The inaugural AFL wildcard weekend has been hailed as a success by league chief executive Andrew Dillon, following two highly attended and widely viewed matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The games, played on Friday and Saturday nights, featured the seventh through tenth qualifiers competing in knockout contests, drawing a combined crowd of over 170,000 spectators.
On Friday, the eighth-ranked Western Bulldogs defeated ninth-placed Collingwood before an audience of 81,036 fans, in a match some commentators described as one of the season's best. The following night saw tenth-seeded Carlton edge out the seventh-ranked Melbourne Demons in front of 91,733 spectators. Collectively, these fixtures generated millions of dollars in gate receipts, which under AFL finals rules will be directed to the league, while also providing a boost to Melbourne’s local economy as fans flooded the city.
Television ratings for the weekend were equally notable, with 7.4 million viewers tuning in across Fox Footy, Kayo, and the Seven Network. The Bulldogs-Collingwood clash was the most-watched match of the season and of any premiership fixture across all codes, excluding the National Rugby League State of Origin series, averaging 1.6 million viewers and drawing a combined 3.8 million nationally.
Despite the overall positive reception, the introduction of the wildcard round has sparked some debate. Richmond legend Matthew Richardson voiced strong criticism of the format, arguing on social media that the system undermines the integrity of the finals series by allowing more than half of the teams to qualify after the home-and-away season. He pointed to Melbourne’s 15 wins compared to Carlton’s 12 wins and a draw, questioning the fairness of matching a higher-performing team against one with a significantly inferior record in a sudden-death scenario.
Dillon addressed these concerns during a halftime interview on Fox Footy, emphasizing the enthusiastic fan response and describing the inaugural wildcard weekend as a "raging success" that is "here to stay." He highlighted the quality of the matches and their dramatic conclusions, particularly praising the final quarter of the Bulldogs-Collingwood game.
Off-field, there was some controversy regarding timing in the Bulldogs-Collingwood match. The AFL reviewed a last-minute shot on goal by Collingwood’s Tim Membrey, concluding he had a second remaining on the clock at the moment of the attempt. Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge had expressed differing views about the timing based on his perspective at ground level, although no formal penalties were issued for his brief encroachment on the playing surface during the final minutes.
Overall, the AFL’s new wildcard weekend has garnered significant attention and strong commercial returns, amid ongoing discussion about the competition’s evolving finals structure.