AFL fixture furore lays bare the code’s battle between ratings and relevance

The release of the 2027 AFL fixture has ignited a fresh debate over who the league chooses to showcase, how prime-time windows are allocated, and what that means for clubs trying to claw their way into contention.

At the centre of the backlash is St Kilda, a foundation club now confronting public criticism about its perceived “irrelevance” and a schedule that pushes key games away from headline television slots. The conversation has unfolded against a broader discussion about how broadcasters and league executives prioritise match‑ups, and which fan bases are rewarded with marquee exposure.

Broadcast priorities and the AFL’s fixture logic

In the modern Australian Football League, the fixture is as much a broadcast document as it is a sporting schedule. Under long‑term national television arrangements, prime evening slots and marquee rounds are critical to audience and revenue growth, and those windows are limited.

Within that framework, some clubs consistently land on Thursday and Friday nights or in standalone national windows, while others are redirected to off‑Broadway timeslots or secondary venues. That dynamic is at the heart of criticism that some teams – particularly those with smaller supporter bases or modest recent records – are being pushed to the margins of the national narrative in search of stronger ratings.

The league’s fixture model also reflects its 18‑team national structure, a 24‑round home‑and‑away season, and a commercial imperative to maximise audiences in major population centres. Balancing competitive integrity, equalisation aims and broadcast demands remains one of the most heavily scrutinised elements of AFL governance.

St Kilda shifted out of the spotlight

The 2027 Gather Round schedule has crystallised those tensions for St Kilda. After securing a prime‑time Gather Round game in Adelaide in 2026, the Saints have been handed a lower‑profile Sunday afternoon assignment in the Barossa against Geelong in 2027, despite significant recent investment in their playing list and the ongoing presence of high‑profile coach Ross Lyon.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai))

That match carries obvious storyline appeal, with St Kilda to face former ruckman Rowan Marshall at his new club, Geelong, following his high‑profile departure from the Saints earlier in the year.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai)) But instead of being placed in a marquee slot, the contest has been scheduled for 2:45pm on the Sunday of Gather Round in a regional setting, a decision seized upon by media commentators as evidence of where the club currently sits in the AFL’s pecking order.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai))

St Kilda’s 2026 campaign under Lyon underlines the point. The Saints finished 11th on the ladder with 10 wins, missing out on the finals despite an aggressive recruiting strategy and frequent references to a rising list.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai)) The resulting narrative is stark: a club spending heavily to contend, yet viewed by key broadcasters and fixture planners as a risk for the league’s biggest national windows.

The fixture as a verdict on relevance

Fixture allocations do not change premiership points, but they do shape how often a club is seen on the code’s main stages. That has tangible consequences.

First, there is the competitive dimension. Prime‑time football tends to follow teams with recent finals credentials, strong form or large supporter bases. Clubs that slip out of that cohort often find themselves playing more games in less prominent timeslots or regional venues, which can mean lower match‑day revenue and diminished national profile.

Second, there is the perception issue. St Kilda’s 2027 schedule has been interpreted not just as a logistical decision but as a verdict on where the club sits in the national conversation. Being shifted from a feature 2026 Gather Round match in Adelaide to a Sunday afternoon fixture in the Barossa, despite a ready‑made grudge narrative against a departed key player, has been framed as a commentary on the Saints’ drawing power and on‑field credibility.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai))

For a fan base that has seen near‑misses and rebuilds across multiple eras, fixture signals of this kind can deepen concerns about whether the club is viewed as a genuine power by the broader competition.

Major events, marquee slots and who gets them

The broader 2027 fixture reinforces how selectively the AFL deploys its showcase games. Dreamtime at the ‘G – a centrepiece of the league’s cultural calendar featuring Essendon and Richmond – has been moved in the new schedule, while a suite of early‑season grudge matches has been arranged to help launch the year. These include repeat pairings of recent finals opponents to capitalise on existing rivalries and storylines from September.([theqldr.com.au](https://theqldr.com.au/sport/2026/10/27/afl_fixture-31/?utm_source=openai))

For clubs with entrenched rivalries, large memberships and consistent finals appearances, these marquee opportunities are almost guaranteed. For teams on the outer, they must usually be earned through sustained performance and competitive relevance.

The pattern is clear across the opening rounds:

• Historic rivalries and recent finals rematches are prioritised for Thursday and Friday night slots.
• Regional and suburban venues, including during Gather Round, are used to showcase the breadth of Australian rules football – but often with lower‑drawing or rebuilding sides rotated through those games.
• Newly constructed “blockbusters” are trialled when the league sees upside in building a fresh rivalry, sometimes involving one traditional powerhouse and a club seeking a larger stage.

In that hierarchy, St Kilda currently occupies an awkward middle ground: competitive enough to be relevant in the finals race, but not yet consistent or well‑supported enough nationally to be locked into the top tier of television fixtures.

Broadcast strategy and the AFL’s governance challenge

The AFL Commission and executive have long treated broadcasting revenue as the single largest driver of the competition’s financial health, a stance reflected in successive annual reports and media rights cycles.([footyindustry.com](https://footyindustry.com/docs/AFL%202024%20Annual%20Report.pdf?utm_source=openai)) Under the current structure, all 18 clubs share in those revenues, which fund everything from player payments and club distributions to grassroots development.

As the league’s commercial arrangements have grown, so too has the influence of match‑day scheduling on competitive balance. Clubs that appear regularly in national prime‑time windows tend to benefit from:

• Greater exposure for sponsors and commercial partners
• Stronger national recognition for star players, which can influence individual awards and off‑field opportunities
• Improved membership and merchandise growth, particularly in non‑traditional markets

Conversely, sides pushed more frequently into afternoon or regional slots can face a slower path to rebuilding their national brand, even if their on‑field performances improve.

For the league’s governance structures, that raises an ongoing tension: how to honour contractual obligations with broadcasters and maximise audiences while maintaining the sense that every club has a realistic pathway back to marquee exposure, provided it performs strongly enough on the field.

What it means for St Kilda’s next phase

For St Kilda, the 2027 fixture is both a challenge and an opportunity.

On the one hand, a Sunday afternoon Gather Round match in the Barossa against Geelong and former Saints ruck Rowan Marshall is a clear downgrade from the club’s 2026 showcase in Adelaide, and a public marker of its current standing.([sen.com.au](https://sen.com.au/news/2026/10/26/kane-cornes-gather-round-fixture-exposes-st-kilda-irrelevance?utm_source=openai)) On the other, that match – and others like it throughout the season – still offer competitive stakes that can reshape perceptions.

If the Saints can turn a middling 2026 record into a genuine finals tilt, the fixture calculus will shift. Recent history across the league shows that sustained on‑field success is the surest way back to Thursday and Friday nights, even for clubs outside the traditional power base.

In the shorter term, St Kilda’s fixture story underscores how modern elite sport is governed. The same body that writes the competition’s laws, oversees the [AFL Premiership competition](https://www.afl.com.au) and acts as de facto regulator for on‑ and off‑field conduct also manages a television product that must compete with global sports and entertainment offerings.

For clubs like St Kilda, that dual role means every fixture release doubles as both a logistical document and a scoreboard on how the game’s key decision‑makers view their current relevance – on the ladder, in the ratings, and in the story the competition tells about itself.