Less AFL could be more for the fans

FREMANTLE chief executive Simon Garlick believes it’s time for the AFL to consider a radical fixture shake-up, including a switch to a 17-game regular season designed to turn every match into a premium event.

Taking inspiration from America’s NFL, which has expanded from their traditional 16 games to 17 this year across a four-month regular season, Garlick (pictured) said the move would improve competition integrity and could ultimately create a better product.

Garlick acknowledged the dramatic change would initially hit broadcast revenue, given five less games for each club, and conceded he felt uncomfortable about the prospect of giving up a second western derby.

But he believed the industry had a duty to meaningfully consider big-picture reform on the back of two seasons heavily affected by Covid-19.

Garlick said a 17-game regular season, enabling every team to play each other once, would provide space for a finals wildcard weekend, an expanded finals series or even the return of State of Origin.

“There’s a whole range of possibilities I would have thought,” he said.

“I haven’t got the right answer, but I think we should be exploring a host of options. I think it would be incredibly exciting if we had the opportunity to come back to everyone playing each other once.

“I think there is potentially some value – not decreasing it significantly – but by having a bit more scarcity of product.

“I qualify that by saying I understand that’s going to create challenges, in the short term anyway, because of the broadcast deals that are in place based around 22 rounds. So to remove those five rounds is, I’d suggest, going to be expensive from a foregone revenue perspective.

“But I think there’d be opportunity in time. Each game would seemingly be worth a heck of a lot more and I think in time it could create an even better product.”