AFL announces club membership numbers surpassing one million

The AFL has revealed figures that show one in 25 Australians are members of an AFL club, advising that club membership numbers have surpassed one million this year.

The AFL shared figures showing that a total of 1,043,604 members have signed up to support their favourite club in 2022, surpassing the one million membership milestone 20 days ahead of the same time in 2021, in a year which saw the league achieve its all-time club membership record of 1,113,441.

The one million membership figure includes AFLW club membership which experienced an 89% year-on-year growth to reach a record breaking 48,712 members for the first-time in the competition’s history.

The West Coast Eagles and Richmond continue to lead the membership tally with strong support from fans, while North Melbourne along with last year’s Grand Finalists Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs Football Clubs have achieved record-breaking club membership figures this season.

Explaining that the continued support for the game from fans across the country was a sign of the game’s strong return in 2022,

AFL Chief Executive, Gillon McLachlan stated "Australian football is well and truly back across the country. With full capacity at every venue around the country, the return of general admission access, reserved seat members back in their seats, and now more than one million club members, we couldn’t be prouder of our start to the year.

"On behalf of the AFL, I’d like to thank all 18 Clubs for their hard work in engaging with our fans across the country and to every club member whose passion and support makes footy the greatest game in the world."

Image: Action from the 2022 AFL Grand Final at Perth's Optus Stadium.