Media Release – 13/9/2026
The 2026 Toyota AFL Finals Series has put on another blockbuster weekend with sold-out stadiums and record viewership numbers dominating the sporting landscape across the weekend.
Across the two matches, the Seven and Kayo / Foxtel broadcasts reached 7.9 million Australians with an average total audience of 3.4 million.
[Editor note: This puts average AFL Friday audience at 1.8m, and we know it had 1.2m on Seven, leaving 600k on Fox/Kayo. This also leaves a total of 1.6m for Saturday, with about 600k for Fox/Kayo again.]
Friday night’s Fremantle vs Geelong attracted a sell-out crowd of 59,725, with Fremantle recording their highest ever home crowd and the second-highest AFL crowd at Optus Stadium outside of the 2021 Toyota AFL Grand Final.
Friday night’s match was the biggest viewership audience of the year with an average audience over 1.8 million and reach of over four million Australians, surpassing last weekend’s record Qualifying and Elimination Finals viewership.
On Saturday night 36,026 fans were at the sold-out Gabba to see reigning premiers Brisbane take on Adelaide marking the fourth highest AFL Finals attendance at the venue of all-time, and the highest crowd at the Gabba for the season.
Across Friday and Saturday, the AFL Finals were the #1 program in total TV across all people, also holding the position of the #1 program on Saturday for the Brisbane vs Adelaide Semi Final with a reach of over 3.8 million.
The 95,751 attendees across the Semi Finals brings the total Toyota AFL Finals Series attendance to date to 513,277 including six out of the eight matches being sell-out crowds.
The Semi Finals success follows a standout Qualifying and Elimination Finals weekend with 244,757 fans in attendance and a total of 15 million viewers across the four matches.
The strong start to the 2026 Toyota AFL Finals Series follows the highest home-and-away attendance in VFL/AFL history, with 7,772,015 fans attending matches during the 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, with total season attendance to date at 8,285,292 fans.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said:
“The Semi Finals was another huge weekend of footy with two sold-out matches and millions of Australians continuing to tune in.
“Fans have been out in full force cheering on their sides and we can’t wait to see two massive prelim finals in Sydney and Melbourne next weekend as four clubs chase their place for Premiership glory.”
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