Adelaide Oval welcomes more than 1 million AFL fans in 2026

Article posted by Coliseum, September 25^th, 2026

Image: Adelaide Oval, Trentino Priori, CC BY-SA 3.0

More than 1.18 million AFL football fans passed through the gates of Adelaide Oval during a bumper 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership season.

Adelaide Oval said the numbers reinforce the stadium’s role in bringing people together and driving activity across South Australia.

Across 28 AFL matches, including Gather Round and Finals football, Adelaide Oval welcomed its biggest home-and-away season attendance since football returned to the venue.

The average home-and-away crowd reached 41,859, while AFL game nights helped drive Oval Hotel occupancy of 94% – highlighting the broader contribution major sporting events make to South Australia’s visitor economy.

The 53,500-capacity Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the State of South Australia. It is located in the parklands.

The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian Rules football but has also played host to rugby league, rugby union, soccer, and tennis as well as regularly being used to hold concerts.

The primary tenant teams at Adelaide Oval are the Adelaide Crows (AFL), Port Adelaide Football Club (AFL), and the Adelaide Strikers (BBL), alongside the South Australian Redbacks cricket team.

Adelaide Oval CEO Nick Addison said the season demonstrated both the enduring appeal of live sport at Adelaide Oval and the impact generated by major events at the venue.

He said, “More than a million people coming through our gates over one AFL season is an extraordinary result, and something our people are incredibly proud of.

“Great footy and big crowds create an atmosphere at Adelaide Oval that is hard to replicate, but the impact goes well beyond what happens inside the stadium.

“Every game brings people into the city, supports our hospitality and tourism sectors and creates opportunities for South Australian businesses, while bringing thousands of people together to share an experience.

“None of that happens without an enormous team effort. From our clubs and partners to the more than 1,000 Adelaide Oval staff working across an average match day, there are a lot of people behind the scenes who make these events possible.”

The impact was felt across Adelaide Oval, with 14,554 guests enjoying premium hospitality experiences and 3,376 hotel room nights sold across the season. Hundreds more experienced the action from a different perspective through Adelaide Oval’s unique Game On! RoofClimb experiences.

From the colour and excitement of Gather Round to packed home games and Finals football, the 2026 season once again demonstrated that nothing compares to live sport at Adelaide Oval.

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