South Australia secures AFL Gather Round hosting rights until 2029

The AFL's Gather Round will stay in South Australia until 2029 under a new three-year partnership. 

AFL chief executive officer Andrew Dillon said the league was thrilled to keep the event in South Australia. 

"Gather Round has captured the imagination of footy fans and delivered an event like nothing else in Australian sport," he said. 

It is welcome news for SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, who had been lobbying for the event to stay in the state. 

"We have shown that we are the best state to deliver a successful festival of footy like no other," he said.

"Gather Round is about much more than football – it brings people together, showcases our restaurants and wine regions on a national stage and pours tens of millions of dollars into our economy every year.

Parade and 'feature game'

The new deal between the AFL and SA government will introduce a free parade featuring players from each club on Friday night in Adelaide's CBD, with a commitment to free public transport that afternoon. 

"Within [Gather Round], we've never had a singular moment which draws all clubs to be there at the one place at the one time," the premier said.

A grand final replay match or "blockbuster feature game of that calibre" will take place on Saturday, Mr Malinauskas said. 

Mr Malinauskas said a three-year deal to host Gather Round hit the "sweet spot" to ensure the pressure is on to continue innovating the event. 

There had been speculation an announcement on the future of the Gather Round would be made in the days after the event in April.

But Port Adelaide Football Club president David Koch said the parade is likely to have been what held it up.

He said having a parade at the start of the round meant clubs would have to fly in players several days before their match.

"There's a lot of negotiations with the players' association and things like that to get them there early, but, as we all know, we have a pretty persuasive premier, and he went to pitch for it, and I think that's why it's taken a little while," Mr Koch said.

Mr Koch is also the chair of the South Australian Tourism Commission.

He wants the start of the Gather Round pushed back to Wednesday or extended to the Monday after the weekend.

"That's to keep interstate visitors in South Australia a bit longer, particular when it's on the edge of school holidays in Victoria and South Australia and NSW," the former Sunrise host said.

No decision on regional venue

The City of Onkaparinga council has been lobbying for a match to be held in the McLaren Vale wine region or another location south of Adelaide as part of Gather Round, after matches were held in Mount Barker and the Barossa Valley in previous years.

The premier remained tight-lipped on where the games would be held, but said there was no contractual commitment to a game in McLaren Vale.

"We keep our options open for alternative venues, but make no mistake, we are going to be rather stringent as a government in our requirements about it meeting certain metrics, mainly the projection of the state to the rest of the country," Mr Malinauskas said. 

"We think through our options carefully, but there is no commitment to McLaren Vale specifically within the contract — that's just the fact of it — but we keep our options open in that regard."

Onkaparinga mayor Moira Were said the area had experience hosting major sporting events, such as the Tour Down Under, and that she aware there had been scouts visiting the area. 

Big benefit to economy

More than 270,000 fans attended this year's event, the highest crowd numbers since the event's inception in 2023.

The SA government said the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Gather Rounds contributed more than $285 million to the economy.  

Over the same period, 132,000 footy fans streamed across the border from interstate for the event, staying in country towns on the way through. 

The state government would not reveal the cost to the taxpayer incurred in the deal with the AFL. 

The success of Gather Round had piqued interest from other states to snag the event. 

Earlier this year, Sydney Swans chair Andrew Pridham said the club had spoken with the NSW government about hosting another Gather Round on the east coast at the start of the season.

But Mr Malinauskas said SA was the best location. 

"Geography alone makes Adelaide a logical place to host Gather Round, but it's also the right size," he said. 

"Because if you put Gather Round in Sydney for instance, it will just get lost. 

"Adelaide is a city that is modern, a city that is easy to get around, a city with all of the amenities that you'd expect from a first class destination - restaurants, proximity to wineries, the coastline  - like it's all in touching distance in a way that when Gather Round comes to town, you feel it the moment you arrive." 

Earlier this year, AFLW Crows player Ebony Marinoff called for the women's league to be included in Gather Round. 

In response to questions on Thursday about the AFLW's role in the event, Mr Dillon did not confirm they would be involved, but said the league would "continue to evolve the W competition". 

"It's off season for our W players, but we did have a VFLW game this year between South Australia and Victoria that was super successful," Mr Dillon said.

"And we were able to engage our W players in terms of appearances and the like."

The league said it would announce the 2027 Gather Round dates and venues in the coming months.