potential new 60,000-seat stadium on the way and Brisbane’s population set to boom over the next decade.

There could be a bigger stadium in Brisbane coming soon. Picture: Getty Images

“If you look at the rate of participation and the talent coming out of Queensland at the moment … you never say never,” Dillon said when asked about the prospect of a third team based in the Sunshine State.

“Brisbane (Lions) is going really well at the moment and the crowds that they are getting, every single one of their games is a major event in Brisbane.

“We want to start moving the major events into mega events, so a stadium with a capacity (to achieve that) would be very consistent with what we are trying to do.”

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

Dillon’s comments come as the AFL and Brisbane Lions wait to hear the findings from a 100-day review into Queensland’s critical Olympic Games infrastructure plan, which is due to be delivered to state government this week.

At the centre of the review is the Lions’ Gabba home, which would either be razed and rebuilt for the 2032 Olympic Games or replaced by a brand new stadium at Victoria Park.

The Gabba is nearing end-of-life and the Lions are fast outgrowing the 37,000 seat stadium, which was sold out nine times last year as the club surged beyond 63,000 members. This year it expects to eclipse 70,000 members off the back of winning the 2024 premiership.

A brand new 60,000-plus seat stadium in Brisbane would arrive just as the AFL makes its final push for 10m fans and 1m participants by 2033.

Queensland has consistently been the AFL’s largest growth market, seeing a year-on-year increase of around 10,000 participants since 2022.

So far in 2025, Aussie rules participation in the state is up 20 per cent compared to this time last year and Queensland is now close to rivalling South Australia for total grassroots participation.

With the state’s population projected to exceed 6.4m by 2033 and more than half of that figure within the Greater Brisbane area, the AFL believes Queensland will be the major battleground on which it achieves its 2033 goals.

“If we see crowds continue to grow, we just want to have a stadium that is fit for purpose in a big city like Brisbane and we want a stadium that works for all Queenslanders,” Dillon said.

“By 2033 we want to have 1m participants across Australia. We were just under 600,000 last year. So there’s going to be big growth for us over the next 6-8 years … and we still see the big growth to come from Queensland and New South Wales.

“They will be the drivers of that growth.”

Brisbane’s premiership win will bring new fans to the AFL. Picture Lachie Millard

ACADEMIES ARE VITAL

Queensland has become a hotbed of talent in recent years with the vaunted Lions and Suns Academies churning out top-end draftees in both the AFL and AFLW space.

The Suns Academy has produced six first-round graduates over the past two years, including four from the 2023 AFL national draft alone.

This year, Damien Hardwick’s side boasts 14 Suns Academy graduates in its midst.

Four players from Brisbane’s premiership-winning side last year were graduates of the Lions Academy and nine are currently on the club’s senior list.

A majority of the Lions’ all-conquering AFLW side either graduated from the Lions Academy or are Queensland products.

With all eyes on Queensland ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games and pathway funding set to explode, the AFL knows it will have a fight on its hands to retain and grow its base of elite young talent.

A tug-of-war for elite athletes is looming and that is why the AFL plans to double down on its Northern Academies blueprint.

“There are always lots of opportunities for young elite athletes in Australia no matter what their sport is,” Dillon said.

“What we want to do is make sure … boys and girls who are aspiring to be professional sportsmen and women have the best opportunities for them and we have the programs that allow them to be the best players that they can be.

“We’re seeing that on the Gold Coast at the moment with the boys and girls that are coming through the academy but that is something we want to do nationwide.”

The Gold Coast Academy has worked wonders for the Suns. Picture: Getty Images

OPENING ROUND HERE TO STAY

Dillon declared the AFL’s Opening Round blueprint was here to stay after hitting all of the league’s key metrics in the first two years of the initiative.

“We have seen sellout crowds, double-digit (percentage) increases in membership year-on-year and we’re seeing that again this year,” he said.

“What we want to do is bring the conversation about footy forward, particularly in the northern markets, so that has been part of the thinking around Opening Round.

Andrew Dillon says Opening Round isn’t going anywhere. Picture: Getty Images

“It also allows getting different teams as opponents and bringing them up to Queensland and NSW a bit earlier in the season than what might have happened otherwise under the traditional structure that we’ve done.

“It’s a year-by-year proposition, but it’s a scheduling decision that we make, that the AFL does with the clubs, and if this year goes the way we expect it to go, then there would have to be pretty compelling reasons for us not to do something very similar again.”

Speaking prior to the decision to postpone the two Queensland games for Opening Round due to tropical cyclone Alfred, Dillon said the scenario would not impact the league’s decision making over the round’s future.

“No, it doesn’t. That would not factor into any decisions we would make in relation to Opening Round going forward,” he said.

Originally published as AFL boss Andrew Dillon on the future of footy in Queensland