Victorians to watch night grand final as AFL confirms start time

The AFL has announced the first bounce in this year’s grand final will take place at 5.15pm in Perth on Saturday September 25, meaning the season decider will be broadcast at nighttime in Victoria for the second year in a row.

As reported by The Age on Monday, the grand final, which will be the first played in Perth, will be a twilight match for those in WA.

The late start for those on the east coast comes despite complaints from families after last year’s decider in Brisbane, which finished after 10pm AEDT, a late night for children wanting to watch the marquee match.

Perth has been named host of the AFL grand final.Credit:Getty

Grand finals are traditionally played in an afternoon timeslot, but the 2020 grand final kicked off at 7.30pm AEDT, which was 6.30pm at the Gabba.

Free-to-air broadcast partner Seven recently told the AFL that it didn’t want the game to finish any later than it did last year, which was just before 10.15pm AEDT.

And with quarter lengths reverting back from 16 minutes to 20 minutes plus time on this season, the first bounce will has been moved forward slightly to compensate.

Sources said league executives met with broadcasters on Monday afternoon where the bounce time for this year’s match was narrowed down to a 20-minute period between 7.00 and 7.20pm AEST – a twilight start in Perth. On Tuesday, the AFL confirmed the start time of 7.15pm AEST.

The AFL’s general manager of clubs and broadcasting, Travis Auld, said the aim was “to provide fans at the game with the ultimate grand final experience by maximising the stadium’s offering while taking into consideration the broadcast audience across the country.

“The AFL, together with the Seven Network, remain cognisant of finishing the match at a suitable time for younger footy fans and, as a result, landed on a timeslot that is earlier than the usual start time for night matches during the season and last year’s grand final,” he said.

“Historically, a really special part of grand final day is the build-up and anticipation, and we want to ensure we can share the excitement and atmosphere with the millions watching across the nation and around the world.”

The AFL privately believes it is nothing short of a miracle that it is on the verge of completing the 2021 season in full, given the amount of manoeuvring required due to the pandemic.

The league and the Victorian government held on to hope that the grand final could be played at the MCG for as long as possible, but Optus Stadium was always the first contingency plan, ahead of the Adelaide Oval.

Last week, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said: “West Australian footy fans are as passionate as any in the country and the stadium in Perth with a capacity crowd of 60,000 in attendance will be an amazing spectacle.

“This is the biggest single day of sport in Australia’s calendar and we’re going to do it properly. Perth’s going to do it properly and we’re going to lead in properly and that’s the opportunity by playing in Western Australia.”

The AFL also considered moving the grand final ahead of schedule to September 18 in order to take advantage of the season’s momentum and also mitigate the chance of disruption due to a potential outbreak.

But the week off between the preliminary finals and the final game will give the AFL a chance to build the occasion in Perth, with official functions scheduled during the week and the Brownlow Medal set to take place on the Sunday before the game.

In the worst-case scenario, where an outbreak in Perth forces a lockdown, the AFL is prepared to move the game interstate within a day’s notice.

The game could also be postponed by a week in the event that other states are also dealing with lockdowns, although that would be a nightmare for the broadcast deal.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article