THE AFL is pleased to announce round eight was the third highest attended round on record just one week after round seven became the second highest attended round on record.
This marks the third time this season crowds have surpassed 400,000 attendees (round one, round seven and round eight), with 2.861 million fans attending the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership season so far.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said to see back-to-back record-breaking crowds has been a tremendous effort from everyone across the competition.
"Round eight was simply incredible on all levels. It started strong with the Showdown in Adelaide followed by traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood in front of 88,000 at the MCG on Friday night. That momentum followed us into the weekend, with the Swans hosting their highest home crowd of the year and the round finishing with the biggest ever QClash in Queensland," Mr Dillon said.
"I want to thank our fans for coming out in such huge numbers across both round seven and eight. To go back-to-back with record breaking numbers is a credit to just how great the footy has been.
"Seeing our crowds continue to reach these records is a testament to our venues, clubs, partners and staff. On behalf of the AFL, I want to thank you all and look forward to continuing seeing you at the footy across the rest of the season."
Key round call outs:
ADEL v PORT: Third-highest SA Showdown crowd all-time, and highest ADEL home crowd v PORT ever.
CARL v COLL: Best all-time attendance for fixture, surpassing R23, 2022 (88,287). CARL second highest AFL H&A crowd ever.
SYD v GWS: SYD highest home crowd of 2024, and largest ever Sydney Derby attendance surpassing R1, 2012 (38,203).
STK v NM: Crowd was +14.5 per cent on average of last five STK v NM at Marvel Stadium venue (23,598). STKL average MRVL home crowd in 2024 is 26,684.
MELB v GEEL: Fifth highest MELB home crowd v GEEL all-time, and best since R1, 2018 (54,112)
WCE v ESS: Second highest WCE home attendance v ESS, and best since R14, 2019 (52,810
BRIS v SUNS: Record QClash attendance, surpassing R15, 2023 (27,170). +30 per cent on last QClash at venue in R10, 2023 (Crowd: 23,286)
Top 10 attended rounds all-time
- R1, 2024 – 413,405
- R7, 2024 - 408,433
- R8, 2024 - 403,452
- R1, 2017 - 400,401
- R3, 2018 - 393,537
- R1, 2023 – 392,248
- R5, 2017 - 391,980
- R5, 2018 - 381,880
- R1, 2019 – 380,789
- R1, 2018 – 375,564
