The Australian Football League is facing mounting backlash, accused of disregarding fan pleas to discard the floating fixture in 2024. Critics suggest it to be an outdated concept, an artifact from the Covid-stricken seasons that are seeing massive populist disapproval.
Recent whispers around the league suggest the schedule for the upcoming season will be unveiled on November 16. Responding to this, the AFL Fans Association is advocating for a definite fixture to terminate the recurring uncertainty experienced by supporters. The vagueness of potentially eight final rounds leaves fans in doubt about times, dates, and event locations.
A poll carried out by the AFLFA reveals stark opposition. Merely 13% of fans favor the floating fixture, while a whopping 90% desire fixture certainty. An attempt was made by the AFLFA to express their concerns to the AFL but the response was conspicuously absent.
AFLFA head Ron Issko has voiced his concern that the continuation of the floating fixture might even impact club memberships. “Let’s not forget the significant changes in the cost of living over the past year. Fans want to ensure their membership is valuable by ascertaining how many games they can attend, as indicated by a complete fixture,” Issko commented.
He further pointed out that among international or Australian sports, AFL stands alone in maintaining a floating fixture, leaving over 60 games unscheduled during the concluding stages of the season.
A dwindling spectator count, a 26-year low in the 2022 season, did enforce a partial shift from the floating fixture. However, the concept was not wholly abandoned, evident in the 2023 schedule with fixtures confirmed for the first 15 rounds and the trailing eight rounds unfixed for optimal television broadcast times.
Claiming fans need to make work and travel plans, the AFLFA demands the abandoning of the floating fixture by 2024 and sees a public announcement of the full schedule as imperative.
The AFL has indicated initial plans for four games in Sydney and Queensland spanned across March 8-10, preceding the traditional Richmond-Carlton face-off at the MCG to kickoff the 2024 season.
