THE AFL is pleased to confirm 100 per cent capacity crowds at the MCG, Marvel Stadium, GMHBA Stadium and Mars Stadium will be in play to begin the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
The 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season begins with all a Footy Festival extravaganza in Victoria. Leading in from the last round of the NAB AFL Women’s season, all 10 Victorian AFL teams will play in Melbourne in Round One with five blockbuster games over five days, the first time all 10 have played in the state during the same Round since Round 20, 2016.
A rematch of the 2021 Toyota AFL Grand Final will kick off the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership season as reigning Premiers Melbourne unfurl their flag and begin their premiership defence against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG in a Wednesday night showpiece.
Carlton and Richmond will then resume their traditional Thursday night Round One match up at the MCG followed by St Kilda vs Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on the Friday night.
Geelong will host Essendon, and their annual Country Game, at the MCG in a traditional Saturday afternoon timeslot of 2:10pm, with Hawthorn vs North Melbourne to round out the footy festival at the MCG on Sunday March 20 at 1:10pm.
“We want to get big crowds back to the footy, the weekly ritual of being able to go to a game and the sense of community it creates, connecting families and friends is something we have missed in the state,” AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan said.
“On behalf of the AFL I would like to thank the Victorian State Government, specifically Premier Daniel Andrews, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula and Minister for Health Martin Foley for continuing to work with us and safely get as many fans back to the footy as possible.
“We have a big finish to our AFLW home and away season which again has been warmly embraced by fans and supporters across the state, rolling straight into our AFL season and the Grand Final rematch on the Wednesday night at the MCG.
“Our AFLW Finals series and start of our AFL Season is an exciting time for fans, we look forward to seeing crowds return to our venues in huge numbers as well as to all the surrounding business and venues that rely on footy and big events being staged across the city,
“Footy can hopefully help bring the heartbeat of the city back to Melbourne and back to the state of Victoria.”
Club members will be able to return to scanning their membership at the gate, and general public walk ups will be available at the venues.
Ticketing on-sale information will be released in the coming weeks.
Per Victorian Government guidelines attendees will be required to check-in in with the Services Victoria app to confirm their vaccination status on entry to the venue.
Masks will be required when moving around major events with more than 30,000 people, however not when patrons are seated outdoors.
Venues with a capacity of less than 30,000, including GMHBA Stadium (which is under development) and MARS Stadium, do not require approval to host capacity crowds under current COVIDSafe Settings.
