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AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
competition for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022. The league is run by the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL) and is contested by each of the clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are the North Melbourne Kangaroos. The AFLW is the second most attended women's football competition in Australia (behind A-League Women) and one of the most popular women's football competitions in the world. Its average attendance in 2019 of 6,262 per game made it the second-highest of any domestic women's football competition. Its record attendance of 53,034 for the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final was until 2020 the highest match attendance for women's sport in Australia. Since launch, the AFLW has attracted an audience of more than 1 million attendees and 2 million viewersOver 2.6 million Australians watch AFLW on TV
, from Roy Morgan, 29 March 2021, Finding No. 8674.
and has managed to maintain high interest while moving to primarily ticketed and subscription broadcasting models since the 2021 season. It consistently ranks in the top three (alongside cricket and netball) most-watched women's sporting competitions in Australia. The league receives international interest, particularly in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, where it has begun to attract a significant television audience due to the ongoing recruitment of Irish
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
stars. However, it was reported in mid-2023 that data revealed a significant drop in attendances for the seventh season of the women's league compared to the first season.


History


Establishment

In 2010, the AFL commissioned a report into the state of women's football around the country. Along with findings concerning grassroots and junior football, the report recommended the AFL Commission begin working toward the establishment of a national women's league. While the option of new stand-alone clubs was considered, a model using the resources and branding of existing AFL clubs was to be the preferred model for the planned league. The first on-field step towards the competition took place in early 2013, when the AFL announced an exhibition match to be played between women's teams representing and in June of that year. On 15 May 2013, the first women's draft was held, establishing the playing lists for the two clubs in the forthcoming exhibition match. The match played on 29 June 2013 marked the first time two women's sides had competed under the banners of AFL clubs. A crowd of 7,518 watched the historic match, which Melbourne won by 35 points. The exhibition match became a series between the clubs, with another game played in 2014 and two played in 2015, the last of which – on 16 August 2015 – was the first women's AFL game to be broadcast on free-to-air television. It attracted an average audience of 175,000, surpassing the 114,000 average audience for the AFL men's clash of the previous day, between Adelaide and Essendon. The success of these exhibition matches prompted the AFL to accelerate its plans for a nationwide women's competition, announcing a preferred start date of 2017. Prior to this, the league had announced only aspirational plans to have the women's competition established by 2020. The already-planned 2016 exhibition series was expanded at this time, with a total of ten matches to be played in venues across the country and featuring a range of new temporary representative teams. In 2016, the AFL opened a process for existing clubs to tender applications to join the new competition. The 18 clubs in the men's league had until 29 April 2016 to place a bid for a licence, with 13 clubs making bids: Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, West Coast, and Western Bulldogs. The AFL's preferred distribution of clubs was four clubs from Victoria and one each from
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, and
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. The inaugural teams were announced on 8 June 2016. , , and were the only teams to bid in their respective states and were granted licences to compete in 2017. Both Western Australian clubs made bids, with 's bid chosen ahead of the bid from . Eight Victorian clubs made bids: , , and were successful, with , , and being unsuccessful but granted provisional licences. Details about the branding of the league were released in the second half of 2016. On 15 September 2016, the AFL announced that the league would be named "AFL Women's" or AFLW for short, with the logo being unveiled on 19 September 2016. The logo is a stylised rendition of an Australian rules football ground goal square and goal posts, drawn from a perspective that resembles a "W". On 10 October 2016, the
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...
was named as the league's naming rights sponsor. The first premiership game was played at Ikon Park on Friday, 3 February 2017. The AFL had initially planned to host the game at Melbourne's Olympic Park Oval, with a capacity of just 7,000, but was forced to change to Ikon Park due to overwhelming interest and a need for more seating. The match was deemed a "lockout" with a capacity crowd of 24,568 in attendance, with estimates of a few thousand left outside. Gillon McLachlan, the AFL's CEO, personally apologised to those who missed out. The game was also a great success on TV, attracting a national audience of 896,000, including 593,000 metropolitan free-to-air viewers, 180,000 regional free-to-air viewers, and 123,000 on Fox Footy. The Melbourne metropolitan audience of 424,000 was on par with that of Friday-night AFL men's matches. The inaugural season concluded with the Grand Final held on Saturday, 25 March 2017. The Crows were crowned the league's first premiers after defeating the minor premiers, the Brisbane Lions. The scoreline read Adelaide 4.11 (35) def. Brisbane 4.5 (29).


