AFL Executive General Manager of Football Laura Kane was a big fan of Opening Round.
While some critics didn’t like seeing only eight teams play in the first week of the 2024 season, Kane believes that Opening Round was a resounding success as footy was put up in lights in New South Wales and Queensland as the Lions, Suns, Giants and Swans hosted Victorian powerhouses.
While some were uncertain ahead of the round, Kane thinks the footy did the talking with Carlton’s one-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba the highlight.
“I absolutely loved it, there was so much energy and hype,” Kane said on SEN WA Mornings.
“As you said, I think maybe a few people weren't too sure about how it would go, but to have four sellouts and four pretty good games of footy in amongst all of that, it was a great weekend.
“The Brisbane v Carlton game was my highlight, I didn’t quite think we'd see a one-point win at the end there, but the lead changes in the third quarter were remarkable.
“I think we had a slight increase on lead changes across the board, which was good. It just keeps the excitement running through all four quarters.”
Kane considers Opening Round such a success after looking at the AFL’s metrics, with media coverage, attendance and broadcast numbers up in the growth markets of NSW and QLD compared to previous starts to seasons.
The footy boss also thinks that it’s helped drive some hype for Round 1 when all 18 clubs will play which could be the most-attended weekend of AFL ever.
“Everything was up - media, attendance, broadcast,” Kane said.
“But then we've also seen spikes in things like club memberships and corporate hospitality and the hype leading into Round 1 is extraordinary.
“I think we're facing the highest attendance in terms of crowd numbers this weekend coming and everything's up.
“It tells us people are hanging out for footy and are very excited that it's back.”
While we’re only days removed from the round finishing, Kane confirmed that the AFL will potentially look at bringing Opening Round back in future seasons given how much excitement she thinks it added to the start of the campaign.
“We'll look at it,” Kane confirmed.
“I mean, I think if you ask the eight clubs involved today, whether they would do it again next year, they would probably say yes.
“Then I think if you move to the clubs playing in Round 1 with near sold-out games already and probably the highest attended round ever, I think they might also say yes.
“So we'll absolutely review it, debrief … we’re only a couple of days fresh from its conclusion, but we will look at what this model looks like in those two states.
“We'll also look at what it looks like around the country because it's created excitement that we wish we could bottle for the whole year.”
With Opening Round finished, attention turns to Round 1 which kicks off when Carlton and Richmond meet at the MCG on Thursday night.
