The AFL is pleased to announce last night’s 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final between Richmond and Geelong Cats attracted a national average TV audience of 3.812m and a peak audience of 4.283m.

The 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final was the highest average audience since the 2016 Grand Final and up 30 per cent on the 2019 Toyota AFL Grand Final. The average audience was up 8.5 per cent on the last 5 years.

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The Melbourne average audience was 1.58m which is the highest ever Melbourne audience for an AFL Grand Final. The overall Victorian market average audience was 1.84m which is up 50 per cent on the 2019 AFL Grand Final.

Brisbane’s average audience was 383k which is the highest Brisbane audience in the last 15 years (since 2004) and the highest ever audience for a non-Brisbane AFL Grand Final. The overall Queensland average audience was 523,000, up 22 per cent on the 2019 AFL Grand Final.

Sydney’s average audience was 413,000 which is the highest figure for a non-Sydney Grand Final in the last 20 years.

It was the highest rating Geelong AFL Grand Final and the highest rating Richmond AFL Grand Final in history.

Overall reach of the match was 6.23m which is the highest since 2016 and the peak audience was 4.283m.

These huge viewing numbers come off the back of more than 77 million viewers tuning in to the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season and more than 12 million viewers tuning in for the 2020 Toyota AFL Finals Series (Weeks 1-3).

In an unprecedented year for football, the support and interest from fans in the broadcast of AFL games was extremely strong.

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan thanked Channel 7 for delivering an historic broadcast of the Gabba Grand Final.

“On behalf of the AFL I want to thank our host broadcaster Channel 7 for not only their broadcast of the historic night Grand Final at the Gabba, but for their team’s commitment to the event and the exciting content delivery in the lead in and post-match.

“All our broadcaster partners, Channel 7, Foxtel, Telstra as well as our radio partners have gone above and beyond this season. Everything we knew previously changed, and their ability to adapt quickly and creatively has provided fans with access to great coverage of our game and helped to deliver one of our strongest years of ratings nationally.”

“To all our loyal fans who tuned in across the season, I hope the footy was able to provide you with some comfort and a break from the challenging circumstances the year has thrown up. Your loyalty and devotion to your clubs showed why you are the best fans in all of sports.”