The People’s Ground celebrates a new attendance milestone

A season defined by massive crowds and countless memorable football moments, the MCG has now recorded its highest ever attendance over an entire AFL season, welcoming more than 3 million MCC members and footy fans to the People’s Ground for AFL matches in 2023.

With a Preliminary Final and Grand Final still to be played at the MCG, 3,121,313 patrons have already come through the gates at the conclusion of Week 2 of the 2023 AFL Finals Series, making it the biggest VFL/AFL season attendance record in the stadium’s 170 year history.

The MCG has hosted huge crowds consistently throughout the 2023 AFL season breaking attendance records across a number of marquee events including ANZAC Day and Big Freeze at the ‘G, and reaching a home and away attendance milestone with more than 2.77 million patrons having attended AFL matches at the ‘G prior to finals.

This milestone comes as the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) – ground manager of the MCG - prepares to officially commemorate the iconic venue’s 170th birthday on September 23.

Melbourne Cricket Club CEO Stuart Fox said these crowd figures reflect the significance of this venue to many football fans.

“This is a tremendous milestone - it’s been an amazing footy season at the ‘G - fans and members have shown us all year that they love coming here,” Mr Fox said.

“By the conclusion of the Grand Final we will have had around 3.3 million fans and members attend AFL games at the MCG in 2023 which is just incredible.”

This year, the MCG has also hosted two record-breaking Ed Sheeran concerts where more than 215,000 fans attended and mid-year the fierce rivalry between Australia and New Zealand was on show to a crowd of 83,944 when rugby’s Bledisloe Cup was played.

Mr Fox said the MCG’s upcoming 170th birthday is a timely reminder of the impact the MCG continues to have on both local fans and visitors from all over the world.

“As ground manager of the MCG, we’re immensely proud of the ground and its rich history of football - we cherish the moments and the memories created at our iconic venue - it’s so rewarding to see the timeless stories shared by our MCG Tour guides, igniting new passion across a broad demographic,” Mr Fox said.

“We take pride in being known as the People’s Ground and can’t wait to welcome more patrons to experience the special spirit of September at the ‘G with two huge games still to be played.”