Australian rules football attendance records
Australia Note: Since the 1970s in Australia, many grounds have been reconfigured without standing room, which reduces maximum capacity.
Single matches Largest home and away crowd involving at least 1 non-Victorian team – 82,326 (2025). AFL 2025 - Round 21 v (MCG, Melbourne, Victoria) Largest home and away crowd involving 2 non-Victorian teams – 62,586 (2007). AFL 2007 - Round 1 v (Stadium Australia, Sydney)
By Australian State and Territory State Attendance Year League Event Venue Sold out ? Victoria 121,696 1970 VFL Grand Final – Carlton v Collingwood MCG, Melbourne New South Wales 72,393 2003 AFL Round 21 – Sydney Swans v. Collingwood Stadium Australia, Sydney South Australia 66,987 1976 SANFL Grand Final – Sturt vs Port Adelaide Football Park, Adelaide Western Australia 61,118 2021 AFL Q2021 AFL Grand Final. Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs Perth Stadium, Perth Queensland 37,478 2019 AFL Qualifying Final – Brisbane Lions vs Richmond The Gabba, Brisbane Tasmania 24,968 1979 TFL Grand Final – Glenorchy v Clarence North Hobart Oval, Hobart Northern Territory 17,500 2002 AFL (pre-season practice) Aboriginal All-Stars vs Carlton Marrara Oval, Darwin Australian Capital Territory 14,974 2016 AFL Round 19 – Greater Western Sydney Giants vs Richmond Manuka Oval, Canberra
The table gives official crowd figures only. In the case of the 1976 SANFL Grand Final, the official crowd of 66,987 was the number of tickets sold, but when the SANFL ran out they opened Football Park's gates for free and the crowd grew by an estimated 15,000.
Largest Crowd outside an Australian capital city – 49,109 (1952). VFL v (Kardinia Park, Geelong, Victoria) Largest Crowd outside a metropolitan city – 20,971 – (2006). AFL v (York Park, Launceston, Tasmania)
State of Origin Representative Matches
Victoria v. South Australia – 91,960 (1989). (MCG, Melbourne)
League Seasons AFL – 7,594,302. (2018). Number of Games – 207. Average attendance – 36,692AFL Tables SANFL – 1,090,164. (1967). Number of Games – 104. Average attendance – 10,482 from Full Points Footy WAFL – 960,169. (1967). Number of Games – 88. Average attendance – 10,911 VFL – 937,291. (1976). Number of Games – 94. Average Attendance – 9,971 TFL – 318,496. (1967). Number of Games – 58 Average attendance – 5,491
League Single Round AFL – 435,501. Round 1, 2025.
International
AFL Premiership matches New Zealand - 22,546 (2013). v. (Westpac Stadium, Wellington) China - 10,689 (2018) v. (Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai)
Exhibition matches
AFL (VFL/AFL) Canada – 32,789 (1987). Melbourne v. Sydney (B.C. Place, Vancouver) Japan – 25,000 (1986). Carlton v. Hawthorn (Yokohama Stadium, Tokyo) United Kingdom – 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London) USA – 14,787 (1990). Melbourne v. West Coast (Civic Stadium, Portland) New Zealand – 11,666 (2000). Bulldogs v. Hawthorn. (Westpac Stadium, Wellington) South Africa – 10,123 (1998). Brisbane v. Fremantle. (Cape Town) United Arab Emirates – 6,102 (2008). Collingwood v. Adelaide. (Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, Abu Dhabi) China – 7,100 (2010). Melbourne v. Brisbane Lions. (Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai) Other France – 700 (11 March 2006). Reading Kangaroos v. France (Perpignan)French almost pull off an upset against the Reading Roos by Aaron Richard for World Footy News
International Representative matches (by country) Attendance Date Event Teams Venue City Notes 10,000 1976 International Test PNG vs Nauru Sir Hubert Murray Stadium Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea It’s PNG by 129 points. PNG Post Courier. 21 Sep 1976 Page 24 6,000 2017 International Test India vs Australia (masters) Paschim Medinipur district (West Midnapore) India Crowd packs stadium for first official Aussie rules match in India for the Herald Sun 27 July 2017 5,000 2005 2005 Australian Football International Cup Japan vs South Africa City Oval Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia Australia IAFC 2,500 2007 49th Parallel Cup Canada vs United States Thunderbird Stadium Vancouver, British Columbia Canada IAFC 500 2008 2008 EU Cup Australian rules football England vs Croatia Slavia Sports Centre Prague Czech Republic 150 2007 2007 European Australian Football Tri-nations Tournament Finland vs Sweden Halikko Stadium Halikko Finland Finland building towards 2008 from worldfootynews.com
Notes 1. The International Cup carnival does not charge for admission, and crowd figures are estimates to the nearest 500 spectators based on total ground capacity. These figures do not include International Rules tests between Australia and Ireland or tests played as curtain raisers to AFL matches.
2. The 49th Parallel Cup charged admission for the first time in 2007.
Domestic Representative Matches Ontario vs Quebec – 500Official Website of the Australian Football League > NEWS ARTICLE > Australia winners at Canada Day Football Carnival
Leagues outside of Australia This is a list of record attendances for leagues outside of Australia. Crowd figures are estimates to the nearest 500 spectators based on total ground capacity. Note: No international Australian Rules Football leagues currently charge for admission (though the POM AFL did in the 1970s).
Attendance Date League Teams Venue Country City Notes 20,000 2018 (December) Odisha Australian Football League State Championships match Similipal Mini Stadium India Bholagoria Odisha OTV 2 December 2018 6,000 1977 Port Moresby Australian Rules Football League Koboni vs Moresby (Grand Final) Hubert Murray Stadium Papua New Guinea Port Moresby 3,000 1999 Nauru Australian Football Association Menaida vs Panzer (Championship Finale) Linkbelt Oval Nauru Aiwo 1,500 1999 British Australian Rules Football League West London Wildcats vs Wandsworth Demons (Grand Final) Clapham Common United Kingdom London 1,000 2004 Mid American Australian Football League Nashville Kangaroos vs Chicago Swans United States of America Nashville, Tennessee MAAFL 600 2008 (October) Ontario Australian Football League Toronto Eagles vs Etobicoke Kangaroos (Grand Final) Humber Park Canada Toronto Kangaroos Bounce Their Way To First Premiership 500 2005 (July 12) West Java Australian Football League (Pancawati Cup) Pancawati Eagles vs Pancawatti Scorpions (Grand Final) Indonesia Pancawati (Bogor) Eagles Win Second Flag
References