the best and worst rating teams each season <\/a>when they sit down for their yearly fixture discussion.<\/p>\nRoss Lyon\u2019s St Kilda was a turn-off this season, featuring in four of the five lowest-rating matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir performance on-field and their TV ratings performance has seen them miss out because they play defensive gross footy\u201d was how one TV analyst described the Saints\u2019 plight.<\/p>\n
And with avid Saints fan Gillon McLachlan no longer in the big chair to protect them, the fixture boffins didn\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n
St Kilda has gone from four Thursday\/Friday night games in 2026 to zero in 2027. They, and North Melbourne, are the only teams to not rate a mention in the prime time slots. Whack.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the one club the AFL and its broadcasters will have their fingers and toes crossed about is Melbourne.<\/p>\n
There is a whiff of Carlton from a couple of years back about the Demons if things don\u2019t go according to plan.<\/p>\n
They desperately don\u2019t want Steven King to have any second-year blues or Max Gawn to go down injured as the Demons feature prominently under the bright lights midway through the year.<\/p>\n
A Round 10 Thursday night clash against Fremantle at Optus Stadium is followed by Friday night in Geelong, a Thursday match-up against the Western Bulldogs and then King\u2019s Birthday Monday against Collingwood.<\/p>\n
There has also been a push away from just relying on the traditional Victorian big clubs to win over viewers.<\/p>\n
The formula of needing one of the powerhouses like Richmond, Essendon, Carlton or Collingwood involved for Victorian viewers is gone with Channel 7 happy to back in two interstate teams who you know will play great games of footy.<\/p>\n
Both clashes between grand finalists Fremantle and Brisbane are prime time on Seven: the first in Round 8 on a Sunday night and then Thursday night in Round 16.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time you would never have wanted those matches coming into Melbourne, now they are proven ratings winners. The modern-day footy watching audience showed last year that they just want quality games.<\/p>\n
No more overlapping games on Sundays is also a major win for Kayo Footy next year.<\/p>\n
While they will again own Super Saturday, where the Pay-TV network has all the games, a smoother scheduling on Sunday with an increase in night games also ticks a lot of boxes.<\/p>\n
![\"Pendlebury](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f23502031c1d853c9b9a54b9197cf58a.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Kayo gets some important Saturday night match-up event games with Zach Merrett coming up against Essendon in Round 3, Nick Blakey v Sydney in Round 8 and AFL games record holder Scott Pendlebury taking on the Pies in Round 15.<\/p>\n
And Toby Greene\u2019s return to western Sydney is on Kayo Footy on a Saturday afternoon in Round 7.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re wondering about St Kilda\u2019s big match-up game with Carlton which this season was a much-hyped blockbuster Saturday night showdown in Round 8, its slipped off Broadway for 2027.<\/p>\n
De Koning and Jack Silvagni will take on their old side at 3.15pm on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of winter at Marvel Stadium in Round 15.<\/p>\n
Ouuch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the saying goes, you dig your own grave. 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