South Australia secures AFL Gather Round hosting rights until 2029

In short:

Gather Round will remain in South Australia until 2029 under a new partnership.

It follows months of negotiations between the AFL and the state government.

What's next?

The 2027 Gather Round will include a player parade, with dates to be confirmed in the coming months.

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

The 2027 event will also introduce a free parade featuring players from each club.

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.

" Gather Round belongs in South Australia. We thank the AFL for cementing our state as the home of one of the nation's premier annual sporting events. "

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 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.

There was no mention of the AFLW in the announcement on Thursday, despite calls from Crows player Ebony Marinoff to include the women's league in Gather Round.

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

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