But surely the main objective of the fixture should be to maximise fairness and opportunity.
The AFL fixture is compromised under the current system. It has been argued that strong consideration needs to be given to increasing the number of teams in the AFL competition to 20.
There would be much discussion about the location of an additional two teams, but Tasmania is the next in line and deserves its own team.
With a 20 team competition, each team would play each other once during the season. Each club would take turns in being the home team. So, for example, if Hawthorn played Adelaide at the MCG in Year 1, both teams would play their next match at the Adelaide Oval in Year 2.
There are of course arguments that the AFL would lose revenue if a 23 game season was reduced to a 19 game season.
But the “F” in AFL stands for Football, it does not stand for Finance. Each season all teams must be given an equal opportunity to succeed.
Having a draw that is designed to maximise attendance and revenue tears at the very integrity of our great game.
As an industry we must decide if dollars are more important than integrity.
A fixture gets easier when you’ve got a Collingwood playing good football and you’ve got what looks like the re-emergence of Essendon coming through. When it’s a team like Collingwood – such a big club, such a big supporter base – you have to take advantage of that.
Travis Auld, AFL General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting
Keeping the teams happy is difficult because sometimes what the commercial team wants is different from what the football department wants, so you have to try and balance those things.
Travis Auld, AFL General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting
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Attendance remains AFL’s number one priority says Auld
