Nicole Livingstone reveals the lessons learned from switched AFLW seasons

“One of the things I thought would happen is that as a team was eliminated from the AFL men’s competition that they’d automatically come across to the women’s comp to barrack for their team,” Livingstone tells CODE Sports.

With all 18 teams now represented it seemed a reasonable supposition for hardcore fans to transition, but they didn’t bank on the footy grieving process.

“Those AFL supporters were actually annoyed that their team was out, and they weren’t quite ready to come back to footy,” she continues.

“And the clubs were the same. They said, ‘We have to wait a bit to talk to our men’s fans because they’re not very happy with us right now’.”

That’s just one lesson learned by AFLW, but Livingstone remains bullish that the right decision has been made, even if it meant cramming two seasons back-to-back

“I’m proud we didn‘t wait 18 months because I think we would have lost all our momentum, but to have two seasons in one year, we’ve only had a four month ramp up for this which is a much shorter runway for a season preparation.”

Earlier this year, the AFL flagged a desire for “clean air” as the driving factor of the season change, giving more space for AFLW to gain the spotlight.

The jury remains out on whether that has occurred. There has been no demonstrable spike in attendance and audience at this stage.

As much as the AFL would be happy with the publicity machine that is its trade period, it did feel like it cannibalised the moment that AFLW took the baton in October.

Livingstone says the challenge is on her team to connect the traditional AFL mens fan to AFLW better, but says more time will also help.

“There are some data points that we do need to focus on double-downing on,” Livingstone says.

“We need to do a better job of integrating those men’s and women’s fans into supporting the one club, but with a longer ramp up we can do much more to bring the AFL mens supporters across.”

So with racing having had its moment and Australia not assured of progress into the finals of the T20 World Cup, the AFLW finals series will be promoted heavily with a new television and social media commercial hitting the airwaves.

Attendances and television audiences across the finals will be watched closely to judge just how successful the spring move has been. The appearance of power clubs like Richmond and Geelong in the finals for the first time will help, but ironically one of the reasons for the change will determine just how good crowds are.

“We’re throwing everything behind it,” Livingstone tells CODE Sports.

“The clubs in the 8 have good followings, so we’re hoping the weather gods will be kind to us as that does impact whether someone is going to go and watch the football.”

Playing in cooler conditions was another reason behind the season change, but they couldn’t have foreseen torrential rain marring a lot of games.

In some ways those attendance deterrents justify the league’s conservatism to keep as many games at community venues for the time being, despite calls to use bigger stadiums more often.

“Fans love it and players love it. A team like Richmond playing at Punt Road Oval, the capacity is just over 2000, but it absolutely cranks,” Livingstone says.

“It’s an amazing atmosphere.”

“I’d rather that and have this fear of missing out, so I‘m going to buy my ticket and go to the footy. Leave the people wanting more.”

We can expect that mantra over the next few years of AFLW. As much as some would like to see a fixture that replicates the men’s game, there is caution at headquarters.

A collective bargaining agreement will ultimately determine the length of the season, but don’t count on any additional content in the short-to-medium term.

“We need to just steady the ship now,” says Livingstone.

“We have these amazing community venues with pumping crowds and once we nail that, once we can build that data so we can be more consistently up at a 5000 average per crowd, then we start to think what next looks like.”

It might sound overly conservative but there’s a history of sports adding more content without the intended result. In Australia the BBL is the most recent example where the magic was lost once the market was flooded with games.

Indeed across seven seasons AFLW has moved from 28 home and away games and one final, to 90 and nine this year. Livingstone and her team have also studied the growth paths of the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League in the USA, in addition to sports at home.

“The number one learning from all sports is ‘too big, too quick’ is not stable. We have plenty of case examples around the world,” Livingstone says.

“We’ve built this incredible league, now it‘s time to firm up the foundations and anchor in for a little while.

“We want this to be a legacy sport for generations to come. So we have to make sure the next decisions are really wise and considered.”

One of the other question marks on the season change was how it would help build participation.

Previously, AFLW was on television screens during February and March when young girls (and boys) typically would be signing up to Auskick or play for their local club.

Now that centre stage is October and November, has the AFL lost a valuable marketing tool? Livingstone doesn’t think so, and warns other sports that the stars of AFL will be out on the hustings during this time.

“I see it as an opportunity,” she says.

“Every player has 20 hours of appearances for the betterment of the game, it’s hard to use those hours when they’re playing.

“The peak period for people to register is February, so we’ve got 540 advocates for women’s football that can be going out into the community at that time, showcasing women’s football to stimulate that growth.

“They want to do it too. It feels nice when little kids and adults are worshipping you.”

While the season might have switched to spring, the usefulness of AFLW to growing the broader game is becoming a 12 months a year proposition.

The finals are coming to a TV near you this weekend, and its stars will be coming to a school near you next year.