For all the talk in recent years about the AFL’s experiments with different timeslots, Thursday night footy has proven itself a winner.
Take this week’s Adelaide-Hawthorn clash, a perfect example of how the timeslot can bring excitement and build-up to a night that’s usually footy free.
We had the Crows, on their home turf and coming off a week of rest. We had the reigning premiers, hungry to start really building that win tally after an off-and-on start to the season.
From the opening minutes, thanks to some fast scoring at both ends, it was clear the match was going to deliver quality viewing. From a TV perspective, the whole thing just worked.
Now, that’s not to say the same match on a Friday night would not have drawn a bigger audience. The free-to-air ratings say that Thursday’s match drew a national audience of 635,000. Port Adelaide and Geelong last Friday – another South Australia-Victoria battle, only further down the ladder – had 63,000 more tune in.
But you can’t have nine Friday night games, so it’s smart work by the AFL to move in on a night that would otherwise be bereft of live, primetime sport.
The sports media landscape in Australia hasn’t yet been saturated to the point it has in the United States, where the idea of a night without any live, primetime sport is pretty crazy. Between the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football, college basketball and everything else, there’s almost no nights off for the diehard sports fan in the States.
Of course, it might very well be a good thing that isn’t replicated here in Australia. But for the AFL to maintain the best possible competitive footing, it can’t afford to think that way. It has to be savvy and pay attention to any market that isn’t being tapped.
Adding an extra night to the weekly calendar – if only for a handful of games each season – is savvy, because the reality is people want to come home after a long day at work and watch sport.
This week, State of Origin and all, proved it more than any other.
Yes, Thursday night footy can cause disruptions. You certainly couldn’t do it every week, given the need for six-day breaks. Fantasy footy fans might be able to recite in an instant their poor experiences with the earlier trading deadline.
But aside from the build-up and aside from the commercial advantages, Thursday night footy is also good because it spaces out the games.
This week, again, provided a great example. When you looked at this round’s games, it wasn’t hard to spot juicy match-ups.
Adelaide-Hawthorn was hard to tip. Richmond-West Coast was a real head scratcher to tip. Carlton-Port Adelaide seemed easy enough, but then you realised the Blues under John Barker have been building towards this exact type of upset.
GWS-North Melbourne? Let’s throw a Shane Mumford injury into calculations, hey?
Under a less-spaced-out fixture, viewers might have had to pick and choose between games such as these. Instead, the diehards among us can direct their full attention to each of these games and ride all the waves they bring.
The format just works. Thursday night footy, in its current dosage, is great for the AFL fixture.
Jackso
Guest
I assume the AFL needs something for the next TV rights deal and a new timeslot is all they have after no more new teams or Friday night double header
John From Melbourne
Guest
Any extra revenue for the game is good. That's it.
Brian
Guest
I'm not sure why the AFL has such an aversion to playing the odd Subiaco Sat night game at 7:20 Perth time which would start at 9:20 in Melbourne and finish around midnight. As for Thursday night, well like Friday night they should keep the 2 WA sides generally out of it.
mds1970
Roar Guru
And that relates to something which must be annoying for sports fans in the west - games in Perth played at times friendly to eastern states TV timeslots rather than local fans. A first bounce of 8:10pm in Melbourne is only 6:10pm in the west; at least an hour too early for fans to get there on a weeknight. Same thing with the lack of day-night cricket at the WACA.
mds1970
Roar Guru
I like Thursday nights. For the broadcasters, it's a winner because it reduces instances of two games being played at the same time. It's a timeslot without other live sport on so it's a ratings winner, although it could potentially cause a hit in attendances. I'd like to see it as a regular thing. The six-day break requirement is problematic, but there's ways around it. One that I've written about previously is that the byes, instead of being concentrated in groups of six byes a week during a three-week block, could be spread to have two teams having the bye and eight games a week; with the two teams having the bye playing the next Thursday. This would also ensure the TV pleasure and attendance pain of Thursday night is more evenly shared around than Friday nights currently are - every team would have two Thursday nights per season, one home and one away.