Expansion (2019–2022)

Expansion of the competition occurred in two instalments, with two clubs added in 2019 and four added in 2020, resulting in 14 teams in total. The 10 AFL clubs not originally participating in the competition were invited to bid for inclusion, with priority given to the five clubs that had submitted unsuccessful bids to participate in the inaugural season. The deadline to lodge submissions was 16 June 2017. The only clubs not to bid were and . worked with AFL Tasmania to craft its bid, with the club aiming to play home matches in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
, and Launceston, and also to select half of its playing list from
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
. A final decision on which clubs would be admitted to the competition was expected by the end of July 2017, but was delayed several times. On 27 September 2017, the AFL announced that and North Melbourne had been selected to enter the competition in 2019. North Melbourne retained its commitment to playing matches in Tasmania. The league then added four teams in 2020, with the AFL selecting , , and to join the competition. The growth in clubs for the 2019 season was accompanied by the introduction of an American-style
conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
structure, which was abandoned after the 2020 season in favour of the traditional single ladder. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the 2020 season was curtailed and eventually cancelled without a premiership awarded. On 12 August 2021, the other four AFL clubs without AFLW licenses – , , Port Adelaide and Sydney – were granted entry into the competition, to commence in
AFL Women's season seven AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...
. became the first expansion team, founded after the inaugural season, to win a premiership, when the Kangaroos defeated Brisbane by 30 points in the 2024 decider.


Clubs

The competition's 18 teams are based across five states of Australia. Ten are based in Victoria (nine in the Melbourne metropolitan area), and
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
and
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
have two teams each, while a team from
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
will enter the AFLW at a date to be confirmed. The
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
and the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
are the only states or territories not to have AFLW teams.


Current clubs

Notes


Future clubs


Venues

Below are the venues that hosted during the 2023 season.


Players

The club's playing lists were constructed from scratch through the later stages of 2016. All participants in the 2017 season were required to be over the age of 17. Initially, clubs were asked to nominate a list of desired players, with the AFL assigning two of these "marquee" players to each club. In addition, clubs were able to sign a number of players with existing connections to the club, or with arrangements for club-sponsored work or study. This number varied for each club, in an attempt to equitably spread talent across the teams. In addition, clubs were required to recruit two "rookies" – people with no Australian rules football experience in the previous three-year period. The majority of players were later recruited through the
2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's competition recruited players prior to the competition's 2017 AFL Women's season, inaugural season in 2017. Draftees and signings over the peri ...
. The remaining list spots were filled with free-agent signings in the week following the draft. In total, clubs have 27 active listed players in addition to injury replacements signed to take the spot of long-term injury-affected players.


Salary

Player salaries are determined by
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
with each club's total payments being determined by a salary cap. Players are split into four tiers as follows:


Rules

The rules are mostly the same as those used in the AFL, with a few exceptions: * The use of a slightly smaller ball, in line with other women's competitions. * Quarters last 17 minutes (15 prior to 2023) instead of 20, with time-on only in the last two minutes. * Teams have 16 players on the field at a time instead of 18, and have five interchange players and 60 player rotations (unlimited prior to 2023) instead of four interchange players with one substitute and 75 total rotations. * Throw-ins are executed 10 metres in from the boundary line, except within the 50-metre arcs, instead of on the boundary line. * A "last touch" out-of-bounds rule applies, except within the 50-metre arcs: during 2018, this "last touch" rule applied everywhere.


Season structure


Pre-season

Prior to the commencement of the home-and-away season teams are paired off to play an exhibition trial match. In 2017, these matches took place during varying weeks of January.


Premiership season and finals

For the first two seasons of competition, the home-and-away season was operated on a single table, and seven matches were played by each of the eight teams. The two highest-placed teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season qualified for the Grand Final match, in the absence of a longer finals series. With the addition of two extra teams in 2019, the AFL Women's home-and-away season introduced
conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
, a concept not common in Australian sports. The top-two teams from the respective conferences qualified to the preliminary finals, with the first-ranked team in Conference A meeting the second-ranked team in Conference B and the opposite employed for the other preliminary final. The winners of those matches then met in the Grand Final. The use of conferences was retained in 2020, along with the inclusion of four additional teams. The 14 teams were split into two conferences of seven, with teams playing each other team in their conference once. The top-four teams in each conference qualified for the finals series. The first round of the finals consisted of four knockout finals, with teams from opposite conferences playing against each other, first in Conference A versus fourth in Conference B, and so on. This left a final four of North Melbourne, Fremantle, Carlton, and Melbourne, with two rounds of finals to be played. At this point, the season was abandoned due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, with no 2020 premier. In 2021, the league reverted to a single 14-team ladder. Each team played 9 matches, with the top six qualifying for a three-week finals series. All finals are knockouts, with the top-two teams having a bye in the first round of the finals. Since 2022 (S7) the competition has been contested by 18 teams, and the finals series has expanded to eight teams and is played under the AFL final eight system that has been in use in the men's competition since the 2000 season. On 21 August 2023, incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon announced that the AFLW will receive equal prize money to the AFL. The prize money for AFLW players will almost double, going from $623,922 to $1.1 million to split between the top 8 teams.


