South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas says there’ll be no second-year blues for Adelaide showpiece weekend

The AFL says it will continue to innovate when it comes to themed rounds, with SA Premier Peter Malinauskas backing his state to dismiss any notion of second-year blues this weekend.

The AFL says it is determined to expand the number of themed weekends – like Gather Round and Opening Round – as South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas backs his state to defy any second-year blues for the festival of football.

The league last year signed a three-year deal with South Australia – worth as much as $80 million in cash and infrastructure – after a wildly successful first attempt at Gather Round.

While the sequel is rarely as good as the original, the league is reporting over 200,000 tickets sold – with only the Hawthorn-Collingwood game yet to sell out.

As Malinauskas and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon launched the weekend at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, the Premier said 38 per cent of all tickets sold were outside of South Australia. That is up on 32 per cent last year, with a new buyback scheme for Saturday’s double-header at Adelaide Oval which should prevent bays of empty seats for the second clash.

Premier Peter Malinauskas is backing South Australia to put on a show again. Picture: Keryn Stevens

If fans from the 4.20pm Carlton-Fremantle game officially release their tickets on an app post-game, they will again go on sale for the Western Bulldogs-Geelong game (8.10pm)

Those tickets will be just $10 with all proceeds going to charity in an attempt to boost attendances – with the initiative pushed strongly by Malinauskas.

The AFL and the South Australian government are in no hurry to extend the current deal past 2026, with Malinauskas confident there will be a game in the Barossa Valley next season.

The league has been mocked in some quarters for its spate of themed rounds, but Dillon – also open to an extra home and away round in 2025 – made no apologies for “innovation”.

“On the success of last year’s Gather Round we extended for another three years so we have Gather Round until the end of 2026,” Dillon said.

“We will, like we always do, assess how this round goes. All the indications are we will build on it over the next couple of years.

“What we are seeing is our fans want something bigger than the footy games as well so we will continue to see innovations like Gather Round and Opening Round.”

The Crows and Demons open Gather Round on Thursday night. Picture: Keryn Stevens

One option for the league next year is to again kickstart the season with a northern-states Opening Round, but also add in a blockbuster MCG game to give Victorian fans a taste of football on the Sunday of the Labour Day long weekend.

The MCG could be available that weekend given they can negotiate with Victorian cricket for games to be moved to the Junction Oval.

Malinauskas said of a game deep in Barossa Valley wine country next year: “We hope that happens”.

“Second-year blues come when people take their foot off the pedal. We have done the exact opposite. We are pretty confident about back-to-back premierships here,” he said.

“How can we measure success thus far? Ticket sales are up on last year, every game is sold out, there are a handful of tickets for Collingwood-Hawthorn.

“38 per cent of ticket sales from outside South Australia, compared to 32 per cent last year. We have seen genuine growth on last year. Everything is heading in the right direction.”

Originally published as South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas says there’ll be no second-year blues for Adelaide showpiece weekend