It was apparent to even the most hardened of sporting cynics that last night’s women’s AFL All-Stars game would’ve drawn viewers, because… Well, footy is footy.

Still, few people – not even the AFL itself – predicted how much of a bloody smash the Western Bulldogs‘ 90 – 51 win over Melbourne would be.

At its peak, the match drew a staggering 1.05M viewers nationwide, with an average of 746K keen footy fans staring into the future of the game at any one time. 

Melbourne’s viewing figures alone were enough to dwarf the next-best Saturday-night AFL broadcast this year; nearly 390K Melburnians tuned in, compared to the next-best 347K who caught St Kilda and Geelong’s Round 14 clash in the men’s comp.

Even the league’s head honcho Gillon McLachlan was taken aback by the bloody gr8 figures, saying “these are massive TV numbers, and beyond our expectations.”

With absolute guns like future Collingwood gun Moana Hope capable of dominating a match in a six-goal display, they can probably expect rock-solid viewing figures when the league kicks off proper next year.

The nitty-gritty details of finals, broadcasting and streaming rights are yet to be determined, but the AFL’s general manager of game and development Simon Lethlean said “I’m really confident with our partners we will get a game on free to air and a game on Foxtel [each week].

That’s a good start and if there are more than that then so be it.” 

McLachlan said “viewers watched a fast, skilful and ferocious brand of football,” and look, he’s not wrong. Get bloody stoked, Australia.

Source: AFL / The Age.
Photo: Michael Dodge / Getty.

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