AFL CEO-Elect Andrew Dillon has today announced a new all-time AFL Club membership record of 1,198,833* members (year to date).
The 1,198,833 number surpasses the record of 1,190,671 that was set in 2022.
One in 22 Australians is a member of an AFL club.
AFL club membership has increased 30 times in the past 32 years, with the exceptions being in the year 2000, when the AFL season was moved forward by a month to accommodate the Sydney Olympics, and 2020’s heavily impacted Covid-19 season.
Cut off for 2023 membership is August 31 with the clubs and AFL to announce total and final numbers in September.
“More than 1.198 million members and so far, 5.81 million fans attending the matches around the country across the first 19 rounds of the home and away season – our fans are like none other in world sport,” Mr Dillon said.
“The connection that footy fans have with their clubs is unmatched and I am so incredibly proud of all the supporters of our game around the country and all the work the clubs do to engage their communities,
“We have a wide-open race leading into AFL Finals, our 2023 AFLW season is just around the corner and community footy finals take off, making the next couple of months the best on the footy calendar.
“On behalf of the AFL, I’d like to thank all our fans and every club member whose passion and
support continues to make footy the greatest game in the world.”
So far seven clubs have announced all-time records – Seven clubs have achieved membership records – Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Fremantle, Geelong Cats, Melbourne, Sydney Swans, and the Western Bulldogs – along with AFL Membership achieving its all-time member record.
Richmond, West Coast Eagles, and Collingwood lead the 2023 membership tallies, with Richmond and West Coast recently announcing they passed 100,000 members each, and Collingwood are closing in on that mark again.
The West Coast Eagles have now exceeded 100,000 members on four and topped the AFL
membership tally last year with102,897 members.
Richmond has now passed 100,000 for the sixth year running, after becoming the first sporting club in Australian history to pass 100,000 members in 2018.
In 2022, Collingwood became the third club in history to surpass 100,000 members while setting their new membership record of 100,384 members.
Home and Away attendance for the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season continues to be on record pace as 5,811,157 fans have attended the opening 19 rounds.
This is the highest attended AFL Rounds 1 –19 on record, 96,922 attendees more than previous record (5,714,235 in 2008).