Themed rounds

In 2018, the
Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...
and Carlton women's teams held the first Pride game, to celebrate gender diversity, promote inclusion for LGBTIQA+ players, and to help stamp out
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
. St Kilda and
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
held a Pride Match in 2020, and the first full AFLW Pride Round was held in 2021. An Indigenous Round was established in 2021. This round acknowledges the significant contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls to Australian football and the broader community. Each team wears a guernsey especially designed to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and the Dreamtime match is played between and . An AFLW Indigenous Round Honouree is announced for each season.


Awards

These major individual awards and accolades are presented each season: * Best and Fairest Trophy – to the fairest and best player in the league, voted by the umpires * Leading Goalkicker Award – to the player who kicks the most goals during the home-and-away season *
All-Australian Team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
– a squad of 21 players deemed the best in their positions, voted by an AFL-appointed committee * Rising Star Award – to the fairest and best young player under the age of 21 as at the start of the calendar year, voted by the AFL-appointed All-Australian committee * Grand Final Best on Ground Award – the best player on the ground in the Grand Final, voted by a committee of media members


Audience


Attendance

The league peaked at an average attendance of 6,828 in its inaugural season and a record 53,034 attended the 2019 Grand Final. Admission was free prior to 2022, when the AFLW introduced reserved ticketing at $10 admission per match, which was later increased. In mid-2023, data revealed a significant drop in average attendances for the seventh season compared to the first season. Taking into account the greater number of games played, total attendance was still growing, just spread over three times as many matches. The league's choice of venues has been criticised, with many of the AFL's premium venues, such as Victoria's
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
and
Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands, Victoria, Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 199 ...
, not used for blockbuster AFLW matches. The league has been cited as preferring the atmosphere of fuller smaller venues rather than emptier larger venues, particularly for its television broadcasting. The following are the most recent season attendances (record figures are bolded):


Television

In its inaugural 2017 season, all matches were televised live by affiliate partners the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
and Fox Footy. As part of the initial broadcast deal, the free-to-air carrier Seven broadcast one Saturday-night game per week as standard, in addition to the league's opening match and Grand Final. Pay TV network Fox Footy televised all premiership season matches, including simulcasts of the Seven-hosted matches other than the Grand Final. The two television networks covered the costs of broadcasting these matches, with no licensing fee payable to the league in exchange. ''Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW'' debuted on
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
in 2022, the docu-series followed several AFLW clubs through the course of the 2022 season. In July 2023 ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' reported that AFLW viewer numbers were down 70% from the debut season, blaming a combination of scheduling, poor quality venues and broadcast quality, and "football fatigue". The AFLW has attracted an audience of more than 1 million attendees and 2 million viewers and has managed to maintain high interest despite moving to primarily ticketed and subscription broadcasting models from the 2021 season. It consistently ranks in the top three (alongside cricket and netball) most watched women's sporting competitions in Australia. The league receives international interest, particularly in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
where it has begun to attract a significant television audience due to the ongoing recruitment of
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
stars.


Online

The official internet/mobile broadcast partner of the AFL is BigPond, part of
Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...
. The company hosts the league website and those of each of the eight participation clubs. The AFL has retained digital broadcast rights to matches in the league's inaugural season and will stream all matches live and free on the league website and mobile app. Since 2021, Kayo Sports has streamed all AFLW matches live and on demand in Australia. Outside Australia, the inaugural season is available on Watch AFL.


Corporate relations


Sponsorships

The
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...
is the league's inaugural and (as of 2022) current naming-rights partner. All playing and training equipment, as well as all licensed apparel and hats for the league's clubs, are manufactured by Cotton On. Other 2017 league sponsors included Wolf Blass, Chemist Warehouse, and
Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...
. The official ball supplier is Sherrin.


Merchandising

Official match-day attire, together with other club merchandise, is sold through the AFL's stores and website, as well through the clubs and some retailers.


Women's exhibition games (2013–2016)

Prior to the creation of the league, the AFL ran four years of exhibition matches between sides representing and . In 2016, the series was expanded to multiple teams from around the country.



Premiers and awards


Premiers


AFLW best and fairest

The best and fairest award determined in the same way as the
Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...
for men, with umpires awarding three, two, and one votes to the best three players in each game, and suspended players are ineligible.


AFL Players' Association Most Valuable Player

The MVP award is voted on by the players' peers, in a similar method to the
Leigh Matthews Trophy The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. It is named in honour of Leigh Matthews, who won the first MVP award in 1982, when the league was s ...
for men.


AFL Coaches' Association Champion Player

Each week, the senior coach of each club gives five votes to the player they consider to be best on ground in the game in which their team plays, four to the second-best, and so on to one for the fifth-best.


Leading goalkicker


See also

* List of women's Australian rules football leagues


References


External links

*
''First Friday in February – AFLW audio collection'' This collection consists of the full audio documentary on the first AFLW Women's game, along with 35 complete audio interviews, and related transcripts.
{{Authority control Australian Football League 2017 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 2017 Professional sports leagues in Australia