Carlton fans lead the charge behind push for extra game at the MCG
The team’s form may have faltered, but Blues fans have turned up in numbers to top the Magpie Army this year — And, it could help the club get its ultimate fixturing wish.
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Carlton fans have voted with their feet and got behind the club’s push for more MCG home games, with the Blues the top-rating team at the home of football.
The Blues have gone to the AFL to ask for a swap in their fixture next year, to change from five home games at the MCG to six, at the expense of a Marvel Stadium match.
Carlton has long been a Marvel Stadium tenant but signed a deal with the MCG in recent years to lock in games at football’s mecca and are hopeful the AFL will allow them to play more there.
Despite a form slump in the past month that has put their finals hopes in serious jeopardy, the Blues have drawn a better average crowd than any other team at the MCG this year.
A crowd of 84,773 on Sunday against Hawthorn put Carlton’s home-crowd average at the venue to 78,141.
That is just under 4000 ahead of the mighty Magpie army, with Collingwood averaging 74,215 this season.
Essendon trails those two narrowly with an average of 72,585 while Melbourne rates the lowest, averaging just 36,017 fans per home game.
The Dees drew just 17,867 on Saturday night against Port Adelaide, a couple weeks after just 16,246 fans watched them lose to GWS Giants.
The twist on Carlton’s hopes to move a game from Marvel Stadium is that the Blues are also the best pulling side at the AFL-owned venue.
Blues brass have remarked that virtually every game this year has been fully ticketed as fans flock to see Charlie Curnow and Patrick Cripps.
In five home games there – four of which have come against interstate sides – Carlton has averaged 41,374 fans, just ahead of Essendon’s average of 38,516.
The AFL will need to pull a game from its own stadium that would be a virtual lock to be at more than 80 per cent capacity to fulfil Carlton’s wish for an extra MCG fixture.
The Blues rode last year’s preliminary final run to a record membership in 2024, tipping beyond the 100,000 figure for the first time in club history.
The AFL’s fixturing whiz Josh Bowler will weigh up requests from all clubs, plus broadcasters and stadiums, as he pieces together next year’s draw at the end of the season.
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