Maligned from the moment it was launched, the AFL's inaugural Wildcard Round has silenced many of its doubters with the weekend's two fixtures proving raging successes from both turnstile and television ratings standpoints.
172,769 fans entered the MCG across Friday and Saturday night's two blockbuster fixtures at the home of football - 81,036 saw the Western Bulldogs survive a spirited Collingwood comeback, while 91,733 had the foundations of the modern colosseum quaking, as the Blues condemned the Demons to their fifth consecutive finals loss.
A total of 7.4m viewers tuned into Seven and Foxtel broadcasts across the two nights.
On both nights, the games were the most watched programs on national television.
More than 3.8m viewers were engrossed in Collingwood's clash with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night across all platforms, with the broadcast generating an average audience of 1.6m. The match was the most viewed premiership fixture of any code across 2026.
One night later, more than 3.5m viewers watched Melbourne v Carlton across the screens of Seven and Foxtel, with an average audience of 1.5m. Only Friday night's game boasts a bigger audience this season.
172,769 fans packed the MCG and more than 7.4M fans tuned in around the country to witness two BIG Wildcard Finals 🍿 pic.twitter.com/XWQykXmlBU
— AFL (@AFL) August 30, 2026
The fixtures made inroads in the game's northern frontier, too, with viewership in New South Wales and Queensland up 50% on the season's average.
The strong start to the 2026 Toyota AFL Finals Series follows the highest home-and-away attendance in VFL/AFL history, with 7,772,015 fans attending matches during the 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon was understandably chuffed with his concept's success - one that is here to stay as long as he's in the role.
“The opening weekend of finals delivered us the best of our game – the footy was unbelievably competitive and passionate fans turned out in record numbers.
“It was a fantastic way to kick off the 2026 Toyota AFL Finals Series, we're looking forward to another four big matches this coming weekend and seeing more of our fans at the footy across September.”
