Revenue
AFL revenue may appear to be down from 1.063b to 1.039b, but this is almost entirely due to taking 114m less in Government grants this year. Operational Revenue rose from 960m to 1.033b in 2024 (with 6m in Government grants.
The League reported a profit of 41.327m, down to 21m after contributing to reserves.
Since 1997
- AFL Revenue + 1,153% –
- Operating Expenses +984%
- Club payments +1,182%
- Game Dev spend +1,312%
- Total Player Payments +538%
AFL Revenue 1997-2024
AFL Revenue, Player and Club payments, Game Dev exp
AFL TPP v Total Revenue
AFLW Expenditure (millions)
The AFL reports include 186m in cash assets, with 765m in total assets, 283m in liabilities (including 71m in loans) with 482.4m in equity.
The AFL makes a number of distributions to AFL clubs. These distributions totalled $420.8 million, an increase of $27.1 million compared with 2023, and included the following:
- A base distribution to all clubs which totalled $219.6 million;
- Variable distributions which totalled $83.1 million;
- AFLW distributions which totalled $34.1 million and
- Other commercial distributions which totalled $84.0 million.
Television
The respective Opening Round matches for Sydney and Brisbane were the most-watched games for the home and away season in those two cities.
Gather Round will continue in Adelaide until 2026 with excellent viewership outcomes, alongside strong attendance.
The 2024 Brownlow Medal telecast had the largest audience since 2015 with total average viewers of 1.36 million. This was up four per cent on 2023 and the 7plus audience was up 62 per cent on 2023.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame, which saw Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall elevated to Legend status, drew a 62,400 average TV audience while the AFL Awards, celebrating the achievers for the season, was watched by a 153,351 average TV audience.
A total of 4.024 million people tuned into the 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final making it the most watched AFL Grand Final since 2021, where the AFL Grand Final was hosted in Perth with Victorians unable to travel.
The total audience for the AFLW Grand Final was 497,000, including streaming audiences, and was the most-watched Grand Final since the Season One decider between Brisbane and the Adelaide Crows
Participation
The significant uplift on registered participants across the country in 2024 to exceed 581,000, more than 50,000 ahead of the 2023 record, was due to the incredible passion and commitment of the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who are part of our great game.
From NAB AFL Auskick where 144,000 kids pulled on the boots – representing a 12 per cent overall increase on 2023 with one in four Auskickers being girls – through to senior local club footy, the continued rise of the game for women and girls is a highlight for footy.
There was an overall 15 per cent year-on-year rise in female registrations nationally while different formats of the game allow people to play their way and for football to reach more people than ever before in 2024.
Queensland continues to see a surge in popularity backed by the success of the Brisbane Lions at the elite AFL and AFLW levels, with more than 79,000 registered participants, up 15 per cent year-on-year.
There were more than 71,000 registered participants in NSW/ACT in 2024, including those playing in local football leagues, NAB AFL Auskick, NAB AFL Superkick, AFL Nines and Paul Kelly Cup school competitions
Total football participation in SA surpassed 66,676, including 52,021 registered club players and a record 12,554 NAB AFL Auskick participants with AFL Nines, the new NAB AFL Superkick and SANFL Schools programs making up the balance. On a per capita basis, SA led the way nationally for both Auskick (9523) and Community Club (9364) participants aged 5-9 years
There were more than 236,00 registered participants in Victoria across all formats of the game in 2024, including 180,000 junior and senior club footballers (up from 176,000 in 2023), and a further 47,500 registered NAB AFL Auskick participants including nearly 10,000 girls.
Through partnerships from state government, local councils, local football clubs and community groups across the state, the AFL has delivered access to 23 new ovals and 66 more grounds with at least 100 lux lighting, while 58 per cent of local football venues now have gender-neutral player change facilities, up from 54 per cent in 202
Participation numbers across WA continued to grow with more than 87,000 participants registered to play football in 2024. There were 67,268 participants registered to play community club football across WA in season 2024, with a record 16,692 registered Auskick participants. Overall, female participation in football grew by three per cent in 2024. A particularly notable achievement was the increase in female leadership roles, which grew from 9.5 per cent to 19.4 per cent
Attendance and Membership
Fans flocked to the game in 2024, with the Toyota AFL Premiership Season attracting a record 7,756,268 fans. Round one was the the highest attended round of all time (413,405), while a record-breaking 16 rounds had total attendances of more than 300,000.
The 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final attracted more than 100,000 fans for the first time featuring two non-Victorian clubs. The passion of fans across the country continued to grow, with a record 1,319,687 club members.
Thirteen clubs broke their all-time membership record and Collingwood, Carlton and West Coast all surpassed 100,000 members. AFLW club membership also delivered a record total of 76,356. Total attendance for the 2024 NAB AFLW Season was 308,981, marking the first time a season has surpassed 300,000, with the average match attendance up 2.1 per cent year-on-year.
AFL membership set a record with more than 63,000 members, as well as Medallion Club Platinum and Gold tiers establishing record membership. Premier Suites reached capacity for the second successive year
Gather/Opening Round
More than 23,000 visitors headed to either NSW or Queensland for an Opening Round match, coupled with outstanding viewership numbers for the matches into Victoria and improved membership and interest outcomes for the four clubs based in the two northern states.
Gather Round is contracted in South Australia for a further two years and, in 2024, the nine games across Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval and the Adelaide Hills saw more than 45,000 visitors come to the state for matches, taking up more than 190,000 nights of visitor stays and an economic contribution of more than $91 million.
