Even when the 10,865 members who have joined expansion club Gold Coast are removed from the figure, last season's all-time record total of 614,251 (the final figure is calculated at the end of June) has already been exceeded.
"The clubs are doing phenomenally well," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said. "They've done an absolutely outstanding job of seeing memberships grow for the last nine or 10 years."
Overall, television ratings have also increased slightly, although the number of people watching football on pay TV has jumped 23 per cent.
However, crowds have fallen slightly when compared to 2010.
Last year, an average of 37,483 people attended the 96 games played by the end of round 12.
In 2011, the average attendance at the 93 games (some rounds have had only seven games so each club can have two byes) played by the end of round 12 is 36,617.
"Everyone knows that we're obsessed with getting people to go to the footy," Demetriou added. "It's the whole thing that drives our strategy.
"The crowds are holding up really well. We think our total attendances will be about three per cent ahead of last year."
All these findings, which included a large increase in the number of people playing footy, were part of the AFL's Mid-Year Review that was released on Wednesday morning.
