The AFL is heading into its finals series on a high, with the code celebrating a record-breaking home and away season that saw its audience climb to an all-time high for the sixth consecutive year.
With the inaugural wildcard round now in the books and the finals kicking off tonight, the national competition has plenty to celebrate, revealing earlier this week that its 2026 home and away season attracted its biggest audience in the history of the game across Kayo Sports, Foxtel, Seven and 7plus.
The AFL revealed that across all of its broadcast partners the reach extended across the equivalent of 370 million TV screens nationwide, as fans continued to flock to the code across both traditional and streaming platforms.
This marked the sixth consecutive year of audience growth.
Welcome back to B&T’s Spotlight on Sponsors series, where we break down all the major sponsorship news from inside the sporting world.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the results reflected the continued passion Australians have for the game.
“The record-breaking broadcast figures are incredibly pleasing and are a testament to the clubs, players, our broadcast partners and the fans who continue to make our game the biggest and best sport in Australia,” he said.
“The growth we are seeing across television, streaming and in key markets highlights the strength of the competition and the connection supporters have with their clubs week in and week out.”
Last weekend, fans of the Sherrin were treated to two wildcard games. For the first time in AFL history, four teams ranked from seventh-10th faced off for a spot in the finals.
This resulted in two blockbuster games that had fans on the edge of their seats.
Western Bulldogs mad history of its own, being the first AFL club to win a wildcard match. Its three point win over the Collingwood Magpies sees the “Doggies” line-up in an elimination game against the Adelaide Crows.
This match was followed by an equally entertaining match-up between the Carlton Blues and the Melbourne Demons. In front of 91 thousand fans at the MCG, Carlton delivered its first appearance in the finals since 2011.
Across both these games a total of 4.75 million people tuned into Seven’s coverage.
Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley said the record audience figures reflected the passion and connection fans have with the AFL.
“Sport is at its best when it brings people together. We’ve been incredibly proud to bring every game of every round to fans across Kayo SPORTS and Foxtel, giving them more opportunities to experience the moments, the excitement and everything that makes this game so special.
“These results are a great reflection of the fans and their insatiable appetite for the game, and we look forward to bringing them every moment of the Toyota AFL Finals Series.”
The record home and away figures come amid strong growth across both traditional and emerging football markets, with Metro and Regional television audiences increasing overall, including year-on-year growth of more than 30 per cent in Perth and more than 10 per cent in Sydney.
The AFL has also seen significant growth in digital viewing, with audiences on 7plus increasing by almost 130 per cent this season, while Thursday night audiences have grown by more than 16 per cent.
Kayo Sports saw the highest rating Gather Round ever highlighted by the Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs game on the Saturday night achieving the highest rating Gather Round match ever on the platform.
The Round 23 match between Collingwood and the Hawthorn Hawks was the most watched match this season across Kayo SPORTS and Foxtel, with Round 12 achieving the highest average audience for the year.
The highest-rating match of the season was the Round 18 blockbuster between Fremantle Dockers and Sydney Swans, which averaged an audience of 1.5 million viewers, while the Grand Final rematch between Geelong and Brisbane in Round 17 was the highest-reaching match of the year, reaching more than 3.4 million people.
The King’s Birthday Round proved the most watched round of the season, attracting a remarkable 7.4 million viewers despite featuring only eight matches.
On Spotlight on Sponsors we are far from biased. Checking out the AFL’s biggest competitor, the NRL has had a few sponsorship headlines this week.
The first to cross our desk was Australian smart home technology, MyPlace. The brand confirmed it had signed on for three more seasons as the principal partner for NRL juggernaut the Penrith Panthers.
The extension follows the release of a brand new spot that features Penrith Panthers stars Brian To’o, Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards.
Panthers’ rival the Canberra Raider also had some news to share this week.
The Raiders has extended its long-standing partnership with Club Lime through to the end of the 2028 NRL season, expanding its presence across the Raiders’ NRL, NRLW and junior pathways while marking a major 25-year milestone in the partnership’s history.
The new two-year agreement will see Club Lime retain its prominent lower-back jersey position on the Raiders’ NRL playing and training apparel, while extending its on-apparel presence to the Raiders’ NRLW, NRLW U/19s and U/17s teams for the first time.
But wait there is more.
Independent brand and design agency Hulsbosch, has partnered with Basketball Australia to create a new consumer-facing brand designed to unite Australian basketball under a single national identity.
