The AFL Grand Final has delivered more than bragging rights for footy fans, with new Adobe data showing a significant spike in online spending as Australians stocked up on team merchandise, food, drinks, screens and backyard entertaining supplies.
Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) found online traffic to AFL team merchandise jumped 47 per cent year-on-year over Grand Final weekend, from 25–27 September, reaching 273 per cent above average August levels.
The spending surge extended well beyond official club gear, with the Grand Final driving a broader watch-party shopping spree across food, beverages and home entertainment.
Online spending on drinks and snacks increased 16 per cent over the weekend, with beer up 29 per cent, soft drinks rising 9 per cent, sausages and beef patties up 16 per cent and pizza increasing 14 per cent.
The big game also appeared to give Australians an excuse to upgrade their viewing setups, with online spending on screens 36 per cent above average August levels.
Streaming devices rose 20 per cent, projectors increased 24 per cent and TV spending was 43 per cent above the August average.
And for those hosting the action at home, the backyard got a little attention too. Spending on outdoor BBQs, grills and smokers increased 11 per cent above August levels, while outdoor furniture rose 14 per cent and cookware climbed 22 per cent.
Even the aftermath of the watch party appeared in the data, with online spending on cleaning supplies including vacuum cleaners, mops and brooms up 32 per cent above August levels.
The findings point to the Grand Final extending its commercial footprint well beyond the stadium, with several brands also tapping into the cultural moment through activations designed to capture fans both in Melbourne and at home.
AAMI teamed up with pop star Kylie Minogue for its latest stadium-wide “AAMI To the Rescue” campaign, featuring an integrated pre-match entertainment piece at the MCG that was also broadcast through the Seven Network.
Kylie herself became a major search phenomenon around the game, with Adobe recording a 530 per cent year-on-year surge in search traffic for the singer, putting searches 370 per cent above August levels.
Toyota, meanwhile, served as premier partner of the Grand Final event series, including the official Grand Final and Grand Final Parade through Melbourne Park and Yarra Park.
Treasury Wine Estates’ Cali by Snoop also used the weekend to push into territory traditionally dominated by beer, with an activation featuring Snoop Dogg’s official doppelganger cruising around Melbourne in a custom lowrider.
Bared Footwear got in on the Kylie effect too, outfitting Minogue in three pairs of custom performance boots for her pre-match concert.
The Wiggles also partnered with the AFL and Seeker Agency as the headline feature of the expanded Grand Final Friday Parade festivities, while AFL Footy Fest brought together pop-up fan zones, official club zones, interactive AFL Play areas, food vendors and a limited-edition “Team Kylie” merchandise collection.
The Grand Final also fuelled a burst of fan-created content, with Adobe Firefly data showing prompts related to Australian rules football increased almost 73 per cent compared with the previous week.
Interest accelerated as the final approached, with Australian rules football-related prompts peaking over the weekend at 125 per cent above the previous week’s average.
Team fandom was particularly evident in Firefly’s generative AI activity. Prompts for the Dockers jumped 819 per cent during Grand Final week compared with the previous week, while prompts for the Lions increased 374 per cent.
And following Brisbane’s victory, prompts related to the Lions surged almost 310 per cent above the team’s average for the rest of the week, and 277 per cent above the previous day’s level.
