The AFL look set to bin Sunday night football after poor Collingwood-Carlton crowd number.
Sunday night football fixtures are all but over, after the AFL today admitted the trial had not been well received by fans.
The AFL look set to scrap the time-slot after just 40,939 turned out for the traditionally well-attended Collingwood-Carlton match the the MCG yesterday.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said it was evident that the fans had rejected the fixture, despite the fact TV ratings were high.
“It’s the AFL’s view that the trial in 2014 has shown us that there is a place for Thursday night matches as event games in our schedule, but there is not the same appetite for Sunday night in the fixture,” McLachlan said.
“Sunday night matches have drawn strong viewer numbers on both the Fox Footy Channel and the Seven Network, but crowd numbers have been strongly impacted, particularly in the games played in this timeslot in Melbourne in rounds one, three, 12 and last night.
“We will always look at new initiatives – just as we have done in the past with Friday night and Saturday twilight football – but match-day attendance is a core ingredient of the success of our game and, in this instance, we acknowledge the very strong feedback from our fans and our clubs in relation to Sunday night football, particularly in Victoria.”
The news comes just a day after Collingwood president Eddie McGuire threatened to demand compensation from the AFL after the poor attendance from fans.
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