AFLW: Magpies, Blues women's clash a TV ratings winner

Seven's match coverage on pay television's Fox Footy delivered an average audience of 123,000 across metro and regional, and a peak of 175,000.

The free-to-air network has opted to broadcast women's footy on Saturday night ahead of the first night of the Nitro athletics series in Melbourne featuring Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican champion's presence has ensured that Channel Seven will broadcast the athletics – on Saturday night it will be live in Sydney and Perth but in Melbourne it will be on delay after the AFL women's match.

TV viewers in Sydney on Saturday night will have the choice of watching athletics on the main Channel Seven channel or live women's footy on 7Mate.

The appetite for women's football has clearly escalated since the successful exhibition match between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne last season, which enjoyed a healthy national free-to-air average audience of 301,000 and 175,000 in Melbourne.

Simon Lethlean, the AFL's general manager of game and market development, was delighted with the figures.

"What it shows is this competition has great legs, great momentum, the summer campaign and promotion the athletes have done for us has resonated with the community," he said on Saturday.

There was more joy for the AFLW on Saturday when a strong crowd of 9250 filled a wet Thebarton Oval in Adelaide as the Crows defeated Greater Western Sydney.

Such was the demand for Friday night's clash that police and the AFL were forced to declare a lock out and shut the gates midway through the first term of Carlton's 35-point win at their home ground.

Free entry was, no doubt, a contributing factor in the demand for seats, but the thirst for women's football was clear to see.

What it shows is this competition has great legs, great momentum, the summer campaign and promotion the athletes have done for us has resonated with the community.

Simon Lethlean

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan even personally apologised to fans outside the ground who could not get in.

"It's a good problem to have so far as the demand for the game, disappointing for those fans that we couldn't get in," Lethlean said.

"We were really apologetic for that and I think Gil came out and spoke to those he could about that. We took the advice from the police and security staff, safety is paramount for that. I think we had over 22,000, 24,000 people in there and that was the capacity. We made the right call. We will now assess all of our matches and make sure that the most people can get there."

The AFL is considering shifting next Saturday's clash between the Pies and Melbourne at Olympic Park to Ikon Park because of capacity issues. Olympic Park can only fit about 5000 spectators.

"I wouldn't anticipate shifting a lot of games. We will have a look at the games to come, especially Collingwood and Melbourne next weekend," Lethlean said.

Richmond, Geelong, North Melbourne, West Coast Eagles and St Kilda were the clubs that also bid for a licence but were knocked back. All were disappointed, some even surprised, to have been overlooked but remain committed to helping improve the sport for women in their areas.

While expansion will be on the agenda at some stage, Lethlean indicated there were no immediate plans to do so.

"There will be a complete review of the competition at the end of the year from rules to teams to venues to fixturing and broadcasts, so we will look at all of that," he said.

"I don't think we will be rushing into expansion until we get the talent pool below. That dictates the number of teams we can have. We are pretty steadfast in having the right amount of teams at the moment, which is eight teams, but hopefully [Friday night] means girls and boys are registered for Auskick and our talent pool will grow and our coaching is better in community football and we will build from there."

Lethlean said the league had not set any expectations on the standard of on-field play.

"We are not setting any paramaters on the standard. There is no comparisons for this competition," he said.

"We are now investing more in community football and girls will be taught better, coached better and have better facilities and have better pathways, so the improvements will come organically."

The AFLW grand final will be played on Saturday, March 25, coinciding with the opening round of the men's season.