The MCG is set to break another record on Friday night with up to 95,000+ fans expected to walk through the gates.
The most attended game in 2023 came on Anzac Day as Collingwood knocked off Essendon, with 95,179 packing into the MCG.
But while that figure may not be surpassed, all that’s needed for Melbourne vs Carlton is 92,000 fans to attend for a new MCG season record attendance to be set.
MCC CEO Stuart Fox confirmed the news in the leadup to the first Semi Final.
“We would love to pass 92,000, but I think we can go higher than that. 94,000 to 95,000 is the prediction,” Fox told 9News on Friday afternoon.
THE FINALS: More than 90,000 footy fans are expected to pack the MCG tonight for the Carlton and Demons semi-final. #9News pic.twitter.com/caBKx9PYPZ
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) September 15, 2023
“It’s been an incredible footy season because we’ve had three million patrons through the gates here to date and all we need is 92,000 to come through tonight and it will be the biggest football season we’ve had in the MCG’s 170-year history.
He added: “I think 3.3 million will be the number this year through the gates for AFL, which is just terrific.”
Collingwood will host a Preliminary Final at the MCG next week before the Grand Final on the final Saturday of September, the final two games of the season at the ‘G.
2,771,774 fans strolled through the MCG gates in the home and away season.
The first week of finals saw a total of 289,147 fans attend across the four games, surpassing the previous record of 283,150 back in 2018.
Earlier this year, the MCG broke a seven-year record when 661,446 patrons attended the venue over the opening 10 games of the season.
It was almost 50,000 more than the 612,281 that attended the first 10 MCG games in 2015, the previous record.