David Lampe
Roar Rookie
I love the concept of Thursday night footy. I agree that it can't be done every week with six day breaks providing a significant disadvantage for teams, especially if they occur regularly. It may also loose some of it's novelty factor if it happened every week, but i'm not going to lie, i'd still watch every time. For us die-hard fans, it is also very nice to know that you only have to wait four days until the next game is on. It provides a nice introduction to the weekend of footy and only gets your more excited for the Friday night fixture. I do believe that almost all Thursday night games will have to be attractive games to make the concept work, as two bottom teams playing will most likely weaken not strengthen the appeal, especially in it's early stages. The point you made about the commercial value and breaking into a new time slot is a good one. With no other major Australian sport broadcast on a Thursday night, except for the rare event, this could really break new ground. It could be a hit with advertisers, be ingenuitive, and lead the way forward for other new ideas to come. All in all, I love the idea and hope it is back for 5-6 games in season 2016.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Ryan Prettygood ratings: Mediaweek @MediaweekAUS Thu TV #AFLCrowsHawks Seven 509k (Mel 332k Ade 177k) 7mate 126k (Syd 18k Bri 21k Per 87k) Total 635k for FTA. Plus 229k on Fox Footy. So 864k total (before counting regionals and Tassie). Thursday night a clear winner (unsurprisingly). I agree that Thursday night sold as a separate package to a station like Ten (maybe a dozen or so games) is a possibility and would be very attractive for Ten. It would allow Ten to get access to AFL matches at a smallish cost, while increasing the overall pie for the AFL. As far as both Seven and Fox are concerned, it's good for them as well because it spreads more games across more days (fewer clashes).
joe b
Guest
Agreed.
Ryan Buckland
Expert
I think what's quite clear is this year is all about gathering evidence. Scheduling four consecutive matches, all to be broadcast on channel 7 as far as I know, will test whether the slot has legs as a more permanent part of the calendar. If it's still got a strong audience by the fourth game, look for it to become a more regular part of the fixture from the next broadcast agreement onwards. Maybe even as a standalone product for a second FTA broadcaster.
jax
Guest
I love Thursday night footy. I can watch more games when they are spread out and I've enjoyed this bye format with 6 games a week.
jax
Guest
Two Victorian clubs need to go, relocate or 4 needs to merge into 2. I know this is hard for the fans of those clubs but 10 Vic clubs is unsustainable and Robin Hood taxes are an anchor that will hold the game back.
Gyfox
Guest
Port Adelaide is top club for sponsorship........wow!
TW
Guest
Off topic but related to TV cover and sponsors. This article reveals some key financials of the 18 AFL Clubs. The Audi boss in Australia tells it how it is in real world terms with his explanation of why Audi picked Hawthorn. Apparently the AFL offered other Melb clubs but Audi declined which is significant. The smaller Melb clubs think they are safe because of the TV deals needing 18 Clubs and the Robin Hood tax paid by the wealthier teams and the Etihad Stadium buyout. Time will tell on those topics. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/audi-deal-shows-how-some-clubs-enjoy-life-in-the-fast-lane-20150619-ghsmgd
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Thursday nights have one main issue. What do the teams do the following week. Their next opponents are limited to those who play on the Friday, in order to avoid having a nine day v six or seven day break. Not that the AFL seem to care about that. They no qualms matching a team coming off the bye against a team who isn't and that's a much bigger gap.
Griffo
Guest
I think once every 4 weeks or so is good. That would 5-6 per season. This they could try to begin with and then if that works well they could try once every 3 weeks. definitely need to work out which teams supporters will struggle to watch this time slot though and try to avoid having those teams playing.
Oliver Bryant
Roar Rookie
I completely agree with the Thursday night time slot but the AFL need to be very careful to not fixture too many or too many in a row. I guess we will see how much we enjoy it after the continuous run coming up in the next couple of rounds...
John Hamilton
Roar Pro
I like Thursday night footy but it shouldn't be on during roundsthat only have 6 games
gurusculler
Guest
It doesn't work particularly well for me this coming Thursday, as a regional member of the Dockers, because, unless I get a time machine (and if I did I'd have better uses for it than going to the football), it's impossible for me to get to Subi by bounce down after I finish work several hours drive away, especially if I also need to front up to work on Friday. I'm also not sure that Perth's particularly useless public transport system will be much good at getting local supporters to the ground in time either. But I guess that doesn't matter to the broadcasters, or the AFL, because the crowd is just wallpaper anyway.
Gyfox
Guest
Yes, Thursday night footy is a winner......pity the Crows aren't!