The AFL are seriously considering moving the women's season opener between Carlton and Collingwood from Olympic Park to the Blues' famed home Princes Park.
The historic first women's clash between two of the league's oldest and fiercest rivals on February 3 was originally slated for the Magpies' training ground.
However, growing interest in the women's game, coupled with a lack of adequate seating at Olympic Park could force the league's hand in shifting the clash to the 22,000-seat stadium on Royal Parade.
"It's now a bit of a concern about the potential crowd, having been at the Carlton-Melbourne practice match yesterday [at Princes Park] there was 2000 people and it wasn't even publicised," AFL game and market development boss Simon Lethlean told Fairfax Media.
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"I think it means tomorrow we're going to have a good discussion in terms of other potential options, whether Olympic Park is right for the first game now, maybe Ikon Park [Princes Park] should be considered.
"There was 17,000 there last year for a NAB Challenge game [between Essendon and Carlton], maybe it's more appropriate. So we'll sit down and have a chat about that tomorrow and make a call.
"I think the publicity now and the momentum and the interest might mean we have a good look at that. We don't want to be turning too many people away if we can help it, so if it's going to be 10,000 [in attendance] and not 5000 we'll have a good look at what the best venue might be and we can still make some changes if we need to."
Lethlean said there wouldn't be any issues in announcing a venue change less than a fortnight out from the fixture other than ensuring Carlton's spiritual home could stage a night game.
"We've certainly done the work at Ikon Park to know we can do it," he said. "It's free access, it's more a matter of having to organise the lighting and that's OK for broadcast. It's do-able in the next two weeks."
Despite Olympic Park's hold on the season opener loosening considerably, Lethlean insisted there wouldn't be any issues staging games at the venue throughout the two-month season.
Just 101 points were scored by four teams across two practice matches on the weekend, but Lethlean didn't see that as a concern for the season proper.
"I've been in footy long enough to know practice matches are pretty hard work at the best of times, you don't necessarily get the best footy being played," he said.
"It's the first time the girls have all played together as a group. These are all new clubs, new teams, new coaches, defence can often dominate and 16-a-side is a bit different too.
"We want it to be as high-scoring as possible but at the same time we want it to be competitive and close games. I think it will all evolve as this season kicks off and we'll look at the rules every round to make sure that we can get as free-flowing games as possible."
The AFLW grand final is scheduled for a footy-free afternoon on March 25 – the day after a potential grudge match between new Bulldog Travis Cloke and old side Collingwood and a few hours before one of the most-anticipated first-round matches in living memory between Essendon and Hawthorn.
However, Lethlean was confident the women's showpiece match would still get good air time and exposure.
"We have an eight-week season, we couldn't start it much earlier because of the heat and everything else, so we are where we are," he said.
With the AFLW ad campaign launched on Sunday, Lethlean said the players were excited now that the season was so close to starting.
"It's all starting to resonate more and more," he said. "It's a pretty important moment in the history of footy and probably in the history of women's sport in this country.
"They definitely see their pioneering role in that and so they should."
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