This was not the time to outrage rusted-on fans, but AFL grand final timeslot debate remains

Gillon McLachlan began his reign as CEO wanting to take heed of the fans, and he will end it taking heed of the fans when it comes to the start time of the AFL grand final.

The AFL’s decision to continue the tradition of bouncing the ball to start the AFL grand final at 2.30pm (even allowing for the fact it began at 3pm in 1999, and 2.45pm through most of the ’90s) was a popular call, but it was also the correct call in 2022 as the game grapples with the new environment the pandemic has created.

That doesn’t mean the decision wasn’t considered in-depth before a recommendation was made at Wednesday’s commission meeting allowing AFL production to go to work to ensure the announcement carried similar anticipation to a finale of The Bachelor.

Melbourne won the 2021 premiership under lights at Optus Stadium. Could they go back-to-back in a daytime grand final at the MCG?Credit:AFL Photos

Everyone knows the financial benefits that could flow to broadcasters, and therefore the AFL, if the game was played in the twilight, allowing for a greater audience while still allowing for some fun and frivolity post-game. Most expect it to eventually happen, sooner rather than later, as there are different viewpoints around the commission about what time presents the game in the best possible light – fading or day.

But McLachlan is acutely aware that public sentiment remains wedded to the tradition of playing the game at the same time of the day, in the same conditions, and at the same venue as most of the grand finals have been played in the past 125 seasons (the one day in September tradition isn’t quite as fierce as 26 deciders have been played in October).

He is also in the midst of negotiations around the next broadcast rights deal.

So, again, the league let the speculation rage to the point people were having stand-up arguments about why a move to a twilight start was the wrong idea or the right idea, or the end of the world, or the start of civilisation, and then said to warm applause: “Relax, we’re keeping the start time at 2.30pm.”

Let’s face it, if you hang someone over a cliff but don’t drop them, they are sure to hug you.

To be fair, debate occurs because it is somewhat of an anomaly in world sport for a climax to occur in daylight, with this month’s FA Cup final at Wembley starting at 4.45pm, while the NFL’s Super Bowl started at 6.30pm this year. The Australian Open is played at night and even Test cricket is played under lights. Most AFL finals leading into the grand final are played at night, too, nowadays.

But many appreciate that anomaly – a local game playing by its own rules. They revere the tradition, one so entrenched in Victoria that the past two years, when the grand final started at night outside the state, felt odd, like Santa had not turned up on Christmas Day. Despite the cynicism, McLachlan reveres it too.

In fact, the delay in moving the grand final to a twilight timeslot – as seemed about to happen before it didn’t – throughout most of McLachlan’s time at the AFL has seen the opposition to a switch grow more vocal and, while not exactly organised, at least present.

The league would also be aware, as it undertakes further negotiations around a new broadcast deal, that such a switch might be a handy carrot to keep uneaten on the plate while discussions continue with potential broadcast partners.

In all deals, the decision has been left with the AFL, where it will remain. However, there would be an opportunity for the league to lock in a decision over the life of the next broadcast deal that determines its value and also allows them to negotiate strong free-to-air coverage that keeps the average punter engaged.

As crowds drop post-COVID, the league will know the reasons are not because people perceive that the game is being sanitised, or whether a push in the back is being paid, but that everyone in the growing suburbs has a big TV that feeds the stay-at-home habit the pandemic developed.

That makes the competition to get people to games, where they have to buy tickets and can’t automatically find a seat next to their best mates, much harder.

Now was not the time to outrage the rusted-on fans.

So, here we are again, the same place we have been for most of the past 20 years: Watching the AFL grand final start at 2.30pm with the feeling there has been a win for the people. Anyone for bottled water?

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