sport news How the AFL lost the battle for Sydney: Shocking proof the Swans and GWS have ... trends now
When Sydney Swans players fell to their haunches after their 81-point loss to Geelong on Saturday, powerbrokers knew that was not the only heavy loss the AFL had incurred in the Harbour City that day.
While the MCG was packed with a record crowd - the biggest seen at an AFL decider since 1986 - at home the punters were turning off in droves.
The official figures for the Geelong versus Sydney grand final showed 2.18 million viewers in capital cities and 2.96 million viewers nationally, with 95,000 viewers on streaming platforms.
Lance Franklin of the Swans looks dejected during the 2022 AFL Grand Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans
In a huge blow to the code's plans to win supporters in the city's west, only 375,000 watched the game in Sydney.
The last two grand finals were held during the Covid-19 pandemic in the night time slot at grand finals held on foreign soil at Optus Stadium in Perth and the Gabba in Brisbane, and attracted roughly a million more viewers each.
However, the last daytime grand final at the MCG between Richmond Tigers and GWS Giants in 2019 had 2.197 million metro viewers tuning in with 2.90 million nationally. Both that grand final and this year's decider had numbers well done on previous years.
Prior to that, 3.39 million people tuned in to watch the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood do battle in 2018.
Toby Greene of the Giants is emotional after the 2019 AFL Grand Final match between the Richmond Tigers and the Greater Western Sydney Giants
While powerbrokers are considering a move to twilight grand finals after the success of the Perth and Brisbane grand finals, the elephant in the room is nobody seems to watch Sydney teams at the big dance.
Which begs the question, is the battle for Sydney run, done and lost?
Huge numbers of NRL fans are expected to tune in for the Battle of the West between Penrith and Parramatta this Sunday.
It was only 13 years ago that the AFL declared war on Sydney's west by dropping in the GWS Giants, armed with an upgraded stadium, a war chest of funds, draft selections galore, veteran coach Kevin Sheedy and former NRL star Israel Folau as their poster child.
The AFL has been spending money hand over fist on the battling Giants and the
