AFLW's popularity is under threat, and the reason might be simpler than you think: footy fatigue. After a grueling men's season, can the women's league truly capture and hold fans' attention? This is the million-dollar question facing the AFLW as it navigates its tenth season, and the answer could determine its future success.
Despite the growing popularity of women's sports, AFLW attendance figures paint a concerning picture. Average crowds have dipped to around 2,500 per game, a noticeable decline from the 2,660 recorded during last year's home-and-away season. This drop sparks a crucial debate: Is the timing of the AFLW season actually undermining its potential?
Aurora Hodges, a devoted Brisbane fan who has only missed two AFLW games in Queensland across the league's decade-long history, admits that the current scheduling is wearing thin. "It's being played at a ridiculous time of the year," she told ABC Sport. "Once AFL is done, even the biggest AFLW fans have footy fatigue." This sentiment highlights a potentially critical flaw in the AFL's strategy.
This year, the AFLW season spanned 12 rounds over 12 weeks, overlapping with the men's finals for a full month. And here's the kicker: the AFL has confirmed that the 2026 season will follow the same timeline. This decision raises serious questions about the league's commitment to maximizing AFLW's visibility and growth. Is the AFL prioritizing the men's game at the expense of the women's?
Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell echoes these concerns, noting a general decline in interest this year compared to previous seasons during the overlapping month. "Whether that's got to do with the timing of the comp or media interest or otherwise, I think it's on all of us – media and people involved in AFLW, coaches and players and clubs – to continue driving the narrative of AFLW," Arnell told ABC Radio. She added that while the initial promotion of the AFLW was strong, there's been a noticeable drop-off recently. "So, yeah, the timing is the timing. That's nothing we can control." But should it be something they control? This is where it gets controversial...
The AFL's primary growth strategy for the AFLW has been to leverage the existing men's AFL fanbase. But is this strategy backfiring? Dylan Humphries, who runs the popular AFL Instagram account Cench (with over 267,000 followers), believes that after a long AFL season, culminating in the intense finals and trade period, most fans are simply ready for a break from footy. He points out that sports fans often shift their attention to other codes around October, further diluting the AFLW's appeal. "This time of year it's pretty busy, even though AFL [men's] and NRL/W has just finished, it's still pretty busy sport-wise … NFL [has] just kicked back off," he said. "October, November is right before cricket starts and then we [sport fans] start spending every weekend watching cricket … I know a lot of people have started local cricket, [and] that break between local footy and local cricket is not long."
Humphries also highlights the challenges faced by content creators. While an AFLW-specific Cench account would be ideal, he finds it difficult to maintain fan engagement when interest in footy is waning. "When it's round one and everyone's going to Richmond versus Carlton, everyone's so excited," he said. "But then by the time you get into round 10 … there's a lot of fatigue there." He admitted to watching the first few rounds of the AFLW season before his interest dropped off as the men's finals and trade period took center stage. And this is the part most people miss: it's not just about the games themselves, it's about the overall media cycle and the competition for attention.
In contrast to the AFL's approach, the NRL runs its men's and women's seasons concurrently, culminating in grand finals played on the same day. This approach, while not without its flaws, allows the NRLW to capitalize on the popularity of the men's game. The AFLW season, on the other hand, has been shifted across three different windows, never quite finding a consistent and effective slot.
Aurora Hodges suggests aligning the AFLW season with the start of the AFL season or ensuring it concludes before the men's finals. Lavender Baj, a sports producer and content creator who has worked across both NRL and NRLW, believes the NRL's concurrent approach works because it strategically leverages the men's game where it makes sense. "There's no doubt that the NRLW has its own fanbase, but by playing women's Origin fixtures in Brisbane on the eve of men's Magic Round, and having a double-header grand final, the barrier to entry to support the women is much lower," Baj said. She adds that the concurrent fixture benefits the women's game during finals, allowing fans whose men's teams are out of contention to rally around the women's teams. This year, Brisbane won both the men's and women's premierships, resulting in joint celebrations. However, the Brisbane AFLW team couldn't attend the men's grand final in Melbourne because they had a game in Queensland the following day, missing a valuable opportunity to capitalize on the men's team's success.
So, what's the solution? Should the AFL reconsider the timing of the AFLW season? Should they adopt a concurrent model similar to the NRL? Or are there other strategies that could help combat 'footy fatigue' and drive greater interest in the women's game? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Do you think the AFLW suffers from being scheduled after the AFL season? Or is there another reason for the lower attendance rates? Let's discuss!
