AFLW Boom not a Bust: 2021 Season Confirmed

The AFL has announced that AFLW 5 is set to go ahead in 2021, quashing fears that the women’s competition would suffer as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The season will feature nine home and away rounds and a three week finals series.

The announcement came as Roy Morgan released survey results highlighting the growing success of the women’s game. The AFLW attracted a whopping 2.78 million television viewers in 2020, up from 2.42 million in 2019.

Interestingly, AFLW is more popular with men (1.64 million) compared to women (1.14 million). 

 The survey also highlights that the AFL is comfortably outperforming rival codes such as the NRL and A-League. The AFLW is the only competition to increase its viewership in a time where other codes have seen a notable decrease in audience numbers.

Industry communications director Julian Mcrann explains that “the AFL Women’s competition is watched by 2.78 million Australians and is the only form of AFL competition to increase its TV viewership compared to a year ago.”

“In a time when every investment decision is closely analysed to determine where scarce dollars should be directed, the success of AFL Women’s in growing TV viewership over the last year should not be under-estimated. Other AFL competitions, as well as rival sporting codes such as the NRL, have experienced declines in TV viewership compared to a year ago and the outperformance by the AFL Women’s competition suggests there is further growth to come for the league formed less than four years ago.”

We look forward to seeing all our AFLW athletes compete on the biggest stage in front of millions of viewers each week in the 2021 season. Bring it on!