The last final held at the stadium in 2008 drew only 19,127 to the clash with the Swans and North Melbourne on a rainy night.
The Swans have a contract in place to hold every home final at ANZ Stadium.
AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said he was confident this week’s match would attract a sizable crowd.
“I think we are in a different place. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances last time; I think it was the wettest 24 hours in Sydney’s history,” McLachlan said at the AFL’s official finals launch on Monday.
“Sydney has got great momentum at the moment, hopefully Sunday will be a good day and we will be looking to 35-40,000 people there on Sunday.”
McLachlan said the early signs were looking promising for crowd numbers.
“We’re optimistic. I got some ticket sales this morning and it is very strong, so we think it will be a good crowd there,” he said.
Former Geelong skipper Tom Harley was announced as the official AFL premiership cup ambassador while four-time premiership coach David Parkin will present the Jock McHale medal to the coach of the premiership side.
Former Eagles star and 1992 Norm Smith medallist Peter Matera will present this year’s medal while former Geelong forward Larry Donohue will present the Coleman medal to Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt at this year’s All-Australian announcement.
Parkin said he was thrilled to be given the honour of awarding the McHale medal to the premiership coach.
“It was a real surprise when I got the telephone call. It is a nice honour for it to be recognised in that way and I think it is a great honour that the McHale medal has become a part of it,” he said.
“It’s recognition of someone who has done a hell of a lot of work and often is lost in the whole business of a grand final.”
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