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Should the AFL consider a Big Bash League-style fixture?

Expert
31st January, 2016
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The grand final is moving to a twilight fixture (Charles Van den Broek/flickr)
Expert
31st January, 2016
23
1145 Reads

Like all great topics for off-season debate, the AFL fixture has endless possibilities but essentially never changes. It’s a tried-and-true discussion piece – and I’ve decided to weigh in.

The Big Bash League ended a little over a week ago in a memorable victory for Mike Hussey and the Sydney Thunder.

In the time since, my mind keeps going back to the idea that the AFL might be better served moving to a fixture like that of the BBL.

In its short time, the BBL had a game airing in primetime almost every night, along with the occasional double-header on weekends.

Compare that to the AFL, where nine games per week are crammed into just three days, maybe four on a rare occasion.

But the AFL could move to a model that sees a game played every day of the week, and two each day on the weekends – a day match and a night match.

There’d be a number of advantages to a move like this. The one that strikes me most is there would no longer be viewing conflicts between games. If you wanted to watch every match of the week live, you could – something that’s impossible now.

By having every match aired separately and seven out of nine matches every week being night games, the AFL would also have a chance to give more prominent timeslots to smaller teams, significantly increasing their profile.

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A Tuesday night fixture sounds a lot better than the anonymous Saturday twilight shift.

It would give the AFL a chance to exclusively televise the entire season live through a single TV network, giving every club an even amount of time on free-to-air.

And of course it would mean there’s footy on every night! That might sound like more of a curse than a blessing to some, but it’s not about actually spending every night watching footy, it’s about having the option, on any given night, to settle in and see who’s playing.

The downsides? Those who love to have a weekend packed with footy might be a little disappointed, but two games on each weekend day is still a solid chunk of watching.

Not trying to cram so much top-level footy into every weekend day might even allow the AFL to put more effort into promoting state league or under-18 games by televising them in the freed-up timeslots.

It might have a negative impact on match attendance. After all, the more footy is improved as a TV product, the less likely people are to go in person.

That said, shifting the majority of games to a night slot could also have the opposite effect. Night footy is a great atmosphere and attendances might get a significant boost from fans making their way to matches after they knock off work.

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The AFL has given this approach a bit of thought in the past, using this kind of fixture in the NAB Challenge in 2014.

The idea didn’t catch on then, but that might have to do with the fact many NAB Challenge matches were played in regional areas rather than the city where weeknight footy would work best – not to mention the generally low tempo of the pre-season competition.

I’m not suggesting the AFL change its entire fixture right off the bat, but perhaps next year they could trial this sort of approach in Round 1.

It could start with the traditional Richmond versus Carlton fixture on Monday night – or something much better – and build fans’ excitement through the week with a tour de force start to the season.

It’s worth an honest try. What do you think?

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