{"id":311202,"date":"2025-11-27T02:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T02:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/311202\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T02:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T02:05:12","slug":"afl-accused-of-stagnating-aflw-with-decision-to-hold-grand-final-at-ikon-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/311202\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL accused of \u2018stagnating\u2019 AFLW with decision to hold grand final at Ikon Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Channel 7 commentator Kate McCarthy has again taken aim at the AFL<\/a> for \u201cstagnating\u201d the women\u2019s league.<\/p>\n

The AFL announced Saturday night\u2019s blockbuster AFLW grand final between North Melbourne and Brisbane<\/a> at Ikon Park has sold out.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFLW grand final venue debate rages.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the third-straight year the premiership decider has been held at the venue, with the previous two also selling out.<\/p>\n

Ikon Park\u2019s capacity is listed at approximately 13,000, with over 12,000 attending the past two premiership deciders.<\/p>\n

McCarthy has been vocal in her criticism of the league for holding the marquee game at the venue, instead of the AFL-owned Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n

Watch the AFLW grand final live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the third straight year, fans are being locked out of the AFLW grand final because the venue is too small,\u201d she tweeted.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo better, AFL. This isn\u2019t growth \u2014 it\u2019s stagnation.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Melbourne president Sonja Hood previously said holding the game at a potentially half-full Marvel Stadium would be \u201cdeflating\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably of the view that they need to continue to create demand for this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the game at Ikon Park \u2014 but it\u2019s not the long-term answer and it\u2019s not the long-term answer for anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere there is terrific and filling it is terrific. Half-filling Marvel Stadium, if that\u2019s what we ended up doing, would just be deflating I think, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019m probably happy for it to stay where it is for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what probably worries me is the lack of longer-term planning around what facilities and the game needs to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McCarthy doesn\u2019t subscribe to that theory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s interesting that Sonja Hood has made comments about a half-full Marvel, considering her club\u2019s men\u2019s side averaged 23,961 at their home games this year,\u201d McCarthy said on the W Show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say if we had 23,000 at the AFLW grand final, that\u2019s still more than the 12,000 we can have at Ikon Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also argue the atmosphere of 23,000 at Marvel for a grand final would be very different to a Sunday four o\u2019clock game, North Melbourne taking on whoever they are in the men\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand the thought around having more people at a game and how that\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a competition that\u2019s growing, how do you not want more people at the game?\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy doesn\u2019t think Marvel Stadium will sell out, but doesn\u2019t understand why the league wouldn\u2019t want more than 12,000 at the showpiece game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying we\u2019re going to get 50,000 at Marvel Stadium. Not at all. If we did, that would be amazing,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut why not have the opportunity to have more than 12,000 people at a game that\u2019s sold out for two years in a row now in two hours? I just don\u2019t see why we\u2019re putting a ceiling on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the data that the AFLW have from AFLW attendances is that fans are casual fans that go on the day of the game. So if it\u2019s sold out, how do you go on the day of the game? You can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if there are tickets available and people decide, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s right, the AFLW final is on today, the grand final, let\u2019s go to Docklands and let\u2019s make a day of it and go watch, because we can, because there\u2019s tickets available\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel like we\u2019re closing off a whole heap of people that could attend the game by having it at a venue that\u2019s historically sold out.\u201d<\/p>\n

League general manager of AFLW Emma Moore previously said there were no plans to change the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be able to sell out Marvel. We want to be able to create a huge moment around the grand final at Marvel. And when we have that as our problem, that will be the best problem that we can possibly have,\u201d she said in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty clear that Ikon Park is where we\u2019d have the grand final, should it be held in Melbourne. And we want to absolutely sell it out and create the best spectacle we can around a sold-out stadium experience for our players and our clubs and our fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really big step from an Ikon Park to a sell-out at Marvel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we want to make sure that when people turn up to a grand final for W, it is the absolutely best experience of a grand final that they will experience. Ikon is a premier stadium to hold it at, and it makes sense as a place to hold it with where we\u2019re at now with the growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFLW icon suddenly facing \u2018difficult situation\u2019<\/p>\n

1 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Unprecedented history beckons for grand final-bound AFLW veteran<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

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